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At the center of Christianity is the person of Jesus. Because of that, it’s impossible to have a good grasp of the Christian gospel without having a grasp of who he is. So, who is Jesus?
The writer of the book of Hebrews describes Jesus as “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3, emphasis added).
“Radiance”: The sun is so powerful that even at 93 million miles away, it still burns our skin. Decrease that distance by 1.1% to 92 million miles and we wouldn’t live to complain about the sunburn. The sun is an incredible, mind-boggling, and dangerous celestial reactor. And yet, standing on earth, we delight in its warmth and enjoy its light.
Now, if you want to be technical about it, you can’t actually see the sun’s essence—the internal atomic reactions, the core 500 million metric tons of hydrogen fusing into helium every second. All that we see is the radiance emanating from that fusion. And yet, it would make no sense to say, “I can see the sun’s radiance but not the sun itself.” To see the sun’s radiance is to see the sun. By saying that Jesus is the radiance of God, the writer of Hebrews means that Jesus is the emanation of God’s nature. To see Jesus is to see God. He is the shining light of God’s glorious nature. He is the glory coming off of God’s face, one and the same with God.
This radiance, this word, took on flesh and dwelt among us. When we think about Jesus, we need to hold two realities together.
“Imprint”: The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus is the “exact imprint of God’s nature.” Think of it like a signet ring: for centuries, if you wanted to sign something, you’d heat wax and take your signet ring and push it down into the softened wax. What remained in the wax was the exact imprint of the ring’s face. When you received an official document, you could be hundreds of miles from that ring, but you would know exactly what the shape of its face was. You understood its majesty and authority. To see one is to understand the other. The writer of Hebrews says that the natures of Jesus and the Father are the same. To see one is to see the other. Everything that God is, Jesus is.
One other analogy that the Bible uses to illustrate the nature of Jesus which I find particularly helpful is “the Word.” The apostle John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Jesus is the Word of the Father. In one sense, our words are separate from our minds; but in another, they are inextricably linked. To hear my words is to hear me. The best I’ve heard this explained was in a debate between an 8th-century missionary named Timothy and one of the first Muslim caliphs. Timothy had been called in by Muslim rulers to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, and he was trying to explain how Jesus, a man, could be God, without implying that there are two Gods.
To see Jesus is to see God. He is the shining light of God’s glorious nature. He is the glory coming off of God’s face, one and the same with God.
Picking up on the apostle John’s analogy of “the Word,” Timothy explained that when we speak with someone, our minds think a thought: for example, “I feel hot.” We then form that thought into the words of whatever language we are trying to communicate in, and then our vocal cords create vibrations in the air which carry those words to someone else’s ears.
Three different things: thoughts; words; vibrations. And yet you’d never say, “I heard J.D.’s words but not J.D.” My thoughts, my words, and the vibrations by which you heard those words were all part of one inseparable experience. Timothy said the Father is like the thought, the Son is the Word, and the Spirit is the wind-carried vibration that brings the thought to our ears; the Son makes the Father known to us. He is all that the Father is: the exact imprint of his nature and the radiance of his presence.
Again, it’s just an analogy, but it’s a helpful one.
This radiance, this word, took on flesh and dwelt among us. When we think about Jesus, we need to hold two realities together.
One: he’s fully human, complete with human emotions and human limitations, just like you and me. He knows exactly what it’s like to be tired, hungry, tearful, joy- filled, and distressed.
This is the glory of Jesus: he is just like us and not like us at all. 100% man and 100% God. The God-Man. And that means that he is uniquely able to rescue us.
Two: he was (and is) God himself, fully divine, unlike us. He knows everything (Mark 2:1-12). He rules everything (Matthew 26:53; John 3:31-36; 17:2). He commands storms and walks on water (Matthew 8:23-27; 14:22-33). He resisted the attractions of sin and overcame sickness, disease, and death (Matthew 4:1-11, 23; 9:35; John 11:1-44). Best of all, he walked out of a grave (Matthew 28:1-10).
Because he was God, he could live the life that we, being mired in sin, were unable to live: a life of full obedience to God. But because he was human, when he lived that life and died under the penalty of sin anyway, he could release us from that curse.
This is the glory of Jesus: he is just like us and not like us at all. 100% man and 100% God. The God-Man. And that means that he is uniquely able to rescue us.
This is an extract adapted from Essential Christianity by J.D. Greear. Drawing on passages from Romans 1 to 12, J.D. Greear unpacks the essential aspects of the Christian message, showing both secular and religious people what the gospel is and how it addresses our most pertinent questions
J.D. Greear is the pastor at The Summit Church and served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is married to Veronica and they have four children. J.D. is the author of several books including Searching for Christmas, Gospel, and Above All.
