Who Is Jesus? by James R. Coggins

What do we think of when we hear the name “Jesus”? How do we picture Him? The baby in the manger in Bethlehem? The rabbi walking the streets of Galilee and Judea, preaching good news and healing people?

Hebrews 1:1-4 presents a much different picture, a picture of a cosmic Jesus, a Jesus far greater than His 33 years of life on this earth in human form. First, this passage says that it was through Jesus that God “made the universe”; that is, Jesus, the Son of God, participated with God the Father in the miracle of creation. This means that He predates everything else.

Second, Hebrews says that Jesus “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”; that is, Jesus shows us what God is like because He is, in fact, God.

Third, Hebrews says that Jesus sustains “all things by his powerful word”; that is, He rules and controls the universe and keeps it operating.

Fourth, Hebrews says that Jesus “provided purification for sins”; that is, He paid the penalty for all human sin by dying on the cross, something that only a sinless and all-powerful Being could do.

Fifth, Hebrews says that Jesus “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”; that is, Jesus is on the throne in heaven ruling the universe.

Hebrews thus stresses that Jesus is God, not a mere human, and certainly greater than Jewish expectations of the Messiah.

About jrcoggins

James R. Coggins is a professional writer and editor based in British Columbia, Canada. He wrote his first novel in high school, but, fortunately for his later reputation as a writer, it was never published. He briefly served as a Christian magazine editor (for just over 20 years). He has written everything from scholarly and encyclopedia articles to jokes in Reader’s Digest (the jokes paid better). His six and a half published books include four John Smyth murder mysteries and one other, stand-alone novel. In his spare time, he operates Mill Lake Books, a small publishing imprint. His website is www.coggins.ca

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1 Response to Who Is Jesus? by James R. Coggins

Priscilla Turner says:

August 17, 2023 at 8:00 pm

Cf. this of my late husband’s, Nicene Creed III: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nicene-creed-iii-jesus-son-god-cjg-turner-dr-priscilla-turner/ Of this our pastor said at his funeral that it was the finest sermon he’d ever heard anywhere. I have reproduced it in our Nicene Creed volume:
We Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed
Jacketed HC 6×9: ISBN 9781777171216
HC 8×10.88: ISBN: 9781777171230
SC 5.5×8.5: ISBN 9781775106234

Of this I do have paperback copies available here in Vancouver at my author’s/publisher’s price of CAD6.00.

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