Wednesday, January 12
Hebrews affirms that God created the world “through” or “by” Jesus and that Jesus sustains the world with His powerful word.
Read Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 45:18, and Nehemiah 9:6. Because in the Old Testament the Lord affirmed that He created the world “alone” and that He is the “only God,” how can we reconcile this affirmation with the affirmations in the New Testament that God created the universe “through” Jesus (Hebrews 1:2, 3)?
Some think that Jesus was merely the instrument through whom God created. This is not possible. First, for Paul, Jesus is the Lord who created the world; He was not a helper. Hebrews 1:10 says that Jesus is the Lord who created the earth and the heavens, and Paul also applies to Him what Psalms 102:25-27 says about the Lord (Yahweh) as Creator. Second, Hebrews 2:10 says that the universe was created “by” or “through” the Father. (Exactly the same expressions that are applied to Jesus in Hebrews 1:2.) The Father created and Jesus created (Hebrews 1:2, 10; 2:10). There is a perfect agreement between Father and Son in purpose and activity. This is part of the mystery of the Trinity. Jesus created and God created, but there is only One Creator, God — which implies that Jesus is God.
Meanwhile Hebrews 4:13 shows that Jesus is also Judge. His authority to rule and judge derives from the fact that God created all things and sustains the universe (Isaiah 44:24-28).
Hebrews 1:3 and Colossians 1:17 affirm that Jesus also sustains the universe. This sustaining action probably includes the idea of guidance or governance. The Greek word pheron (sustaining, carrying) is used to describe the wind driving a boat (Acts 27:15, 17) or God leading the prophets (2 Peter 1:21). Thus, in a real sense, Jesus not only created us but sustains us, as well. Every breath, every heartbeat, every moment of our existence is found in Him, Jesus, the foundation of all created existence.
Look up Acts 17:28. What does it say to us about Jesus and His power? Then think about the implications of this same Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. What does this truth teach us about the self-denying character of our Lord?
Thursday, January 13
Hebrews 1:5 reports the following words of the Father to Jesus: “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee”. What does it mean that Jesus was “begotten,” and when did this happen? Does not this show that Jesus was somehow created by God sometime way in the past, as many believe?
Read Hebrews 1:5; 2 Samuel 7:12-14; Psalm 2:7; and Luke 1:31, 32. What promise to David did Paul in Hebrews apply to Jesus?
Jesus was begotten in the sense that He was installed, or “adopted,” by God as the promised ruler, the son of David. The concept of the divine adoption of the ruler was common in the Greco-Roman world and the east. It gave the ruler legitimacy and power over the land.
God promised to David, however, that his Son would be the true legitimate ruler of the nations. He would “adopt” David’s son as His own Son. Through this process the Davidic King would become God’s protégé and His heir. The covenant is fulfilled in Jesus as the Son of David. God would defeat His enemies and give Him the nations as His inheritance (Psalms 89:27; 2:7, 8).
As we can read in Romans 1:3, 4 and Acts 13:32, 33, Jesus was publicly revealed as God’s Son. Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration were moments when God identified and announced Jesus as His Son (Matthew 3:17, 17:5).
Yet, according to the New Testament, Jesus became the “Son of God with power” when He was resurrected and seated at the right hand of God. It was at that moment that God fulfilled His promise to David that his son would be adopted as God’s own Son and His throne over the nations would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12-14).
Thus, Caesar (symbol of Rome) was not the legitimate “son of god,” ruler of the nations. Instead, Jesus Christ was. The “begetting” of Jesus refers to the beginning of Jesus’ rule over the nations, and not to the beginning of His existence, because Jesus had always existed. There was never a time when Jesus did not exist, because He is God.
In fact, Hebrews 7:3 says that Jesus does not have “beginning of days nor end of life” (cf. Hebrews 13:8) because He is eternal. Thus, the idea of Jesus as God’s “only begotten son” is not dealing with the nature of Christ as deity but with His role in the plan of salvation. Through the incarnation, Christ fulfilled all the covenant promises.
Friday, January 14
Further Thought: The coming of Jesus to this earth as the Son of God fulfilled several functions at the same time. In the first place, as the Divine Son of God, Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. Through His actions and words, Jesus showed us what the Father really is like and why we could trust and obey Him.
Jesus also came as the promised Son of David, Abraham, and Adam, through whom God had promised He would defeat the enemy and rule the world. Thus, Jesus came to take the place of Adam at the head of humanity and fulfill the original purpose God had for them (Genesis 1:26-28, Psalms 8:3-8). Jesus came to be the righteous ruler God always wanted this world to have.
“And the word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:6. The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,—how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven. By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 113
Discussion Questions:
1. We have learned that a better understanding of Jesus’ words and actions helps us understand God, the Father, better. In what practical ways should a better understanding of Jesus enrich your relationship with God, the Father?
2. We learned that the way God spoke to and treated Jesus is the way He wants to speak to and treat us. What should that tell us about how we should treat others?
3. Dwell on the importance of the eternal deity of Christ. What is lost if we believe that Jesus were somehow, in some way, a created being, like us, but who went to the cross? Contrast that thought with the reality that Christ was eternal God, and He Himself went to the cross. What is the big difference between the two ideas?
4. In class, talk about giving glory to God. Read Revelation 14:7. How is giving glory to God part of present truth and the three angels’ messages?
