My Daily Pause

[This is part four of a deeper study of the article 7 Reasons Christ is King. To get better context and a link to the other parts, you can click there and read it first.]

Anyone who has a complete working knowledge of something, who can sustain its operation, and make it respond to his every command has a right to be named ruler over it. Since Christ “Upholds all things by his word and power,” (Hebrews 1:3b) his kingship is authenticated by his ability to control all things.

Paul stated in Colossians 1:17 “in him all things hold together.” When we compare and contrast Hebrews 1:3 with Colossians 1:17 when have the two writers giving us a complete picture. Paul says continue because of him and the Hebrew writer says the universe responds to his pervasive word.

Jesus repeated over and over what is possible when he is involved. Let’s remember to think of him first no matter what we are planning.

(Matthew 19:26) But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

(Mark 9:23) And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”

(Mark 10:27) Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

(Luke 1:37) For nothing will be impossible with God.”

(Luke 18:27) But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Part 5: The Purchaser and Conqueror of His Kingdom

[This is part three of a deeper study of the article 7 Reasons Christ is King. To get better context and a link to the other parts, you can click there and read it first.]

His Excellence of Character

The dignity of our Lord doesn’t depend on the fact that he created the world or even inherited it. He is the reflection of God. There was once time when there was no creation, but there has never been a time when God had no glory. It is that intangible essence of God that would have been hard to grasp if there had never been a Christ.

The Hebrews writer attempts to capture that essence through the words we have translated as radiance or effulgence. (Hebrews 1:3) The idea is that Christ shines forth like a brilliant light – certainly this is the inspiration of the many painters through time that rendered Jesus in the middle of light. The audience of the letter was sure to remember how Moses’ face shone after being in the presence of God. Those present at the transfiguration of Christ must have witnessed something similar.

The Image of God

The Son of God bore the exact image of his father. How much extra credit do we give the sons of famous men when they strongly favor their fathers? Something about the genetic similarities causes us to expect so much more from them. How much more then would that apply to image of God?

When the writer said that Christ was the “imprint of His nature,” he was communicating something along the lines of the die that strikes a coin or a branding iron making its owner’s exact mark. Christ said in John 14:9, “he that has seen me has seen the Father.” Paul said we were redeemed by the blood of the very image and first born of God. (Colossians 1:14-15)

Imagine God being available to look at. His hand is held out to hold ours. What if we could look into his eyes and see the love he has for us?

How would God feel if, after all that before us, we rejected him?

That is the emotion that the Hebrew writer was appealing to.

Part 4: The Sustaining Force

[This is part two of a deeper study of the article 7 Reasons Christ is King. To get better context and a link to the other parts, you can click there and read it first.]

Hebrews says that through Christ, God created the world. (Hebrews 1:2) This credential of Christ is a human right that has never been challenged in the history of man. Whatever one creates is his, by law, by courtesy, and common sense. That said, we can prove Christ as the creator very easily.

• In Colossians 1:16-17 we see that Paul fully understood Christ to be God. In these verses he says that Christ is the Creator of the universe, he was the sole end of his own work, he was prior to all creation, and he is the preserver of all things.
• John 1:3 credits Christ with creation. Nothing is possible except through him.
• Genesis 1:26 says that man was made in “our” image. There was an understanding of the existence of the Godhead even from the beginning.
• John 17:5 records Jesus remembering the glory he felt with God before the beginning.

As Creator, his authority is absolute. Those who turn away from him, like those Hebrews the letter is written to, are turning away from the only one who offers salvation.

Part 3: God in the Flesh

[This is part one of a deeper study of the article 7 Reasons Christ is King. To get better context, you can click there and read it first.]

The Hebrews writer begins the letter by establishing Christ as the King of kings. Seven reasons are listed verifying his authority,(Hebrews 1:2-3) not over just earthly things but of heaven, the universe – all things. These are listed from lowest to highest, starting with the idea of his being a son, and appointed as the heir.

Family fortunes have always passed through the bloodlines just like legal authority in world’s kingdoms. The only begotten son of God is therefore his rightful heir. The writer no doubt had these verses in mind as he labeled Christ the heir of all things:

• Psalm 2: 8 – … I will make the nations your heritage …
• Zechariah 9:9-10 – … And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
• Hebrews 1:5 – You are my Son, today I have begotten you (Points back to Psalm 2:7. Paul quotes it in Acts 13:33)
• Hebrews 1:5 – I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son (2 Samuel 7:14 – The seed that was promised to David was not Solomon but Jesus Christ)

Since the Jews have denied Christ’s Sonship from the beginning, these strong proofs from the old Law were meant to show them (even remind them) that the idea of a Son of God is not a new idea.

Part 2: The Creator of All Things