Daily Devotions
Colossians
The Invisible God
Text: Colossians 1:15
One of the most challenging concepts to believe in and to defend is our faith in a God who is invisible. To those who do not have faith, the concept of an invisible God is difficult to comprehend and to accept.
PRESENTING CHRIST AS THE IMAGE OF GOD
The apostle Paul defended the doctrine of an Invisible God in the following text.
“He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.”Colossians 1:15
1. “He is”
a) The word “he” was used to introduce a new topic by the NKJV translators.
b) The original Greek uses the relative pronoun.
c) Significance- Paul was making a list of things he felt he needed to note about Christ!
i) Paul was continuing with his thoughts about Christ.
ii) He was presented as the Son of His love (Colossians 1:13).
iii) In Him we have redemption through His blood (Colossians 1:14).
iv) In Him we have forgiveness of the sins we have committed (Colossians 1:14).
v) He is the image of God (Colossians 1:15).
2. “The invisible God”
a) God does not have to be visible to be true.
b) He does not have to conform to our human ways of thinking.
c) He may remain invisible as He so chooses!
3. “The image of the invisible God”
a) The word Paul employed for the word “image” was “eikon”.
b) A number of nuances must be noted (not present in the English word “image”).
c) We need to understand Greek thought and use of the word “eikon”.
i) It represents God.
ii) It also shares in the reality of God.
iii) Christ fully represents God in His manifestation.
4. The firstborn of every creature
The word “firstborn” implies His uniqueness and His greatness over and above all creation! However, this word does not in any suggest that He was the first one to be created by God!