Reflections

The apostle Paul proclaims, "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (Col 1:15).  The word we translate "image" is from the Greek "icon" from which the name of a very famous camera was derived, "Nikon."

Back in the day, I used to have one.  I was able, when such things were necessary, to develop my own negatives.  I wasn't exactly an Ansel Adams but I did win a blue ribbon at a county fair for a black and white photo of a big-rig in motion.  However, I digress.

The point I want to make is that the word used for Jesus means "exact representation" or image.  An image, that when seen, allows you to visualize that which it reflect.  In particular, Jesus so perfectly reflected the Father that he could rightly say, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9).

You might be thinking, "Of course, he is, after all, the Son of God."  True and as such and as such, we would expect that he would bear the Father's image.  But who is our Father?  Is it not "our Father in heaven" (Mt 6:9) to Whom we pray?  Did not God "create mankind in His own image" (Gen 1:27)?  What, then ought we to reflect but God's own image?

Of course, we ought to reflect God's image but we will reflect the image of that which we hold closest, that which make the greatest impression on us.  If it is money, we will reflect greed.  If it is power, we will reflect control.  If it is sex, we will reflect objectification.  As one of my instructors at Harding University's School of Biblical Studies once put it, "That which we perceive is that which we believe and that which we believe is that which we become."

We reflect what is most important to us.  We reflect that which our very being leans into.  Do you remember Silly Putty?  You could shape it, bounce it and roll it out like dough.  But when you pressed it into a comic book or newspaper, it would come away with the image of the print into which it was pressed.

In a sense, we are like that.  We will bear and reflect the image of that which we press into.  Whatever it is that we hold tightly enough to make a lasting impression will be what people see in us.  If it is God whom we hold closely in our hearts, then it will be His image that others see reflected.  And they will know, Christ followers, that "God is really among you" (1 Cor 14:25).  Jus' Say'n.