COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
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allusions to God as a Father may be counted upon the fingers; this is true also of the Son. Sonship and Fatherhood
commence together; a man is not a father until his child is born. This in no wise touches either the Deity or the
pre-existence of Christ, for as the Word He was in the beginning, and was God.
When the Word became flesh, then His glory, as the only begotten of the Father, could be seen. Christ was not
man when `in the form of God', but when He took upon Him `the form of a servant' He was `made in the likeness of
men' (Phil. 2:6,7). There is need for more care than has been used among us with regard to the titles of God; how
many have used the argument to belittle Christ that the Father is greater than the Son. This has power only upon the
mind if the word Father and God are considered synonymous. What we need to realize more is that the invisible
God has manifested Himself to us in the Person of the Father as well as in the Person of the Son, and that while, for
the purpose of His grace, one manifestation may be spoken of as greater than another, this in no wise touches the
question of essential Deity.
When Scripture itself urges us to consider the fact that the Word when made flesh came down, laid aside His
glory, humbled Himself, was made subject even to earthly parents, we are led to expect that the Father would be
greater than He. The Son continually speaks of Himself as `the sent One' (see John's Gospel), and that the words
He spake, the works He wrought were not His but the Father's Who had sent Him; and this, and so much more, is
brought to notice by the omission of the articles in Hebrews 1:2; if we could but appreciate the un-English
expression, `God spake in Son', understanding it as we should, `God spake in flesh', or `was manifest in flesh', as
`in English' or `in Greek'. The Hebrew beth, translated mostly `in', must be studied before the full meaning of `in
Son' can be realized. Take for example Exodus 6:3, `I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, B'EL
SHADDAI', literally in God Almighty; again, in Exodus 18:4, the words `the God of my father ... was mine help', are
literally `was in my help'.
Psalm 39:6 gives an example where the translators have sought to retain the `in' by changing the words that
follow, `in a vain shew'; this is literally `in image'. Another confessed instance of this beth essential is found in
A.V. of Proverbs 3:26, `for the LORD shall be thy confidence', literally, `in thy confidence'.
In the Person of the Son, God has not merely added another name to the long list of prophets, He has provided a
Theophany, He has spoken `in Son', and `in flesh'.
When we consider the glorious titles that are given the Son in the very next verses, we shall have the Scripture's
own comment upon the meaning of the passage before us. May the grace of God herein manifested to us be
thankfully acknowledged, and may the fact that He has sent His Son be to us the greatest thing in the world. The
apostle has evidently led up to this extraordinary statement that characterized the last of the days, and apparently
intended to develop at once the superiority of `Him that speaketh' over all the prophets and priests, but the wonder
of this Person held his ravished attention. He could not go on until he had established Him as the altogether lovely
One in the eyes of his readers. It is the very focus and centre of Hebrews that all else may perish and will perish;
law, priest, sacrifice, yea creation itself, but the apostle exultantly teaches that so long as He `remaineth', all is well.
Consequently we gladly bide, while this lover of Christ brings some of the glories of the Son before the eyes of the
Hebrews to whom he writes. We must devote ourselves later on to the Person of the Son, but before doing so, let us
follow the apostle as he begins to enlarge upon the glories and the wonders of the Saviour.
The first of His glories is that God hath appointed Him HEIR OF ALL THINGS.
`The Son, as God, hath a natural dominion over all. To this He can be no more appointed, than He can be to
God' (John Owen).
Did the passage stand alone, we might feel that the `appointing' here as Heir of all things took place at the
Incarnation, the Baptism or some other period of the Saviour's earthly life, but the statement that follows `by Whom
also He made the worlds' takes us back to the beginning, and so forbids such an interpretation. It should be noted
that God as the `Father' has not yet been mentioned by name. It is `God' (Elohim) Who spoke to the fathers by the
prophets, it is `God' that ultimately spake `in Son', as it is `God' that appointed this One Who in fulness of time
became flesh and Whose glory as of the Only Begotten was seen; but we are anticipating our study of the sonship of
Christ. As `The Word' (John 1:1) and as `The Image' (Col. 1:15) He created heaven and earth, visible and invisible,
or as John puts it `all things were made by Him'. `All things' were made by Him and `all things' constitute His
inheritance. Not only so, but we shall read soon that He upholds all things by the word of His power (1:3); that all