Hebrews 1:3. 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 (cleansed) our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Welcome, welcome, one and all, to another wonderful day on God’s great earth! He has so much good stuff planned for us that I’m not sure we can handle it all. (smile) But of this one thing I’m sure; that He will give us all the help we need to walk in obedience and do His awesome will. Glory to our great God my people!
And without further ado, let’s get right into our Bit, because we have lots to say today. As if we don’t have lots to say everyday. (smile) But this is a long and intricate Bit, needy of much explanation.
‘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 (cleansed) our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.’ Oh my people, what a magnificent and awesome being is our Jesus!
Now yesterday we got some explanation as to the importance of Jesus in the revelation of God, and His position re the prophets and angels. He has presented the full story of what the Father planned from the beginning to the end. So here is what the scholars have to say re our Bit.
‘1:3. Christ’s person, power and position are all expressed in this verse. He is described as being the brightness of God’s glory. The word being, whose force is “eternally being,” guards against the idea that Jesus became the Son at some point during His earthly ministry. He did not become deity; He always was equal with the Father. The attributes ascribed to Him express His very nature. They were neither added to nor taken from Him during His earthly life.
The “brightness” spoken of here refers to a radiance or a shining forth of the divine glory. As the rays are intrinsically related to the sun, with neither one existing apart from the other, so the Father and the Son are essentially one. Further, the Son is the express image or imprint (as of a die perfectly representing the original design) of the Father’s person (nature).
The radiant light implies the oneness of the Son with the Father; the imprint expresses the distinctness of the Son from the Father. Yet, oneness and distinctness are implicit in each: thus they enhance and balance each other.
Upholding all things manifests the power of the Son. Verse 2 has already presented Him as Creator and hence the heir of all things. Certainly He is far superior to the prophets with whom He has just being compared, (vs.1) and to the angels to whom He will be compared (vs.4).
“Upholding” (Gr. pheron), more precisely stated, describes the Son as “carrying” all things. Christ is not viewed simply as an Atlas supporting the dead weight of the world, but as the Creator who is now sustaining and bringing it to its goal. Compare the similar teachings of Colossians 1:16-17.
Sat down…on high reveals the position of the Son. When He had provided purification for sin, He sat down on high. This sitting does not imply a present inactivity; rather it suggests His finished redemptive work, quite in contrast to the unending sacrifices of the Levitical priest (cf. chs.7, 9,10).
The author of Hebrews is virtually silent concerning Christ’s resurrection, yet he repeatedly stresses the Ascension and its significance (cf. 4:14; 6:19-20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:24; 10:12; 12:2).’
Oh friends, yuh see what I meant when I said we had plenty to talk about. And I do hope we understand it all. I know it sounds somewhat confusing, but if we take it line by line, one step at a time, we will eventually get what the scholars mean.
And by the way, I just looked up all those scripture references at the end, and they are interesting. Taking a moment to do so yourself would indeed be beneficial.(smile)
The long and short of the story is simply that Christ is El Numero Uno; Number One; the Father’s Right hand man! He came to earth as a man and saved us by sacrificing His sinless life on our behalf, which means NO MORE sacrifices are necessary. The big debt of sin was paid by Christ’s death ONCE and FOR ALL TIME!
We just need to believe or not believe in Him now to be saved or suffer eternal separation from the Holy Trinity forever. So it’s now up to each individual to make his or her choice. And for those of us who choose to believe, let’s go home today sincerely declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the evil world know, without a doubt, who and whose we are.
All together now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
And now, beloved children of God, let’s go out and share that beautiful and wonderful LOVE of our friend Jesus with the world, as He desires of us. Much LOVE!
…having Jesus in one’s life… is…is so refreshing and rejuvenating…why would I follow anyone else eh…
SCRIP-BITS 
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 November 2017 Proverbs 13:12.
18 Nov 2017 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a musical storm, a tree of life, accepting responsibility, accomplish any goal, Anselm's quotes, asaph, Atlas, blessings, comfort zone, David Rudder, depressed, diehard fans, discipline, feel good, feel terrific, forum, gone astray, gospel truth, gratification, greedy times, Hammerson Theatre, hang your hat, hope deferred, jam session, Jesus Christ, kaiso, Let there be light, Lord and Saviour, lost, LOVE, makes the heart sick, mash up the place, name of the game, natural outgrowth, negative things, on top of the world, power in words, prerequisite, raise your children, refreshes, revitalizes, rewards, sincerity, singing praises, soca, social commentary, success, tear it down, the happiest people, the power of hope, truth, try something new, West Indian atmosphere, when desire comes, while there is life there is hope, zest for life
Proverbs 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Oh friends, welcome to a wet Saturday morning! But I can assure you that last evening it was a hot, tropical time in the Hammerson Theatre of the Living arts Centre in Mississauga, as Bruh David and Friends, a tight, great sounding band, mash up the place! They tear it down with a musical storm of pure ‘Madness,’ of soca and kaiso!
Brother! I can just imagine that’s how it was when the old time Bruh David and his buddies, Asaph, etc. got together and put on a jam session; the music would be ringing out and the people would be singing loud, harmonious praises! Well that’s how David Rudder had the some five hundred of us singing out in the theatre last night.
Now I’ve always liked some of David’s songs, but last night he made me a believer, with the way he arranged the songs and presented them. And you can imagine the cacophony in the place when he buss tunes like ‘Bahia Girl, the Hammer, Trini to the Bone, Madness, etc. etc. I can’t remember them all. And the house was certainly hopping when he ended with ‘Give Praise!’
I don’t know if Hammerson Hall has ever experienced that sort of vibrant West Indian atmosphere, as David and the Band performed for 2 hours straight; something that you don’t see often. And the craving for an encore was so great that he had to come back out and sing for a few more minutes.
Then he stayed after the show, meeting and greeting his many fans, I should say diehard fans in the lobby. I remember mentioning to one fellow down there, that I was never a big David fan, and brother, if yuh see how quickly his wife turned around and looked at me as though I was crazy! (smile)
The difference between David and the other West Indian artists around the place nowadays is that they only singing about girls, wining and drinking, but he is still focused on the way the song style began, as a forum for social commentary and change. Keep it up, mih brother!
Now, since it’s Saturday, we have to turn to that other brother, Anselm, who aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow with his quotes. And he’s got some excellent ones this week. Listen to this first one: ‘The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.’
No lie, mih people! You can’t truly feel good, until you feel good about yourself, because yourself goes with you everywhere, (smile) and accepting responsibility for our lives is a major key to our success.
And success comes when you ‘Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.’ Ah, the age old story friends. You’ve got to hang your hat a li’l higher than you can reach it. When you feel too comfortable, you never reach for the better fruit that’s a li’l further out on the limb. And that’s when you grow.
And this next quote is gospel truth: ‘Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.’ That’s because there is power in the word of God, and in our words. Remember, God spoke the world and all therein in to existence. He didn’t wave a magic wand, but uttered a simple; ‘Let there be light…And there was light…’ That means we should not speak negative things about ourselves, because intuitively and subconsciously our actions and behaviour leads us to them.
Now here is something that explains our problem with the world system. ‘The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success.’
Ah mih people, in these turbulent and greedy times, instant gratification is the name of the game; we want everything now for now, even though waiting might bring greater rewards. But please remember there’s always a price to pay for impatience.
And this last quote is priceless. ‘If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.’ Ah friends, so many of us parents have failed to do that, that’s why this generation seems so lost and gone astray. But we can’t give up on them now, we have to keep on trying. Remember while there is life, there is always hope!
That’s why we can say in all truth and sincerity like Cousin Sol in our Bit: ‘Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.’ And is that ever so true! When we lose hope we get depressed and miserable and lose the zest for life.
However, when we regain it… oh boy, it just revitalizes and refreshes us. We feel on top of the world; like we can move the whole world; be like Atlas and bear it on our bony human shoulders. That’s the power of hope my brethren!
So please, let’s never lose hope; especially in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is the GREATEST hope there is…and the ONLY One we need in this topsy-turvy world. Much LOVE!
…to hope…to hope…and yet to hope…in Christ…forever and ever…