Going Deeper for Life Change

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude ~ Colossians. 2.6.7

A Claim To Be God ~ part 1

Christ Is The Radiance Of God's Glory
by Gil Rugh on Hebrews 1:3
The third fact that demonstrates Christ's superiority is illustrated in
verse 3. The author says, 'And He is the radiance of His glory... .'
Literally, this verse can be translated 'Who being the radiance... ,'
denoting the fact that Christ is constantly the 'glory' of God. He radiates
(literally effulgent, meaning 'shining forth brilliantly') the glory of God.
This idea can be found throughout the Old Testament, and can be
defined as the revelation and character of God.
We have only had glimpses of the glory of God in Christ in Scripture. One
glimpse of this was when Paul was on the road to Damascus, and he was
confronted by the resurrected Christ. Paul is blinded by the awesome display of
glory. Another important aspect concerning the translation of Hebrews 1:3 is
this: we have the first sentence translated, 'And He is the radiance of His glory...
.' However, the original translation was 'And He is the radiance of the glory... .'
Our translators have taken the word 'the' to mean 'His,' which is a possibility.
But the reason it was written as it was is because 'the glory' applies not only to
the Father, but to the Son as well.

Exodus chapter 24 shows us an example of the 'Shikinah Glory' of God. It

was the display of glory of the presence of God. Exodus 24:15 says, 'Then
Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it
for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of
the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the
glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.'
Throughout the Old Testament, this was the way in which God
manifested His glory to the nation Israel.

But in the book of Ezekiel, one sees the departure of the glory of God
from the nation Israel. It is not until Jesus Christ comes to earth, some
500 years later, that the glory of God is again manifested. Now, however,
the glory of God is manifested through the tabernacle of human flesh.

The gospel of John illustrates this truth; 'And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten
from the Father, full of grace and truth.' This is the meaning of
Colossians 2:9 where we are told, 'For in Him all the fullness of Deity
dwells in bodily form.' His glory is manifested through human flesh.

Jesus Himself testified to the fact that He shares equally in the glory of
God; 'I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which
Thou hast given Me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with
Thyself, ' Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world
was' (John 17:4-5). Again, Jesus shares equally in the glory of God with
the rest of the Trinity. However, when He came to earth, that glory was
tabernacled within a human body, and veiled to an extent. But when He
returned to the Father, He returned to the full display of glory that was
His with the Father for all eternity. For a fuller explanation of the Good News of Jesus Christ please go to www.GraceBeToYou.blogspot.com