Hebrews 1:3

Heb 1:3 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;

The Blank Bible offers this comment: "[ who being the brightness of his glory]. It was Christ the second Person of the Trinity that was wont to appear of old in that effulgent of glory that was commonly called the Glory of the Lord." Edwards seems to have crossed that out and this follows:

[T]he express image of his person. That is answering to the divine perfections as the impression in the wax does the engraving of the seal. It is observable that Philo calls the Logos. So Doddridge in Logos, "It seems to be well translated express image meaning an Image that exactly answers to the original as the Impression does the Seal. But it may be observed that whatever is the express or exact image of a thing is in the Apostle's sense equivalent or of equal value with that thing it having a full answerableness. This seems to be signified in Hebrews 10:1. The Law having a Shadow of good Things to come and on the very Image of the Things can never with those sacrifices make the converse thereunto perfect intimating that if they had been the very Image exactly answerable they would have been equivalent and might have answered the same Purpose.

Edwards favors a minority exegesis of comparing it with,

Ephes. 1:18. - "The glory of his inheritance in the saints." It appears to me the true sense of this passage is, his inheritance in heaven. In Greek it is, which might have been literally translated, in the holy places…. In Hebrews 1:3, he expresses it thus, in the high.

In The End of God in the Creation of the World, Edwards elaborates expansively on "glory."

The word "glory" is used in Scripture often to express the exhibition, emanation or communication of the internal glory. Hence it often signifies a visible exhibition of glory; as in an effulgence or shining brightness, by an emanation of beams of light. Thus the brightness of the sun and moon and stars is called their "glory" in 1 Corinthians 15:41. But in particular, the word is very often thus used when applied to God and Christ. As in Ezekiel 1:28, "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." And chap. 10:4, "Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory." Isaiah 6:1-3, "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims... And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." Compared with John 12:41, "These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory and spake of him." Ezekiel 43:2, "And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east…. and the earth shined with his glory." Isaiah 24:23, "Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. " Isaiah 60:1-2, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." Together with verse 19, "The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Luke 2:9, "The glory of the Lord shone round about them." Acts 22:11, "And when I could not see for the glory of that light." In 2 Corinthians 3:7 the shining of Moses' face is called "the glory of his countenance." And to this Christ's glory is compared, verse 18, "But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory." And so chap. 4:4: "Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Verse 6, "For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Hebrews 1:3, "Who is the brightness of his glory." The apostle Peter, speaking of that emanating of exceeding brightness, from the bright cloud that overshadowed the disciples in the mount of transfiguration, and of the shining of Christ's face at that time, says, 2 Peter 1:17, "For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Revelation 18:1, "Another angel came down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. " Revelation 21:11, "Having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." Verse 23, "And the city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it." So the word for a visible effulgence or emanating light in the places to be seen in the margin. [JE's Footnote - Exodus 16:10; Exodus 24:16; Exodus 24:17; Exodus 40:34-35; Leviticus 9:6; Leviticus 9:23; Numbers 14:10; Numbers 16:19; 1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chronicles 5:14; 2 Chronicles 7:1-3; Isaiah 58:8; Ezekiel 8:4; Ezekiel 9:3; Ezekiel 10:18-19; Ezekiel 11:22-23; Ezekiel 43:4-5; Ezekiel 44:4; Acts 7:55; Revelation 15:8.]

This was the first Hebrews text on which Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon. The doctrine is: "Christ is the shining forth of the Father's glory." The sermon begins with an observation that Jews tended to distrust the admission of the Gentiles. To correct that is one purpose of this epistle. Since Jews venerated Moses this chapter shows how much greater Christ is. Then follows the doctrine: "Christ is the shining forth of the Father's glory." Edwards' exposition, in summary form, is as follows.

I. In Christ's eternally proceeding from the Father. He always has been the brightness of the Father's glory. In John 17:5 he asks to be glorified with the self-same glory he had from the beginning. It is not only an equivalent but the "self-same glory." In John 1:1 it is revealed that he was with God and was God. Christ has the same "essence." The Father has no glory pertaining to himself peculiarly. "There is a priority of order. The Father is before the Son - not of subordination." "Numerically" it is the same glory, but Christ is its shining forth. This is different from the generation of the creature because it is necessary and eternal. "When there is a sun it shines; when a God he begets." And God beholds his image in Christ.

II. In Christ is the means by which the glory of the Father shines forth to us. As we see the sun by its light, we see the Father by Christ. He enlightens everyone who is enlightened and is therefore called the word or speech of God. As Christ dwells in human nature we can behold better what is near than what is far off. And "the brightness is suited to our eyes." The incarnation "softens the light."

III. The work of redemption is the greatest revelation of the glory of God in this world. It is the essence of the Bible message. Christ was the only fit person but only divine wisdom would have known it.

The application of the sermon consisted in several inferences drawn from the theme.