He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. – Colossians 1:15
People have all kinds of ideas in their heads about God, and these ideas, right or wrong, shape how we view the world and influence how we live in it. When Jesus came to live in this world with us, He made it possible for us to know what God is really like. He displayed God’s character, heart, authority, holiness, righteous anger and love for all to see in real-time, real-life, real-world situations just like the ones you and I face today. In looking at Jesus, we see… Forgiveness for the repentant. Compassion for the broken. Rebuke for the self-righteous. Freedom for the enslaved. Peace for the fearful. Humiliation for the proud. Exaltation for the lowly. Hope for the hurting. Guidance for the confused. Strength for the weak. Authority for the rebellious. Supply for the needy. Joy for the downtrodden. Grace for the unable. Love. For. Everyone. But that’s not all He did. He also made it possible for us to show others what God is like. Jesus is our model, means and motivation for living in such a way that others see, even through our imperfections, glimpses of the image of God. Through our deeds and words, we show and tell the onlookers in our lives that God is not distant from us and unknown to us; He is not disengaged from our everyday lives and uninterested in what happens in them. The Creator of the universe invites us to walk with Him in an intimate, one-on-one, Father-and-child, every day, everlasting relationship. We can know what God is like ourselves when we put our faith in Jesus, and we can show what God is like to others when we walk by faith in Him. And this is the one idea about God that should be ever-present in our heads, ever-shaping our views, and ever-influencing how we live in front of others: He is infinitely more glorious, and knowing Him is infinitely more wondrous, than anything we could ever imagine.
