He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. – Colossians 1:15;17
Jesus is not made in the image of the invisible God, He is the image of the invisible God. This distinction sets Him apart from all men, even though He lived on earth as man. He is more than a prophet, a great guy, or a good teacher. Jesus is the exact representation of God.
God’s declaration of Jesus as the firstborn of all creation means He existed before anything else. He did not come from dust like us to be corrupted by sin, He came from heaven as His Holiness, without sin and with authority over all things. Jesus is the only way to the Father and, therefore, the only way to salvation and the only One holding us all together.
Lord, keep us from anything meant to diminish Jesus’ true identity in You. We do not want to shy away from your Holiness. We want to keep the truth about You constantly in our midst! You sent Your one and only Son down to us to withstand a brutal death on the cross and bring Your family up to heaven with you! His death and resurrection are the most miraculous and the most important events in human history! Let us not be ashamed of Your full glory!
Thank you Lord for Jesus! He is before all things… your will not mine, Amen
Thank you for this study! It is definitely giving me some new perspective on the 4 names you’ve chosen to focus on. However, I do have a question. (I grew up never realizing that I was allowed to ask my Sunday School teachers, Youth Group leaders, or Pastors any questions – they seemed to want us to simply accept what they said without questioning it. Now that I know it’s okay, I like to ask questions.) If “Jesus is the exact representation of God,” why are we taught that He did away with pretty much everything God said in the Old Testament? Everything that God said to do in order to live a life pleasing to Him, was supposedly done away with by Jesus. That doesn’t sound like an “exact representation.” Am I the only one wondering about this?
Jesus did not “do away”with God’s plans and desires set forth in the Old Testament. Instead He fulfilled them. Beginning with Matthew 5:17, Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that He did not come to abolish, but to complete and fulfill the Law and the prophets. Then he actually raises the bar, telling the people (and us) that the Law was not intended as a matter of practice, but as a matter of the heart. And when we examine our hearts, if we are honest, we will see that we fall short – far short! But that is exactly why Jesus came. He fulfilled the law so that we can be made right with God not through human effort, but by putting our faith Jesus. The life Jesus lived perfectly fulfilled the Father’s desires and expectations, and when He died on the cross it was not for His sins, but for yours and mine. Titus 3:5-6 and Romans 3:20-21 say that we are saved, not because of righteous deeds we have done (like keeping the letter of the Law, or even the standard of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) but by trusting in Jesus who died in our place and rose that we might have life. His sinless life has been exchanged for my sinful life – His righteousness has taken away my unrighteousness. I stand before God as one who, by faith in Jesus, has fulfilled the requirements of the Law and the Prophets. This is what we celebrate at Christmas!
Gail,
Thank you, I enjoyed reading your comment.