Devotions from Colossians  by Darrell Lingerfelt

Full Facial View
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Who is the image of God? The man Christ Jesus! Who is the first born of every creature? The man Christ Jesus! 

Don't misunderstand. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and is not the firsborn of deity for He always has and always will be God and with God as the 2nd person of the Trinity. Colossians 1:16-17 will tell us, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."  

The likes of deity that any man or creature terrestial has seen, is Christ. John 1:14 tells us, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Of course, not all men has seen Him physically save those who were here during those 33 years of His ministry on earth. However, all have seen Him spiritually, and are accountable to Him, be they Saint or sinner, though the sinner would discount Him and refuse to acknowledge Him either physically or as Deity. And if there are those who recognize Him as being Deity, they still will not worship Him as Lord of their lives. However, someday...every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is indeed Lord.

We, who are Saints, take great pride in this verse seeing that by faith's eyes we have seen the blessed Lord of Glory. 2Corinthians 4:6 tells us that, "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Thus, when we see the precious Son in our hearts and do worship Him. We also see the Father in the face of Jesus and are overwhelmed by the grandeur of Him who has shed His grace on us. The totality of the Godhead has revealed itself to us and sustains us with faith images that we can cling to and know that our names are written in Heaven. Yes, it is images that we can only see through the haze of the supernatural. Nonetheless, it is enough to make our hearts swoon at the very sight of our Lord and Savior.

Now if in your mind's eye you can see the face of God in Christ Jesus, worship, Saint! Let not your heart be troubled, Christ has given you this view and you can bask in the glow of it. Hell will have its gods, but it cannot bend, smear, or erase this great view that has been given you through Christ Jesus our Lord. Fix your eyes upon Him. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.