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The book of Hebrews is in a class by itself, for several reasons. First, it’s not a “normal” epistle, since it doesn’t begin as most epistles do; it’s really more of a sermon, a “word of exhortation” (He 13.22)—though in the same verse the author says he has “written a letter” (epistello, the verb from which our word epistle comes). Second, “the author,” as I’ve just called him (or her) is anonymous—and anybody who thinks he knows who the author is has jumped to a conclusion. I’m fairly sure Paul didn’t write it, but beyond that, only God knows (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6.25.14). Third, it’s not really a “general epistle,” so it fits only awkwardly in that group, and as I’ve just said, it’s not a Pauline epistle either, so it’s just sort of out there alone among the NT epistles. And fourth, in my opinion it presents a picture of the person and work of Christ that is unrivaled for breadth, depth, and expression anywhere else outside the Gospels.
And here this author points three times to the centrality of Creation in his theology.
Hebrews 1.2
In his opening paean to the Son, the second thing the author says about him is that the Father used him as his agent to create the worlds (He 1.2); more precisely, “by whom also he made the worlds.” This statement parallels two others that we’ve already covered: John 1.3 and Colossians 1.16. Three different authors begin their biblical document by establishing that the Son is the Elohim of Genesis 1, from “Let there be light” to his resting on the seventh day.
But the author of Hebrews takes it further than John or Paul. He makes it the basis of a lengthy argument that Jesus is superior to the angels of heaven, for the Hebrew Scriptures use expressions of him that far exceed anything they say about angels (He 1.4-14)—and this at a time when Jewish writings were completely fascinated with angels and had been for a couple of centuries. I’d suggest that there are Christological implications of tinkering with the Genesis account in ways that de-emphasize the role of the Creator in favor of the mechanism.
Hebrews 1.10-12
As part of his contrasting the Son with angels, the author quotes from Psalm 102.25-27:
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
This reference to Creation is different from the others we’ve seen. Most of the earlier ones emphasize the power demonstrated in Creation and thus implied in the Creator. This one, though, emphasizes the temporality of it all; it will pass away. But the Son is not like his creation: he is forever.
This statement, of course, speaks to the deity of Christ—not because he is powerful enough to create the cosmos, but because he is unchanging enough to outlast it. By a mile.
Hebrews 11.3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
This brief verse begins the author’s discussion of that all-important virtue, faith. He will eventually list numerous people from the biblical history who exemplified faith in their earthly dealings.
But he begins with Creation, and he tells us two important things about it.
First, we understand it through faith. Not blind faith—we always have to say that, and I’ve discussed that before—but openness to hear and believe God’s story, because we know that he tells the truth. Thus those who reject the doctrine have not an intellectual problem, but a volitional one; they have chosen not to believe what God has said.
And second, God created everything—matter, energy, and anything else that might be out there—from nothing. He created substance from non-substance.
We humans have never done that. Even the artist, who envisions a concept and paints it, uses canvas and brushes and paints that he or someone else has manufactured. The author, who thinks of things and publishes them, uses paper and ink, or electrons that excite LCDs, or something to place his ideas into communicable form.
But everything from nothing?
You can have faith in someone who can do that—and did.
Creation matters.
