15 Minute Bible Study
Jesus: Image of the Father
Scripture Passage: Colossians 1:15-20
Memory verse: Colossians 1:15

    Jesus did something that had never been done before: He enabled men and women to see the Father in a new way. In the Old Testament, some people were confronted with God, but they could never look fully upon His glory. Even Moses, who is described as God's friend (Exodus 33:11), had the opportunity to look upon "God's back" as He passed by, but not His face. (Exodus 33:18-23).

    Jesus, however, is "the image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6) The word "image" has the sense of an exact, flawless replica. As the perfect reflection of God, Jesus could say, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). We know what God is like by knowing Jesus?He is God's only full expression and explanation. (Colossians 2:9) And conversely, failure to know Jesus means we do not know the Father. Only through Christ can we approach the throne of God.

    Colossians 1:15-16 also describes Jesus as the "firstborn of all creation." This doesn't mean He was the first thing to be created?John 1:1 teaches that He was always present with the Father, and there was never a time when Jesus, as God, did not exist. The term "firstborn" instead ranks His preeminence, not His order in Creation. This means that He is over and above Creation; there is no one higher than or comparable to Him.

    Why, then, doesn't everyone place their faith in Jesus? The heartbreaking answer is that Satan, the "god of this world," has blinded people to the truth. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Remaining blind to Jesus places a tremendous responsibility upon ourselves. Rather than seeing God through Christ, we attempt to see Him through our own lives. We devise a God of our own choosing, one who likes what we like and hates what we hate. Our own fallen sinful natures, however, cannot be trusted, and we end up missing God completely.

    Jesus Christ is our cornerstone. If we falter on a clear understanding of who He actually is, nothing else we do in our Christian lives will matter.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Can you point to scriptural support for the way you see Jesus?