“IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD”

Colossians 1: 15. I consider this scripture as one of the finest verses in the Bible that teaches about the creation of man besides the known account in the Book of Genesis.

In the Book of Genesis, we read “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1: 26-27

Many people have argued that the account of the creation of man does not mean physical but spiritual. They interpret the scripture to mean that resemblance of Man to God is in the spiritual because God is a Spirit. And because God is a Spirit, he cannot have a body of flesh and bones.

Perhaps this was the same understanding the Colossians had that when Apostle Paul wrote to them, he taught “[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” Col. 1: 15-16

It is interesting to note that Apostle Paul sent similar message to the Hebrews “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

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 1:1-3.

I love the use of the phrase “express image of his person.” This means that Jesus Christ was and is in the express image of His Father-our Father. And if Jesus Christ is in the express image of God, then we whom He created certainly must be in his “image and likeness” as the Bible tells us.

Many people may doubt this truth, but I am grateful to know that I am a child of God created in His image and likeness.