Express Image of God

 Desiring a manifestation of God, long ago, mankind began to make images and craft their own representations of their idea of God. Like the Israelites, who would not wait for Moses to come down from meeting with God, they made their own representation of God to worship. The children of Isreal knew God existed, and they knew God delivered them from Egypt. But they wanted to be near God, to "see" a representation of him to worship some model to behold the glory of the infinite God, so they made an idol.

 Man would not look to the Almighty for self-revelation but took it upon himself to make a visible image of the invisible God. Mankind yearns to have a visual representation of God so they can look at it, be near it, think about it, and even have God present with them through the idol. But the end result is they dishonor God, making not only a poor representation but one that drives them further away from the true and living God.

 Anytime we conceive of God apart from His revelation, we make an idol. How can we know the infinite mind of God unless He reveals it? In the Old Testament, God gave His people ways to worship that taught them. A tabernacle of animals skins, a host of fallen men as priests, multitudes of washings and sacrifices, a table with bread on it, a big bowl for washing, or veils and lamps. All these are types, symbols were teaching tools God gave Israel to teach us about Him but did not draw the heart to worship the object, but the Lord God. Because those types only pictured one perfection of the Lord, not an image of Him in His fulness. So an idol is never enough because no graven image can fully represent the glory of God.

 Christ is the image of the invisible God, and He and the Father are one in nature and essence. Jesus isn't merely a representation of the nature of God because He is one with the Father and has the divine nature. The Son is one with the Father, but also WITH the Father. John 1:1-2, "In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." The Word was God, one in subsistence, but with God in distinct personhood. In this distinct personhood, the Word is the "image of the invisible God."

 Idols are not enough because they try to take the place of Jesus. Do you want God near? Look to Jesus. Do you want to have an express image of the invisible God? Look to Jesus (Hebrews 1:3). The Devil blinds mens' eyes to behold God's only actual express image and gives them idols of their own imaginations to worship. How do we see the glory of the invisible, infinite, glorious, eternal God? In the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).