{"id":1034,"date":"2026-04-07T01:55:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2026-04-07T01:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:56:00","slug":"the-power-of-the-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/?p=1034","title":{"rendered":"The Power of the Son"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From A Brief Word of Exhortation<\/a><\/em>, Volume 1:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heb. 1:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Lesson, we will look at what the writer of this Epistle has to say about the Son in the rest of verse 3. We already looked at what the writer means when he says that the Son is \u201cthe brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.\u201d The next thing he says about the Son is that he is \u201cupholding all things by the word of His power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll things,\u201d of course, is the entire universe. \u201cUp\u00adhold\u00ading\u201d in the Greek is phero<\/em> and it means \u201cto bring.\u201d Since you usually have to carry something to bring it to someone else, the word also means \u201cto carry, to bear.\u201d And since the object you are carrying is moving, the word also means \u201cto move some\u00adthing.\u201d It is used to de\u00adscribe the rushing of the wind. It is also used to describe the movement of a ship as the wind pushes it. Jesus, therefore, is not just upholding the universe, mak\u00ading sure it stays in place. He is carrying it to ensure that it arrives at its proper destination. That destination has been de\u00adter\u00admined by God\u2019s plan, and we know from the Scriptures that at the end of time, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, in short, a new universe. In the meantime, Jesus is carrying this universe and mak\u00ad\u00ading sure it does not fall apart before it gets to the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same idea is expressed by Paul in Col. 1:17, where he states, \u201cAnd He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things consist.\u201d The Greek word for \u201ccon\u00adsist,\u201d synistemi<\/em>, means \u201cto put together.\u201d The Greek word for \u201cin\u201d can also mean \u201cby.\u201d Paul is saying that not only were all things put to\u00adgeth\u00ader by Christ but all things also hold together in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer of Hebrews says that the Son carries the uni\u00adverse and keeps it together \u201cby the word<\/em> of His power.\u201d The Greek word for \u201cword\u201d here is not logos<\/em>, as we might expect, but rhema<\/em>. I know that some Bible teachers want to say that there is a significant dif\u00adfer\u00adence between these two words. Logos<\/em>, they say, refers to the general word of God, the Scrip\u00adtures, whereas rhema<\/em> refers to a specific word which God might speak to you. There is some technical difference be\u00adtween the two words. Logos<\/em>, for example, does not usually mean a single word, whereas rhema<\/em> can mean that. How\u00adever, logos<\/em>, both in the singular and plural, and rhema<\/em>, in the plural, both mean \u201cwords,\u201d \u201cspeech,\u201d or \u201ca say\u00ading.\u201d Hence, in prac\u00adtice, the words were often used in\u00adter\u00adchangeably. For ex\u00adample, when Jewish scholars trans\u00ad\u00adlated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek around 200 BC, they used both words to translate dabar<\/em>, which is the Hebrew word for \u201cword,\u201d even when the text referred to the same speech or saying. Ex. 24:3 says, \u201cSo Moses came and told the people all the words (rhema<\/em>) of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, \u2018All the words (logos<\/em>) which the LORD has said we will do.\u2019\u201d The New Testament also uses the words in\u00adter\u00adchange\u00adably at times. For example, Heb. 4:12 says, \u201cFor the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.\u201d Eph. 6:17 says, \u201cAnd take the hel\u00ad\u00admet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.\u201d Both verses describe the word of God as a sword, but logos<\/em> is used in the first verse and rhema<\/em> is used in the second. There is, therefore, no sig\u00adnificant difference be\u00adtween the two words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer of Hebrews says that the Son carries the uni\u00adverse \u201cby the word of His power<\/em>.\u201d The Greek word for \u201cpower\u201d is dynamis<\/em>, from which we get our word, \u201cdynamite.\u201d The writer is saying that the Son\u2019s word is so powerful, it holds the entire universe together. The writ\u00ader\u2019s point is that the Son is better than the angels and any other created thing or person because he is the one who has the power to hold all created things together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer then states that the Son \u201chad by Himself purged our sins.\u201d In saying this, he makes an important point about what the Son accomplished for us on the cross. The Greek word for \u201cpurged,\u201d katharismos<\/em>, is actually a noun, so a better translation is \u201chaving made the purification of our sins.\u201d But the verb form of the word appears in several places and it means \u201cto purify, to clean or cleanse.\u201d It is used of the cleans\u00ading of lepers (Luke 5:12-13). When the leper was cleansed of the leprosy, it left him. That means, he no longer had it. When Jesus died on the cross, he cleansed us of our sins. That means we are supposed to no longer have sin in our lives. Jesus did not just pay the penalty for our sins so that we can go to heaven, nor did he just gain forgiveness for us so that we can go on sinning, believing that God loves us so much that he will always forgive us if we just ask him to do so. Jesus ac\u00adcom\u00adplished more than that on the cross. He eliminated sin, which means that we should live like sin has been elim\u00adin\u00adated from our lives. As Paul wrote to Titus in 2:14, Je\u00adsus \u201cgave Him\u00adself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own spe\u00adcial people, zealous for good works.\u201d As Paul also says in 2 Cor. 7:1, \u201cTherefore, hav\u00ading these promises, be\u00adloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.\u201d We Christians have been commanded to turn from sin and to live a different lifestyle, a lifestyle of holiness. Those who continue in sin have missed the point of what Jesus did on the cross. As Peter says in 2 Pet. 1:5-9, \u201cBut also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to vir\u00adtue knowledge, to knowl\u00adedge self-control, to self-control per\u00adseverance, to per\u00adse\u00adverance godliness, to godliness broth\u00aderly kind\u00adness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor un\u00ad\u00adfruit\u00adful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blind\u00ad\u00adness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.\u201d Jesus is the only who has the power, the ability, to cleanse us from our sins. Therefore, let us live as if we have been cleansed from sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the writer of this Epistle declares that the Son \u201csat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.\u201d In the king\u00addoms of those days, the person who was second in charge would sit at the right hand of the king. The Son, therefore, is second in charge over the entire universe, second only to the Father, and everything and everyone else falls under his au\u00adthor\u00adity. Paul points out in Eph. 1:20-23 that the Father dem\u00adon\u00adstrated his own power \u201cwhich he worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After he was resurrected, Jesus told the disciples, \u201cAll authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth\u201d (Matt. 28:18). By \u201call authority,\u201d Jesus, of course, did not mean that he had authority over the Father. Paul notes in 1 Cor. 15:24-28, that after the believers are resurrected, \u201cThen comes the end, when He de\u00adliv\u00aders the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For \u2018He has put all things under His feet.\u2019 But when He says \u2018all things are put under Him,\u2019 it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.\u201d The purpose for giving authority to the Son is to ultimately bring all things, including us, into subjection to the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Son, therefore, upholds the universe by the word of his power, he has cleansed us from our sins, and he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. It would do us well to obey his authority by living lives that are actually cleansed from sin, trusting that he will carry us to our proper destination, to the new heaven and the new earth, where we will live with the Son and our Father forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From A Brief Word of Exhortation, Volume 1: Heb. 1:3 In this Lesson, we will look at what the writer of this Epistle has to say about the Son in the rest of verse 3. We already looked at what … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-epistle-to-the-hebrews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1035,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions\/1035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claytonhowardford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}