Reflecting His Image (Protestant/Evangelical Caucus and Devotional)

Ligonier.Org ^ | 12/8/2016

[Gamecock]

What can be said of Christ’s being the “express image of His person”? Are not we all created in the image of God and does not this reference merely speak of Jesus as the perfect man, the one in whom the image of God has not been besmirched or corrupted? I think the text means more than that.

Philip Hughes says this: “The Greek word translated ‘the very stamp bearer’ means an engraved character or the impress made by a die or a seal, as for example, on a coin; and the Greek word translated ‘nature’ denotes the very essence of God. The principal idea intended is that of exact correspondence. This correspondence involves not only an identity of the essence of the Son with that of the Father but more particularly a true and trustworthy revelation or representation of the Father by the Son.”

We remember the request made to Jesus by Philip when he said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). We need to meditate upon the response of Jesus in John 14:9–11. He who would taste the fullness of the sweetness of Christ and perceive the total measure of His excellence must be willing to make the pursuit of the knowledge of Him the main and chief business of life. Such pursuits must not be hindered by sentimentality or reason.

Coram Deo

Pray this prayer: “Dear God, reveal to me the depth and riches of the nature of Your Son, Jesus.”

Passages for Further Study

John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that uI am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else wbelieve on account of the works themselves

[Gamecock]

Ping!