The Image of the Invisible God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. – Colossians 1:15

Él es la imagen del Dios invisible, el primogénito de toda creación. – Colosenses 1:15

When you see (read about) Jesus, you are seeing (reading about) God (Col 1:15; Joh 1:14; 10:30; 12:45; Heb 1:3). Therefore, what you see Jesus is like from reading Scripture is also exactly what God is like: “kind,” “compassionate,” “patient,” healing, “loving,” caring, full of “grace,” slow to anger, and one who exercises extreme restraint and temperance.[1] Nor is there any darkness, evil, deception, corruption, trickery, lying, or deceit whatsoever found in Him[2]—God is completely good, righteous, just, pure, and holy.[3]

Please also notice that Jesus didn’t force or coerce anyone to follow Him, nor does God force anyone to follow Him. Yes, there are (and will be) consequences for disobeying God,[4] but the choice is yours to make out of free will. God doesn’t want robots obeying out of rote command, for that is not love, and “God is love” (1Jn 4:8, 16; cf. Joh 3:16–18; Eph 3:17–19; 5:2; Rom 5:8; 8:35, 39; 2Co 13:14; Gal 5:6; 2Jn 3; Jud 21). He wants those who come to Him to “choose” (Jos 24:15; Deu 30:19; Isa 7:15; Pro 1:22–31; cf. Rev 22:11, 17; Psa 119:30; Isa 65:12; Luk 10:42; Joh 6:67–68) to do so of their own free will and out of love for Him.[5]

IN SUMMARY

To recap the last few chapters:[6]

God became flesh (God incarnate) in the man Jesus Christ—“Jesus of Nazareth”—and “dwelt among us” (Joh 1:14).
Jesus was fully God and also fully man (Joh 1:1–2; 3:34; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 16:15; Col 1:15, 19; 2:9; cf. 1Ti 3:16).
Jesus was supernaturally born of a virgin (Mary) by the power of God via “the Holy Spirit” (Mat 1:18–25; Luk 1:26–35).
Jesus was (and still is) “the Christ,” the “Messiah,” the “Son of God,” the “Son of Man,” sent by God, “the Light of the world,” the “Savior” of the world, our “Redeemer,” “the image of the invisible God,” “the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature,” “the true God and eternal life,” “the one and only God,” the “living and true God,” “Lord,” “King,” “High Priest,” and the Great “I am”—that is, God Himself.
He came to save sinners—the “lost” “sheep.”
He drew people not by His appearance (see Isa 53:2) but by the message of His Word.[7]
Even though He was “unblemished and spotless” and “without sin” Himself (Heb 4:15; cf. 1Pe 1:18–19; 2:22–24; 3:18; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:14; 1Jn 3:5; Rom 8:3; Eph 5:2; Isa 53:9), He was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Php 2:8; cf. Heb 12:2; Joh 10:15–17; Mat 16:21; 20:18–19; Joh 12:27–28; Eph 2:16; 5:2).
He took our sins on Himself (2Co 5:21; Psa 22:6; cf. Col 1:22; Eph 1:4; 5:27; 2Pe 3:14).
He “rose from the dead” after “three days.”
He was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness” (Rom 1:4–5).
He performed many miracles confirming that He was God:[8]
He made wine from water,
He healed the sick (blind, lame, deaf, lepers, etc.),
He commanded nature (walked on water, calmed the storm, etc.),
He fed thousands of people starting with only a small amount of bread and fish, and
He raised people from the dead.
He “ascended into heaven,” where He is now “seated at the right hand of God [the Father],” ruling and reigning in His kingdom,[9] and where He has gone to “prepare a place for you.”[10]
He was “tempted in all things as we are” (Heb 4:15), so He can empathize and sympathize with our plight and what we face here in this fallen world and also “mediate” for us and be our “Advocate” before God in heaven (1Jn 2:1; cf. 1Ti 2:5; Heb 2:18; 7:25). Because of this, He can be (and will be) a completely fair, “impartial,” and “righteous Judge” when He comes to judge all mankind on “the day of judgment.”[11]

I can only scratch the surface about who Jesus was and is. All I ask is that you evaluate the evidence with an unbiased and rational mind, free from any preconceived notions against Jesus. It is only a preconceived bias against God and Christ, along with a willful rebellion and prideful refusal to submit to your Creator, that causes one not to see the logical verdict on this matter: Jesus was, and is, God!

[1] See the chapters “Our Hope” and “The Day of Judgment” for verse references.

[2] See the chapter “There Is a God” for verse references.

[3] See the chapter “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

[4] See the chapter “The Day of Judgment.”

[5] See the chapter “Come, All Who Are Thirsty.”

[6] Nearly all of these verse citations have been given in prior chapters.

[7] The enormously popular and romantically enticing artistic (and romantic) depictions of Jesus as a drop-dead gorgeous hunk of a man that women would faint for and fawn over is not biblical.

[8] See the chapter “Is Jesus Really God?” for verse references.

[9] See the chapter “The Kingdom of God.”

[10] See the chapter “All Things Made New.”

[11] See the chapter “The Day of Judgment” again for verse references.

R. John Anderson

Photographer and author R. John Anderson has journeyed the world over to capture the natural beauty of God’s creation. Having traveled to many countries and continents in a span of over thirty years, he has seen the amazing artistry that can be found in all types of locations, from the glacial fjords of polar Greenland to the wild Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the rich rain forests of Costa Rica. Nature’s greatest natural beauty often lies in the harshest deserts, remotest wilderness, and sub-zero ice-covered regions.