II Corinthians 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Twice, we are specifically Commanded by God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,” (Exodus 20:3-5, Deuteronomy 5:7-8). The only “image” we are allowed to have, is God Himself Who is His own “image” of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ the Son of God. God is Triune, He is three entirely unified Persons, “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (I John 5:7). Jesus Christ, “the Word”, was and is not made by man, neither was He Created, He is the actual appearance of God which could be physically seen, touched, and heard. He once told His Apostles, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). There were many who saw our Lord as a man but could not see Him as God; some could not see because they were not given the revealing Spirit of God, others could not see because “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them”. An “image” is a representation of another or some physical thing which directs the mind to another. God will allow no such substitutionary thing or other person in our worship of Him, not even some supposed “image” of His Body; He has chosen to be His own “image”. Jesus Christ, “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:6), is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3)! The Resurrected Lord told “Thomas”, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). While we have not physically seen the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His indwelling Spirit we recognize and know Him and hear His “Gospel” and we believe in Him and believe Him and rejoice in Him; for, “when he had by himself purged our sins” HE “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Now we anxiously await that blessed and holy day in which we will “see” Him “for” ourselves and our “eyes shall behold, and not another; though” at the present our “reins be consumed within” us (Job 19:27).