Day 291

Jeremiah 38:1-40:6, 1 Timothy 3:1-16, Psalms 119:57-64

There are a number of passages that we identify as hymns or prose describing Christ and giving him glory. “He is the image of the invisible God"…” is but one of them. We don’t often pick this one out though.

He appeared in the flesh,
   was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
   was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
   was taken up in glory.

These six clear statements speak to us about the life of Christ and can probably be best read as couplets, that is the first and second line, the third and fourth together and then the last two together. They speak of the Lord’s revelation of Christ, the witness of Christ and the way he was received both on earth and in heaven.

For us the lines can also be split between the parts that we can witness to and the parts we can’t. He appeared in the flesh, but was not seen by us. He appeared to angels and was taken into glory in heaven. On the other hand He is vindicated in our lives by the Spirit, we preach him among the nations and we still believe on him whilst we are in this world.

The seen and the unseen for us. The difference between the seen and the unseen in all things is faith, and it is that faith which is at the centre of who we are.