WHO IS JESUS?

Rev Dwight Fletcher

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV).

Jesus is God. The word ‘image’ in Greek is eikon and refers to ‘likeness, manifestation, or replica’. In that culture, the ‘image’ was a stamp that was able to make exact reproductions. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the precise copy/replica because He is God Himself. He both represents and manifests God to the world. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known” John 1:18 (NIV). That phrase, “made Him known”, means that Jesus literally exegetes to the world what God the Father is really like. Jesus revealed, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” in John 14:9 (NIV). Jesus is God with skin on.

Jesus is not only God. He’s also the unique Son of God and “… firstborn over all creation”. Some suggest that this verse teaches that Jesus was a created being and therefore not God. The word ‘firstborn’ is most frequently translated as ‘heir/owner’. In ancient times, it meant the ‘ranking or supreme one’. Jacob, for example, was not born first, but he was the heir. In Psalm 89:27, we also read that God appointed King David as His “firstborn”, even though he was the youngest of eight brothers. This verse concludes by saying that David will be the “most exalted of the kings of the earth”. ‘Firstborn’, therefore, is a title of honour or position, and not a reference to chronological order.

Jesus is the image of God and the exalted one over all creation because He’s the Creator. All things were created in, through, and for Christ: “For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him” Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV). Jesus isn’t a mere man. He’s the Creator of all things, those things we can see and those things we cannot see. The context of Colossians 1 declares that Jesus is the Sovereign Creator, not one who was Himself created. John 1:1-3 (NIV) states that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”

False teachers taught that the physical world was evil and therefore, God Himself could not have created it. They reasoned that if Christ were God, He would only be in charge of the spiritual world. Paul explained that all the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers in heaven and earth, of both the visible and invisible world, are under the authority of Christ because He created them. Jesus has no rival outside of God the Father and Holy Spirit; He has no equal. Jesus is Lord of all. He’s not only the Creator, but He also provides purpose for His creation: “…all things were created by Him and for Him.” The goal of all creation is to glorify Christ. “…For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created” Revelation 4:11 (NLT).