Verse of the Day

Footnotes

1. Hebrews 1:1 From the opening words to the final “Amen” (Heb 13:21), readers are to keep their gaze fixed on Christ. In this magisterial sentence, “God . . . has spoken to us through his Son” (Heb 1:2), which is one of the most tightly packed and beautiful of the entire New Testament, the essence of the Letter is expressed.
   God has spoken definitively in Christ, who is his real, living Word. Everything that can be said about the plan of God is made fully real in Christ. Using expressions taken from Alexandrian thought, the author says that the Son, born of the Father, is in every respect equal to him; the glorified Christ is far superior to the world of the angels, and he gives existence and salvation to every creature.
   Thus, seven great theological themes are set forth: (1) Theism: God exists; (2) Revelation: God has revealed himself through the Prophets and through his Son; (3) Incarnation: God became man in Jesus Christ; (4) Creation: God created all things through Christ; (5) Providence: God upholds all things by his almighty word; Redemption: by his mediatorship and his suffering Christ made salvation possible; and Ascension: the Lord Jesus has ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.
2. Hebrews 1:1 Through the Prophets: this refers not only to the Prophets but to all the writers of the Old Testament, for they constituted the preparation for the coming of Christ.