The divine I AM life of God belongs to Jesus and it is eternally given to him from his Father. The Father didn’t start giving the Son this life at some point so that Jesus became God at some point in time. While human fathers become fathers at a point in time when their children are conceived and born, God is eternally a Father and eternally a Son.

Can I confess something? For a long time, I was scared of the first chapter of Hebrews. I had heard over and over again that it was one of the most powerful texts on the full divinity of Jesus, but when I read it, it seemed to be anything but that.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (Hebrews 1:1-4 NIV).

There are certainly statements in these verses that sound like Jesus is God—Jesus made and sustains the universe. And then there is that statement that Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” Which sounds good, but what exactly does it mean? But along with those, this passage also speaks of Jesus being “appointed heir of all things” and becoming superior to the angels. To me, that didn’t sound like Jesus is fully divine, equal with his Father; it sounded like he became God’s Son at some point in the past.

I knew that was theologically incorrect, but I didn’t know how to square my good theology with what the Bible actually seemed to say, which scared me. I wish I could say that I dug into these verses right away so I could understand them, but I didn’t. I’m ashamed to say that I sort of just avoided them for a long time. It really is a shame, because when I finally did come to understand these verses, I saw how glorious they are.

The Literary Genius of Hebrews

The author of Hebrews was a skilled orator. He knew how to use language well and craft turns of phrases. These four verses are brilliantly put together in Greek. He uses alliteration and parallel sentences and all kinds of techniques to make this one long Greek sentence sound beautiful. Unfortunately, almost none of that comes through in the English translations. However, one of the author’s literary devices can still be seen in English.

These four verses are structured like a bullseye, or like an onion, where the outer layer at the beginning and end of the sentence can be peeled back to reveal the next layer and then the next layer until you get to the heart of the sentence, the bullseye, that tells us the most incredible truths about who Jesus is.

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