Skip to main content

Meditations on the Glory of Christ: He is the Radiance of the Glory of God

Image
By
In Hebrews 1:2-4, the author makes seven claims about Jesus that when taken together greatly exalt his glory. The third claim the author makes is that he is the radiance of the glory of God. There is so much to say about the meaning of the phrase “the glory of God,” but in the interest of time let me just define it this way: the glory of God is the sum total of the excellencies of God. God is holy, just, right, true, wise, good, gracious, faithful, patient, kind, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present. God is, and everything God is he is to utter perfection, and when we think of all of his perfections together we rightly call this the glory of God. There is a sense in which the glory of God refers to the beauty and brightness of his being, but more profoundly it refers to all God is, thinks, feels, wills, says, and does. The glory of God is the totality of the being of God, and Jesus Christ, the Son, is the radiance of that glory.

Now, the word “radiance” gets used in two ways, and it’s important that we understand the way it’s being used here. First, it is used to mean “reflection.” For example, the moon does not produce any light of its own, rather, the moon receives the light of the sun and bounces some of that light back into the universe. The moon reflects the glory of the sun.

Second, the words “radiance” is used to mean “radiate” or “shine forth.” The sun, unlike the moon, does produce its own light and looks to nothing outside of itself to produce that light, except of course God. It borrows light from none, and gives light to all.

Jesus is most certainly like the sun, and not like the moon, for he radiates the glory of God from the inside out. He is not some object outside of God that receives and reflects the glory of God, rather he is one with the Father and he shines with the brightness of his being. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” That is, we come to know and experience the Father as he reveals himself to us by his Son. As it is with creation so it is with the glory of God: the Father is the ultimate source of his own glory and the Son is the mediating force that manifests his glory.

Beloved, this is no theoretical claim: Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God! Think about how great he must be in light of this truth. Think about how exalted a position he must hold in light of this truth. Indeed, Jesus is highly exalted and he alone is worthy of our praise, our allegiance, our souls, our lives, our all!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vendi...
Post a Comment
Read more