Archived Verse Of the Week

In His humanity, the Lord Jesus is the visible revelation of the invisible God. This is a great mystery and a truth given to us by the Creator of the universe. Only through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ - God manifested in the flesh - can the unseen God be discovered. We can intimately comprehend Him through the Father's only begotten Son, who is the firstborn above all creation.

 

First and foremost, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. "Image" means more than just that Jesus is like God; it also means that he is the representative and manifestation of God. The word "image" infers not just to the image but also the pattern, the original, which expresses God's likeness or resemblance. We have seen the Father if we have seen Jesus (John 1:14;14:9). He is not made in the image of God in the same way that man is. He is God's "express image" (Heb 1:3). He reflects everything that God is because he is God. He is also the revealer of the trinity. God is perfectly seen in Christ.

 

The Word firstborn does not refer to a time. The term "firstborn" points to His preeminent position, His superior standing, and highest place in God's creation. Because He was born into our race as the perfect Son of Man as the everlasting Son of God, Christ is the firstborn over all creation. The incarnate Word became man and dwelt among us, elevating Him to first place in importance and rank. Every knee will bow at the mention of Jesus' name, for all of creation is subject to His rule.

 

The Lord Jesus is Scripture's vast, grand, and glorious theme. He is the epicentre of God's Word. The Old Testament predicted his coming, the gospels announced that he came, and the remaining scriptures reveal his coming again. If you delete the Lord Jesus from the Bible, you have a theme without a plot, and music without harmony. In this verse, Jesus is presented in all of his sovereign majesty.