June 10 I Sunday

2 Chronicles 34-36

John 19:1-22

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”    —Hebrews 1:3

Just before the opening Scripture verse, the author of Hebrews tells us that God has spoken to His people through two specific means: through the prophets, who were the “mouthpieces of God” delivering His words to His people, and through His Son, the Lord Jesus. The former was God’s primary way of speaking to the Jews in the Old Testament, but it is through Christ that God speaks to us in “these last days” (Hebrews 1:2). The last days do not refer to a short period right before Christ returns, but includes the entire period between His ascension nearly 2,000 years ago and His return to Earth.

How, then, does God speak to us through Christ? Firstly, God speaks through Jesus’s person. Jesus is the living Word of God who created and sustains all things. He is God, co-equal with the Father, who humbled Himself by becoming one of us and subjecting Himself to all the limitations of humanity. When He was a baby in the manger, He was not thinking with the mind of God, “Those shepherds should be here any minute now.” He was just as human as we are and had to learn obedience, uncover knowledge and grow in favour with God and man.

Jesus was the first perfect man since Adam, and models what normal humanity was designed to be. Hebrews 1:3 calls Him “the radiance of God’s glory,” which is the moral character of God. This is the same glory Paul says we have fallen short of in Romans 3:23. We were created in the image of God to reflect His character, but when we sin, we do not show what God is like. Sin distorts, diminishes and corrupts His image, which is why Jesus is more than just a model to follow. He is Himself the means of revealing what true humanity can become again when we as believers come into union with Him.

This union is made possible by the second way God speaks through Jesus: His work of offering Himself as a sinless sacrifice. When Jesus died on the cross, He made possible the purification of sins, the ultimate redemptive act that reconciles us to God. As 1 John 1:9 clarifies, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Because of Christ’s work on the cross, the price for sin has been paid, which means every sin we will ever commit has already been dealt with. In this way, Christ’s deity, humanity and work on the cross have fulfilled Old Testament prophecies so we can know God personally and discover the depth of His love for us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You always find ways to speak to us but especially for speaking through Christ. As I discover more about Him, may it draw me closer to You. Thank You, God.