Today’s Encouragement is Hebrews 1:3a ESV He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
The Exact Imprint –
Sometimes we might mistakenly think that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New. That He was a ‘God of Wrath’ in the Old, who became a ‘God of Love’ in the New.
But we also must acknowledge that God never changes! (Num. 23:19)
Consider… God is Perfect; therefore, His Love is Perfect, and His Justice, and also His Wrath are Perfect. (We don’t really understand ‘Perfect’ anything – because we are so far from it ourselves!)
But His perfect wrath means – when He was certain that these people were not going to turn from their sin – when their sin was at its full extent… He acted, in complete perfect wisdom and justice. And the Flood came. And nations were destroyed completely.
His judgments are always Right! There is nothing unfair or cruel or unkind in God’s Justice!
Now consider Jesus… He is the ‘Exact Imprint’ of the nature of God. He perfectly portrays God’s character. When we experience Jesus in the New Testament, we are seeing God Himself revealed to us.
And the primary characteristic of Jesus Christ was/is Love.
For God so Loved (John 3:16)
Love remains forever (1 Cor. 13:13)
He had compassion for people (Matt. 9:36)
Jesus came to reveal to us the nature of God (Heb 1:3)
And God IS Love (1 John 4:8)
Thank You Father that so many of the innumerable aspects of Your Nature are revealed in the Bible. And You chose to be described, even defined, by this one feature… Your Love! Thank You.
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
Fernando Ortega
Today’s Encouragement 