Who is Jesus, Really?
A few of years ago, my son Eli and I set out on a 26-mile backpacking trip through the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. On our last morning, we had six miles left to go. We packed up camp, shouldered our packs, and started walking — tired, hungry, and sore, heads down, just trying to grind out those final miles.
About three miles in, without having seen another soul in hours, we looked up and saw a gorilla.
Now, I'm fairly confident gorillas don't live in Arkansas. But from where we stood, that's exactly what it looked like. And here was our problem: this thing was standing right on the trail we had to take to get back to the truck. Neither of us was about to turn around and hike 23 miles the other direction with three miles left to go.
So we kept walking. We figured we'd just take our chances.
As we got closer, the picture came into focus — and it turned out to be a guy in a gorilla suit. I still don't know why he and his buddies were out there dressed like that, but there was a fair amount of alcohol lying around their campsite, which might explain a few things.
From a distance, we were sure of what we saw. Up close, the truth looked completely different.
I think that happens to a lot of us with Jesus.
We carry around an idea of who He is — shaped by what we grew up hearing, what culture tells us, maybe a bad church experience, maybe secondhand opinions we never checked for ourselves. We can describe "our Jesus" with real confidence. But confidence isn't the same as accuracy. Sometimes we're just too far away to tell what we're actually looking at.
So let's get up close. Let's look at one of the clearest, most concentrated descriptions of who Jesus really is anywhere in Scripture — Colossians 1:15–20.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
This passage is dense. It's also one of the highest, richest descriptions of Jesus in the entire New Testament. If our picture of Jesus is off, that's not a small thing — it shapes how we understand salvation, and it shapes how we live. So let's take this slow.
HE IS THE IMAGE OF GOD
The Son is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15)
The word "image" here means an exact representation — something that fully embodies what it points to. Paul isn't saying Jesus is like God. He's saying Jesus is God, made visible.
Hebrews 1:3 says the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. John's gospel says no one has ever seen God, but the Son has made Him known. And Jesus said it Himself, when Philip asked Him to show them the Father: anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
God is spirit — invisible, beyond our grasp. But in Jesus, God stepped into the human sphere so we could actually know Him. If you want to know what God is like, stop guessing. Look at Jesus.
HE IS THE FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Colossians 1:15)
This phrase gets twisted sometimes to argue that Jesus was a created being — the first thing God made, and therefore not fully God. But that's not what "firstborn" is doing here.
In the Old Testament, the firstborn held a position of priority and rank, not just birth order. "Firstborn" is a statement about status, not about origin. Paul is telling us two things: Jesus existed before all creation, and Jesus outranks all creation. He's not part of the created order standing in line — He's outside it, over it.
EVERYTHING WAS CREATED IN HIM, THROUGH HIM, AND FOR HIM
For in him all things were created… all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)
Every mountain range, every ocean, every galaxy, every atom, every angel, every human being — none of it exists apart from Jesus.
In Him — He's the source. Everything that exists came from within Him.
Through Him — He's the agent. All the wisdom, power, and creativity it took to speak the universe into being and hold it in perfect order — that was Him at work.
For Him — He's the goal. Creation doesn't exist for its own sake. It exists to display His glory.
Did you know that you exist to point back to Jesus? You were made in His image, and your gifts, your personality, your life — all of it is meant to put Him on display.
HE HOLDS EVERYTHING TOGETHER
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)
Jesus isn't just the One who started creation running and then stepped back. The universe isn't self-sustaining. Without Christ actively holding things together, gravity would stop working and the planets would drift out of their orbits. What keeps existence itself from unraveling isn't a law of physics. It's a Person.
And that includes you. Whatever you're carrying right now, whatever feels like it's falling apart — Jesus is the One holding you together, even when you can't feel it.
HE IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH
And he is the head of the body, the church… (Colossians 1:18)
If the church is a body, Jesus is the head — the source, the authority, the One who provides direction and life to everyone connected to Him.
And if you've put your faith in Him, you are connected to Him. Think about what that means. The One who created all things, who holds all things together, who outranks everything in existence — He is your source. Whatever is going on in your life, you are attached to the Head who cannot be shaken.
HE IS THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD
…he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead (Colossians 1:18)
Others in Scripture were raised from death before Jesus — but they all died again eventually. Jesus was the first to rise and never die again. He didn't just conquer death for a moment. He conquered it permanently, so that in everything, He holds first place.
ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD DWELLS IN HIM
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him… (Colossians 1:19)
There was no part of Jesus that wasn't fully God. Not a diminished version, not a partial representation — the entire fullness of God took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
HE MADE PEACE THROUGH HIS BLOOD
…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:20)
Here's the staggering part. Jesus had no sin of His own to pay for. But because He was fully human, He could represent us. So He took your sin and mine, placed it on Himself, and paid the debt in full through His death on the cross — so that peace could be made between us and God, and we could be brought back into relationship with the very One who holds the universe together.
That's not a small offer. That's everything.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THIS?
If you're reading this and you're starting to see Jesus more clearly — not the far-off, blurry version, but who He actually is — don't walk away from that. Put your faith in Him. Receive His forgiveness. Be reconciled to Him today.
And if you've already said yes to Jesus, here's what's true of you: you are in union with the One who is the exact image of God, who created and sustains everything that exists, who holds all authority, and in whom the fullness of God dwells. He is your Head. He is your Source.
So what could you possibly be missing outside of Him? More followers, more likes, more money, better circumstances — none of it compares to what you already have in Christ.
It makes me think of the hymn, In Christ Alone:
In Christ alone, my hope is found…He is my light, my strength, my song…This Cornerstone, this solid ground…Firm through the fiercest drought and storm…What heights of love, what depths of peace… When fears are stilled, when strivings cease…My Comforter, my All in All…Here in the love of Christ I stand
No guilt in life, no fear in death…This is the power of Christ in me…From life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny…No power of hell, no scheme of man…Can ever pluck me from His hand…Till He returns or calls me home…Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
Here in the love and power of Christ, I stand — and I hope you'll stand there too.
