THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD (take 2)

Recently I overheard a conversation about secret super-powers. The question was asked: “What you like to have as your secret super-power?” To which someone commented that they would like to be invisible. Of course that sparked a debate as whether invisibility is really a super-power.

Admit it, I think that all of us at one time or another wished they we could be invisible. I mean, have you ever wanted to be the proverbial fly on the wall? Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who think they must be invisible because it seems like nobody ever notices them.

Well, I’m not one to believe in super-powers as such. But I do believe in God who is supernatural, and who is all-powerful. He is often described in the Bible as being invisible.

Exodus 20:4 NASB95PARA

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

This command, in part, is due to the fact that no one knows what God looks like. If you make an image, even in your mind, as to what you think God looks like, you will not be able to represent Him well.

Exodus 33:18–20 NASB95PARA

Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

Perhaps the strongest reason for the invisibility of God is that He is spirit.

John 4:24 NASB95PARA

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The Preeminent One, the Eternal Son, became man so that men could be reconciled to God. He made God visible so that we who believe in Him might be justified before God.

If you have not done so, please take your Bible and turn to . As we continue in our series titled PROVISIONS OF THE INCARNATION we are going to look at The Image of the Invisible God. We will look at how the Son made God visible, how the Son Relates to Creation as well as to the Church, and how the Son Reconciled the World to God.

Let’s read our passage together.

HOW THE SON MADE GOD VISIBLE

The Eternal Relationship of the Trinity (; ; )

Genesis 1:1–2 NASB95PARA

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 1:26 NASB95PARA

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Isaiah 6:8 NASB95PARA

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The Pre-incarnate Appearances of the Son

The Essence of the Son

The Explanation of the Son (; )

John 1:18 NASB95PARA

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

John 14:8–9 NASB95PARA

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

HOW THE SON RELATES TO CREATION

Firstborn of all Creation

DOES NOT MEAN CHRIST WAS CREATED

First in Preeminence and Rank

Heir of All Things

Creator of All (; )

John 1:3 CSB

All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

Hebrews 1:3 NASB95PARA

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Created by Christ

Created for Christ

Sustainer of All

Before all things as it relates to time — eternal

Lightfoot said: “He is the principle of cohesion” who makes the universe “a cosmos instead of a chaos.”

HOW THE SON RELATES TO THE CHURCH

He is the Redeemer of the Church (vs. 14)

He is the Head of the Church (vs. 18)

He is the Firstborn of the Church

First to rise and never die again

First of a new resurrection

First in Priority

HOW TO RECONCILE THE WORLD TO GOD

It Began with the Father’s good Pleasure (vs. 19)

All the Fullness to Dwell in Him

The Full Nature of God

Dwell Permanently

It Required the Eternal Son to Become Man

It Required a Sacrificial Death to Make Peace With God

Reconciliation was Provided for Man

Reconciliation was Provided for Creation ()

Romans 8:19–22 NASB95PARA

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Today, we have only scratched the surface of this very deep passage. I think we could look at it every week for the rest of our lives and still only scratch the surface. But the point I am trying to make is that if it had not been for the incarnation of Christ, man would not have received the image of the invisible God. There would be no church, let alone the head of the church. There would be no victory over sin and death. There would be no reconciliation to God.

But thanks to the incarnation God has provided us with the image of the invisible God. God has provided for us victory over sin and death. God has provided for our reconciliation to Him.

2 Corinthians 9:15 NASB95PARA

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!