23 August 2005 Devotion for Today “The Image of God” Colossians 1:15-18
Colossians 1:15-18 says “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
When one of my children was about six years old, he made a stunning observation one day when we were browsing some old photos in a shoebox. He said, “Dad, when you were little, why was everything black and white?” “Huh?” I asked. He said again, “What was it like, just seeing everything in black and white and when did God make everything in color?” . I stared at him for a moment, uncertain about what he was asking. Earlier in the day we had been watching old re-runs of “The Andy Griffith Show” on television. It too, was in black and white. I told him at the time when I was a boy I enjoyed watching that show with my dad and now here I am watching it with my little boy. He also said at that time, though I didn’t pick up on it, that when I was a little boy everything was black and white. I thought he meant that the TV show was in black and white. Then I realized, no, he thought all of creation was also black and white and that somehow, around the year 1969 or so- everything turned color.
No, I said, everything was in color back then, back as far as I could remember. Its just that it was very expensive to make color photos and TV programs. But I don’t think he still understood what I meant. The images may have been in black and white, but we were really in color.
In the Scripture text in Colossians Paul says that Christ “is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation.” Of course, we don’t even have a black and white photo of Jesus, but what we read about Him in Scripture vividly portrays Him as God- even creator. If we want to know what God looks like, all we have to do is to imagine Christ and we have a mirror-image of the Father; living out in character through His Son. In turn we also live out the character of Jesus Christ, not as a snap shot, but as a vivid, living portrait of His person residing within us.
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