God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Hebrews 01:01-02, NKJV).
That God has graciously spoken to His rebellious creatures is mercy beyond description. Not only has He lovingly revealed His nature and goodness, but He has provided millennia of warnings regarding the inevitable result of refusing to hear and believe His word. I can't think of any other indomitable potentate in all of human history so forbearing or long-suffering.
That His subjects mistake His patience for indifference is not a fault of the message or the Messenger, but of the recipients' hardened hearts.
Nor did God draw the line at sending His prophets to speak His truth, but went infinitely beyond that effort and sent His Son, Who "being brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person", not only delivered the glorious gospel of redemption, but became the payment of the very sin that eternally separates us from God.
As stated previously, the overriding theme of the Book of Hebrews is the superiority of the Son of God above everything and everyone, save the Father Himself. Part of that sublime greatness can be seen even in these opening verses, where we are unflinchingly told that Christ has been "appointed heir of all things."
Do not miss that word, appointed.
Typically, inheritance is by virtue of genetics and birth position. In ancient cultures, like Israel, Rome and Greece, it was customary for the firstborn son to receive a double portion of the family wealth. This facilitated his continued authority over the other heirs as the next family patriarch, and enabled him to to retain greater control of the disposition of the entire fortune.
On occasion, the Patriarch of the family could override that tradition and custom by giving all of the inheritance to the descendant of his choice. This appointment, or proclamation, superseded all other claimants to the family wealth, and was usually seen as a reward for the excellent character of the chosen heir.
Often, I think it is easy to overlook what it meant for God the Son to become human. He set aside the privilege and power of utter Deity, and in loving filial obedience, took upon Himself the nature of a created being for the sole purpose of living in perfect compliance with the perfect Law of God, of learning obedience through the things which he suffered (much more on that in a later exposition), and of dying voluntarily in our place.
He forsook everything to become our perfect sacrifice. As it is said elsewhere, He became poor so that we could become rich. He died so that we could live. He became sin so that we could become His righteousness in Him. These are not just lofty words or glorious sentiments. These are the bloody facts of redemptive history.
His excruciation and His abandonment by God was made necessary because of our ruthless depravity.
In response to His exemplary and perfect obedience, obedience even unto the death of the Cross, the Father appointed Him heir of all things, and exalted Him above every name in Heaven, on Earth, or under the Earth. Certainly, we can understand that this was a fitting and just reward for what Christ accomplished, reconciling Fallen Creation with an unspeakably Holy Creator.
But it does not stop there, this inconceivable inheritance. In fact, it goes as far beyond being merely fitting, as is the farthest edge of the Universe from the speck of rock that is our planet.
By His being appointed heir of all things, Christ has also enabled our adoption into the very family of God, and made us joint heirs with Himself.
Think on that for a moment and be overwhelmed at the generosity that it entails.
We did nothing. We were not even natural born relatives, but rebellious enemies, and yet - and yet - we have become benefactors of all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. We are become sons and daughters of God through faith in the Son simply because that is the Father's gracious and benevolent eternal desire.
Now repeatedly in these brief comments, I have emphasized the phrase, all things. This was purposeful. By definition there is nothing left outside of all things. These two simple words contain the entirety of whatever we could ask or think.
And it is bequeathed to us in Christ.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2, NKJV).
