Colossians 1:15
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:"
What a mystery to contemplate—God in the flesh! Paul describes it this way in 1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Colossians 1:15 declares not only the supremacy and divinity of the LORD Jesus as God, but also His condescension (Divine stoop) in taking on flesh and becoming a man—the God/Man. The necessity of God taking on flesh is fundamental to God's need to satisfy His law and justice for those He purposed to save. God cannot die, and a mere man could not save, but as a Man, taking on human flesh He laid down His life for the sins of His people. As God, He then pronounced satisfaction on the offering of the body of the LORD Jesus once and for all, at once forever justified the entire body of His elect from the beginning of time to the end (Hebrews 10:10,14).
This truth is the very foundation and cornerstone of THE FAITH, once revealed unto all the saints (Jude 1:3)—sanctified sinners, set apart by God’s electing grace and the redeeming blood that the LORD Jesus shed unto death for them. God manifest in the flesh, and the LORD Jesus being the express image of God the Father, is the Word of Faith revealed in the Scriptures and in the hearts of those that He justified through Christ's death on the cross.
This verse affirms that Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” In this single line, the Apostle Paul encapsulates the truth from various angles, much like a prism that reflects light from different directions when shined through.
The nature of Christ
His preeminence in creation.
His unique, eternal relationship with God the Father.
The phrase “image of the invisible God” speaks to the incarnation and the visible revelation of God’s nature through Christ, while “the firstborn over all creation” underscores His preeminence as God’s Son over ALL creation, exercising the rights of a firstborn child, who, in Middle Eastern culture, is the heir. In that society, the will is not divided among siblings. Rather, the firstborn is the executor, and through him, all the named beneficiaries receive their inheritance.
Fundamental to understanding and believing in the God of the Bible is the truth that He is a Triune God: three Persons, but one God. God is one in essence but exists in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. While each Person is fully God, they are not the same Person; rather, they are unique and relational, yet united in purpose and essence.
God the Father is the Creator and sustainer of all things.
God the Son (Jesus Christ) became incarnate, lived among us, died for the sins of those the Father gave Him from eternity, rose again victorious over sin, death, the law, and hell, and ascended on high, where He now reigns until the last of the redeemed and justified sinners is brought to Him in faith by the Spirit of God.
God the Holy Spirit dwells within those the Father has chosen and Christ has redeemed—guiding, comforting, and empowering them to live their lives in obedient submission to Christ according to the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the great illuminator in revealing Christ in the hearts of those that God the Father determined to save before time, in Whom, in time, came in the flesh to redeem them from the curse of sin and the bondage of the law.
In essence, the Trinity means that there is one God who reveals Himself in three Persons, each of whom is fully and equally God. And yet, the only visible image is in the Son, Who came in the flesh. Though the term “Trinity” is not explicitly used in the Bible, it is based on passages that reveal the distinct roles and unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (e.g., Matthew 28:19, John 14:16-17, 2 Corinthians 13:14).
God declared in the first commandment to Israel through Moses in Exodus 20:4: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” The reason for this was that the only visible image of Himself would be in His Son taking on human flesh, and He would then be the visible image of God the Spirit. As the writer to the Hebrews declares: “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3)
Despite God's hatred of sin, it pleased Him to reconcile fallen sinners of His choosing to Himself. When our eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, we acknowledge willingly that apart from Christ, although once enemies of God in our thoughts and actions, now we are reconciled through Christ's sacrifice unto death in our place. The wonder of wonders is that we, as sinners should be saved by none other than God's blood, shed unto death out of the veins of a body that He took on. We should not attempt to explain away any part of this mystery, nor foolishly presume to fully comprehend these mysteries. Instead, we marvel at the glory of God's redemption and rejoice in the hope He gives to those for whom the Son took on flesh.
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