And we are His image bearers:
Genesis 1:26 says,“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness…”
And in 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul wrote that as we behold the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, we’re transformed into the same image that we’re seeing. It’s a process of transformation that has often referred to as “Beholding and Becoming.”
But what if the “mirror” of God’s true nature we’re looking in isn’t accurate? Our perception of God’s true identity impacts our understanding of who He made us to truly be. If our image of Him is not accurate, then our image of ourselves will not be either. Our childhood experiences with fathers, whether they were wonderful, absent, or harsh, shape our concept of Father God. Our starting point in any exploration of our true identity must begin with accurately understanding who we perceive God to be.
So, when you discover a self-perception that is negative or harsh, consider who has defined your image of God and of yourself. Use it as a signpost to ask Holy Spirit:
• What am I believing about myself that would cause me to think like this?
• Who does God see me to be when He looks at me here?
His image of you can only, ever be through the lens of Jesus, full of kindness… full of empowering grace. He sees the truth of who He created you to be and that’s what He wants to talk to you about, even if it isn’t currently true in your daily experience…yet. He will come to you with who He is… and as you experience His true identity, your own image in His likeness will become more clear. Consider who has defined your image of God. God Himself!!
Jesus the Firstborn of All Creation
The Son is described as the “image” (eikōn) of God, immediately followed by a further description: “firstborn of all creation.” The phrase eikōn tou theou (“image of God”) recalls the language of Genesis 1:26–27 (cf. also Gen. 5:1; 9:6).
Jesus/Yeshua is the firstborn of many brethren: Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. WE BE THE BRETHREN! Jesus/Yeshua was the Word that became flesh, but He is eternal with the Father.
Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or [e]principalities or [f]powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
1:16 Everything that is begins in him whether in the heavenly realm or upon the earth, visible or invisible, every order of justice and every level of authority, be it kingdoms or governments, principalities or jurisdictions; all things were created by him and for him. Mirror
1:6 Concerning the things seen clearly, as in the mentioned above, by original formation of man. From Father all things came into existence by One Holy Breath. We, within ourselves, can gaze at that which is not visible by the natural eye. Even though there may be rulers in power, government rulers or governmental politicians, or those who function out of their Holy Breath in great power, the whole came into being through our Father Creator, and in the substance of Father Himself they were created. RERichmond Tree of Life Bible
For Him All Things Were Created……… ALL THINGS!!
Heaven and Earth
Visible and Invisible
Thrones or Dominions
Principalities and Powers
All Things Created Through Him and For Him
Before anything was, before the blackness of space, before the void, there was the King, the Almighty, the Self–Existent, the One who was, and is and is to come. He existed in and of his own domain. God wasn’t “anywhere” because there was no “where.” There was only God. Nevertheless, He created from nothing a space, a domain outside of Himself that was not. This expanse, dimension, He called shamaim (or heavens). He filled this domain with substance, material called eretz (earth). We can think of the heavens like a water bottle filled with water (eretz). Imagine God by Himself, of Himself, bringing forth from Himself a dimension, a void, filled with only eretz also called tehom (the depth) which had not been before.
It could be said that God is the “cosmic glue” that holds the cosmos together—all with Light/Glory. Genesis 1:3 Then God (Elohim , plural-God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) said, “Let there be (Hayah, cause to appear or arise, cause to be made or done, come into existence, come to pass, make into something) light” ( GLORY); and there was light.(Light in the Hebrew means revelation, understanding, glory of God, manifestation of God Himself). Everything was created heaven, earth visible and invisible, throne dominions, principalities and powers were created through Him and for Him.
Col. 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
1:17 He is the initiator of all things, therefore everything finds its relevance and its true pattern only in him. Mirror17And Father existed before, with and in front of all the Whole, and the Whole by Him consists and is strengthened. RERichmond Tree of Life Bible
Primacy of Christ
He is “before all things,” and “in him all things hold together.” “Before all things” might be read in a temporal sense (meaning prior to all things) or a hierarchical one (meaning superior to all things). The repeated use of the term “firstborn,” however, when understood in light of Old Testament usage, suggests the primacy of the Son’s importance is being emphasized. The statement that in the Son “all things hold together” is paralleled in thought in Hebrews 1:3.
Verses 17 and 18a of Colossians 1 form a transitional section in the passage. Both verses begin with the phrase “And he is” (kai autos estin), using the third-person personal pronoun rather than the relative pronoun used in verse 15. These verses mark a shift of theme from the Son’s relationship to creation to his relationship to the church. This close connection may imply that Paul regards the church as the new creation. (Compare 2 Cor. 5:17 and Gal. 6:15, where Paul speaks of the experience of being in Christ as “new creation.”)
• Notice in Him--In Him/by Him/for Him - Col. 1:17; Col. 1:19; Col. 2:6; Col. 2:7; Col. 2:9; Col. 2:10; Col. 2:11/by Him - Col 1:16/for Him - Col 1:16, Col 4:13. “In Christ or in Him” is one of the key expressions of Ephesians. There are two closely related lines of truth in the NT—the truth of the believer’s position and the truth of who we were and are in Him. In Ephesians alone, in Christ, in Him, in Whom, in Jesus 92 times.
Col. 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
1:18 The ekklesia (church) is the visible expression (body) of which Jesus is the head. He is the principle rank of authority who leads the triumphant procession of our new birth out of the region of the dead. His pre-eminent rank is beyond threat. (“ ... leading the resurrection parade” —The Message) Mirror
1:18 Father Himself is the Spiritual condition of every part of the whole of mankind, the point whence action or motion proceeds. That is who they were when Holy Breath was Breathed into the formed man, to make man a living soul. In this order the whole of mankind is Father. Father is the beginning, the First in rank of all creation. RERichmond Tree of Life Bible
Head of the Body (the) Church, the Beginning
Related Scriptures:
Psalm 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.
Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
Ephesians 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
Firstborn from the Dead-
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. (Revelation 1:4)
The title “firstborn of the dead” for Jesus is of great theological importance. The Greek word for “firstborn” that John uses is prōtotokos, a word that literally refers to birth order—the first child born. This is a concept of great significance in the Old Testament, where the firstborn son inherited his father’s place as head of the family, receiving the father’s blessing and a double portion of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17). After the Passover in Egypt, God told his people that every firstborn child was set aside as his own (Exodus 13:2), and the nation of Israel as a whole was referred to as God’s “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22).
Because of the biblical significance attached to the concept, the word “firstborn” acquired a metaphorical sense and came to also refer to the special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir. In the New Testament, Jesus is shown to be the “new Israel,” the culmination and fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all the nations through the offspring of Abraham (Galatians 3:7). Jesus fulfills the intended role of Israel as God’s faithful firstborn son in his perfect life and sacrificial death, and he is vindicated by God in his glorious resurrection.
We being joint heirs with Christ, we receive the same inheritance as Christ. Romans 8:17
