Skip to main content

Impressed With Christ - The "Image" Factor


Impress is to affect deeply or strongly. Another aspect of it is to press into something or to make an imprint.

Coins are an example of something that is pressed into.  The heated soft metals of the coin are stamped, under pressure, with a die and the imprint is left on the coin.  The result is the likeness or image of former presidents being stamped or pressed onto the coin.

In the book of Colossians, we find at least two aspects of the image of one being pressed onto another:
           
The image of God on Christ:

Ø  He is the image of the invisible God (1:15)

Ø  All the fullness of God dwells in Him (1:19)

Ø  The fullness of Deity dwells in (Christ) in bodily form (2:9)
           
The image of Christ on us:

Ø  We are blameless and beyond reproach (1:22)

Ø  Christ in you, the hope of glory (1:27)

Ø  In Him we are made complete (2:10)

Ø  We are buried with Him in baptism and raised up with Him (2:12)

Ø  We are made alive together with Him (2:13)

Ø  We have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (3:3)


Christ imprinted on us?  You bet!  His image has been indelibly cast on us.  In fact, when the Father looks at us, He sees the image of His Son upon us!  Now that’s impressive!
           

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel. For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.   That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime. I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.   Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.   More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips. As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective: 1.   “ Bucket list trips ” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).   While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bu...

Above My Pay Grade!

We like things that we can study, know and understand.  Sometimes we find it difficult to accept that there are things that might be hidden from our knowledge and understanding. The Scriptures indicate that there are some things hidden by design:  “The Lord our God keeps certain things hidden. But he makes other things known to us and to our children forever. He does it so we can obey all the words of this law.”  (Deut 29:29) Some versions of the Bible translate the hidden things as “secret things”.  Regardless, there are things which have been revealed and things which are kept hidden from us and remain secret. We may chafe at having to deal with the fact that some things remain hidden, but that’s often when faith and trust come in.  The Psalmist wrote:   “O Lord , my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”  (Ps 131:1) The Psalmist seem to realize that th...