GOD REVEALED PART 1. CHRIST, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD

GOD REVEALED PART 1. CHRIST ,THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD
It is very important to know the nature of God. This is because your experience with God is dependent on how you know God. If you know God as an evil person you will be suffering evil from the devil and be thinking it is God. Sequel to this series is my post on GOD'S SELFIE. You can click here to read it if you have not read it. In this series, we will be looking at key things about the nature of God . We will get to know who actually God is and basic things about the character of God . 
We will be looking at  the visibility  of the invisible God. We must realise that God is invisible. He can not be seen. 1Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen
The challenge becomes how do you know an invisible being. Glory to God this challenge has been resolved for us.  The invisible God has put on flesh in the person of CHRIST. 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD IS GOD MADE FLESH
We know that God cannot be seen. The same God that cannot be seen has been made manifest in the person of Christ.
Colosians 1
15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16  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:
Christ is the IMAGE of the invisible God. This means that to know God we must look at Christ. We can not know God that is invisible except we look at the image. So in understanding the nature of God, it is very important we know Christ. 
Hebrews 1
1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The Prophets spoke to our fathers about God. From Genesis to Malachi, the people could only know God via the prophets. So the God they knew is the God the prophets revealed to them. Now the same God that the prophets talked about came in the person of Jesus who is the express image of God. The Greek word used for express image in Hebrews 1:3 is charaktr.  It means the exact expression, Exact representation. Christ is the exact expression and representation of God. In Christ, we see the real character of God. This means that in knowing God we must know Christ. Any picture about God that is presented to us in Genesis to Malachi must be subjected to what we see in Christ. 
Let’s look at the testimony of John about this Christ.
John 1
1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2  The same was in the beginning with God.
3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
14  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.
18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
You can read the whole first chapter of the book of John. I highlighted some verses here to buttress my points. 
First, we see that the word was with God from the beginning. So obviously Christ didn’t start existing when He came to this earth. He existed before the beginning of the world. That same word was made flesh and dwelt among men. He became visible among men. Notice verse 18. No man has seen God at any time. Only the begotten son has declared Him. When we read Genesis to Malachi we see many appearances of God in different forms. Many times what we see from Genesis to Malachi as God are angels that came in the name and authority of God. Like in Exodus 3, we see an angel appeared to deliver a message  and the next thing we see is that Moses said the Lord. Another example is in Judges 13, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and  she took him as the Lord. So we know that Christ is the first and only time God was made flesh and seen among men. If in a certain city several people have been talking about someone, they are likely to  say different things about the person according to their perception. Then  suddenly A MAN comes to the city and says with infallible proofs I am the person you have been talking of, it is COMMON SENSE to submit what others have been saying about the man to the real identity we see in the man. This is how we interpret  THE VIEW OF GOD FROM GENESIS TO MALACHI. We must submit them to what we see in Christ. If what we see is contrary to the image In Christ, we throw it away. Christ is the certainty of the Character of God. In this series, we will look at many details from Genesis to Malachi about the nature of God.
In John 14, Philip Said to Jesus, show us the father, that we might  be satisfied. Jesus has so much talked about the father. Now they wanted to know the father. Jesus Said to Philip in response to his request. John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Jesus equated the father to Himself.  Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the father, not if you have seen the father you have seen me. This means Jesus reveals God. The father is invisible, now we have seen the invisible father in Jesus. We can now be very certain about the nature of God. CHRIST IS THE CERTAINTY of the Character of God. 
Jesus said in John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
Jesus clearly said hear that we have not seen the shape of God before His coming. But now, we have seen God’s face in Christ. We can now be certain of God’s voice.
In addition to Christ coming to die for the world so they can have life, one major reason why Jesus came is to reveal God to us.
1 John 5: 20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Read the above Scripture again. You will see that Christ came to give us an understanding of who God is. We see towards the end of the verse that Jesus IS THE TRUE GOD. Any other picture of God contrary to what we see in Jesus is a misrepresentation. True here as used in the passage means opposite to what is counterfeit, imperfect and frail. So in Christ we see the perfect view of who God is. This is key in understanding the nature of God. 
The mystery of knowing God has been revealed. That great mystery is revealed in Christ. 1 Timothy 3: 16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,...
God was manifest in Flesh. It is without controversy. It is with certainty. Now we can say of the nature of God. 
The fullness of God  dwells in Christ bodily. It pleased God to be revealed in Christ bodily. 
Colossians 1 :  19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
2: 9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
When we talk about God being manifest in Christ, we must realise that It is out of God’s pleasure that He be revealed in Christ. 
In summary, the image of the invisible God is Christ. It is in Christ that we see the Character of God. ANYTHING THAT CAN NOT BE SEEN IN CHRIST CANNOT BE SEEN IN GOD BECAUSE CHRIST REVEALS GOD.  This makes it easy to know that any where you see evil from Genesis to Malachi cannot be God. How many people did Jesus kill? How many did He make sick ? He even admonished us to love our enemies. Matt 5:45. Jesus was a friend of sinners. Even at the point of death He was still healing His enemies. He healed Marcus ears. This Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Though He had the power to kill, Jesus never killed anyone . In fact, He came that we may have life. It is the devil that steals , kills and destroys. Jesus didn’t come to make God look good. He came to show us the real nature of God, that God is a good God. We serve a God that never changes. He has always been good. He was so good that Jonah was blaming him for His goodness. Jonah knew God will not destroy Nineveh. This is our God. In the subsequent part of this series, we will look at Details of the nature of God in  that we have seen the image of God in Christ.



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GOD REVEALED PART 1. CHRIST, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD GOD REVEALED PART 1. CHRIST, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD Reviewed by Emeke Modesty Obiazikwor on September 17, 2018 Rating: 5

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