Several years ago Andre Agassi starred in a series of commercials for Canon in which he said, “Image is everything.” These commercials seemed to play upon the fact that Agassi was extremely image conscious and implied that we all are really.
He may have been right.
It may have always been that way. It may have increased during the 20th century with print, radio and TV advertising. It has exploded over the last twenty years. People are famous simply for being famous. Indeed, image is everything. It reminds me of what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes: “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”
Image has always been important. God created man in His image. Adam and Eve threw that away. The rest of us do no better. Image, for perhaps the only time in history, was everything.
After the murder of Abel by Cain and Cain’s exile, Adam and Eve had another son. His name was Seth. The Bible tells us Adam had a son “in his own likeness, according to his image.” Again, image was everything.
The problem, though, was that Adam’s image at this point was faulty. This was an image that had been corrupted. This was an image that was flawed. This was an image that did not live up to the original. It was an image that contained sin and death. It was an image that includes rebellion and unbelief. Plug in any other sin and iniquity you can find. It is found there. Image is everything.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be to know what this original image looked like? Is that possible? Can we know what the original image was supposed to be? Can we know what to aim for? Can we know what we were intended to be?
Yes.
Phillip asked Jesus to show him and the other disciples the Father. He wanted to see God. Do you remember Jesus’ response? He said to Phillip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Phillip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Jesus was telling Phillip that image was everything.
Paul says it very bluntly. He says that Christ is “the image of the invisible God.” Image is everything
So, what does that have to do with you and me today? The original man was created in the image of God and threw that image away. Jesus came in the image of His father and gave us a way back.
Image is everything.
