Heb 1:2b …whom he appointed heir of all things…

Many have asked the question: Who is Jesus? This question can be addressed from many different angles. Some look at His life and see Him as the perfect example. Some look at his death and see Him as the perfect sacrifice. The author of Hebrews opens up his letter by showing us that Jesus is the perfect revelation. He then begins to describe why Jesus is the perfect revelation in Heb 1:2-4. He denotes seven different reasons with seven descriptions. The first is that He was appointed the “heir of all things.” The verb “appointed” (ἔθηκεν) is somewhat unexpected in this context. We would simply presume that the Son would be heir. This may infer an emphasis on the activity of the divine will. God determined that the Son be His heir. But what does it mean for Jesus to be the heir? First of all, because He is the Son, He is naturally the heir of all that His Father possesses. Since the Father owns everything, Jesus also owns everything, since He is the only unique Son.  The term “heir” (κληρονόμον), however, does not refer to entering into possession through the death of the Father. In the NT the word and its cognates are  used in the sense of “get possession of” without referring to any specific way of appropriating the property. In other words, the word points simply to lawful possession, without indicating in what way that possession is secured. “Heir of all things,” then, is a title of dignity and shows that Christ has the supreme place in all the universe. His exaltation to the highest place in heaven after His sacrificial work on earth was done did not mark some new dignity but his reentry to His rightful place.

Now note that Jesus is the heir of “all things.” This would refer to all things “visible and invisible,” all things tangible and intangible, all things, material and spiritual, all things natural and supernatural, all things concrete and abstract, all things intellectual, philosophical, ideological, mathematical, and theological. Thus, no matter what exists, it belongs to Christ. There is no realm where Christ does not touch or possess. All things point to Christ. This means that all we do, we should do to the glory of Christ (1 Cor 6:20; 10:31). If you are an engineer or scientist, do your work to the glory of Christ. If you are a teacher or student, teach and study to the glory of Christ. If you are in finance or business, your deals and transactions should glorify Christ. Christ being heir of all things affects us in every part of our life. Whether we are at work or at home what we do should glorify Him. We should consciously and deliberately point every area of our life to Christ.