From the Greek word charakter. We get our English words, "character" and "characteristic" from this word. But it means more than "character" or "personality." The word comes from another Greek word, charasso, which was a tool for graving--a tool used to cut into, or engrave, an image. But it was ALSO a stamp or impress, as on a coin or a seal, in which case the seal or die which makes an impression bears the image produced by it. And, vise versa, all the features of the image correspond respectively with those of the instrument producing it. Jesus is the image of God. The Son of God is not merely God's "character" or "personality." Jesus is the image or "impress" of God's substance, or essence. Jesus is not an instrument, or tool, of God. He is true and absolute God, the One by Whom, in Whom, and for Whom all things were made, and through Whom all things are sustained. In John 10:30, Jesus says, "I and the Father are One." In John 14:9, Jesus says, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father." Hebrews 1:3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." 2 Corinthians 4:4: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God." Colossians 1:15-20: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by 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."
The word means "God is with us" or "God with us." Jesus was the final fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel." Jesus was "God with us" in the fullest sense. (See also Isaiah 9:6-7.)
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