God Speaks to Us by His Son

God Speaks to Us by His Son

“God who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . . .”

The prophets came with Jesus’ shadow, but Jesus Himself came with the reality. He came with the body. Col. 2:17.

John was not the Light but he bore witness to the Light. Jesus was the Light. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory . . . .” John 1:6-9, 14. From this we can see the difference between what God said in time past and the last days. The difference is like a student sitting in class and listening to the teacher speak about a subject and then going out and watching one of his peers doing what the teacher has taught. “In the volume of the book it is written of Me . . . .” Heb. 10:7. Now Jesus was to do it.

Therefore it was important for the apostle to explain that Jesus, by whom the worlds were made and who is the brightness of God’s glory, was born into mankind under the same condition as we, because He was to come to the aid of mankind and not angels. He was to lead man to glory, and they—not the angels—were to become His brethren.

This is how the apostle explains it: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Heb. 2:11. “Inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same . . . .” V. 14. “For indeed, He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things he had to be made like His brethren . . . For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Ch. 2.

Therefore, just as every high priest was taken from among men and appointed for men, so Jesus also had to be taken from among men. “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear . . . .” Ch. 5. He had to learn obedience by the things He suffered despite the fact that He was a Son; He was perfected through obedience. Vs. 8-9. He has become our forerunner. Ch. 6:20.

In that Jesus has become our forerunner He testifies to the fact that we, too, can attain to what He attained to and that He was born into mankind for this very purpose. When God sent Him, He was the only begotten. John 3:16. But when He returned, He was the first-born. In other words, through the work of Christ we, too, have been born to be His fellow brethren with the same rights and the same glory. Here we can see what a strong message God has for us through His Son. Because of what God did in Him, we can see God’s plan with us. Even though He is the most excellent of all the brethren, we are His brethren in truth, with the same rights and glory. Rom. 8:17, 29.

Therefore the apostle says, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus . . . .” Heb. 3. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” Ch. 12.

Here we can see how the apostle refutes the common misconception that we cannot be like Jesus, that there was something different about Him. “That was Jesus,” they say. And when we say that Paul followed Jesus and exhorts us to follow him as he followed Jesus, we meet the same retort: “Yes, but that was Paul!” They also picture the apostles with halos around their heads. We have no one to follow as long as we reckon that they were different from us. Then God’s message through them is meaningless to us. We see that James fights against that same misconception in his days: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours . . . .” Jas. 5:17. As a result, we can pray as he did, and we can experience answers to our prayers as he did. Jas. 5:17.

Let us now listen to God’s message to us by His Son, and we must give the more earnest heed to His message lest we drift away from it. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation . . . ?” Heb. 2:3. Next, the apostle explains how God will subject all things under the feet of man and that it is men, and not angels, who will rule over the world to come. We can see this work in Jesus’ life. He suffered death for us and was crowned with glory and honor. How He will rejoice when He stands before His Father together with all His brethren whom He has led to glory! Ch. 2.

He is the great Shepherd of the sheep whom God has raised up from the dead, and we are the sheep who follow Him on the same way. Now we are waiting expectantly that the time for us to be raptured—redeemed from all corruption—will soon be here, and we will meet the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, the captain of our salvation, our forerunner, our eldest brother, the most excellent of all. What a glorious future have we who believe!