The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-18, titled "Questions and Answers--Part 46."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 2000 by John MacArthur, All Rights Reserved.

Question

In Hebrews 1:3, I never heard the expression "impressed image" used and it seems to be the word that would make it closest to what Strong says a root would be--connected to an engraver...what do you say?

Answer

Well, Hebrews 1:3, just for all of you, says, speaking of Christ, "He is the brightness of His glory." The writer of Hebrews is trying to express the sameness of nature between God the Father and Jesus the Son (what we talked about this morning), and he's looking, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for language that expresses that.  So he says, "The Father is the Glory and the Son is the brightness of the glory."  You know, that would be like saying, "The Father is the sun, and the Son is the brightness of the sun, when you look in the sky."  I mean, for us to see it--it is one and the same, and yet it is two, and that is what he is saying.  There is the essential glory of God, but the very brightness of that glory is the Son Himself, which is a beautiful way to make them one and the same. 

He says it a second way, "The Son is the express image of His person," and it is a term that means "the imprint."  It is as if the very handprint of God is "pressed" into the Son; the very essential nature.  He is the very "imprint" of God so that God, literally, is manifest in Him, and I think that is exactly what he intends to say, and that is a very important thing.  In the ancient world "Caesar" would be imprinted on a coin and he is using that as an analogy to say that, "God is literally," "the face of God; the person of God is literally imprinted on the person of Jesus Christ; stamped on Him."

Of course, anytime you try to describe that in human terms you come up a little short.  You hear people talk about the Trinity, and I have heard people say, "Well, it's like H₂O.  H₂O can be steam, ice, or water."  Well, that's a noble shot at it.  I have heard people say, "Well, the Trinity is like an egg: you have the shell, the white, and the yoke," but, you know, an egg is an egg, and water is water. 

So when you're trying to talk about the Trinity it's a stretch, but I think those are two ways in which when you put them together you're helped to understand that what he is saying is that they share the common life and the common nature. 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
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