The Son is the radiance of God's glory

Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."  I am working through a study on Hebrews, and I came across this verse from chapter 1. This particular section in the study book dealt with verse 3 and particularly the phrase "the Son is the radiance of God's glory". I want to share what I read:


"We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. They are the essence of the sun flowing out of the sun. The round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the sun streaming forth in its radiance. To say that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory is to say that Jesus relates to God the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun. We see God the Father by seeing Jesus. Jesus is the radiance of God streaming down on us so we can see him and experience him and know him."

"The term 'God's glory' had deeper meaning for the original Hebrew recipients of this letter than it does for us today. These Hebrews remembered hearing about the glory cloud of God's presence that lit the sky and led the children of Israel in the desert. It was the tangible presence of God in their midst. And now the writer of Hebrews is saying that Jesus is the ultimate cloud of glory. In fact, Jesus is the fire of God's glory that will not burn or consume us. Jesus enables us to relate to the glory of God in human form."

"Standing in the Temple one day, Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life' (John 8:12). We live in a dark world, and perhaps there are circumstances in your life right now that would cause you to say that your world is very dark. Into the darkness of this world God sent his Son, Jesus, so that we could see and live in the radiance of his glory. Even now, Jesus is the only sure source of light for the dark places in our lives. He brings the radiant light of God's presence into our darkness."


My favorite part of this is the last paragraph. We do live in a dark world, and I have talked with friends lately who are in circumstances in their lives that would cause them to say the world is dark. But because God sent his Son we can see and live in the radiance of God's glory. I pray that my friends as well as myself will remember that Jesus is the only source of light for the dark places that in our lives. Jesus brings the radiant light of God's presence into our darkness. How encouraging and hopeful for us when we are walking in a dark time. We can walk through those dark times with joy and peace because of the radiance of God's glory.