The Exalted Executor of Existence

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).

In at least four separate places in the New Testament, Christ is identified as Creator. Here, and:

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3, NKJV).

and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 3:9, NKJV).

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16, NKJV).

As the Word of God, our Savior, in perfect submission and compliance with the Father, spoke existence into being.

If you ever wrestled with the idea of Christ as God, or were taught the heresy that He was a created being (Jehovah's Witness), or the spirit-brother of Lucifer (Latter Day Saints/Mormon), these verses (and many others)  make such erroneous conceptions insupportable. He is the transcendent (outside space and time), eternal (without beginning or end), omnipotent (possessing all power) Executor of Existence. As the beloved Apostle John declares, without Him nothing was made that was made.

This is vitally important in our understanding of the superiority of Christ above everyone and everything except the Father Himself. It also makes His voluntary sacrifice on the Cross for us and in our place that much more magnificent and boundlessly gracious.

Think about it. The spikes that were driven into His hands and feet, the wood from which the crucifix was made, the human beings who performed these heinous acts, and all of us who made it necessary, were materials or creatures made by the One who allowed Himself to be subjected to such vile mistreatment.

Think further. He who had the power to fashion existence to begin with, and sustain it moment by moment since, also had (and has) the power to unmake it with a mere word. In fact, the Bible teaches that the Universe consists, or is held together, by His power, and at the appointed time, its complete annihilation will be brought about by Him simply letting go. Then the elements will melt in a fervent heat, and all things will burn in preparation for the restoration of all things.

It is this same magnificent Sovereign who deigned to become a Man, born of a woman, under the Law, to live in a squalid, violent and sin-corrupted world in order to save us.

That is why we worship Him. That is why we fall on our faces in awe and unspeakable gratitude. That is why we serve Him, and desire to be transformed into His image. That is why we love Him.

True Christianity has nothing to do with ritual or ceremony or religion. It is, instead, the profoundly simple and miraculously transformative intimate relationship with God through faith in His Son.

And it is this very simplicity that often stumbles scoffers and skeptics of the world. It is this gift of relationship that often becomes the greatest obstacle to saving faith because we humans arrogantly want it to be something we earn in some fashion.

But it cannot be that. How could it? What could we possible do that would benefit or profit Christ, the Exalted One, the Author of Creation and Salvation?

He has need of nothing we could even conceive of giving - not even our love or worship or adoration. The Godhead, the Trinity of Deity, is utterly, transcendently self-sufficient and self-contained. It is perfect partnership, perfect relationship, perfect satisfaction - everlasting perfection Itself in every imaginable way. There is nothing we could add or take away.

And the majestic Second Person of that Perfect Trinity is He Who Came to Save - not out of necessity, but out of grace and obedience. He who made all things is also our Blessed Redeemer.

You can not meditate on the astounding truths of Hebrews and not come away with a more fervent love and appreciation for Jesus.

It is not possible.

An Inconceivable Inheritance

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).

The God Who Speaks

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).

Hebrews is another book of the New Testament that I have memorized and recited countless times over the past 12 years. It is preeminently a book detailing the superiority of Jesus Christ. 

He is better than the angels, better than Moses, the Lawgiver, better than the Law itself, better than Joshua who led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land, better than Melchizedek the ancient Priest of the Most High God, better than Aaron, the first Mosaic High Priest. He is the perfect Representative, the Perfect Sacrifice, the Perfect Mediator, the Perfect Heir, the Perfect Son. He is the Better Way, the Better Promise, and the Better Temple. He is God the Son, and the only way to draw near to God.

Hebrews was written to a group who would be known today as Messianic Jews. These were members of the infant church, brought out of Judaism into the liberty of Christ, who were tempted severely to return to the old, familiar, but inferior, and ineffective Jewish belief system. They were hated by their countrymen, persecuted by the world, and sorely tried in their faith. And it was the purpose of the writer of Hebrews to provide reason, comfort, encouragement and exhortation to continue steadfastly in the faith until they reached the end of their earthly pilgrimage and received "the promise".

Technically, the author of Hebrews remains anonymous. Many believe it was the Apostle Paul, others Apollos, or Timothy, or Epaphroditus. Since he remains purposely unidentified in the text itself, it serves little purpose to speculate. The one thing that is certain, based on its content and acceptance throughout church history as part of the Canon of Scripture, is that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Beyond that, its human authorship is insignificant.

These first two verses are worthy of much study. They reveal profound truths about our God and His relationship to Fallen Man. They begin to establish Christ's majestic position as both appointed heir and executor of Creation. In succinct and eloquent fashion, they lift our hearts and minds from the mundane aspects of mere religion, into the vast and wondrous universe of personal relationship with the Sovereign Eternal Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and they do so with an earthy matter-of-factness that upon deep reflection leaves us breathless with wonder.

Mankind has conceived of many gods none of whom are real, and many of whom are actually demons playing upon our innate need to worship something greater than ourselves. But their is only one Living God, transcendent, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and personal. It is this God who was from the beginning and who spoke time and space into existence, and Who, wondrously, amazingly, lovingly, mercifully and graciously, speaks to us. And He has done so from the moment he breathed life into the First Man, Adam.

Don't pass over that fact too quickly.

Without Him being the God Who speaks we would remain forever ignorant, vainly striving to make sense of the world and of life with our own finite minds.

Without Him condescending to reveal Himself to us, we could never know that we are born condemned. Nor would we know the way of escape.

We would not know why we were here nor how much He loves us.

We would be born without reason, live without purpose, and die without hope. All that occurred in this life would be filtered through the faulty capabilities and vain imaginations of our own futile thinking, and all of history would be lived as life without God; utterly dark and deceitful.

But because He has spoken, and given us His light, the chaos of ignorance is replaced with the beauty and order of knowing Him, His plan of redemption and His ultimate purpose for our creation: eternal glorious fellowship with Him.

And while in the past He spoke to prophets via dreams and visions and sometimes direct verbal revelation, now He is speaking to the world through His marvelous Son.

One day soon, He will speak again from Heaven itself, ripping open the fabric of the Universe and declaring His judgment. At that point, those who have refused to listen to Him will hear, whether they want to or not. But rather than a message of forgiveness through faith in the Son, they will hear the sentence being pronounced upon their own willful unbelief and rebellion.

And it will be too late.