READ COLOSSIANS 1:15

Today our lesson aim is to examine the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as a person.

Colossians 1:15 states that Christ "...is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."

The Apostle Paul continues his exaltation of Christ.  Here, in this passage, Christ is the image of the invisible God.  The word "image" has the sense of a likeness.  Though God the Father indeed is invisible, in Jesus Christ there was a very visible representation of the Heavenly Father.  Note these additional verses:

John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Hebrews 1:3, "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."

Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Paul also writes that Jesus Christ is the firstborn of every creature.  The phrase "the firstborn of every creature" does not refer to the origin of Christ, who is eternal, but it goes back to the origin of every creature (see Colossians 1:16 & 17).  All creatures have their origin in Christ.  The context which follows makes this very clear.

Thank God for Jesus, who is the exact likeness of the Father!

Your Friend and HIS,

Pastor Abbott

MEDITATIONS

1.  What one thing stands out in your mind as you think about the person of Christ? Why?

2. How meaningful is it to you that Christ and the Father are the same?

3.  How does Colossians 1:15 help you to better understand the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Father?