the image of Him that created him' (Col. 3:10); and 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,

'We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are

changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the

Lord'.  The consummation of this blessed commencement awaits resurrection:

'And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the

Image of the heavenly' (1 Cor. 15:49).

Such in brief is the testimony of Scripture.  We must now give these

separate revelations a closer examination.  First of all, let us ponder the

office of Christ as indicated by the title, 'The Image of the Invisible God'.

Visibility to us, seems essentially connected with reality, yet both

Scripture and philosophy alike teach that this is not so.  Most readers will

have a passing acquaintance with the findings of science, even though none of

us would venture to express opinions in a realm so far removed from our own

personal experiences.  However, it is common knowledge that light itself is

Invisible.  The paper on which these words are printed is reflecting the

light that shines upon it, enabling me to see what is printed thereon, but no

streams of light are traceable coming from the surface of the paper to the

eye.  If, when we see a beam of sunlight shining through a window, and we are

inclined to say, 'that shows that light is visible', we then plunge into the

beam a red -hot wire, we shall create a dark patch around the heated wire,

but the light will go on unhindered.  What we have done is to burn up the

motes of dust that acted as reflectors, but we saw not the beam of light.

Again we are familiar with the terms, 'infra -red' and 'ultra -violet',

invisible portions of light that lie at the edges of the spectrum (the

rainbow colours).  The God Who created light and all its characteristics has

used the figure to illustrate His nature.  'God is Light' 1 John 1:5

declares.  When therefore the Son of God is revealed both as the 'Image of

the Invisible God' and 'the Brightness of His glory', these elements in the

constitution of light should be remembered.

The Father

Like the infra -red rays.

The Son

Making manifest

Likened to the rays of the spectrum.

The Spirit

Like the ultra -violet rays.

At the same time we should remember that apart from His Mediatorial

capacity in which He humbled Himself for our sakes, it is written, that He

Who is 'King of kings, and Lord of lords' dwells in the light 'which no man

can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see' (1 Tim. 6:15,16).  The

structure of 1 Timothy reveals the essential nature of the Image of the

Invisible God, and, stripped of all extra details is as follows:

A

The King  Immortal

B

God manifest in the flesh.

A

6:15,16.  The King

The only way in which we can 'see' the glory of God is 'in the face of

Jesus Christ' and 2 Corinthians 4 which contains this reference contains the

Greek word augazo, 'shine' (2 Cor. 4:4), thereby linking this passage with

Hebrews 1:3 where the intenser form, apaugasma, 'brightness' is used, in the

words, 'the brightness of His glory'.  The glory of the Son of God is

comparable to the Shekinah glory (shaken = to dwell as in a tabernacle), and