Rhapsody of Realities 24 November 2024: Jesus – The Profile of the Father
Scripture: Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature
The Greek word translated “image” in the scripture above is “eik6n,” which is where the English gets the word “icon.” It means resemblance or profile. God is invisible, but if you want to know what He looks like, Jesus is the image, the profile of the invisible God.
This helps us further understand the words of Jesus in John 14:8 (NKJV) when Philip said to Him, “…Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus replied him, “…Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9). This is amazing!
For their religious minds, this was too huge because Jesus had been talking so much about the Father. He talked about His oneness with the Father and that He would return to the Father. They wanted to see the Father, but He told them, “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father..”. (John 14:9). In Hebrews 1:3, we get another powerful description; it says, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…”. The Greek word translated “express image” here is “charakter,” and it means exact copy, perfect imprint, or facsimile.
Jesus is the exact representation of God’s essence. If you want to see the perfect imprint of God’s person, it’s found in Jesus. Jesus displayed the divine nature, essence, and character of God. No wonder John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” The Greek word for “declared” here is ‘exegeomai; meaning to display or rehearse.
Read Yesterday’s Rhapsody of Realities Here
Jesus didn’t merely talk about God; He rehearsed and displayed the divine nature. The great and mighty works He did are proofs of His divine essence and oneness with the Father. He said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:11 NKJV)
PRAYER: Dear Father I thank you for revealing your essence and nature through Jesus Christ, the perfect imprint of your being. As I behold the image of Christ through the Word, I see you, for He is the exact representation of your character, your love, and your glory. I rejoice that through Christ, I have come to know the Father. I am transformed into the image of your dear Son. Thank you for your boundless love expressed so perfectly in me. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY
John 1:18
We all live off his generous abundance,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
John 14:9-10
9-10 “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
Hebrews 1:3
1-3 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
3-6 After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you” or “I’m his Father, he’s my Son”? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, “All angels must worship him.”
1 – YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 Peter 3 & Ezekiel 31-32
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Jude 1:12-25 & Hosea 1-2
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Rhapsody of Realities 24 November 2024
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