Hebrews 1:3b

Hebrews 1:3b

Jesus is the exact representation of God

have no arguments with the doctrine of the Trinity, even though it does not appear in the Bible. What does slightly worry me is that many Christians rank the three persons, so that God the Father is top, Jesus Christ is next, albeit slightly diminished, and then, at the bottom,  comes the Holy Spirit! That may not be deliberate or necessarily the position taken by all, it is certainly not what is taught here in Hebrews. Jesus did, of course, hint at deference to His Father when He said things like “I must be about my Father’s business.” We unwittingly read this in a human context and assume that He was behaving like any good, obedient Son. He was! But the relationship is far more complex than the paternal one that we humans understand. The man who walked the earth as a humble healer and teacher from Nazareth was and is, fully and wholly God!  Every quality and attribute that we assign to God the Father is equally accredited to His Son and confirmed in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not an earthly reproduction of God, He was the “exact representation” of His being.  The three members of the Trinity are not separated by rank or importance or status but simply by function. Each one is a representation of the other two, and each one carries equal authority and prominence in the Being that we call God. Thus, just as God the Father sustains and upholds all created life on the planet, so His Son, as the Word, aligns with Him in this role. Paul puts it like this, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17. And that is talking about our dear friend and Saviour, the One who came to us as a man, Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!

 

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