Heb.1:3 – He 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.
This is the part of the mystery of Jesus becoming a man like us that is impossible to understand. In today’s verse Jesus is shown ruling the universe as a man. Today, He sits at the Father’s side ruling all things in the universe. That is really astounding but I can sort of understand that. The part that is unimaginable is the part where the Lord still rules all things as an infant born in Bethlehem. If Jesus is God (and He is) He did not cease from being God in His humanity. Somehow He ruled everything from the manger. In other words He was guiding the wise men with signs in the heavens, He was astounding the shepherds with angelic appearances at His command, He even protected His parents from Herod as they were protecting Him. In other words God was present in Christ as a baby in an animal’s feeding trough in Bethlehem. This is a story no one could have ever dreamed up, this is the unveiling of God’s eternal plan. Here is a very special quote from Augustine on Christ in His deity and His infancy.
“He’s the Revealer of His Father, and at the same time He’s the Creator of His mother.
He’s the Son of God born of the Father without a mother; and He’s the son of man born of a mother without a father. He’s the Day as the Angels count time; He’s the Clock as human beings tick off the day. He’s the Word of God before there were timepieces; He’s the Word made flesh who stopped the clock when He was made flesh.
He made the sun with His own hands, and yet He Himself was made under the light and heat of the sun. He regulates human history from the bosom of His Father; and yet He consecrates this one particular day from the womb of His mother.
He remains with His Father, and yet He goes forth from His mother.
He’s the Creator of the heavens and the earth; and yet He takes His own rise under the heavens, that’s to say from the earth….He sets the stars in motion, and yet he sucks His mother’s breasts…. He didn’t abandon His divine agenda when He picked up His carpenter’s tools. He didn’t stop holding His universe together with His mighty arms while He was trying to catch flies with His baby fingers.”
So this year as we bow down and worship our king we take great comfort in this truth, the universe is still resting on His shoulders. I have a feeling that all the crazy things happening in the world today are just God’s set ups, He is preparing the hearts of His elect to come to Him so that we can find rest. His appearance is drawing near, I’m so glad that everything that will happen until that day will be used to bring harvest and to bring glory to the Lord.
