Jesus was superior to any who came before Him. In Hebrews 1:2-3, the writer said: "Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Let us examine this text more closely.

Appointed heir of all things. Jesus was given to be heir of all things. When? "I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten you. Ask Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." {Psalm 2:7-8} From this passage, we see that Christ would not have qualified to be God's heir had He not been God's Son. Both (son and heir) are part of God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. "According to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." {Ephesians 3:11} This honor was bestowed on Him following His resurrection and ascension back to the Father, where he received glory, honor, a kingdom, and dominion. Because He is God's Son, He is heir of all things. He deserves this honor because He came and fulfilled all of His Father's will.

By whom He made the worlds. Jesus was with God in the beginning. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." {John 1:1-3} God and the Son, along with the Holy Spirit, all participated in the creation of the world. But Jesus was the One through whom the work was done. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." {Colossians 1:15-17} No other could make such claims as those made in the scriptures concerning the Son's place in creation.

Being the brightness of His glory. This is a reference to the Son of God incarnate. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." {Colossians 2:9-10} By doing the things He did to complete His Father's will, and by being obedient to all His Father sent Him to do, the Son reflected His Father's glory. Remember what Jesus told Philip when he asked to see the Father. "...Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." (John 14:9-11} When God sent His own Son into the world, He provided for man a small glimpse into His glorious perfection and character.

Express Image of His Person. "...God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory." {1 Timothy 3:16} This also refers to the divine nature of Christ. It helps us to understand that although He came in the flesh, He is God's Son. Sadly, men have difficulty accepting these facts because they cannot fully understand how God accomplished them. We need to remember the question posed to Abraham concerning the birth of Isaac: "Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." {Genesis 18:14} Let's accept God at His word!

Upholding all things by the word of His power. How powerful are God's words? "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast." {Psalm 33:8,9} By His own word, He still maintains order, harmony, and well-being in the universe. His influence is universal. It affects every created thing. God's words are an expression of His power; for by them, He conforms His creation to His will. When Christ speaks, earthly things can rapidly change. His power can withhold rain; the crops, the grass, and other growing things would quickly wilt away. He can speak, and the flowers grow and become beautiful in the heat and dryness of the world's deserts. If these facts alone are true, how could anyone sustain enough doubt to deny that He is God's Son -- God with us?

When He Himself has purged our sins. How important is Christ's death to man's salvation? Without the shedding of His blood, we would have no hope, no remission for our sins. "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." {Hebrews 9:22} The Old Testament taught this same truth (Leviticus 17:11). Man needed something that could remove the stain of sin from his soul and bring him back into fellowship with God. In the beginning, sin had caused this fellowship to be broken (Genesis 3:22-24). The scriptures clearly teach that this is exactly what Christ did for us.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." {Romans 5:8-10}

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." {Ephesians 1:7}

"Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by whose stripes you were healed." {1 Peter 2:24}

"And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood." {Revelation 1:5}

Sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The Son is at the Father's right hand -- in the highest place of honor. "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself..." {Acts 2:33-34} All authority now resides in the Son (Matthew 28:18). He is the judge before whom all men will stand on the final day (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10). He will continue to reign at the Father's right hand until the end of time here on earth. "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." {1 Corinthians 15:24-26}

The Old Testament prophets prophesied that the Son would do exactly this. "...He came to the Ancient of Days, and He brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom..." {Daniel 7:14} He went back to heaven where he offered His Father the blood that He shed on the cross (Hebrews 9:23-26). No mortal man could possibly compare with the One about whom seven such powerful statements can be made.