hypostasis

...And He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature...(Hebrews 1:3)

As we have read previously, the author of the epistle to the Hebrews deifies Christ by establishing His role in creation and by declaring Him the "radiance of [God's] glory" (Hebrews 1:2-3). Yet, the writer continues to expound the nature of Christ, for conjoined to this latter proposition is one of the most definitive expressions of Jesus' divinity in the entire epistle: Jesus is "the exact representation of [God's] nature" (1:3, NASB). This phrase is rendered into English multiple ways in a variety of translations, each proclaiming the same truth, that Jesus: "is the express image of [God's] person," "is the exact imprint of [God's] nature," "bears the very stamp of [God's] nature," or is "the very image of [God's] substance" (1:3, KJV/NKJV; 1:3, ESV; 1:3, RSV; 1:3, ASV). Interestingly, the differences in wording are reminiscent of the historical development of some important theological terms, terms that saints of old took great care to formulate in order to most accurately represent the relationship(s) between the God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Though the orthodox position traces back to first generation Christians (and, crucially, to Scripture), disagreement concerning the Person of Christ culminated in the fourth century with what is often termed the Arian Controversy/Heresy. Because of the uniqueness of Christ, many were divided (as people still are today) with respect to how to more or less "categorize" Him in terms of ontology. That is, we can make an ontological distinction between God and non-God, between God and God's creation. Within the latter of these categories we can further distinguish between, for example, angelic beings and human beings (among other things). Those who knew Christ on the earth were wholly convinced of His humanity; they had physically "heard," "seen" and "touched" Him (1 John 1:1). Yet they were additionally assured of His simultaneous other-than-humanness. Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God who is better than the angels (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9; Hebrews 1:2-5). A pressing question immediately arose in the early church, one that we do well to consider today: Who is Jesus the Christ?

In the early part of the 4th century A.D., under an attempt to preserve the "unicity of God," Arius brought "trinitarian speculation" to a head, denying the deity of all but the Father (Davis 1983:61). At the Council of Nicaea, Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria (pictured at right) opposed Arius with what would come to be adopted as the biblically affirmed catholic faith in regard to the Person of Christ: Christ shares, and is, the same being as the Father. Eventually, the terms that developed to maintain a proper and biblically-founded Christology were "hypostasis" (cf. Hebrews 1:3) and "being/essence (ousia)" in the East, and "person" and "substance" in the West. Using a modified philosophical term, Athanasius confirmed that Jesus was "one in being (homoousia)" with the Father, and this confession is preserved in the Nicene Creed, which states:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the Only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
one in Being with the Father

As a result, the orthodox view of the early church affirmed that God exists in three hypostases but one being (ousia), in three Persons but one substance.
Returning to the epistle to the Hebrews, we see its author maintaining the same Christology: Jesus Christ is "the exact representation of [God's] nature," "the exact imprint of [God's] nature," "the very image of [God's] substance" (Hebrews 1:3, NASB, ESV, and ASV). Although we may be tempted to dismiss such discussion as too abstract, we find concrete relevance of this eternal truth in the ability of the Incarnate God to bring about our salvation, as Jesus is He who "made purification for our sins" (1:3).

References
Davis, L.D. (1983). The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

radiance of God's glory

...And He is the radiance of God's glory...(Hebrews 1:3)

After declaring that Jesus is He "whom [God] appointed all things, through whom [God] also made the world," the author of Hebrews conjoins yet another attribute of Christ in the proposition that "[Jesus] is the radiance of [God's] glory" (Hebrews 1:3). We do well to ask, "What does this statement claim about the nature of God?" And, "What does this statement claim about the nature of Christ?" Importantly, how can this be said of Jesus, who walked the earth in human flesh, when God alone is uniquely glorious (that is, unique in the glory that He possesses and that radiates from Him)? Not surprisingly, we find yet another attribute that deifies Christ, posing a superficial dilemma to Christian monotheism and its Jewish foundation. Again, we conclude that this is non-contradictory when we consider the New Testament teaching that Jesus, who is a distinct Person from the Father, is as the Nicene Creed affirms "one in being with the Father," and both are God.
Bearing in mind the deity of Christ is fundamental to understanding the attribute that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory. For, in this manner we can truly see the nature of God perfectly manifested in the Person of Christ. Moreover, to this end, an encounter with Christ is the equivalent to encountering the Father. As Jesus said to Philip the apostle, "He who has seen the Me has seen the Father" and also "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:9, 11). Philip's initial desire that Jesus "show [them] the Father," evidencing his confusion, should not surprise us, for as John writes, "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18a). Yet, Jesus maintains that if we see Him we see the Father, for, being in truth "the only begotten God," Jesus has declared the Father and has made Him known (John 14:9; 1:18b). Similarly, Paul writes of Jesus that "He is the image of the invisible God," and that "in the face of Christ" we see God's glory (Colossians 1:15a; 2 Corinthians 4:6; see also 2 Corinthians 4:4).
In the epistle to the Hebrews, the writer constantly brings to our attention the divine and exalted nature of Christ so that we can be assured of Christ's supremacy, as it is ontologically grounded (that is, it derives from His being). This, in turn, gives substance to our hope in Christ as the one in whom we can trust as the author and perfecter of our faith, and the guarantor of our salvation.

without Him nothing was made

...in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world...(Hebrews 1:2)

After declaring that Jesus has been "appointed [by God] heir of all things," the author of Hebrews turns to a second attribute of Christ: through Him God made the world (Hebrews 1:2). The writer asserts that Jesus possesses a unique role in the creation of the universe, that of co-creation with God (which we will discuss further below). So, with regard to the Person of Christ in light of the Incarnation, He necessarily existed prior to becoming human Himself as well as existing before all of creation (including humanity) in general. The nature of Christ, then, or who He is in His Person, is a key focus of the attributes mentioned in Hebrews 1:2-4.
When we consider the claim of Jesus' involvement in the creation of the universe, and what that implies about His nature, in a Jewish context (since the New Testament operates on the foundation of the Old, and since the author of Hebrews claims continuity with prior revelation), it is clear that this impinges upon the notion that God, who is "one," initially created (creatio originans, 'originating creation') the universe by an omnipotent act of speaking (see Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4). Additionally, God is seen as the sole active sustainer (creatio continuans, 'continuing creation') of the the entirety of creation (see, e.g., Psalm 104; Copan and Craig 2004). As a result, for someone to claim that any additional being or person experiences this type of creative role is the equivalent of deifying that entity or person. The writer of Hebrews, in accordance with New Testament Christology, applies both types of creation, creatio originans and creatio continuans, to Christ. In order to resolve the dilemma posed by claiming continuity with Old Testament Judaism and its conceptualization of God, two conclusions can be made: either the New Testament claims entail polytheism and are therefore blasphemous, or the New Testament claims are entirely accurate and entail the divinity of Jesus. I argue that the latter is the correct position (that is, the one that is in accordance with the reality of God).
The reason that the proposition of Christ's divinity can be seen as completely compatible with early Jewish monotheism is that the New Testament writers do not view Christ as a second God, but instead a second Person of one God. For this reason the apostle John writes in his prologue:

[i]n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being [...] And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, as of the only begotten from the Father [...] No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:1-3, 14, 18, NASB)

So, similar to what we find in Hebrews, the Incarnate Christ was "with God" in the beginning and, more profoundly, "was [Himself] God." Because of the deity of Christ, the writer of Hebrews states that "through [Him] God made the world" (Hebrews 1:2). That is, "[a]ll things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). Or, as Paul writes,

by [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible [...], all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17)

With this in mind as we read Hebrews, we can rest in the words that God has spoken through Christ, knowing that God is directly revealing God to us through Him.

References
Copan, P. and Craig, W. L. (2004). Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic and Apollos.

heir of all things

...in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things...(Hebrews 1:2)

Upon mentioning the Son of God, the author of Hebrews turns to a series of attributes that relate to the Person and work of Jesus. Namely, the Son is He 1) whom God has appointed heir of all things, 2) through whom God made the world, 3) who is the radiance of God's glory and 4) who is the exact representation of God's nature, 5) who upholds all things by the word of His power, 6) who made purification of sins, 7) who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and 8) who has become better than the angels, having inherited a more excellent name than they (Hebrews 1:2-4). Each of these attributes serves as the foundation for the Christology that the author develops throughout the letter.
In the first of these descriptions of Christ, the author maintains that God has "appointed [Him] heir of all things" (1:2). Superficially, one might mistake this action of "appointing" to indicate a qualitative difference between the Person of the Father and the Person of the Son with regard to divinity. Put another way, if Christ is God, how can He be "appointed" to a position (i.e., "heir of all things") by another? Would He not, by His own divine nature, already be over "all things"? The question brings up a valid concern, but if taken seriously, ignores or dismisses the fulness of biblical revelation with regard to the Person and work of Jesus, and the Person and work of God.


As we will see as we continue in Hebrews, the author of Hebrews and other New Testament writers maintain that they are constant with prior revelation from God in their claim that Christ is divine, in that He not only is from God but is also of the same being and essence (1:3a; see also Colossians 1:15, 19; 2:9; also John 1:1-2, 18, NASB). Accordingly, when we read or declare that Jesus was "appointed" by God to be "heir of all things," we are not diminishing either the nature of God or the nature of Jesus. Rather, we are describing the particular filial relationship that holds between two Persons of the Triune God. The Father, who is not the Son but is God, "appointed" the Son, who is not the Father but is God, "heir of all things" (see inserted picture above).
To properly understand (as fully as we are able) a notion like the Son being "appointed heir of all things," we have to bear in mind the dual nature of Christ who, by His eternal nature is fully God, and, by His own volition is fully human. Christ has been "appointed" heir of all things, in short, so that God may be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28; see also Colossians 3:11). The Incarnate Deity, wholly able to sympathise with fallen humanity in order to serve as our faithful High Priest, has come to redeem and restore all of creation to a right relationship with God that we might enter in to God's holy presence (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16). So, God the Son humbled and emptied Himself to be made in the likeness of humankind, so that by His work He might be made "heir of all things" (see Philippians 2:5-11). Though co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, the Son chose to subordinate Himself, and as a faithful servant and heir will subject all things to God, so that God might be all in all, with the end that "all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father" (1 Corinthians 15:28; John 5:23).

to us in His Son (part 1 of 2)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in theses last days has spoken to us in His Son...(Hebrews 1:1-2)

After introducing us to the proposition that God has spoken, the writer of Hebrews refines this claim in two ways. First, highlighting the historical authenticity and continuity of God's communication to humankind through the Scriptures, the author reminds the audience that "God [...] spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways" (Hebrews 1:1, NASB). Second, and foundational to the argumentation of Hebrews, the author declares that God "has in these last days spoken to us in His Son" (1:2). Accordingly, Jesus, the Son of God, is the ultimate means by which God has communicated His final, authoritative, divine, and living words to us and to all of humanity. Such claims are not only central tenets of Christian doctrine, but, for the recipients of the Letter to the Hebrews (and to us), the reality of these assertions serves as the substance for their (and our) hope, comfort, faith, and life. For this reason, the first major section of Hebrews ends with an exhortation that we "pay much closer attention to what we have heard [in/through Christ], lest we drift away from it" (2:1, ESV). The finality and reality of God speaking to us through Christ is of such weight that we cannot afford to act towards it with a Laodicean mindset.
The guarantee that God has spoken to us in His Son reveals in part both the nature of God as well as the nature of Christ. Again, as mentioned previously, we see God as an intimate and personal initiator whose words can be trusted because His communication is directly from Himself, for example through prophets and through Christ. Moreover, with regard to Jesus, God's Son, we see the perfection of God's spoken expression. For the writer of Hebrews, since "[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature," God's word through Christ entails the divinity of Christ, the authority of Christ, and fulfillment in Christ (1:3; see also Colossians 1:15a, 19; 2:9; John 1:1-3, 18).

that God has spoken

God, after He spoke long ago to the father in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son...(Hebrews 1:1-2)

One of the many unique features of the New Testament book of Hebrews is the constant emphasis on the primacy of God. Moreover, the author articulates a doctrine of God that is unmistakably Trinitarian. A principal manner in which we observe the Triune God dynamically active is in the proposition that God has spoken. It is this proposition to which the writer of Hebrews initially turns in order to comfort the reader, providing assurance with regard to the authority and efficacy of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, the author of the letter to the Hebrews begins the "brief word of exhortation" with the reality that God has spoken (Hebrews 13:22; 1:1-2). This terse, though profound, phrase is a bold claim that related not only to the original hearers, but one that bears upon humanity today with urgent immediacy. That is, (especially considering American Christianity) we live in a time in which we can (and sometimes do) easily take the word of God for granted (consider, for example, the multitude of Bibles readily available to us as well as their accessibility). Yet, perhaps now more than ever, we cannot afford to treat God's word with even the slightest amount of indifference. Before I am misunderstood, I do not intend to mean that we are personally apathetic in our approach to God's word as authoritative for our lives. Rather, the notion that God has spoken can become so commonplace in our Christianity that we fail to understand how this reality impinges upon all of humanity, especially in a society whose prevalent postmodernism is characterized by the question, "Indeed, has God said?" (Genesis 3:1) Accordingly, our lives need to be marked by a complete understanding for ourselves and others that God has spoken, and still speaks to us today.
Christianity is, in part, predicated upon a claim to the validity and tangibility of the proposition that God has spoken. As the writer of Hebrews notes, "God [...] spoke long ago to the fathers" (Hebrews 1:1). Such an action implies initiation (agreeing with God's sovereignty), desire for fellowship through communication (acknowledging His personhood), and continuity between past and present (affirming the accuracy and dependability of His word). Undoubtedly, if we consider that God exists, the most reliable means for humankind to ascertain any knowledge about God is if God reveals God to us. Furthermore, we ought to expect consistency and continuity throughout the history of God's creation. Hebrews, and Christianity, declares the actuality of God's communication to humankind and invites us to consider its meaning for our lives. Indeed, God has spoken in the Scriptures, whose anticipatory nature receives climactic fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

what defines humanity

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us" (Tozer 1961:1). So writes A. W. Tozer in an effort to encourage his readers not only to think about God, but to think rightly about God. The implied distinction is of such weight and import that it should not be overlooked easily, for the potential reality of God, or by contrast, the potential reality of non-God, predetermines the reality that directly impinges upon, for example, humankind. I know that it is not a unique claim (though I apologize that I cannot offer a citation) to state that true religion is a balance between orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right action). This is because what we believe intrinsically relates to, and inevitably affects or informs, what we do in and through our lives. Applying this to theology, what we entertain about God necessarily determines how we act and respond to God. Additionally, our thoughts we hold about God, by extension, translate into how we act towards His creation.
If Tozer's declaration is correct, than we do well to devote ourselves to the task of thinking rightly about God which, given the relation between belief and action, leads to (if not already implies) "knowing God," as J. I. Packer puts it (Packer 1973). Notice, however, that Tozer does not write, "God is the most important thing about us," or something of this sort. Again, we should not overlook the implication. In one sense, God is the most important thing about us, since He created us and "in Him we move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Accordingly, our existence cannot make sense apart from Him, a truth that is expressed by the ontological distinction that holds between us. That is, God is by nature distinct from the entirety of creation: God exists a se ("from Himself"), which is "a unique perfection of God," whereas we exist ad ablio ("from another") (Craig 2004:173). God, therefore, informs our reality and existence because He precedes it, initiates it, and substantiates it.
On the other hand, it is one thing to assent intellectually that Christ lived, died and rose from the dead in order to redeem humanity and all of creation to God, and it is another to believe in the validity and actuality of the person and work of Christ and desire its application. So, while God, as the ultimate reality, defines our reality, our response (thinking rightly) to His prior action enables the efficacy of what He has already inaugurated, such as salvation through His Son. If this conceptualization is accurate, then what we think about God is indeed the most important thing about us.
Engaging in theological reflection is therefore a momentous task, which presses upon us with urgent immediacy. In it we either admit to the reality to which we are all predisposed, or we deviate under misconceptions and false illusions that potentially bring about eternal consequences. The one frightening thing about the entire undertaking is the moment of realization that the subject of our inquiry is alive (see Kreeft 2008) and, alive not only in a manner which merely resembles our state of being, but in a manner which defines it.

Craig, W. L., and P. Copan. (2004). Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker and Apollos.
Kreeft, P. (2008). Jesus-Shock. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine's.
Packer, J. I. (1973). Knowing God. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Tozer, A. W. (1961). The Knowledge of the Holy. New York, NY: Harper.