Most people think Jesus was a good person and teacher; they have no problem at all with Jesus until you say, “no one comes to the Father, except through him” (John 14:6). According to false teachers in Paul’s day, Jesus got equal billing with a vast number of spirits flowing out of God. They said Jesus could be prominent, but he certainly wasn’t preeminent. Paul boldly tells the truth about Jesus.
Jesus is the image of God. The word Paul used here for image is the closest in ancient Greek to our word for photograph. Jesus is the perfect representation of God. This verse and others (John 1:18; 1 Tim. 1:17) tell us that God is invisible. The Phillips translation states (vs. 15), “Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God.”
Not only is Jesus the perfect picture of God, but he also holds the highest rank in the universe. Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Firstborn is a term of rank more than it is a word of time (Ps. 89:27). The right of the firstborn was the right of privilege and priority. It was the honored position in the family. Jesus is the firstborn—the highest rank—in all of creation.
About Me
Isaiah 43:19-21
"See I am doing a new thing! Now it spings up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."