CHRIST – REVEALER OF GOD
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Colossians 1:15)
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. He revealed God to us in visible form. What we saw Jesus do in His earthly ministry is how God is. Throughout the Bible, we read about God and His attributes. We know that God is loving, merciful and kind. We know that He protects us and provides for us.
At the same time, we also know that God is just and punishes evil. We know that God controls the world, yet He also allows things to happen that are painful. As human beings, these ideas are not easy to appreciate.
How did God help us to see these attributes demonstrated in a way that we could make sense of? He did it by becoming a man to show us the nature of the invisible God.
So we see the nature of God’s love in the life of Jesus. He goes to people like Zacchaeus or Bartimeaus that no one thinks are worthy. He forgives people who have broken the law of God, like the woman caught in adultery. He tells parables like that of the Good Samaritan, the lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal son to show us the nature of God’s love.
On another day, He enters the Temple and shows us the nature of God’s wrath. The same Jesus who is so full of love confronts and disrupts systems and lives that defile the name of the Lord. The same person who goes the extra mile to embrace outcasts shows no tolerance for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
In one moment, He rebukes the raging storms and in another, when people want to kill him, He walks through their midst and escapes. And in yet another time, faced with what one would call the greatest danger, He does not escape for His life or rebuke the danger. Instead, He allows evil doers to have their way with Him and gives His life as a ransom for humanity.
When Jesus did all of that, He was demonstrating the invisible nature of God to us. So if you want to understand God’s ways, watch Jesus. Watch what He stops and what He allows. Watch whom He commends and whom He rebukes.
In Christ, we see God’s nature in human form and action.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for making yourself known to me through Christ. Help me to live my life as Christ lived His life. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:15-18
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 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.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 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.
Source:
LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
Wednesday 2nd September, 2020
