Hebrews 1:2, commentary and pictures

God after speaking in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to humanity by His Son Jesus Christ. By that Son He made the worlds, for Christ is the divine Creator by whose own power all things were made and who existed from the beginning. He appointed that same Son heir of all things, with the dominion and glory of the kingdoms of heaven and earth promised to Him as His great inheritance. The Son is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person, equal with the Father as two distinct personal beings and exalted far above angels and every power. That speaking in the gospel age through Jesus and the apostles establishes different times and persons of speaking but does not shut God from speaking further through whom He wills, and those who hold it teach He now speaks to His people by the Testimonies of His Spirit requiring full obedience.

Speaking in Last Days

After speaking in time past to the fathers by the prophets, God in these last days has spoken to humanity by His Son, Jesus Christ. The Son through whom He has thus spoken is He whom He appointed heir of all things and by whom He made the worlds. He is distinct in person from the Father and distinct from nature, yet holds an exalted position equal with the Father as the Word and first-begotten, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, who upholds all things, purges sins by Himself, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and is superior to the angels. He is one with the eternal Father in purpose and mind while distinct in personality, with all God's counsels open to Him and the treasures of eternity at His command, and to Him was given the work of making a home for man in this world where people are tested and tried. Their unity teaches believers that they can be united without conforming to one another's individuality or expression, like different leaves nourished by one root receiving life from the same source while remaining distinct, with Christ's sacrifice sanctifying their words and purifying their characters.

These last days are the beginning of the gospel age, when God spoke through Jesus and the apostles after His earlier speech to the fathers through the prophets. This establishes that He has spoken at different times through different persons. It does not mean He promised never to communicate further, for He remains free to speak through whom He wills.

In these last days He speaks to His people by the Testimonies of His Spirit, as in ancient times He spoke by the mouth of prophets and apostles. By this He instructs them concerning His will and the course He would have them pursue, more earnestly than at any former time, so that there was never a time when He instructed His people so earnestly as now. That present instruction requires profiting by His teachings, receiving His reproofs, heeding His warnings, and rendering full obedience. God accepts no partial obedience and sanctions no compromise with self.

God has made His revelation to humanity through His Son as divine Teacher and Enlightener in a living representation of Himself and His truth. In Christ He revealed all of God that sinful human beings could bear without being destroyed, and He has given no revelation beyond what He has made known through Christ and His written word. All divine revelation comes through the Son and centers in Him, making known that power belongs to God. In and through the Son coming into the world in incarnation the Father establishes the kingdom of heaven among men, and Christ conveyed God's revelation to John, including truth about the closing events of earth's history. Therefore the Son is to be worshiped as Life-giver and served alone, without trusting in man, making flesh our arm, or depending on human guidance.

Appointed Heir of All

God appointed His Son heir of all things, with the dominion and glory of the kingdoms of heaven and earth and of this world promised to Him as His great inheritance in heaven and earth. The Son through whom God made the worlds is the one through whom He has spoken in these last days, distinct from the Father yet exalted and equal with Him with all His counsels open to Him. A true view of that great work accomplished by giving His Son turns people from pleasure-seeking and frivolity to realize the meaning of the great salvation offered through Jesus Christ, which is eternal life to everyone who receives it.

As heir the Son holds a position equal with God Himself and above every power and principality, with supreme authority that is boundless and ample and complete. Jesus gained His great inheritance of the kingdoms of heaven and of earth through suffering and conflict. He fulfilled the work for which He came and wrested the kingdom from Satan, and with boundless authority He was on His way to God's throne to receive honor from the heavenly host. On the authority of that heirship He issued to His chosen disciples the commission to teach all nations. He turned their thought from Himself personally to the importance of His position and the ampleness of His authority.

Though heir of all things, including the dominion and glory of the kingdoms of the world, when He came to earth He had no riches or outward splendor. The world did not recognize His union with the Father or the glory of His divine character, but despised and rejected Him and regarded Him as afflicted and smitten by God. Though heir of all things and the only-begotten Son, He did not live in idleness or self-indulgence but chose a life of service and self-denial. Though Author of all riches and Heir of all things, He gave all He possessed and His life to save guilty souls who could not save themselves, giving His life for the sins of the world and pardoning even the dying thief while dying on the cross, and He now asks those He has saved for their service.

As heir He was sent last to Israel after the abused messengers to call for fruit in its season and was lifted on the cross of Calvary. That lifting up stands as a warning lesson for those who now share the privileges once given to ancient Israel to profit by the parable, bear fruit, and not harden the heart in impenitence. Those who acknowledge loyalty to God become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. Their eternal reward is richer than earthly possessions and ends in enduring glory, though the world does not recognize their adoption into God's family, their fellowship with the Father and the Son, their calling, or their future inheritance, seeing only their humiliation and reproach.

Creator of the Worlds

By the Son God made the worlds, for Christ is the divine Creator by whose own divine power all things were made, not merely a participant in creation, who existed before the worlds were made and existed from the beginning. The same Christ who made the worlds is the appointed heir of all things, one with the Father, whose denial of preexistence and divinity denies who He is. The Father and the Son worked together in the mighty, wondrous work of creating the world which they had planned, the Son acting in union with the Father to carry out the Father's will and not independently, with the living God working through His Son by divine power belonging to Him. Jesus the Son of God united with the Father in making the world and is the Author of created nature.

The earth came forth from the Creator's hand exceedingly beautiful, like a noble palace with pure and healthful air, its surface diversified with regular and beautiful hills, mountains and plains adorned with plants and flowers and tall, majestic trees many times larger and much more beautiful than trees now are. Rivers and other bodies of water were regularly dispersed, and bare high rocks were never seen upon the hills but lay beneath the surface answering as bones to the earth. Angels beheld and rejoiced at the wonderful and beautiful works of God. Through Christ God created man in the image of God and Christ and endowed him with intelligence and power, the human body made in God's image becoming a living, breathing being when God gave it the breath of life.

Christ created and upholds all things by His infinite power and the word of His power, and the Father and the Son continually care for and sustain every world, preserving the order of unseen worlds. In His divine person Christ's mediatorial work joins the created and the Uncreated and the finite and the Infinite, raising humanity from ruin, opening a way for the disobedient to return to God, confirming the innocent loyalty of beings in other worlds and safeguarding those who remain pure and preserving inhabitants of other worlds from sin. When found in fashion as a man Jesus had a realizing sense of the world's needs and employed His human, God-given powers for the benefit of men, while in every act of mercy and healing He drew upon that same divine power that made the worlds. That same aid flows out from Christ to all who consecrate their powers to His service and desire His Spirit, bringing the character and perfection of God and Christ before the world.

The same Christ who made the worlds proclaimed the law from Sinai, so the law is not separate from Christ or limited to the Jewish dispensation. As Creator He brought heaven's knowledge among humanity, so studying science and nature without divine instruction misses truths in the natural world essential to the soul's salvation. The Son who made the worlds came to earth, laid aside His royal position, took humanity's weakness, stood at humanity's head to pay the ransom for salvation and develop a faultless character through obedience to God's law. Though Creator and upholder He humbled Himself and bore sin's guilt and shame, whose self-giving love will remain a cause of wonder and adoration to the redeemed through eternity. Though angels honor and obey Him as Creator, He is tender toward children and deeply sympathetic to the suffering of the people He came to save.

Father, Son, and Angels

Hebrews 1:2 reveals a personal God the Father and a personal Christ the Son as two distinct individual persons and personalities, distinct from each other and distinct from nature. In these last days God has spoken to humanity through His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the worlds, and the following description of the Son as the brightness of the Father's glory and express image of His person confirms that Father and Son are two distinct personalities. The Son is distinct from the Father yet holds an exalted position equal with the Father, with all God's counsels open to Him. Together with the surrounding verses the verse presents Jesus as distinct in person from the Father while one with Him in purpose and mind.

The Son is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, purging sins by Himself, and sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This proves His oneness with God and equality with God and His superiority to the angels. With the treasures of eternity at His command He has authority to dispose of them and to promise reward in heaven to those who suffer for His name.

He holds an exalted position equal with the Father as the Word and the first-begotten, one with the eternal Father in nature, character and purpose. He has access to all God's counsels, alone could enter into all God's counsels and purposes, and all heaven gave Him allegiance equally with the Father. The Father created all heavenly beings through Him.

The Father appointed the Son to supreme authority and command in heaven to command the heavenly host, and the angels were required to submit to His authority. The Son shares the Father's authority and carries out the Father's will, acting in union with the Father and not independently, working with Him in creating the earth and every living thing. Satan rebelled because he would not accept Christ's command and wanted equality with God, though Christ's high position was given by God.

Nature is not God and has no power in itself except what God supplies. As His created work nature only bears testimony to His power and to His continual working in upholding what He created. God is in nature without nature being God, and created things around us were made for our enjoyment and serve as object lessons of God's power to save us.

Father and Son are one in purpose and mind yet distinct in personality. Their unity teaches believers they can be united without having to conform to one another's individuality or way of expressing themselves. Like different leaves nourished by one root, they can remain distinct while receiving life from the same source, with Christ's sacrifice sanctifying their words and purifying their characters.

Light for Believers

Hebrews chapter one should be studied carefully to gain an individual knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, for that knowledge is essential to salvation and to eternal life. Scripture presents Christ as its central theme and as the light of the world, and studying it brings heavenly illumination. Studying with a teachable spirit brings light about His character, about God's requirements to be Christlike, about redemption, about His divinity and atonement, and about the work of the Holy Spirit.

The great and grand work accomplished by giving His Son includes appointing the Son as inheritor of everything and creating the universe through Him. A true view of that work turns people from pleasure-seeking and frivolity to realize the meaning of the great salvation offered through Jesus Christ. That salvation is eternal life to everyone who receives it. Simple belief in the Lord Jesus Christ gives life, peace, safety and satisfaction, making life bright and the future brighter, with hope of seeing Him as He is in brightness beyond this life.

Christ's ministry is to be kept before people, and they are to look to Him as the source of efficiency and power rather than depending on human guidance. The Son is to be worshiped as Life-giver and served alone, without trusting in man or making flesh our arm.