In verse 14 Paul continues, “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The deliverance in verse 13 deals with Satan’s authority over us by destroying his evil power, whereas the redemption in this verse deals with our sins by fulfilling God’s righteous requirement. The forgiveness of sins is the redemption which we have in Christ. Christ’s death has accomplished redemption unto the forgiveness of our sins.
In Christ, the Son of God’s love, we have redemption and forgiveness. When we believed in Christ as our Redeemer, God immediately delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of light. Here in the light we are qualified for a share of the portion of the saints. This means that we are qualified to enjoy Christ. Because this qualification is an accomplished fact, there is no need for us to pray about it. On the contrary, like Paul we should simply thank the Father for this. However, there is the need for us to pray concerning knowing the will of God and walking worthily of the Lord to please Him in all things (vv. 9-10). Now that we are in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, enjoying Him in the light, we must go on to know Him in full and to walk worthily of Him.
As the portion of the saints, Christ is not only the Son of God’s love but also the image, the expression, of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the “image of the invisible God.” God is invisible, but the Son of His love, “the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance” (Heb. 1:3), is His image, expressing what He is. Christ as the Son of God’s love who has God’s life and nature can express God.
The image in Colossians 1:15 does not mean a physical form but an expression of God’s being in all His attributes and virtues. This interpretation is confirmed by 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. The image of God is the form of God’s attributes. God has many attributes, and God’s inward being is the totality of His attributes. An attribute is an element that belongs to God. God is love, light, holiness, righteousness, power, might, and strength (1 John 4:8; 1:5; Lev. 19:2; Heb. 12:10; Psa. 7:9b; Jer. 23:6). These and many other items are the elements that belong to God; hence, they are His attributes. When these attributes are expressed, they become virtues. First Peter 2:9 says that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession, so that we may tell out the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Here Peter uses the word virtues instead of attributes. Virtues are expressed attributes, and attributes are hidden or concealed virtues. When Christ lived on earth, He expressed God’s attributes in His virtues. He expressed the divine attributes in His humanity as virtues. All the divine attributes have an image. This image is Christ the Son as the expression of the invisible God in the essence of His attributes (2 Cor. 4:4b).
How does Christ, the image of the invisible God, express God? As the Son of the Father’s love, He expresses the Triune God because He is the One through whom both the old creation and the new creation came into being (Col. 1:16-18). Furthermore, He expresses the Triune God because He is the Firstborn of both creations (vv. 15, 18). This makes Him the full expression of God.
To say that Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the image of God implies that He is God, the Creator. When we see Christ, we see the expression of the invisible God, for He Himself is God. Christ is the image of the invisible God, God Himself expressed. The Christ who is our good land, the allotted portion of the saints, is also the image of the Triune God, His expression.