«　WEEK 15　DAY 3　»

　　Heb. 1:2-3 Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things, through whom also He made the universe; who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

　　We will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ as revealed in Hebrews, one of the greatest books in the New Testament. Every aspect of Christ revealed in this book is significant.

　　Christ the Son is the center, the focus, of the book of Hebrews. In the Godhead He is the effulgence of God's glory and the impress of God's substance. In creation He is (1) the means through which the universe was made (1:2); (2) the power that upholds and bears all things (v. 3); and (3) the Heir appointed to inherit all things (v. 2). In redemption He accomplished the purification of man's sins and is now sitting on the right hand of God in the heavens (v. 3). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3699)

　　In the New Testament age, God has spoken to us in the Son, in the person of the Son. To us, Christ, the Son of God, is the mouthpiece of God, the oracle of God. The Son is God Himself speaking. To say that God has spoken to us in the Son means that God speaks in Himself. God has spoken in the Son, and the Son is God; this indicates that God speaks in Himself. God Himself speaks to us in His divine being, not through some other agent. The Son is God Himself (Heb. 1:8), God expressed. God the Father is hidden; God the Son is expressed. No one has ever seen God; the Son, as the Word of God (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13) and the speaking of God, has declared Him with a full expression, explanation, and definition of Him (John 1:18). God speaking in the Son means that the Son speaks God.

　　We need to also see how Christ is related to the Godhead. Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Christ the Son as the effulgence of God's glory and the impress of His substance. God's glory is God expressed, and God's substance is that which exists intrinsically in His divine being. In the Godhead, Christ is both the effulgence of the expressed God and the image of God's inner being.

　　Separating the effulgence from the glory may be likened to separating the shining of the sun from the rays of the sun. The shining cannot be separated from the rays, for they are one. Likewise, we should never consider the Son as separate from God. The Son is the expression of God Himself; Christ the Son is God expressed. He is nothing less than God; He is God Himself.

　　Our Christ is God coming to us. He is our God reaching us. Just as the sun can reach us by the shining of its rays, Christ, the Son of God, is God Himself reaching us and coming into us. We have a God who reaches us, a God who comes into us. This is our great salvation (2:3), and this is the Son of God.

　　The Son is also the impress, the express image, of the substance of God (1:3). The impress of God's substance is like the impress of a seal. The Son is the expression of what God the Father is. God's substance is Spirit (John 4:24), and Christ is the impress of this substance.

　　The glory is the outward expression, and the substance is the inward essence. God has His essence, His substance, as well as His appearance. God's essence is His substance. He has substance as well as glory. Our God is glorious and substantial. As far as God's glory is concerned, the Son is the effulgence of this glory. As far as God's substance is concerned, the Son is the impress of this substance.

　　The Son is not only the effulgence of God's glory but also the impress of God's substance. This means that the Son is God coming to us. When God does not come to us, He is simply God. When God comes to us, He is the Son as the impress of His substance. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3705-3706, 3704-3705)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 367