He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… (Colossians 1:15)
There was a TV show long ago about an invisible man (there have been many remakes). As I remember it as child, the lead character became invisible through some lab accident and started working as a spy for the gov’t. I would think spying would be easy if you’re invisible (just ask Harry Potter with his invisibility cloak).
I also remember that he also struggled with being invisible. No one could really know him because they couldn’t see him. He wondered if he really existed.
I think about that whenever I read about “the invisible God.” Does God struggle with the same existential crisis of identity (probably not)? But surely God wants to be known, and how can God be known when God cannot be seen?
Colossians argues God is known through Jesus Christ, through the church, and through all of creation.
As the image of the invisible God, Jesus is the reflection of God. This is what God looks like “enfleshed,” or embodied. That’s not to say God looks like either the blue eyed, blond Jesus of many Bible picture books nor a middle eastern 1st century Jew. Rather, the image here is one of sacrificial love and compassion. We know God through the way Jesus lived.
As the body of Christ, God is also known through the mission and ministry of the church, at least when that mission and ministry truly reflect Jesus. God is “known” when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, and do those things the church is called to do.
In the Jewish wisdom tradition, Woman Wisdom was the first of God’s creations and had a role in creation itself. God’s wisdom, then, is woven into all of creation and the more we come to know God’s creation, the better we know God.
God may be invisible, but God still wants to be known. And while we mortals will never fully know God, we get glimpses of the invisible God through Jesus Christ, through the work of the church, and through all of creation. Let us do our part to better know God.