Many times in my life, someone has knocked on my door to ask to study the Bible with me. I love it when that happens. But several times, the door-to-door “scholar” has presumptuously tried to convince me that Jesus Christ is not God. It’s deeply offensive to me when someone claims that my Lord is not deity; that Christ is a created being and, thus, not equal in majesty or authority with His Father. Recently, I was in someone else’s home and, as we studied, she continued to insist that Jesus was no more divine than you or I. I told her that I would have to be leaving if she said that once more about my Lord. I simply cannot listen to blasphemy from one who is defiantly rejecting the overwhelming Scriptural evidence of Jesus’ place in the Godhead.
One Digging Deep participant noted that, through our study this month, her eyes have been opened to the reality that the New Testament is jam-packed with language that claims for Christ equality with the Father–divinity. For today, notice with me a list of descriptions of our Savior from the first three chapters of Hebrews. (We could go to any number of other passages as we did last week with Colossians One.) Many of these statements and implications would simply be false were Jesus anything less than God. May we never suggest that Jesus Christ is not Immanuel (God with us). May we ever praise the Captain of our salvation (2:10)!
He is…
(1:2)..the vehicle of divine truth.
…the heir of all things.
…the Creator.
(1:3)…the brightness of God’s glory.
…the express image of God’s person.
…the one who upholds all things by the word of His power.
…the purifier of sins.
…sitting on the right hand of God.
(1:5)…the Son of God.
(1:6)…worshiped by angels.
(1:8)…on the throne forever with a scepter of righteousness.
(1:9)…a lover of righteousness
…a hater of iniquity.
…anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows.
(1:12)…the one who rolls up heaven and earth.
…unchanging.
(2:6)…ruler of the world to come.
(2:7) made a little lower than angels, but crowned with glory and honor.
…set over the works of God’s hands.
(2:8)…over all things.
(2:10)…the one for whom all things exist.
…the one by whom all things exist.
…the Captain of our salvation.
…perfect.
(2:11)…the one who sanctifies.
…not ashamed to call us brethren.
(2:14)…destroyer of the devil.
(2:15)…deliverer of the bound.
(2:16)…the seed of Abraham.
(2:17)…like us (flesh and blood [see also vs.14] ).
…a merciful and faithful high priest.
…the reconciler.
(2:18)…a sufferer.
…a succorer.
…one who was tempted.
(3:1)…the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.
(3:2)…faithful to God.
(3:3) worthy of more glory than Moses.
…maker of Moses.
(3:4)…builder of all things.
(3:6)…a son over his own house.
Please plan to join us tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. CST for the Digging Deep In God’s Word podcast.