One God!

For Sunday, April 7, 2024:

Colossians 1:15a NLT: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.”

So people have been after you to sign up for the Jesus team. Why should anyone do that? Paul answers that common question with authority. “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” Paul is, after all, the one who had a (violent) encounter with the Savior on the road to Damascus. He got his theology straightened out in a hurry on that day, and has been teaching people the truth ever since.

In John 14:9, Jesus explains who he is to Philip. “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”

We get a little more detail in John 10:28-30: “I give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Jesus had claimed to be the spitting image of God. He claimed to be the source of eternal life. His religious opponents kept asking the question, “Who is this guy?,” but they didn’t like his answer. “I and the Father are one.” In the past, Jesus performed miracles and healed people, clearly power from heaven. But this, “claiming to be one with God,” seemed like blasphemy, a scriptural untruth. His opponents picked up stones!

The truth is that if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. Those were words straight from Jesus’ mouth, and God cannot lie! Do you believe? You should! This is a key plank in Christian theology. One of the mysteries of Christian faith is the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are differences in how we perceive them, but deep down they’re all the same: God!

If you know Jesus, you know the Father!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship