Dr. Dan Hayden •
Thank God for radiation. The rays of the sun penetrate through the atmosphere of earth to bring us warmth and light. Without radiation there wouldn’t be any life on earth.
In Hebrews 1:3 it says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is “The radiance of God’s glory.”
Actually, this is a compound word in the Greek text. It’s a verb that means “to beam forth or to shine,” with a preposition added to it that means “away from.” So, the whole word has the idea of “beaming away from something.”
In the Greek classics, it is used of “light beaming from a lamp.” “Radiance”–that’s what it means. As the rays of the sun radiate away from the sun to their mission of giving us life on earth, so Jesus Christ is the radiance of God’s glory. He radiates the very glory of God from heaven to earth, bringing us life and the warmth of God’s love.
When you got a sunburn, what do you think gave it to you? Was it the sun, or the rays of the sun? That’s crazy, you say… you can’t distinguish between the two. The rays of the sun and the sun are the same thing.
Well, Christ is to the Father what the rays of the sun are to the sun. He is the radiance of God’s glory. And it is just as impossible to separate Christ’s glory from the nature of God. Without the radiance of God’s mercy and grace from God to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, there would be no eternal life. “Radiance.”
Thank God for the radiance of His glory in Jesus Christ!