Hebrews 1:1-3 KJV -- Who is Jesus Christ?

WHAT IT SAYS:

1 ¶  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

WHAT IT MEANS:

1 ¶  God, 

Notice the first word is "God." He is the very great subject of the book of Hebrews. 

This book is called "Hebrews" because it is a discourse that was written for the purpose of reassuring the believers in Christ who had been born Jews, the Hebrew speaking people, that their faith in Christ as the true Messiah was secure and also legitimate. 

Secure meaning free from care or anxiety. Truth always sets us free.  
Legitimate meaning that he is the legal and lawful heir. 

These reassurances were set down in the Book of Hebrews in a reasonable, logical, and justifiable way. It is the written reminder that they could turn to when they needed reassurance during times of trouble. Circumstances often distract us. Nurturing our faith in Christ will bring us back from the distractions. The written word nurtures our faith.

"God" -- the God whom the Hebrews had already worshiped for two thousand years was doing something new and it needed to be pointed out logically and clearly to the intelligent Hebrew mind in order to be accepted, understood, and believed. For them to believe, it needed to be pointed out in Scripture -- they relied on Scripture. If it was not in Scripture, the Old Testament, they simply would not believe it. 

(God is not limited -- but we can limit His influence upon our lives with unbelief. He gave us free will.

Ps 78:41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.)

When God decides to bring about a new thing, He will always tell us about it, just as he told them in the Old Testament about the Messiah -- that is called prophecy. Prophecy can only be called "prophecy" if the events spoken of in the prophecy occur at some later point in real time. If it never comes true, it is not a prophecy. Simple. Direct. Measurable.

who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

"Sundry times" means on many separate and various occasions. 
"Divers manners" means in many different ways. 

God spoke to the Hebrew fathers, or ancestors, on many occasions and in many different ways -- but always He spoke through a prophet, (and sometimes he spoke to the prophets through angels, which we will see later.)

2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,

God has now spoken unto us, in these most recent days, by his Son. Not by simply a messenger from God, but by his own Son. A big change had taken place.

whom he hath appointed heir of all things,

An heir is always appointed by the owner. When a person dies they make a will and write out in that will how they want their possessions to be distributed among their heirs. In the Hebrew culture the first born son was normally the heir, in much the same way that the first born son of the king or queen of England is assumed to be the next in line for the English throne.  God has appointed Jesus Christ, his Son, to be the heir “of all things.” This means that Jesus Christ has been given all the power and authority that his Father has. He is the heir of all things. All the things in our physical realm belong to God and He has given them all to His Son, Jesus Christ.

by whom also he made the worlds;

The statement “by whom also he made the worlds” hearkens the mind back to the following scripture:

John 1:1-5  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 

In both our text and in these verses from the Book of John it testifies that Jesus, being the Son of God, “made the worlds” – “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” With these statements we see that Jesus Christ is God. Because we, and the Hebrews, already know that God is the Creator and here it says that the Son created all things -- therefore, Jesus is God. 

This also verifies the concept of the Trinity or Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who are all One. Our finite minds sometimes have trouble understanding this concept, but it is fully apparent that the early Christian writers and Apostles knew this to be the truth and taught this as Truth. There is one God, Who has been manifested on the Earth in three Holy Persons.

The Trinity concept is born out of the “sundry times and divers manners” in which God spoke to us in times past and also in the present by His Son. God can never be any less God no matter how He chooses to express or manifest Himself, so when He came as Jesus Christ He was still fully God. Jesus was fully God and fully Man – which we will soon see in our study.

3  Who being the brightness of his glory, 

“Who” is Jesus Christ. “Being the brightness”, the brilliance, the vividness, the clarity of God’s glory. “His Glory” being God’s magnificence, His grandeur, His beauty, and His splendor. “The kingly majesty which belongs to God as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity” (Strongs 1391)

What an amazing description of Jesus Christ. He is the brightness or brilliance of God’s glory. Yet He humbled Himself and became like us. And that is not all:

and the express image of his person, 

The word “express” means precise, exact, specific; and this word modifies the word “image.” An image is a picture or representation, a likeness or an illustration. “Of his person” – This speaks not of a physical form but of God’s Personality, His Self, His Being. Jesus was not only the brightness of God’s glory, but was also the exact representation of God in the flesh. He was His Son. It makes me think of the expression “they were as alike as two peas in a pod” meaning that if you saw one, you saw the other, which is exactly what Jesus says of God, the Father, and Himself in the following verse:

John 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

and upholding all things by the word of his power, 

This description of Jesus Christ is mind boggling. It says that He, the Son, was “upholding” or maintaining, perpetuating, or keeping “all things” – the entire physical realm that we exist in, “by the word of his power.” God upholds the universe by the power of his word which is the expression of his power. Jesus has been given all authority, all power, in both Heaven and in Earth.

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

when he had by himself purged our sins, 

Jesus Christ alone, by himself, purged our sins. Purged means flushed out, washed out, cleansed, eliminated, removed, pardoned, exonerated, forgiven – all of our sins. His death on the cross cleansed us of all unrighteousness.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

When he had finished the cleansing he then sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The “right hand” is the hand that exercises the authority. To “sit down” means to rest, to hover, to dwell right next to God the Father.

The reason that Jesus came to Earth was to die on the cross for our sins. The debt needed to be paid, but we, being sinners, could not pay it. We were simply subject to the death penalty that had been given to our forefather, Adam. God, in sending His own sinless Son, did not reject us because we were sinners, he saved us because we were sinners needing to be saved. He saved us by coming to the Earth, taking on the form of a man, Himself, and paying the penalty Himself, alone, for us.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Praise the Lord!!

Here are the verses again that tell us Who Jesus Christ is:

1 ¶  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;