Seeing God

Seeing God

Colossians 1:15-20

            I love Sunday school stories.  Children say such cute things—and it’s interesting how many of them are profound.  We tend to write children off, thinking they can’t possibly say anything important, but if we listen carefully, they often surprise us.

            A small child was drawing a picture in Sunday school.  Her teacher said, “That’s an interesting picture.  Tell me about it.”

            “It’s a picture of God.”

            “But nobody knows what God looks like.”

            “They will when I get done.”

            We chuckle.  How cute.  How innocent.  How naïve—or is it?  We know our little artist can’t draw a picture of God, because no one really does know what God looks like.  But is it possible to somehow see God? 

            Moses asked to see God when they met on Mount Sinai.  God granted the request—in part.  Protecting him from being overwhelmed—knowing that the sight of God’s face would mean Moses’ death—God passed by, allowing Moses to see his back.

            Is that the best we can hope for, a partial view, thousands of years ago, a second-hand report of a firsthand experience, not written down until centuries later by someone who wasn’t alive when it happened?  Actually, no.

            In the first chapter of his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul makes a revealing statement about Jesus Christ and his relationship to God.  “[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God,” Paul says.  If we have seen Jesus Christ, we have seen God—God in the flesh:  walking, talking, living, loving.

            Is this enough?  Will it satisfy us?  Is it our only option?  We can’t see Jesus in the flesh; he is no longer visible to us.  Paul did see him in a vision on the Damascus Road.  Even this short glimpse of the glorified Christ causeed Paul temporary blindness.  Perhaps, if visions have this effect, we should be satisfied with Paul’s account.

            I imagine many of you, like me, will not be satisfied.  We want to see a fuller picture.  If looking at Jesus is the way to see God, is there a way to see enough of him to satisfy us?  Actually, yes.

            We have the gospels records.  They give us a complete picture of what God is like.  In their pages, we see love—God’s love as displayed in Jesus’ life, words and actions. 

            We see a healing God:  a God who has the power to make people physically, emotionally and spiritually whole, restoring balance to their lives.

            We see a resourceful God:  a God who can turn water into wine, who can make food stretch further than someone on a tight budget, a God who can control the forces of nature.

            We see a forgiving God:  a God who says, “Go and sin no more,” a God who can reconcile even the disciple who denied him.

            Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.  When you read the gospels, you see God looking out at you from every page—God in the flesh:  walking, talking, living, loving.

            What better picture could we ask for?