R663 Presenting The Son Pt.2

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilson. We're going to be in one of the most exciting Bible studies one could ever imagine. Turn with me to Hebrews in chapter 1, the book of Hebrews in chapter 1.

May I present to you the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 1, you need your Bibles. Turn with me there to verse 1. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son, whom God appointed heir of all things, and through whom God made the universe.

Now watch verse 3. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the radiance of God's glory. He is the exact representation of His being. He is sustaining all things by His powerful word.

Now listen to what I'm about to say. May the Lord write His word on our hearts. Can I just read the last part of that verse again? Jesus Christ is sustaining all things by His powerful word. May the Lord Jesus Christ write His word upon our hearts.

The Lord Jesus Christ, superior in all things. Number one, we have discovered that He is the heir of all things. Number two, right there in verse 2, He is the maker of all things. But there is a third dynamic that is introduced here in the heart of God that is remarkable.

Listen to what God's word teaches us by His Spirit and through His word. God tells us, number three, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory. Now I want you to just think about these two words for just a moment. Radiance and glory. And I'm just going to simply submit to you as we begin to think about what this means concerning Jesus Christ. That God's glory is His radiance. And God's radiance is His glory. You talk about the glory of God, you talk about the radiance of God. If you talk about the radiance of God, you are talking about the glory of God. Now into the scheme of things, God tells us something that is remarkable beyond human comprehension. God informs us that Jesus Christ is not only the heir of all things, He's not only the maker of all things, but He is the radiance of God's glory. Now what do you suppose God means by this?

Well, three things amongst many others, no doubt. Number one, it means that Jesus Christ is the transmitter of God's glory. Now I want you to just think about this word to transmit right now. If you go right here into the original language, you're going to find that the Greek word that we deal with, that concerns radiance, literally means translated directly to send forth light. Now who is God? God is light. And there is a sense, if you will beg my pardon, please understand when I make a statement like this, that I'm begging the Lord God in heaven by His grace to allow me to make a statement concerning what God says, that I'm going to submit to you that there is a sense in which God from before the foundation of the world gathered to Himself His only Son, Jesus Christ, who is God and said to Him, Son, I have something for you to do.

And the Son said to the Father, What is it, Father? And He said, I want you to send forth My light. I am the light of the world and I want you to be the transmitter of all that I am.

Now I want you to hold on, hold on, nobody leave. Because it means in the second place, the radiance of God's glory, that Jesus Christ is not only the transmitter of the glory of God, but it means in the second place that Jesus Christ is the mediator of God's glory. Now watch this, because Jesus Christ was willing to be obedient even unto the death of the cross, because the angels in heaven were able to say, Behold the light of the world. Because Jesus Christ made, because of His sacrifice upon the cross, He provided purification for sin because He has conquered death and because He is now seated at the right hand of majesty in heaven, He has the right of Almighty God to be the transmitter and the mediator of God's glorious light. He is the radiance of God's glory. And if He has the ability to transmit God's glory, it means that His ability to transmit brings the glory of God to man and His ability to mediate means that He has the ability to bring man to God's glory.

I love it. Folks, watch what happened in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the radiance of the glory of Almighty God. He is the transmitter. He brings the glory of God to man because He became man. But because of His death upon the cross, He is now the mediator of the glory of God.

He is now and we are now able to be reconciled to the Father because He brings man into the glory of God. When God tells us that Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory, He is not only transmitter and mediator, but He is the expresser of God's glory. What does that mean? It means that Jesus Christ is the full expression of God in human history. That's what it means. Friends, I want to tell you again, I don't want to beat an old drum, but when people tell me that I can be religious, but I need to back off on Jesus Christ, I cannot do it.

Do you know why? Because Jesus Christ is the full expression of God in human history and outside of Jesus Christ, you and I are nothing and we have nothing. He is the expresser of God's glory.

What does that mean? It means first that Jesus Christ reveals God. If He expresses God to me, if that is an essential component of the radiance of God's glory, it means He reveals God. It means, number two, that He communicates God. He communicates God, the heart and the holiness of God.

It means, number three, that He expresses God. I want you to just imagine I've got a grape in my hand here for a moment. If I take a little grape and I squeeze it, what comes out of it?

Grape juice, in case any of you are struggling. Now folks, listen. God tells us that Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory. That means He transmits God's glory. He mediates God's glory. He expresses God's glory. And as the expresser of God's glory, He reveals God and He communicates God, but He expresses God's glory in the sense that Jesus Christ is God in heaven from before the foundation of the world being squeezed out upon this earth. And boy, was Jesus squeezed out when He took upon Himself the ability to reduce the Godhead to the birth canal of a mere mortal woman.

What a sacrifice. But if He is the expresser of God's glory, He not only reveals God and communicates God and expresses God, but He emits God as if under pressure. And He also sends something special from God. Don't you love it when there's a knock on your door and it's birthday or anniversary and you open it and there's some fellow standing there and he says, Special delivery.

And you look and there's that beautiful array of flowers or there's that special gift from a special friend and it's been brought, it's been delivered specially for you. When the angels of God came down from heaven, they made an announcement concerning the radiance of God's glory, the light which had been sent forth from heaven above and they said, This is the beloved Son of God who has expressed the very glory of Almighty God in heaven. Somebody say, Amen. Woo!

You would have thought the way I watched a little bit of football on television yesterday that the most important thing was whether my team won the game. I want to tell you something, my friends, when God tells us these things, this is shouting time. Well, it seems remarkable because God tells us not only is He the radiance of God's glory, but number four, He is the image of God.

Now folks, you're going to need to listen to this. Look with me here at verse three. Everybody, look at verse three.

Listen to what God says here. He says, The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and I love this, this really gets to me. He is the exact representation of God's being.

I'm interested to know that that word representation is the word icon, E-I-K-O-N. And we know what that means, an icon is an image. But did you notice here that God by His Spirit in His Word is not saying that Jesus Christ is just an image? He doesn't look like God.

Ha ha ha ha! The old Gnostics, do you know what they believe? They believe that Jesus Christ was just the appearance of God. God here is saying to us, listen, I want to tell you something. I'm not talking about some dumb old idol.

I'm not talking about a replica or a monument. I'm not telling you that Jesus Christ kind of sort of resembles the Father which is in heaven. He says to you, I want you to know something about my Son in whom I am well pleased, that the Son of the living God is the exact, exact image of the very being of all that I am.

No wonder that Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen my Father which is in heaven. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with more of today's great teaching from Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment, but he insists I interrupt to let you know we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you and connect with you both online and on our phone line, 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 or online at tewonline.org where you'll discover great resources like this. Believers around the world are asking these questions. Is Jesus about to come back? Is this the end of the world? Join Dr. Wilton as he answers these questions straight from God's Word in his message, Is This the End? Also, as a bonus, you will receive The King is Coming by Erwin Lutzer, renowned theologian and friend. Both of these ministry resources will greatly bless, motivate, and encourage you in anticipation of our Lord Jesus' return. Be assured, God has everything under control.

He is our living hope. Call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 and request Is This the End? in the bonus book, The King is Coming for yourself or your friend today. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting The Encouraging Word. Now it's time to spread the gospel. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. You want to know about my father?

Look at me. Boy, those old Pharisees, did they get upset. I mean, what right does this man have to call himself the Son of God? You want me to tell you what right? By God's right.

By God's authority. Because He is God. He is the very image of God. Now what does it mean?

It means two things. It means number one, that He is the exact portrait of God. And if He is the exact portrait of God, it means that Jesus Christ is the physical exactness of God. If He is the image of God exactly and the portrait of God, He is the optical exactness of God.

Listen to me, beloved friends today, ladies and gentlemen. If Jesus Christ is the optical exactness of God, it means that Jesus Christ, to use a human terminology, Jesus Christ has been constructed to assist in the sight of that which is true. If He is the exact portrait of God, He is the physical exactness of God. He is the optical exactness of God. He is the counterpart of God's exactness. He is the description of God's exactness. He is not only the exact portrait of God, He is the exact reproduction of God. I tell you one of the most horrific things that is sweeping this world today is the matter of cloning.

I want to make an announcement from the heart of God. I'm not a scientist, I'm not a brilliant man, I know nothing about anybody, but I'm going to tell you what cloning is all about, my friends. Cloning is simply the sinfulness of mankind who have the audacity to stand up and say, I will prove to God once and for all that there is other apart from Him. I want to prove to God that man has the ability to create and recreate and duplicate the image of God and there is a sense in which God is standing in the portals of heaven and saying, I alone am creator and I want to tell you there is only one who is like unto me and that is my Son and He is the exact image of my being.

That's what God says. You see, my friends, if Jesus Christ is the exact reproduction of God, it means simply that when you look at Jesus Christ, you look at God. If Jesus Christ is the exact reproduction of God, it means that when you listen to Jesus Christ and when you listen to Him speak, you hear a word from God. It means that when you see Jesus Christ's love, you watch God. If Jesus Christ is the exact reproduction of God, it means that when you observe Him minister, you are being impacted by God.

It means that when you are touched by Him, you are being touched by the hand of God. Jesus Christ is superior. Well, there's a fifth thing that the Bible teaches us. The Bible tells us that He is the sustainer of all things. Look there at verse 3 with me.

Remarkable. Now, friends, I want you to just listen. Concentrate for a moment. Get your Bible out and let this just soak into you. If you and I, beloved people, as born-again believers who love Jesus Christ and who believe in His Word, if we get this, if we understand what it is that God is saying to us, it will radically transform our walk with Him.

It will make us into the kinds of disciples that God expects us to be. What does He tell us here? He says that Jesus Christ is the sustainer of all things, and by the way, for those of you that are into languages, that is present continuous tense. He is the sustainer continuous present tense. That means that from before the foundation of the world, He was sustaining. When He came to this earth, He continued to sustain. After He died, He continued to sustain. When He was seated at the right hand of majesty in heaven, His work continues.

Why? Because He is the sustainer of all things by His powerful Word. What does it mean that He is the sustainer of all things? It means two things that are so profound they're hard to speak about. Number one, it means that Jesus Christ alone guarantees the continuance of all things. And it means, number two, that Jesus Christ alone guarantees the constancy of all things. Now, friends, if you're going to talk about two things that Jesus Christ sustains, you have to talk about continuance, and you've got to talk about constancy. The first thing you've got to understand is creation, that Jesus Christ created all things because He was the agent through whom God created the earth. But once having created all things, who guarantees the continuance and the constancy of God's creation? How does everything stay in place? Well, God tells us.

We don't need a scientist to work this out. And if Jesus Christ guarantees the continuance and the constancy, there are three things that are guaranteed. Number one, He will not disrupt God's plan for the ages. Number two, He will not relinquish His sustaining power over the universe. If Jesus Christ guarantees constancy and continuance, I will tell you this, that He will not disrupt God's plan for the ages, and He will not relinquish His sustaining power over the universe.

And number three, He will not suspend the laws of God. Think about it. Consider just for a moment what instant destruction would happen if the earth's rotation slowed down for just that much, just a little bit. We know because of all of our schooling that the sun has a surface temperature of about 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, friends, listen. If the sun were any closer to us, we would all burn up. If the sun were just a little bit further away from us, we would all freeze. Our globe is tilted on an exact angle of 23 degrees.

Why? We are provided with four seasons, summer, winter, autumn, and spring. If the moon, I want you to think about this, if the moon did not retain its exact distance, if the earth and the moon were not positioned where they are, if the sun was not so tilted by the hand of God, vapors from the ocean would move north and south and develop into monstrous continents of ice. Think about the moon. If the moon didn't retain its exact distance from the earth, the ocean tides would inundate this land completely twice a day. After the first flooding, of course, it wouldn't matter to us anymore because we wouldn't be here. The whole earth would flood. We would drown. If the ocean floors were merely a few feet deeper than what they are, the carbon dioxide and the oxygen, the balance of the earth's atmosphere would be completely upset, turned on its head, and no animals or plants or humans could live. If the atmosphere did not remain and retain its current present destiny and density, let me tell you what happens if the density of the earth's atmosphere changes. Even one iota, but it thinned out just a little bit. Many of the meteors, which now harmlessly burn up when they hit the atmosphere, would constantly bombard us.

We would be living in meteor bomb shelters. And God has an announcement to make. He says that Jesus Christ sustains all things by the power of his word.

Folks, listen. Jesus Christ is superior. Jesus Christ is preeminent.

What is God trying to tell us here? God is trying to tell us that Jesus' preeminent power sustains the earth, and Jesus' preeminent grace monitors the earth. Jesus Christ is the principle of cohesion.

He is the power of suspension. Jesus Christ is the partner in all of earth's dimensions. I want to submit to you today, my friends, that the whole earth hangs on the arm of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? Now let me ask the question. Is there anything that you need to share with the Lord today?

That is the challenge, isn't it? We've been studying God's Word together. Has the Lord stirred something in your heart that you need to come to the Lord with today? It could be the access to the Lord is what you need. He's ready to receive you right where you are.

I pray you've heard Dr. Don as he's been teaching, but now it would open your heart to what he wants to share with you next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin, and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name, my friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news. It's been a powerful day of studying God's Word, and perhaps in the last few moments you have given your life to Christ or rededicated your life, along with Dr. Wilton moments ago.

If so, you need to know we are excited to see what God's going to do next in strengthening your life and strengthening your faith. Dr. Wilton has prepared unique resources that he wants you to have absolutely free if you'll call us at 866-899-WORD. We'd love to send these out to you today. That's 866-899-9673, or if you'd rather, you can connect with us on our website as well at TEWONLINE.org. While you're there, discover more about who we are. The Encouraging Word is a broadcast that's rooted in this type of biblically-based teaching, and we believe that this needs to be shared with more and more people, and we're doing that because of your prayer support and financial support. Discover how you can get involved on our website at TEWONLINE.org. The Encouraging Word