The Visible Man
And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15
Image – Have you read this verse so many times that you are no longer surprised by what it says? How can anything be an image of what is invisible? What would it take to be a representation of something that cannot be seen? Go ahead. Take a picture of an invisible being. What will you see? Nothing, of course. So, how can Paul tell us that Jesus is the image of something we cannot see?
Fortunately, the problem is not with Paul. It is with us. We no longer use the word image as it was originally meant. Today, an image is merely a representation, just as a photograph is merely a representation of the real objects it portrays. A blueprint is a representation, as is a mathematical equation for energy conversion. But image was not always so ambiguous. In Greek, eikon (image) is distinct from homoioma (representation). An eikon not only represents the original, it is taken from the original. There is a direct relationship between an eikon and the original. Therefore, a son can be the eikon of the father because the son is generated by the father. Your face in the mirror can be an eikon of you because the “image” comes from you. But where there is resemblance, there is not always image. The horse emblem on a Ferrari represents a stallion, but it is not an eikon of any particular stallion. A Picasso painting may represent a woman, but it is not an eikon of any particular woman.
Jesus is the eikon of the Father. That means He not only represents the Father, but He also comes from the Father. Who He is, is drawn directly from the invisible Father. Therefore, when you see Jesus, you see more than a representation of the invisible God. You see (for the first time) the revealed, physical essence of the Father in human form.
Think of it like this: Most of the Bible is about God in audio. God speaks, we listen (and obey). God revealed Himself through the spoken word. But when Jesus arrives, God shows up in video. Suddenly I can see exactly what the Father was talking about all along. I can see God, through the eikon Jesus, because Jesus comes from the Father and is a full disclosure of what God wants to show me. The invisible God arrives in the visible man.
All of this wouldn’t mean much to us except that Jesus asks us to be His eikons. We are to not only represent Him, but also to emanate from Him. You can’t be an eikon unless you have a direct relationship (even a causal relationship) with the prototype. That means you and I cannot fulfill His commandment to be like Him unless there is a lot more than mere representation. Just doing what Jesus did, saying what Jesus said, going where Jesus went does not make me an eikon. “Unless you are born from above,” says Jesus. That is the only way to have the direct connection needed to be a spiritual eikon.
Take stock of yourself. Are you merely representing Jesus, or are you directly connected? Are you the visible eikon of the invisible Christ? Don’t tell me. Show me!
