On the Use of Images of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit
By Phillip M Way

As we have been studying through the Ten Commandments, looking at uses of the Law in the life of a believer, both in regards to daily living and also within the context of apologetics and evangelism, we have seen that God’s Law condemns us and cannot save us. It drives us to the cross and to God’s grace, where we find a Savior who has become the Mediator of a New Covenant, perfectly fulfilling the Law. That righteousness is imputed to us when we place our faith in Christ, repenting from our sin and depending upon Him alone for salvation.

In previous studies we have asked and answered the question, “Is there still a place for the Law in the life of believers?” Answering the question, “Yes, there are 3 uses of the Law” moves us then to ask how the Second Commandment is to be applied in our worship and in our daily lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

Several of the great and historic catechisms from Protestant and Reformed Churches have asked and answered the question, “What is the Second Commandment?” From them we see what is required and what is forbidden by this commandment. Our direct and practical application of these answers from Scripture will provide us 7 reasons that that images of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are forbidden by the Word of God.

A Puritan Catechism askes, “What is the Second Commandment? The Second Commandment is, ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments’” (Exodus 20:4-6).

We would think that this would be a pretty simple command to explain and expound upon what is allowed and what is forbidden by this Second Commandment, but it really is not that simple. Remember, John Calvin said the human heart is an idol factory. That seems to be one of the things that we do best. We create idols, and this is not just talking about graven images as in wood and stone and metal idols, but it is talking about making images of God or to represent God in the worship of God.

A Puritan Catechism goes on, “What is required in the Second Commandment? The second commandment requires the receiving, observing (Deut. 32:46; Matt. 28:20), and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God has appointed in his Word (Deut. 12:32).” This we refer to as the regulative principle of worship. We worship according to what God tells us to do. He tells us how He is to be worshiped, that is, His Word regulates our worship of Him. Now, why does He do that? Because He is God, and we are worshipping Him.

If we are worshipping God the way we want to worship Him, who are we really worshipping? An idol of self. We are worshipping in a manner that fits our preference instead of what God has commanded.

The second question then is this, “What is forbidden in the Second Commandment?” The answer, “The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images, (Deut. 4:15-16) or any other way not appointed in His Word (Col. 2:18).”

Now immediately the way those who use religious icons will get around this is they will say that they are not worshipping the image, they are just using the image and worshipping through the image to the thing signified by the image. Yet we understand then, theologically speaking, that makes the image a mediator. We are mediating our worship through an idol. Now who is the only mediator of the New Covenant? The only mediator between God and man? It is Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5). We find only One Way to the Father – Jesus (John 14:6). So then there are some that say, “We only use images of Jesus.” We will get to that in a moment.

What Does the Second Commandment Require and Forbid?

First, let’s look at the Westminster Larger Catechism, where the question answered is, “What are the duties required in the Second Commandment? The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his Word; particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ; the reading, preaching, and hearing of the Word; the administration and receiving of the sacraments; church government and discipline; the ministry and maintenance thereof; religious fasting; swearing by the name of God, and vowing unto him: as also the disapproving, detesting, opposing, all false worship; and, according to each one’s place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.” (Deut. 32:46-47; Matt. 28:20; Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 6:13-14; Phil. 4:6; Eph. 5:20; Deut. 17:18-19; Acts 15:21; 2 Tim. 4:2; Jas. 1:21-22: Acts 10:33; Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-30; Matt. 18:15-17; Matt. 16:19; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 Cor. 9:7-15; Joel 2:12-13; 1 Cor. 7:5; Deut. 6:13; Isa. 19:21; Ps. 76:11; Acts 17:16-17; Ps. 16:4; Deut. 7:5; Isa. 30:22.)

This provides a deeper look at what the things are that God requires of us in worship. This, if you look on our website, in fact, there is a link under the About Us page on our liturgy, our order of worship, and this is an order of worship that’s pretty common throughout church history. We take elements of reading the Word, praying the Word, singing the Word, preaching the Word, hearing the Word, observing the ordinances, fellowship, and giving. These things are laid out for us throughout the New Testament, starting in the book of Acts, as the things that God requires of us when we gather together to worship Him as His church.

The Westminster Larger Catechism continues, “What are the sins forbidden in the Second Commandment? The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding, using, and anywise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; tolerating a false religion; the making any representation of God, of all, or of any of the three Persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of any representation of feigned deities, and all worship of them, or service belonging to them; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to it, or taking from it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves, or received by tradition from others, though under the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretense whatsoever; simony; sacrilege; all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed. (Num. 15:39; Deut. 13:6-8; Hos. 5:11; Mic. 6:16; 1 Kings 11:33; 1 Kings 12: 33; Deut. 12:30-32; Deut. 13:6-12; Zech. 13:2-3; Rev. 2:2, 14-15, 20; Rev. 17:12, 16-17; Deut. 4:15-19; Acts 17:29; Rom. 1:21-23, 25; Dan. 3:18; Gal. 4:8; Ex. 32:5; Ex. 32:8; 1 Kings 18:26, 28; Isa. 65:11; Acts 17:22; Col. 2:21-23; Mal. 1:7-8, 14; Deut. 4:2; Ps. 106:39; Matt. 15:9; 1 Pet. 1:18; Jer. 44:17; Isa. 65:3-5; Gal. 1:13-14; 1 Sam. 13:11-12; 1 Sam. 15:21; Acts 8:18; Rom. 2:22; Mal. 3:8; Ex. 4:24-26; Matt. 22:5; Mal. 1:7, 13; Matt. 23:13; Acts 13:44-45; 1 Thess. 2:15-16.)

The next question and answer then follows, “What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it? The reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it, contained in these words, For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments; are, besides God’s sovereignty over us, and propriety in us, his fervent zeal for his own worship, and his revengeful indignation against all false worship, as being a spiritual whoredom; accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threatening to punish them into divers generations; and esteeming the observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments, and promising mercy to them unto many generations. (Ex. 20:5-6; Ps. 45:11; Rev. 15:3-4; Ex. 34:13-14; 1 Cor. 10:20-22; Jer. 7:18-20; Ezek. 16:26-27; Deut. 32:16-20; Hos. 2:2-4; Deut. 5:29.)

The truth is that when you look at patterns of sin, especially that run within families’ lives, what one generation will tolerate, the next generation will not only allow but promote, and the third generation will adopt as standard practice. We see that in our culture, and this is the cursing to the third and fourth generation that when these sins of idolatry and false worship take root within a community or within a family, it could be generations before people are able to break out of that because that becomes the foundation then of their worldview and their approach to worship.

Not that God cannot save people in a family that is idolatrous. The good news of the gospel is, God does that all the time, just to show us his power and his ability to publicly shame the principalities and powers. But there is a real threat here of these consequences. The way we worship will impact our children and their children and their children. That means this commandment really does matter. This is important because this is how we approach God.

Arguments against images of God, including Jesus and the Holy Spirit

In practically applying this then, we will look at 7 reasons from Scripture that images of God are forbidden and should not be used by believers. This includes depictions of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If we have not already been convinced, we will move now past Exodus 20:4-6 and look at a range of Scriptures that demonstrate the foolishness and sinfulness of using images of God. Let us hear the whole counsel of the Word of God.

1. God is Spirit

First, John 4:24, “God is spirit.” Jesus says those who worship God must worship Him “in spirit and in truth.” Because God is spirit, that means as such, He is invisible. He does not consist of created matter, and He cannot be limited or confined to a spatial location. Now, people would immediately say, “Wait a minute, Jesus has a body.” We will get there, but for now, looking at God in His eternality, when we talk about His invisibility, that means that all of His being, all of His spiritual being in essence, will never be able to be seen by us in all of its fullness. Even in the new heavens of the new earth, with Christ there with us, we as created beings will never be able to fully see all that God is. We also will not ever be able to fully comprehend all that God is.

If we as a created being could comprehend the infinite, then that means that God is not who He says He is and we would be wiser than He is. Now, God does still show Himself to us through visible created things. And of course, we do see Him appear in the person of Christ as we see Him in the Old Testament, pre -incarnate, and then we see Him coming in the New Testament and having a fleshly body. But God in His essence is invisible to us.

Here are some scriptures that explain that to us. Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” We can see God’s attributes in His creation. That does not mean we can see Him, but we can see evidence of His attributes.

Colossians 1:15-16 says of Christ, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” He is the image of the invisible God. I love these verses because when we are told here that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, that Greek word is the icon, that Jesus is the “stamped icon” of God. That means He is the only visible representation of God that will ever exist, that will ever be. We do not need any other icon or any other image. He is it. He is the exact image of the invisible God, the firstborn overall creation. That is why Jesus could say to his disciples when they said, show us the Father, what did he say? You’ve seen me. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  

1 Timothy 1:17 tells us, “Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” And Hebrews 11:27 refers to Moses as he forsook Egypt, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”

So although God does have an essential form, His form is not seen, because that form is not physical. God is present in His creation in a spiritual manner. Job 33:4 says, “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Now we do understand that once we are glorified, we are not going be limited by our mere physical senses and perceptions, and we are promised that we will then see God. Job 19:26, “Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall behold God.” Once we are glorified and not limited by the physical body, our perceptions will be greater.

In Psalm 17:15, David writes, “As for me, I will see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness.” Matthew 5:8 tells us “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” And Revelation 22:4, “And they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

To sum that up then, God does not have a physical body in that sense, not accounting for the incarnation. God is not made of any kind of matter. He is not merely energy. God’s being is not even exactly like our spirits because our spirits are created things that are able to exist only in one place and in one time. God in His spirit and His being and His essence is eternal, omnipresent, and invisible.

2. We Have not Seen God the Father

Second, any image we create of God is by definition, a false image and a violation of the second commandment. If we were to draw a picture of someone whom we have never seen, it’s probably not going to look like that person.

We have not seen God. In Deuteronomy 4 we read this starting in verse 15, “So keep your souls very carefully, since you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth, 19 and lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which Yahweh your God has apportioned for all the peoples under the whole heaven.”

John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 6:46 adds, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”

We have not seen Him, and while we see His attributes revealed in the created world around us, we must not then make an image of Him from out of the created world and think that that will suffice because at that point we are worshipping a false image and that opens the door for idolatry.

3. We have not Seen Jesus or the Holy Spirit

The third argument against images apply to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit, because we have not seen them either. The reality is the Old Testament prophets yearned to see Him, when He was coming as the Messiah. David prayed, he wanted to see. Job wanted to see, but they did not.

Up until He came and He was there with his disciples, then they saw him. Paul saw him on the road to Damascus. John sees him in Revelation after the ascension and we know then that since then none of us have seen him.

The Holy Spirit is described as coming and going like the wind in John 3:8. We cannot see where He is coming or where he is going or how he is working. Even when the Holy Spirit is present at the baptism of Jesus, we read the text there. Understand the Holy Spirit did not look like a dove. Even these images that depict the Holy Spirit as a dove, that is idolatry. That is a false image because He did not appear as a dove. He hovered over Christ “like a dove” and what is described there, that is very similar to the same way the Spirit of God is described at creation in Genesis 1:2 where the Spirit of God was “hovering over the surface of the waters.”

When we see the presentation of the Trinity, which many people say never appears in the Bible, we see it at the baptism of Jesus. There is the Son. There is the presence of the Spirit that is noted by this hovering presence, not that was seen but that was heard, and then by the voice that came from heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus Himself goes on to tell us we are blessed if we have believed in Him having not seen Him, because we walk by faith and not sight. In John 20:29 “Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.’” Because faith is itself what gives substance to what we cannot see. That’s Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We have not seen Him, but we know He is, and that evidence is provided by our faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

4. Visions of Jesus are Unreliable

Fourth, there are some people that then will rely on visions of Jesus to tell us what He looks like. However, a couple of warning points about that. Trusting of vision actually works against the doctrine of sola scriptura and the doctrine of the sufficiency and perspicuity of scripture.

The Second London Baptist Confession begins, “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”

Have you noticed for all of the people who have claimed to have gone to heaven and seen Jesus, that the only two who have a similar description both did not draw a picture for us, they wrote it down in the inspired Word? We have a description from Paul and from John of Jesus at the right hand of the throne, as He was presented on the road to Damascus, the glory of seeing the resurrected, risen, ascended Christ blinded Paul on the road. Scales formed over his eyes and he had to be healed of that. When John saw Jesus in Revelation 1, he fainted he was so frightened by what he saw (Rev. 1:17). John, who is the disciple who loved Jesus, sees the resurrected Jesus in His power and glory and tries to describe it to us and it terrifies him.

Now, we see all of these other pictures that all of these other people have drawn because they have supposedly gone to heaven and seen this hippie looking, effeminate, white Jesus. That’s not Jesus. If those people had seen Christ, they would have fainted as if they were dead. They would have had to be told, “Do not be afraid.” And the pictures they all give us would match, because Jesus does have a physical body. That means He does look like a man. And when we see Him, we will recognize Him. When He calls us to be with Him or when He comes back for us, we will see Him!

To see Him and to know Him because we already know Him and then our faith will receive sight and we will see Christ. And we are not all going see Him differently, as a different skin color or a different culture or a different whatever. We are going to see Jewish Jesus, who is the son of God incarnate and who is risen and ascended and reigning.

Our confession continues, “Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God so much that man is left without any excuse, they are not sufficient to provide that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary for salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly to writing; Therefore the Holy Scriptures are most necessary, those former ways by which God revealed His will unto His people having now ceased.” (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Ephesians 2:20; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 2:14,15; Psalms 19:1-3; Hebrews 1:1; Proverbs 22:19-21; Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19, 20)

We see then that there are those who claim to have these visions, but the Word of God cannot contradict itself because God cannot contradict Himself. A simple test of those visions easily proves that we cannot know if any of these people have actually seen Jesus. How do we know this? All the images would be the same. If all these people had seen the same Person, if they had seen the real Jesus. These visions then serve to cause people to depend upon their own thoughts, their own emotions, their own imagination, instead of the clear teaching of the Word of God, putting personal experience above Scripture.

5. Jesus Warns about “Other Christs”

Fifth, Jesus Himself warns us that many will claim to be Him and will deceive and lead many astray. We see that in Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” And in verses 23-35, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance.”

We see it even at the crucifixion. Barabbas, whose name was Yeshua Barabbas (son of Abbas, the father). Well, what was Jesus’s name in Hebrew? Yeshua. What does Yeshua mean? “Deliverance.” So the crowd was given a choice by Pilate. “I can either release to you Jesus, who is Barabbas (Deliverance, the son of the Father), who had claimed to be messianic and was leading a revolution, or I can release to you this other Jesus, who is the King of the Jews and the Messiah.”

Who did they want? Of course, they didn’t want the true Jesus. They wanted the fake Jesus, and so they wanted Barabbas released and Jesus crucified.

This is the other reality, even with the painting that is here in our own town, their site tells us that atheists and unbelievers and people of other religions come and they see this picture of Jesus that this girl painted, and they’re moved. If an atheist sees a picture of the true Jesus, he’s going to spit and gnash his teeth.

He hates God. Why would he be moved by a picture of Him? When the true atheist comes face to face with the true Jesus, the atheist bows his knees and confesses that Jesus Christ is King, that he is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). That’s the only response. It’s that or absolute hatred and revulsion, because the world hates Jesus (John 15:18, 25).

6. Is It Jesus?

Sixth, if these pictures really are Jesus, we should be moved to worship, but the second commandment tells us explicitly not to use images in the worship of God. If we do see a picture that is really Jesus and we are not moved to worship, then we either do not really believe it is Jesus, or we are guilty of falling into false worship because we are not worshiping Him for who He is.

If we see a picture of Jesus and it’s Jesus, we should worship, but the Bible says don’t, so we don’t use pictures of Jesus because we don’t have a picture of Jesus. The disciples didn’t have a Polaroid. It didn’t happen. What we have are the descriptions they have given us in the Word of God, and that is sufficient.

7. Images Diminish the Glory of God

The seventh argument is that no image of God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit can ever display God’s divine nature in its fullness, and therefore, if not an outright false image, it is an incomplete image. John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of Christian Religion that anything that does not present a complete image of God detracts from His glory. It minimizes His glory. Psalm 29:2 says we are to give unto the Lord the glory do His name, “Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name.”

Calvin wrote, “We believe it wrong that God should be represented by a visible appearance, because he himself has forbidden it [Ex. 20:4] and it cannot be done without some defacing of his glory. From this it is clear that every statue man erects, or every image he paints to represent God, simply displeases God as something dishonorable to his majesty. As in the first commandment the Lord declares that he is one, and that besides him no gods must be either worshipped or imagined, so he here more plainly declares what his nature is, and what the kind of worship with which he is to be honoured, in order that we may not presume to form any carnal idea of him. The purport of the commandment, therefore, is, that he will not have his legitimate worship profaned by superstitious rites. Wherefore, in general, he calls us entirely away from the carnal frivolous observances which our stupid minds are wont to devise after forming some gross idea of the divine nature, while, at the same time, he instructs us in the worship which is legitimate, namely, spiritual worship of his own appointment. The grossest vice here prohibited is external idolatry.”

“This commandment consists of two parts. The former curbs the licentious daring which would subject the incomprehensible God to our senses, or represent him under any visible shape. The latter forbids the worship of images on any religious ground. There is, moreover, a brief enumeration of all the forms by which the Deity was usually represented by heathen and superstitious nations. By ‘any thing which is in heaven above’ is meant the sun, the moon, and the stars, perhaps also birds, as in Deuteronomy, where the meaning is explained, there is mention of birds as well as stars, (Deu 4: 15). I would not have made this observation, had I not seen that some absurdly apply it to the angels. The other particulars I pass, as requiring no explanation. We have already shown clearly enough that every visible shape of Deity which man devises is diametrically opposed to the divine nature; and, therefore, that the moment idols appear, true religion is corrupted and adulterated.”

Matthew Henry on the Second Commandment said this, “We are here forbidden to worship even the true God, if by images. ‘I am the Lord Jehovah, and thy God, am a jealous God, especially in things of this nature.’ This intimates the care he has of his own institutions, his hatred of idolatry and all false worship, his displeasure against idolaters, and that he resents every thing in his worship that looks like, or leads to, idolatry. Jealousy is quicksighted. Idolatry being spiritual adultery, as it is very often represented in scripture, the displeasure of God against it is fitly called jealousy. If God is jealous herein, we should be so, afraid of offering any worship to God otherwise than as he has appointed in his word.”

Conclusion

The prophet Isaiah actually sums this up really well for us in Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah asked in verse 15, this is the Lord asking through the prophet, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with him?”

In Isaiah 40:19-25 he continues, “19 As for the graven images, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver. 20 He who is too impoverished to make such a contribution chooses a tree that does not rot; he seeks out for himself a wise craftsman to prepare a graven image that will not be shaken.  21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who inhabits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to inhabit. 23 It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth utterly formless. 24 Scarcely have they been planted; scarcely have they been sown; scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.”

We have enough evidence simply from Scripture itself to understand that by the Second Commandment it is not just the making of idols for false worship that is prohibited, it is the making of any image to represent any God, even the true God, because of who He is and because of what He is, if we try to craft an image of Him in our minds, we are creating an idol.

That is the danger of movies that present to you Christ, the danger of artwork that presents to you Christ, because then that is how you see Him and our hearts are too prone to make an idol, to make a Jesus according to our own imagination.

Even if we had an accurate picture of Christ, the danger there is that there are those who would worship the image instead of worshipping Christ Himself. And so, we don’t have an image of Christ. You understand, Jesus came at the perfect time when cameras didn’t exist.  When we all do see Him, here’s the great news, when He comes back, every eye on the planet will see Him and will instantly know who He is. For us, what joy for the world it is the day of the Lord, a great and terrible day.

We look for His coming. We want Him to come. We long to see Jesus. Let’s guard our hearts in the meantime. not to allow any idolatry to creep in. There is no one, no image, no thing, that can rightly display the glory of God other than the God-man Christ Jesus. He is the only icon that we need and the only true icon of God that we have. Until we see Him face to face, we walk by faith and not sight, trusting Him and His Word, and knowing that one day we will see Him! At that moment we will realize just how far off and false all the images mankind has created have been.

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Cor. 10:14). “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21). Even so, come Lord Jesus, that we may see You as You really are and behold Your glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father!

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by Permission