Colossians 1:15 ” Who is the image of the invisible God…”

We are now starting another series of teachings dealing with the person and character of Christ. It seems that all religions acknowledge Jesus Christ. Their belief acknowledges him as a prophet, a great teacher, a peacemaker – some even recognize his supernatural healing abilities. And there are also a few religions that disregard him completely. Christianity, from which derives its name from Christ, acknowledges him to be the God/Man Savior. Throughout religious history there has not been a more controversial person than Jesus Christ .
To understand more clearly his identity we will explore the Greek verbiage of the apostle Paul. Paul at first was an enemy of Christ and the early Christian church, persecuting and killing believers, until he had a supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ himself. After his encounter, his conversion was so radical that those who supported his agenda of exterminating the Christian faith began to persecute Paul. So based on Paul’s own experiences, and the testimonies of the eye witness accounts of the other apostles, Paul penned the verse we are to study, ” Who is the image of the invisible God….,” (the balance of this verse we will study next week). The  ” Who is the” is accurate in its translation,  however the word “image” is a critical word and needs to be explained. There are at least four Greek words for image, but only two are close to the meaning of this verse – yet their distinctions are telling. “Eikon,”  the word that is used, always assumes an “essence” that is derived from the main object. A great example of this word is our children. They are “eikon” of us. Their very D.N.A., the essence of their being comes from us. Hence the reason why they resemble and act like us, such is this word. The other word is ” homoina.” A good example of this word is the Lincoln memorial. It resembles President Lincoln, but it shares nothing of his being or essence, being carved from stone. Another example, two men can look alike, but in no way are they related.

So the word used to describe Jesus Christ would cause the verse to read. “Who is the image of the invisible God ‘sharing in the very self existent essence of His eternal nature.’ ”
With this as the accurate explanation of the word “image,” the person of Christ then becomes more than a great prophet, healer or peace maker. It implies that Christ was and is Divinity, processing the same D.N.A as God himself while being “wrapped in a garment of flesh.” Surely a profound mystery to say the least.

The word “invisible” is accurate. The Greek definition and our definition agree, which is good because it would be hard to describe more accurately something that can’t be seen

Lastly why is this so important? The nature and person of Christ is critical. If he was just a good man, then a Savior he could not be. For a Savior has to be without any fault of his own, perfect in every sense of the word. If he was just human and was able through good works attain god like status, than those who could harness themselves enough, discipline themselves enough, maybe could do the same. But if he was truly God, as we see the scripture claims him to be, then he was and is without any sin whatsoever, making him a viable sacrifice for us. And his actions then were more than what a good man could attain too. For not only did he live a sinless life, but he ever lived in the spirit of communion with the Father – something that is humanly impossible for us to do.

Father God,
A great mystery is found in Jesus Christ. To consider that in the person of Jesus Christ your Divinity walked and ate among us, tells of your approachability and tenderness towards us. You are not a God that is distant, but approachable in every sense of the word.  Thank you, and help me to understand more fully what this means. Amen