Jesus Christ - Remember and return: rekindling your love for the savior-a devotional

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesall things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Fathers good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.

Colossians 1:1519

Those who dispute the deity of Christ sometimes attempt to use Colossians 1:1519 to support their view. They suggest, for example, that the phrase the image of the invisible God (v. 15) indicates that Jesus was merely a created being who bore the image of God in the same sense as all humanity. But the Greek word translated image here is eikon , which refers to a perfect replica, a precise copy, or an exact reproduction, as in a fine sculpture or portrait. Paul was saying that God Himself is fully manifest in the Person of His Son, who is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the exact image of God.

Hebrews 1:3 makes an identical affirmation: He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. Christ is to God as the warm brilliance of light is to the sun. Just as the sun is never without its brightness, so it is with Christ and God. They cannot be divided, and neither has ever existed without the other. They are one (see John 10:30).

The Greek word translated radiance ( apaugasma , to send forth light) represents Jesus as the manifestation of God. Since no one can see God at any time (see John 1:18), and none of us on earth ever will, the only radiance that reaches us from God is mediated to us from Jesus Christ.

We live in a world full of injustice, failure, privation, separation, disease, and death. A moral darkness covers men and women, who are blinded by their godless appetites and passions. The apostle Paul confirmed this fact: Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:34).

But if you are Christian, God has opened your eyes to the light: For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (v. 6). Jesus Himself said, I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8:12). We would never be able to see or enjoy Gods light if we couldnt see Jesus. His light is life itselftrue spiritual life, which gives us purpose, meaning, peace, joy, and fellowship for all eternity.

Hebrews 1:3 also says that Christ is the exact representation of [Gods] nature. Jesus is the express image of God not only in His manifestation but also in His very essence or substance. Even in His incarnation He set aside the use of His attributes, not the attributes themselves, so He was always fully God. He who has seen Me, He told the disciples, has seen the Father (John 14:9). Paul confirmed that the glory of God shines in Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 4:4, 6).

Exact representation translates the Greek word charakter , from which we derive the English words character and characteristic. The Greeks typically used this term for an impression made by a die or stamp on a seal, in which the design on the die is reproduced on the wax. By using such terminology, the writer of Hebrews was claiming that Jesus Christ is the reproduction of Godthe perfect, personal imprint of God in time and space.