The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 34

from the revelations already given. Many of the utterances of the Son are as yet only very partially and imperfectly understood even by his most advanced pupils. His words are of inexhaustible significance; and that significance will become increasingly manifest to the prayerful and patient inquirer. CoNOLUBION. Let us rejoice that we have this latest and brightest revelation of God, this clearest utterance of his will concerning us and our salvation. Let llll heartily accept this revelation. It is truly accepted only when it is acted upon; i.e. when we have received the Son of God as our Saviour and Lord.-W. J. Vers. 2, 3.-The transcendent glory of the &m of God. "His Son, whom he bath appointed Heir of all things," etc. The Divine Son, the last and brightest revelation of God to man, is here set before us as supremely glorious in several respects. I. IN THE VASTNESS OF HIS POSSESSIONS. "Whom he appointed heir of all thingg.'' Because he is the Son of God he is constituted Heir of all things. The whole universe is his. "He is Lord of all." ".All things that the Father hath are mine ; " "All mine are thine, and thine are mine.'' His lordship is universal. His posl'essions are unlimited. His wealth is infinite. What an encouragement we have in this to trust in him I "The unsearchable riches of Christ" are available for the supply of all who follow him. IT. IN THE GREATNESS OF ms WORKS. 1. Re is the Creator of all things. " By whom also he made the worlds.'' The innumerable worlds in the universe of God were made by the Divine Son as the" acting Power and personal Instrument" of the Father, .Alford: "The universe, as well in its great primmval conditions-the reaches of space and the ages of time, as in all material objects and all successive events, which furnish out and people space and time, God made by Christ." He "laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of his hands.'' " All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made ; " "In him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth," etc. (Col. i. 16). .All creatures in all worlds were created by him. Creation is a revelation of his mind and might. The glory of creation, rightly understood, is the glory of the Creator-the Son of God. 2. He is the Sustainer of all things. ".And upholding all things by the word of his power." The universe which he created is upheld and preserved in being by the expression of his almighty power. " In him all things consist ; " they are held together by him. The universe is neither self-sust.a.ining nor is it forsaken by God. It is not a great piece of mechanism constructed by the Creator, and then left to work of itself, or to be worked by others. His almighty energy is always and everywhere present in it. "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.'' How stupendous the conception that the boundless universe, with its countless worlds and much more countless inhabitants, is const.a.ntly sustained in existence and in beautiful order by the word which utters his power I 3. He is the Saviour from sin. "He by himself purged our sins; " Revised Version, " He made purification of sins." This does not mean purifi- cation by the moral influence of his teaching and example. '!'here is a reference to the purifications of the Levitical law, by which ceremonial uncleanness was typically removed. "According to the Law, I may almost say, nil things are cleansed witl1 blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission . . . . He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." " In the atonement," says Ebrard, "in the gracious cover- ing of the guilt of sin, consists purification in the scriptural sense. So that an Israelitish reader, a Christian Jew, would never, on reading the words 1<a6apurµ.clP ,ro,.iv, think on what we commonly call 'moral amelioration,' which, if not spriaging out ot the living gronnd of a heart reconciled to God, is mere self-deceit, and only external avoidance of evident transgression; but the 1<a6ap,a-µ.os which Christ brought in would, in the sense of our author and his readers, only be understood of that gracious atone- ment for all guilt of sin of all mankind, which Christ our Lord and Saviour has completed for us by his sinless sufferings and death; and out of which flows forth to us, as from a fountain, all power to love in return, all love to him, o~r heavenly Pattern, and all hatred of sin which caused his death." This atonement 1s compleled. It admits of no repetition; and nothing can be added unto it. "When he bad made purification of sins." The purification is finished, and it is perfect. Thus we sco tha, in hie works, as Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour, our Lord is supremely glorious.  24 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [cH. I.1-14,