15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
The biggest issue that faces ever generation is the identity of Jesus. Over the next several days we will look at this passage from Colossians and see what the Scriptures have to say about who Jesus is. Much of what is said gets a cursory look as we read the English translation, if we bother to think about it at all. The first said a Jesus by Paul is that He is the image of the invisible God. This word image is the impression left on creation that lets us know what God is like. Do you remember playing with modeling clay when you were younger? Remember pressing the clay against objects and looking at the resulting dent in the clay? You push it against a small toy soldier and pull it away, and you could see the shape of the soldier in the clay. That empty space where the soldier was is called the “image” of the soldier. Jesus is “image” left when God came in contact with His creation. You can examine that image and learn what God is like. The details of Jesus life and ministry tell us everything we need to know about God. The second thing Paul says is that Jesus in the firstborn over all creation. The firstborn is the one who has all the privilege because of his position. It has nothing to do with order of birth, but everything to do with the honored position. Jesus is in the top spot over all creation. He is not part of the creation, but over all of it. Some people want to turn Jesus into just some nice guy who lived and died, end of story. Paul says that Jesus is over all of creation. Getting to know Jesus is a worthwhile pursuit. When we get to know Him, we get to know everything we can about God because Jesus is in the most important position in the universe.
The Arnold Journey 