Now we are ready to see the Son. Hebrews chapter one reveals two main things concerning the Son—His person and His work.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, being absolutely in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had the wisdom to say that the Son is the effulgence of God’s glory (1:3). The effulgence of God’s glory is like the shining or brightness of the rays of the sun. The Son is the shining, the brightness of God’s glory. Can you separate the effulgence from the glory? This is like separating the shining of the sun from the rays of the sun. It cannot be done, for the shining and the rays are one. Consider the example of electric lights. Can we say that light is one thing and electricity is another? Absolutely not. Light is simply the expression of electricity. Electricity is a mystery. Has anyone ever seen electricity? Although it is a mystery, it is nevertheless a reality. How can you tell that electricity is in a certain room? By looking at the lights. Light is the effulgence of the glory of electricity. Likewise, we should never consider the Son as separate from God. The Son is the expression of God Himself.
There are some so-called Christians who do not believe that Christ is God. That is the greatest blasphemy against the Lord Jesus. Our Lord is nothing less than God. He is God Himself. When I was in Manila in 1950, a group of so-called Christians who do not believe that Christ is God was very prevailing there. Some of their people turned to the Lord’s recovery. One day four representatives from that group came to see me: two attorneys, one medical doctor, and a teacher. They came with their Bibles to try to defeat me. The first question they asked was, “Mr. Lee, how can you say that Christ is God?” I replied, “How can you say that Christ is not God? You answer me first and then I’ll answer you. Tell me where it says in the Bible that Christ is not God.” They answered, “We cannot show you a verse that says that Christ is not God. Nevertheless, you should not guess that Christ is God.” I told them that I was not guessing and proceeded to quote John 1:1. Immediately they said, “This verse says that the Word was God, but it does not say that Christ is God.” I said, “What kind of people are you? Do you have a sound mind? Tell me, who is the Word?” They answered, “The Word is the Word. The Word is not Christ.” Then I said, “Don’t you have verse 14 which says that the Word became flesh?” They replied, “That is the flesh. That is not Christ.” I said, “I do not have time for this kind of twisting. What you speak is nonsense.” Although they tried to be devilishly humble with me and asked me to be patient with them, I said, “I don’t want to hear you. You speak nonsense. You don’t have a sober mind. Every sober mind understands that in the beginning was the Word, that the Word was God, that this Word became flesh, that this flesh was named Jesus, and that Jesus is God. But what you speak is absolute nonsense.” They were exposed and defeated. Some of the members of that group came to see that they did not have the truth, that what they had was falsehood.
We all must realize that our Lord Jesus is God. Do not consider that He is anything other than our God. He is God. Thus, 1:3 says that He is the effulgence of the glory of God.
The Son is also the express image of the substance of God (1:3). The glory is the outward expression and the substance is the inward essence. God has His essence, His substance, as well as His appearance. God’s essence is His substance. For example, a table is substantial. It has a substance, which is wood. Wood is the essence of the table. Likewise, our God is substantial. He has substance as well as glory. We do not have the adequate words to explain these things. We can only say that our God is glorious and substantial. As far as God’s glory is concerned, the Son is the effulgence of this glory. As far as God’s substance is concerned, the Son is the express image of this substance.
The express image of God’s substance is like the impress of a seal. A seal has an image. When the seal is pressed upon the paper, the paper bears the same express image. Suppose a seal has the letters USA. When the seal is pressed upon a piece of paper, the paper bears the same image as the seal. The Son is not only the effulgence of God’s glory, but He is also the impress of God’s substance. This means that the Son is God coming to us. When I hold the seal in my hand, the seal is there. When I put the seal upon you, the seal comes to you. Wherever you go, you bear the impress of the seal. When God does not come to you, He is just God. When God comes to you, He is the Son as the impress of His substance.
Our Christ is God coming to us. He is our God reaching us. How can the sun reach us? By the shining of its rays. If you think that there is no sun, you should stand outside for fifteen minutes at noontime. The sun will burn you because the rays of the sun reach you. This means that the sun reaches you. Who is the Son? The Son is God reaching us, God coming to be one with us. Many times people say, “Let us bathe in the sunshine.” After they take a sunbath, some element of the sun is transfused into them. This means that the sun reaches them. Likewise, Christ, the Son of God, is God Himself reaching us and coming into us. We do have a God who reaches us, a God who comes into us. This is our salvation, the great salvation revealed in chapter two. Our great salvation is God reaching us and coming to us. This is the Son of God.