Some people claim to have seen ghosts. Who knows—maybe they did. But one thing I can say for sure, when people saw Jesus—they saw God.
In Colossians 1:15 it says that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” That simply means that when people looked at the visible Jesus, they saw the invisible God.
This word “image” is the Greek word ikone, from which we get our English word “icon”—a religious image painted on a small wood panel. Actually, the Greek word ikone means a likeness or a representation, or resemblance. Paul is saying that Jesus resembles God. He is a visible representation of who God is.
The U.S.A. is now minting new quarters. But the older quarters have the image of George Washington’s head stamped on one side of the coin. That is an icon of George Washington. In like fashion Jesus is the icon of God stamped into humanity. He is the exact representation of the Father—a representation of the unseen God; so that Jesus could say in John 14:9, “he that has seen me has seen the Father.”
Listen, Jesus wasn’t just a good man. He is the invisible God stepping into our planet. He is the image of the invisible God.
Say—you may not be able to see God, but you can know Him by getting to know Jesus.