Jesus is the Image of the Father.
Heb. 1:2 (God) hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb. 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
Jesus came to show us what the Father looks like. The statement that Jesus makes in the book of John when he says: “who has seen Me has seen the Father,” needs to be looked at more closely. The word for “seen” means to stare at. Have you ever had anyone stare at you? I remember one time in a busy mall I had a man stare at me constantly. His eyes were fixed on me to the point that I felt almost uncomfortable. Eventually he asked me what my name was only to realize I was not the person he thought I was. That is the same meaning of the word that Jesus uses here. If you see Him you will be staring at the Father. So what do we see when we stare at Him?
Jesus is the brightness of the Father's glory. There is no mistaking about what and who you saw when you saw Jesus. You would be looking at the glory of the Father. The Greek word for glory is the word “Doxa” and comes from the root word "dieknuo”, and it simply means to show, to make apparent, or to be.
Glory
1391. doxa, dox´-ah; from the base of 1380; glory (as very apparent), in a wide application (literal or figurative, objective or subjective): — dignity, glory(-ious), honour, praise, worship.
1380. dokeo, dok-eh´-o; a prolonged form of a primary verb, do/kw doko (used only in an alternate in certain tenses; compare the base of 1166) of the same meaning; to think; by implication, to seem
“1166. deiknu/w deiknuo, dike-noo´-o; a prolonged form of an obsolete primary of the same meaning; to show (literally or figuratively)
He is the brightness of the glory of God. The word brightness means the same as a flashlight. Have you ever taken a picture and the flashlight goes off? The reason for the flash is to make sure the picture is bright and clear and that there is enough light on the subject. Jesus was God’s flashlight to make sure we get a picture of God that is bright and clear. He came to put the light on God so all could see Him. God was no longer hidden, but He was brought out in the open for all to see. Too many people walk around with a picture of God that is under exposed. A picture that is under exposed is dark and it is difficult to see what it is a picture off. You can't see it clearly. Jesus came to make sure we get the right picture. He came to show us the Father.
The second thing Jesus does is that He is the express image of His Father's person. The people in biblical times had a very narrow understanding about God. Remember that they were trained at being judgmental and to live by the Law. Everything had to be scrutinized and if anything did not measure up to their understanding or their interpretation, that person would be guilty with punishment executed as soon as possible. Jesus saw this first hand a couple of times when He would say something outside of their reference point. Sometimes while Jesus was speaking to them they started picking up stones to stone Him. They were confronted with someone that was totally out of the religious box and someone that was “stareingly” revealing God to them. I can feel how uncomfortable they must have felt with Jesus. He was nothing like their expectations. Were they wrong in the way they saw and understood God?
They saw God kill people for disobeying His law and they must have remembered what the law prescribed for those that broke it. I think they missed something. God had overlooked their sins many times when He had all the reason to kill all of them. They missed the grace of God and His longsuffering with them during the times that they sinned. They ignored His grace for them by replacing His grace with the law they emphasized. Jesus came to remind them about His Father's grace.
John 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
John 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
John 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
John 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
John 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
In this story of the woman caught in adultery we see the heart of God that Jesus revealed. She was guilty of the sin but Jesus refused to respond to their request of finding her guilty. He actually ignores them and starts to write on the ground. I wonder sometimes what He wrote. I wonder if He wrote something like: “Look at yourself and tell me what do you see?” Jesus never ignored the fact that she was guilty because he tells her not to sin anymore. He refused to see her the way they saw her. As we behold Him, He is beholding us. When we see ourselves the way He sees us, we will see Him the way the Father wants us to see Him.
When they kept on pushing Him for a response He simple asks them to see if any of them had no sin. That one would be allowed to throw the first stone. I regret their response to Jesus. They all got convicted by their conscience and left her alone with Jesus. They did not get the point. Jesus was challenging them to look at themselves but at the same time they were staring at God. If they only would see Him instead of themselves, they would not feel condemned, but they would be convicted with the same grace that was available to the woman and was available to them. Staring at God you encounter grace and not the law. Jesus looked at the woman and asked her about those that accused her. Then He said that He does not condemn her either. What a revelation of God. She stared Him down and got saved from condemnation and guilt. Jesus is the express image of His (God) person!
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
When God chose to manifest Jesus He manifested Him with His glory. That glory was not a halo around His head. The glory He carried was grace and truth. We need to make it simple enough to understand. Most people think about glory in a wrong way. How would God reveal His glory? God chose to reveal it in a way that all men could understand and desire. We all need grace more than we know. Without the truth we are lost. Remember that Adam allowed another word to enter the garden. It was coming from the father of all lies. It is easy to understand that God would then reveal His glory through truth and grace because we all needed that. So the obvious question would be to ask where did this glory, revealed in grace and truth, come from?
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Jesus brought grace and truth to us and by bringing grace and truth He not only made the Father visible but Jesus came to declare the Father to us. To declare in this passage of scripture means "to bring forth out of the word". We know He was the word from the beginning and the word was made flesh. We beheld the word and in staring at the word that was made flesh we see His glory. That glory originated in God or the Word who is God.
Declared:
1834. exegeomai, ex-ayg-eh´-om-ahee; from 1537 and 2233; to consider out (aloud), i.e. rehearse, unfold: — declare, tell.
1537. ex, ex; a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or figurative; direct or remote)
2233. hegeomai, hayg-eh´-om-ahee; middle voice of a (presumed) strengthened form of 71; to lead, i.e. command (with official authority); figuratively, to deem, i.e. consider.
So we see that to declare is made up of two words. The first is "ex” and donates the origin or where it is from, also meaning “out of,” and the second part is pointing to a command or a word. He is the word so to make it simple for all to see and understand the explanation for “declare” means that out of the Word He gave the command or description of God. He declares the Father from Himself and from himself originates the grace and the truth that has the glory of God!
Jesus is the image of the Father. Jesus is the glory of the Father. Jesus declares God to us. Jesus can, without reservation, declare: If you have seen Me you have seen My Father!