Hebrews 1

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

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Hebrews 1:3

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word — the Greek word "apaugasma" denotes the shining forth of glory, and "charaktēr" was used for the impression left by a seal. His redemptive work (purification for sins) and cosmic supremacy (sustaining all things) collapse the false division between creation and salvation. After providing purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, signaling the vindication of his work.

Community Reflections

Omar Hassan93d ago

NoteRadiance of God's Glory

I'm a physicist and the language about Jesus being the radiance of God's glory speaks to me in a strange way. Radiance is light coming from a source. When you look at the radiance, you're seeing the source itself. That's the claim about Jesus - when you look at him, you're seeing God. Not a representation, not a reduced version, but the actual thing. The incarnation is God becoming tangible, visible, knowable in human form. I spend most of my time in abstractions and mathematics, so when I encounter the reality that God became concrete, became bodily, became particular - it reorients me. The divine is not just conceptual. It has weight, form, presence.

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James Thornton96d ago

NoteJesus Reflects God's Actual Character

I'm a seminary professor teaching New Testament theology, and this verse is foundational for understanding how Christians relate to the Old Testament. Jesus isn't a new God. He's the actual reflection of God's character, the image of God's substance. That means when we read about God's actions in the Old Testament, we're reading about the character of the God revealed fully in Jesus. This resolves a lot of contradictions for students. They see God commanding genocide in the Old Testament and wonder if that's the real God or if Jesus changed everything. But if Jesus reveals God's true character, then we read those violent passages through the lens of understanding that God's final word and fullest revelation is in Jesus's love, sacrifice, and radical inclusion. It doesn't mean the Old Testament is wrong or irrelevant. It means we understand it in light of Jesus's revelation. God was always the God…

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Hebrews 1:3

Community Reflections

Omar Hassan93d ago

NoteRadiance of God's Glory

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James Thornton96d ago

NoteJesus Reflects God's Actual Character

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