John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Have you ever seen a Victorian silhouette? Before photography, (like in the picture) people would sit behind a canvas with a light creating their shadow and someone would either draw or cut out the shape of that person from their shadow and then give it as a present.
Today, that might seem like a lot of effort to go to, but think about it, it’s a lot more personal than simply taking a selfie!
In his Gospel, John is telling us that even though we haven’t seen God in the way that we see each other, we don’t really need to because in sending Jesus, He has sent us a perfect image of Himself. Has anyone ever called you
“the image of someone”?
This phrase doesn’t just mean that you look like that person but that your likeness to that person goes somehow deeper than that. When God sends Jesus, it’s the same idea - in Jesus, God wanted all of Himself to be seen.
Jesus’ isn’t just a good likeness of God - there’s nothing about God that we can’t see in Him!
PROMPT: Think of something or someone who is important to you. Draw or write some words to describe the object or person - maybe try cutting a silhouette! Then show it to someone and see if they can guess what it is.
Now try the same thing for God – what is He like? Remember, if you find it hard, God has shown us exactly what he is like in Jesus …