He is the image of the invisible God

If you were explaining your faith to someone who knew next to nothing about it they might ask you 'why do you worship Jesus? Who is he?' Imagine trying to answer that question, maybe to someone you had met briefly, trying to explain the importance of Jesus in one paragraph. Well, in his epistle to the Colossians St. Paul does a very good summary in verses 15 – 20.

The passage divides into three sections, and each one tells us a different thing about Christ, all of which add up to explain why He is at the centre of our faith.

Firstly we are told that Jesus is 'the image of the invisible God' - Jesus shows us what God is like, and more than that , he is so close to God that he was there when creation began (like wisdom, and you may recall John 1: Jesus is the word, and God's word is wise). Jesus has a unique role in creation: he helped create, he rules over it all and he holds it together. You may be reminded of John 1 as well as Proverbs 8:22, which tells us that the first thing God created was wisdom: so in that light, does that mean Jesus is Wisdom, and Proverbs, when it talks about 'wisdom' really speaks of Jesus? I don't think any commentators believe this: some believe that when New Testament writers wrote about Jesus they were influenced by the Old Testament – they wrote according to their faith tradition, and so they used the descriptions of wisdom to help them express the centrality of Jesus to God's plan. In Isaiah 11: 2 we are told that the Messiah will be the one on whom God's spirit of wisdom rests. So Jesus being equated with wisdom , and being someone who was known for his wisdom, shows that He is the Anointed One.

There is something else going on here. The fact that Jesus is so much part of the big picture reminds us that when he created the world God planned everything. For atheists the very existence of the world is random. Everything is because of chance. Despite evidence that our very existence, the size of our planet, its closeness to the sun, the presence of water, needed to exist within very narrow parameters, for many everything is a result of random mutations. But the Bible tells a very different message. This is not about evolution versus creationism, it is about plan and purpose versus accident and chance. As Christians we believe in a world that is here for a reason, where God has an overarching plan, and our lives have real meaning, and at the centre of that meaning is Jesus.

Then in verse 18 we have a shift in emphasis from the transcendent figure of Christ, the Messiah, Creator and Son of God, to Jesus the head of the church. What a difference. Suddenly we, as members of the church are connected to the creator of the universe. You may be feeling very very far away from Jesus at the moment. In body terms you might feel like the big toe: but we all know that if you stub your toe it has an impact on the head – the mouth usually says 'ow'! Toes might not feel very important or even very lovely at times, but we know they come in very handy when you need to walk anywhere. And even though it is a long way from the head the big toe is controlled by the head. Despite the times we feel distant from Jesus, we are connected to him: the same blood runs through the whole body. We have a relationship with Jesus, he walks alongside us.

The third thing I want to highlight is how Paul describes Jesus' role in life – his job description. It is not to do miracles, preach sermons or make disciples; it is to 'reconcile to himself all things.' And how does he do that? Through the cross. The problem with the wonderful relationship we should have with God is that too often we don't have it (remember Adam walking in the garden with God?). Our relationship gets spoiled. Sometimes we have distractions in our life, or we may have had life events that drove us away from God, but the root problem is sin. And sin is not just disobedience to God, it is also the breaking of a precious friendship. It was to restore that broken relationship that Christ gave his life. And what is truly mind-blowing is that it is not just to make us acceptable to God, to give us the confidence to stand in God's presence, that Christ died; he died to bring all things on earth and heaven – everything to that place of reconciliation. The cross is not just our place of reconciliation, it is also a reminder that the final goal of creation is reconciliation to Christ.

This passage is amazing, and beautiful, but it may seem remote from your daily life. I believe we may learn things that can help us today. Firstly we learn that we are created for a purpose. God's world is made for a purpose, and we were made for a purpose too. Our lives have real meaning. I want to ask you a question: do you truly believe your life has real meaning?

Secondly we realise that we are created to have a relationship with Jesus. We are part of his body. Do you know Jesus, do you sense him walking beside you in your daily life?

Thirdly, we may feel very distant from God because of life events, or because of sin. But we know that through Jesus' sacrifice we have the confidence to approach God's throne. The cross puts all things right – it gives us reconciliation with God. So, are you feeling at peace with God, or are there jagged edges in your life that are making you uncomfortable?