Skip to main content

Meditations on the Glory of Christ: He is the Exact Imprint of the Nature 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 fourth claim the author makes is that he is the exact imprint of the nature of God. The word for “exact imprint,” character in Greek, referred to “an engraver or an engraving tool or a stamp” of some sort. It was sometimes used of the image of a ruler that was stamped on the currency of his kingdom, which is what I think the author has in mind here.

The idea is that God has put the flawless imprint of his being on the currency of his Kingdom, but in this case the currency is not a medium of exchange like money, but the being of his Son. And this imprint is made up of everything God is, in other words, it’s made up of his very nature. It’s made up of his very being.

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfectly represents the essence of the being of God, and in this way he perfectly displays the glory of God for all to see. This is why Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Since the exact imprint of the essence of the Father has been stamped upon his Son, the visible manifestation of the Son perfectly represents the being of the Father. And this is why God has nothing more or less to say than what he’s spoken by his Son. God has fully revealed himself in Jesus, and he has nothing more to reveal than Jesus.

And this is why the Apostle Paul prayed this prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Beloved, this is no theoretical claim: Jesus is the exact imprint of the nature 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. Oh that God would grant us eyes to see the glory of Christ, and hearts to worship the Christ who is so glorious!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 vending m
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 installment of elders as non-negotiable
Post a Comment
Read more

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

By Anonymous
“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative ,       [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n
Post a Comment
Read more