Supremacy Of The Son

Supremacy of the Son

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Hebrews 1:3

IN WORD The world wonders what God is like. Some religions see Him as a hard, harsh taskmaster who favors violent judgment every time He doesn’t get His way. Others see Him as an abstract force, more of a principle than a deity. Even some secularists embrace a shadow of God, though they end up with a very generic picture. Perhaps the favorite concept of God in our generation is the idea that “God is love.” After all, that’s biblical, isn’t it? But a disobedient culture defines love on its own terms and demands that God be nothing more and nothing less than its description of love. And that god simply doesn’t exist.

No, the idea that we can actually know God is elusive. We live in a confused society that makes up religion as it goes along. Meanwhile, Scripture tells us plainly that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. It is He, in fact, who sustains all there is.

For a culture that thinks of Jesus as a nice teacher and a brave martyr, the idea of His representing God doesn’t make too many waves. But the Jesus of the Bible? The One who talked a lot about sin and hell, who spoke harshly to the Jewish elite, who said He didn’t come to bring peace on earth but to establish a dividing line? That Jesus isn’t very popular. He bruises egos and insists on being Lord. He not only carries His cross, He gives one to His followers. That Jesus doesn’t go over very well.

IN DEED So be it. Those who really want to worship God in spirit and in truth, who really want to adore Him for who He is, must look first at Jesus. The Son said that if we’ve seen Him, we’ve seen the Father (John 14:9). Disciples worshiped Him, and He let them. Sinners asked God’s forgiveness, and Jesus gave it. The Word really did become flesh. And the Word was God (John 1:1). Worship the radiance of God’s glory by worshiping Jesus.

Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord.

—CHARLES WESLEY