Colossians 1:15-23- Image of God

Colossians 1:15-23

The image of God

I still remember watching the news back in the early 1990’s as a young boy, and I remember watching the images of the final days of the war in Iraq.

The particular image of Sadam Hussein’s statue being torn down in the streets of Baghdad are still vivid in my mind. I can still picture that massive concrete statue of Sadam Hussein with his arm raised to the sky being brought crashing down to earth.

This image of Sadam Hussein which symbolised his power, his rule and authority, all came crashing down in an instant. It was a powerful image to show his rule, his authority, had finally been broken.

Of course Sadam Hussen wasn’t the first dictator to have a statue made in his image and he won’t be the last.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a massive statue made of himself, which again was a reminder to all his subjects that he was the man in charge. This point was forcefully made when the music played and all had to bow the knee and worship his image.

During the glory days of the Roman Empire, when the Romans ruled over three quarters of the known world, whenever an Emperor conquered another land, they would often set up a statue of the emperor in the land they had just conquered. Or if not a statue, a pillar which had the mark of the Emperor on it.

Again this image was a visible show of the Romans authority and rule over the conquered people.

Emperor Nero and Emperor Augustus had big statues made of themselves in their home city of Rome, as a constant reminder to their people that they were under their rule. These human emperors portrayed themselves as Gods with these images.

Images are still used today on money: coins, to remind the people who use that currency, just who has the authority over the economy. The images of the king or the queen on the coins remind the country who is in power.

Jesus famously once said when looking at a Roman coin which had the image of Caesar engraved on it, “give to Caesar what is his, and give to God what is his”

Of course, this notion that an image of a person, represents their power, rule and authority is nothing new.

In fact this idea that an image represents the rule and authority of a person or a person who considers themselves as a god, goes all the way back to creation.

Just look at Genesis 1:26 and 27

Then God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

When God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were creating this universe and everything in it, they created us humans, male and female in their image.

And being made in God’s image means that God made us to live under his rule, his power, his authority. This is why immediately after declaring he made us in his image, he gave us: humans: the authority, to rule over the earth, over the seas, land and sky. It was God who has all authority, who gave us authority to rule his creation, under his rule.

To be made in the image of God is very much tied in with knowing that we live under God’s rule, power and authority, but even more than that- it is actually more than just knowing about God’s rule, it is living under God’s rule, power and authority.

That is the whole purpose of an image- it is to reflect the actual object.

And so we, as God’s image bearers reflect God, and the way we reflect God is to live according to his rules, under his power, under his authority.  We can’t reflect who God is by just knowing Him.

Sadly, we know that just like our representatives, Adam and Eve, we have broken that image of God. Just like Adam and Eve, who didn’t want, didn’t desire, to live under the rule and authority of God, we too naturally desire to live under our own rule and not Gods’. We constantly rebel against God’s rule in our lives.

As a result when we fail to live under the authority of God, when we fail to obey his commands and we live according to our own rules, we are often just a very poor reflection of God’s image.

But praise be to God, this is where Jesus saves us, shows us, and leads us the way.

Just look at Colossians 1:15 with me:

He (that is Jesus) is the image of the invisible God.

Clearly from the context of these verses, when Paul tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, he is talking about the rule, power and authority of God- all thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities were made by Jesus and for Jesus and are all held together by Jesus.

When Jesus came to this earth, he did what every other human failed to do, he perfectly reflected the image of the invisible God. He obeyed his farther perfectly. He never sinned, he never told a lie, he always lived under the rule, power and authority of His father. He never did anything unless his father gave him permission. He and His father were one, they still are, they always have been.

Where ever Jesus walked on this earth, people could see God himself, since he always lived under the rule, power and authority of his father.

Friends, when people observe your life, what do they see?

Do they see, a person living under the authority of God?

Do they see a person walking in the ways of God?

Sure, they won’t see a perfect reflection of God, since unlike Jesus, we sin, but at least they should see a person who repents, a person who shows the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, a person who desires to live according to God’s ways. A person who speaks about God and his ways.

The whole purpose of an image, is so that people can see something.

This whole notion that the Christian life is a private affair, is just not biblical, it is just not true,- God made us in his image, so that people could see God working through us.

Friends, perhaps today, you may need to make a resolution, a resolution that Joshua made and which is recorded in Joshua 24:15

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord

Joshua had conquered the Amorites and sadly some of the Israelites had decided to worship the Amorite gods, but Joshua refused, he was going to live under the rule of his God, even though he was in a foreign land.

He consciously lived serving the Lord in a foreign land.

Friends, we are but aliens and strangers in this world passing through, and we too, just like Joshua have a choice. We can chose to bow to the images of this world, we can chose to let money, worldly treasures, worldly power, rule over us and dictate how we live, or we can chose to live according to God’s rule.

We can chose to walk the narrow path.

We can so easily chose to live for the things of this world. We can settle for comfort, we can settle for a good retirement, we can settle for  things of this world which just seem such the norm and obvious. We can settle for gearing our whole lives around our next holiday, or working our way up the career ladder,  or we can choose the harder and yet more fulfilling path. We can choose to please God, to do his work, to obey his commands no matter what it may cost us.

Just like Jesus obeyed his father and it led to suffering on a cross.

Now, when Paul wrote that Jesus was and is the image of the invisible God, he wasn’t just meaning that Jesus lived under God’s rule perfectly, but he was saying something much more as well- He was saying that Jesus was and is God Himself.

Look at verse 19 with me:

For in Him (Jesus) the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

When God created us in his image, he created us to be like him, as it was written in Genesis 1:26- God created us in his likeness. And so God created us to be like him, and yet this is crucial- he never created us to be Him.

God created us to be like him but not to be him.

The moment Adam and Eve desired to be God themselves, is the moment things started falling apart, it was the moment, God’s creation became broken.

However, notice, that with Jesus, God was pleased to fully dwell in Him. Jesus is much more than just being like God, but this is actually saying that Jesus is God himself. We know from other parts of the Bible, that Jesus is in fact God. Jesus called himself names that God called himself- like I AM and The good shepherd. John chapter 1 tells us that in the beginning Jesus was not only with God but he was God. In Hebrews 1, it tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of his being. Jesus said that He and His father are one. Jesus is more than just being like God, but he is God- God in the flesh.

Now when we try and describe God and Jesus in human terms it is hard, but here is a good illustration I heard, but I won’t press is too hard.

If God the father is the sun (that is that ball of fire in space), then Jesus is the ray of light which comes from the sun. One doesn’t not exist without the other- they are inseparable.

And just like we cannot look into the sun without being blind, we cannot look at God’s face without falling flat on our face. And yet when Jesus came down to earth, wrapped up in human flesh, we could see God, Jesus made God known to us.  He is the exact image of the invisible God, because he is God- God in the flesh.

And because Jesus is God, we know that Jesus created all things, all things were created by him and for him and all things hold together through him.

Which means this: all authorities, all powers, all rulers, all kingdoms of this earth are ultimately under the rule of Jesus.

King Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon, was under the authority of God.

The Roman empire was under the authority of God

The Sadam Hussein regime was under the authority of God

The Albanese government is under the authority of God.

Paul puts this plainly in Romans 13:1 which says

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

And so whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump is the next president of America, it is God who is ultimately the one who has all power, authority and rule. It is God who will bring those people to power, it is God who will bring them crashing down.

And here is the tension that we live in as people who live under the rule of Jesus.

The truth is that Jesus rules over all creation and yet it is also true, that not all people chose to live under his rule. They chose to live how they like, according to their own rules, and so we live under the rule of Jesus on this earth, even though many don’t.

That is what a church does now- we are pockets of people across the world, who joyfully live under the rule of Jesus.

When we gather as a church, we bear God’s image by living under his rule, even when the world doesn’t.

And as people who live under God’s rule in this world, we still follow and obey the governments that God has put in place – as long as they don’t command us to do anything which contradicts God’s rule and yet at the same time, we pray that God may change governments and rulers hearts, that they too will live under the rule and authority of Jesus.

We live in this time between the first and second coming of Jesus, where Jesus rules the whole earth now, and yet people still chose to live under their own rule and authority- it is a period of grace, where God calls, urges people to live in his image, under his rule.

Friends, there is coming a day, a day when Jesus returns to this earth, when people will no longer live according to their own power, and authority, but will live according to the perfect rule of God, and for those who don’t live according to his rule, they will suffer the eternal consequences.

Look at verses 19 and 20 with me again:

For in him (Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Paul tells us that there will come a time when Jesus will reconcile to himself all things.

This doesn’t mean that Jesus will save everyone and bring everyone into eternal life, no, this means, that Jesus will one day make everything right.

The word “reconciled” means that something that once was broken will be restored. Or something that once was separated will be joined back together. Jesus created this whole universe and everything in it, to reflect his glory, to reflect his power, to reflect his authority and rule and yet through our sin, that creation has been broken and ever since that first sin, the whole creation has been groaning like a mother in labour.

When Jesus returns, all of his creation will be restored, to be as God first made it to be.

And at the heart of that restoration is the restoration of people to be fully united with God again, a people to live totally and joyfully under God’s rule again.  And the only way that people will be reconciled to God, is through the blood of Jesus.

It is through the blood of Jesus that sins have been paid for, the justice of God has been satisfied and it is only through the blood of Jesus that people are restored into God’s image.

For those who haven’t made peace with God through the blood of Jesus- they will be thrown into eternal hell. On that day, people will sadly get for eternity what they desired in this life- a life without the shalom, the peace of God, a life of torment and pain.

And yet friends, no-one needs to wait for that day, for the peace of God to rule their lives, we can have a glimmer of that now, as we chose at this church, this place to serve Jesus. We can chose to serve Jesus for our households, we can chose to serve Jesus for our individual lives.

That restoration of that relationship between us and God starts now, that image of God in our lives can start to be formed now, as Jesus lives in our hearts now, by his Holy Spirit, as we follow the commands of Jesus now, from his word.

Friends, ask God to help you reflect less and less the characteristics of our sinful nature and may God help us reflect more and more the character of Jesus.

Let us pray.