The Exact Representation of His Nature

The testimony of the New Testament is consistent in answering the question: Who is Jesus of Nazareth? The gospels make it clear that the apostles understood that Jesus claimed to be God. In the words recorded by the apostle John, Jesus says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” What could possibly be clearer! Jesus understood Himself to be God and John wanted us to know that. So too, it is throughout the letters of Paul. For example, in Colossians 2:9 Paul writes, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” Again, what could be clearer! Jesus is all of what God is in a human body. Finally, consider Hebrews 1:3, the writer says of Christ: “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.” In the verse earlier he explains that Jesus is the creator of all things, that “…He made the world.” And later He explains how Jesus is the sustainer of all things: Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Finally, the writer explains how Jesus is the redeemer, that “he…made purification of sins.” Obviously, the activities of creating and sustaining universe and redeeming God’s people are activities that that rest of the Bible attributes to God alone.

So what’s the bottom line? Well, Jesus is God—the Creator God, the sustainer God and the Redeemer God. In other words, if you want the clearest picture of God that we have available to us simply look at the person of Christ. He is the radiance of divine glory and the exact representation of the divine nature.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”