The Image of the Invisible God

by | Jan 15, 2021

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”

Colossians 1:15

What is an image?
Before we go any further on this verse we really need to talk about what an image is and what it does. An image is the physical representation of something or someone, the visible of the invisible. Like faces on a coin, they stand in place of something or someone that you cannot see. Just like the US Penny carries the face of Abraham Lincoln, you have his image but you cannot actually see him. This is what Christ is for us in this verse. He is the physical, relatable, and understandable vision of a currently invisible God. And though now Christ also is invisible to us, Does He not have another Body through which he is visible? That is us, the body of believers.

Why is it important to closely study and intimately know the Image of God?
Have you ever been in a darkened room and tried to look at a picture? What did you see? If you like most people you would have hardly seen anything at all. Why? The absence of light, you see it’s not that darkness blocked your vision; it’s that there was not enough light to see the picture. Now this may be mind-blowing to some but did you know that you need light in order to see things? Amazing right? And the closer you are to the light the more clearly you see the picture emerge. That light my friends; is the light of God’s Spirit, and when you open wide the windows of your soul (aka your eyes) to let Him in, He then can begin to show you in a greater way the Image of Christ.

This is why consistent daily meditation is so important; you must stay near the light to see clearly. If you don’t (and I’m sure most of you have experienced this), you feel yourself slowly moving away from the light. You begin to stumble more often, you lose that clear sight, and you might even think that God has left you. Picture yourself walking up on a downward escalator with the light at the top. Any time you stop moving forward and upward, by default you start to move backwards. Constantly, step by step we need to stay moving towards God and if we ask Him, He will provide the strength to carry on.

The Christian life is not easy and sometimes we need to realize that all we have to do is to fall completely on Christ and have him do his work in us. God has also promised that though things may be tough, the reward will be worth it. So stay in the fight and move forward!

Is Christ really the “firstborn of every creature”?
This part of verse fifteen is probably one of the most misquoted verses of the Bible, and is often used by people to deny the deity of Christ. In our western mindset we have this idea that being firstborn means being created, but this is not how the Jewish mindset operated. In the eastern mindset when they thought of the concept of the firstborn they would think of things like head, ruler, leader, responsible, in charge of, first in line etc. This is what the writer is referring to, He is acknowledging that Christ is the Head, He is God, over all creatures and creation.

This is why it is so important to know your Bible, intimately. If you don’t have a clear picture of whom Christ is and what He has done for you, then you can be drawn in by all manner of false teachings. So I say again; Get into your Bible dive deep stay down long and come up blessed, because as you go to seek God in his word He promises to reward you. And you will find so often that the best reward is getting to know the King Himself. Almighty God Yahweh, wow what an Honor.

-Ben M

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