³And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

We learn about God’s nature in a general way through creation. Who can look at a sunset or watch the power of a storm and not be awed by the power and majesty of God? Theologians call this general revelation.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made … (Rom. 1:20, see also Ps. 19:1, etc.)

Special revelation comes by the written communication from God, the Bible. But God has given us a personal revelation, through the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ as the exact representation of God. In Hebrews 1:2, we read that God spoke through the Son (Jesus Christ). The apostle John wrote that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) and that:

. . . the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

The Son is God’s most explicit revelation of Himself; therefore, we’re thinking about something profoundly personal. It is as though creation and the Bible were not enough to reveal the entirety of God’s character. He wanted to show us His very nature by coming into this world as the incarnate God-man. Jesus displays the perfect image of God.

We stand amazed when we consider God’s intension in creating humanity and its implication for Jesus’ incarnation:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:26–27)

We were created to reflect God’s glory perfectly, but through sin we fell from that glory. Now, Jesus, as the perfect human, shows us God’s true image and likeness. Or as our Hebrews passage says, “[Jesus Christ] is the exact representation of His [God’s] nature.” The underlying Greek word for “exact representation” carries the idea of an imprint or engraving. Translators use the word “exact” to make sure we don’t misinterpret the idea as a photographic image or portrait that carries just a good representation of a person. No one would hold on to a photo and ignore the personal presence of the person in the photo. Our passage tells us that Jesus Christ precisely and entirely represents God without any loss of perfection. He is one and the same as Him being imaged.

There is nothing about the nature of God that is not present and revealed in Jesus Christ (see Col. 1:19, 2:9)! Considering that reality, we understand how remarkable this promise is:

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (1 John 3:2)

Adam and Eve, representing all of humanity, wanted to be like God more than just an image of Him (Gen. 3:5-6). They wanted to chart their own course, independent of their Creator. But they lost the privileges that come with being made in the image of God because of their disobedience. Now, we who believe shall gain in eternity what they lost, when we see Jesus! (We are careful to note that we won’t be God since there is one and only One God and Creator of the universe, but we will be like Him!) Is it any wonder that the heart of the faithful longs to be with Him and to spend eternity as God created us to be?

For now, we see Jesus, the exact representation of God’s nature. Therefore, the faithful desire to grow in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. While we don’t see Him with our physical eyes, we see Him with eyes of faith (2 Cor. 5:7). As Peter writes:

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8)

Lord, I rejoice in worshiping You. Though I cannot see You with my physical eyes, my heart overflows with love and adoration. Permit me to say it this way, Lord: You are amazing!