The Missing Piece

July 20, 2025 homily on Colossians 1:15-23a by Pastor Galen

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. – Colossians 1:15

A Missing Puzzle Piece

How many of you have ever put together a jigsaw puzzle?

If you have, then you’ve probably had the experience of spending hours and hours arranging all of the pieces of the puzzle, trying to fit them all together, only to find that one puzzle piece is missing. You look under your chair and the table, and in desperation, you look all around your house to find that one missing piece of the puzzle.

Why? Because when there’s one piece of the puzzle missing, then all you can see when you look at the puzzle is that space where the missing piece belongs. It’s only when you find that one last missing piece of the puzzle that the rest of the picture truly comes into focus, and you can finally enjoy the whole picture. `

Jesus, the Image of The Invisible God

In Colossians 1:15, Paul and Timothy say that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.”  Now, this doesn’t mean that when Jesus was here on this earth that he physically resembled God, or that if we could somehow discover what the historical Jesus looked like, then we would know what God physically looks like. When Paul and Timothy say that Jesus is the “image of the invisible God,” they’re referring to Jesus’ character, his actions, and his entire being, which reveals to us who God is.

In fact, Paul and Timothy say that in Christ, “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19). What an amazing statement! All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus.

Jesus, the Son of God, was and is God. In Jesus, God took on flesh, and came down to live and dwell among us, to show us who God is. The Message paraphrase of John 1 says that “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14 MSG). In John 14:9, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Therefore, if we want to know what God is like, and what God cares about, and indeed, who God is, then all we have to do is look at Jesus. In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus revealed to us the heart of God. 

In addition, Paul and Timothy say in verses 16 and 17 that “for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17). In addition to showing us who God is, Jesus also helps us make sense of the world, and who we are, and why we’re here.

Looking For God

You see, all throughout human history, people have been stumbling around trying to find the missing pieces of the puzzle to understand the meaning and purpose of life, and who we are, and why we’re here.

There are a lot of things in the world that just don’t seem to make sense.  Life seems so arbitrary sometimes.  Some people do horrendous things yet live to a ripe old age, while innocent children die young. Some people have so much money that they don’t know what to do with it, while other people starve to death. Some people seem to always have good luck, while for other people, no matter what they do, it seems like the universe is against them.

And so, in an attempt to try to make life make sense, people have often turned to religion, science, and philosophy. 

As they looked at the world around them, people reasoned that there must be a God or gods. Every culture throughout human history, as far as we know, has believed in some sort of divine being or beings. After all, how could life exist if there wasn’t a higher power, or a creator, to bring it all into existence?

The question became, then, if the gods have power to control the forces of the universe, then why do bad things happen? Many people throughout history concluded that bad things happened because the gods were angry at them. And so humans developed elaborate rituals and practices to try to connect with or appease the gods, to try to get the gods to bend to their will or to give them what they wanted. People thought that maybe if they offered certain sacrifices or said certain words, then perhaps the gods would be happy with them and would give them what they wanted.

But as much as they tried, it didn’t seem to work. Even people who seemed to do all the right things experienced suffering, or tragedy, or loss, while others lived lives of luxury and ease. And so this caused some to believe that everything in the world is predetermined. That it doesn’t matter what we do or don’t do, because everything is already determined in advance. Free will is just an illusion, and so we can live however we want and do whatever we please, since nothing we do matters anyway.

And so throughout human history, and even to this day, we see people going around and around in circles, trying to make the pieces fit together, trying to understand who we are, and who God is.  We see people trying to understand and connect with God, sometimes trying to bend the will of the gods through ritual, or sacrifice, or good works, while others believe in fate, or karma, or any number of other philosophies or worldviews.

Then Came Jesus

And it was into the midst of this world with people struggling to make sense of it all, trying to figure out who God is and how we’re supposed to live — it was into the midst of this world, that God sent Jesus. Jesus, the image of the invisible God.

Jesus is like an angled mirror, reflecting God’s heart, God’s character to us. When we look at Jesus’s life — his teachings, his character, the way we lived, we see a direct reflection of God.

Not only that, but when we look at Jesus, when we truly see Jesus for who he is and was, everything else in this world makes more sense.

Jesus is that one Christmas bulb that makes all of the other bulbs light up. He’s the piece of computer code that makes the rest of the program work. Jesus is the key or legend on the map that helps us understand where everything else is. Jesus is the missing piece of the puzzle that helps us see the whole picture — or even better, he’s the corner piece of the puzzle that helps us know how to arrange all of the other pieces of the puzzle and how to fit them all together.

For example, when we look around at the pain and the injustice in this world, we often wonder, “Does God care?” But when we see Jesus hanging on the cross, we see that God does indeed care. We wonder, if God is all-loving, then why is there injustice in the world? But on the cross, we see God’s perfect love and justice come together. On the cross, God exposes the evil and injustice of the world and brings it all to a head. On the cross, Jesus dealt with injustice by sacrificing himself for the sins of the whole world. 

As Paul and Timothy say in verse 20, “through [Jesus] God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20).

The mystery of who God is, and why we are here has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ! We no longer have to wander to and fro, trying to understand who God is, living in fear that God might be angry with us, trying to appease God or win God’s favor. 

When we look at Jesus hanging on the cross, we see the whole complete picture of God’s unconditional love for us, and we see God’s mercy and grace that is freely offered to all. We see that God knows our pain, that God understands our suffering. We can rest assured that God is not content to sit back and watch injustices occur.  Through the cross, Jesus demonstrates God’s ultimate love and justice and that God is actively working for good in our world, to bring an ultimate end to all pain and suffering and injustice. This is what we see when we look at Jesus.

Proclaiming Jesus

Our task, then, is to proclaim Jesus to a world that is searching for the truth about who we are, and who God is. But in order to do that, we need to know Jesus for ourselves. It’s not enough just to know about Jesus — we have to truly get to know him, by spending time with him, praying and reading the Word. The more we see and know Jesus, the more we can share and reflect his love to those around us. 

New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has said, 

If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus. If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus. And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but part of the drama that has him as the central character. — N.T. Wright

Conclusion:

So when we go from this place today, may we go with our eyes fixed on Jesus—the image of the invisible God, the one in whom all things hold together. When life feels like a jumble of scattered jigsaw pieces, may we remember that in Christ, the full picture of God’s love, justice, and purpose comes into focus. Jesus is not a distant mystery to decode, but a living Savior to know and follow. So let us keep looking to Jesus, not only to understand who God is, but also to discover who we truly are—God’s beloved, created through him, reconciled by him, and held together in his grace. May we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus that we may become like him, and that we may show Christ to the world.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection in Response to Today’s Sermon:

1. What comes to mind when you hear that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”? How does that shape your understanding of God’s character?
2. Are there areas in your life where you struggle to believe that God is present or cares? How does the image of Jesus on the cross speak to those places?
3. What are some ways you’ve tried to “figure out” God or life apart from Christ? How did those efforts fall short?
4. In what ways have you seen Jesus “hold all things together” in your life—especially during times of chaos or uncertainty?
5. How does knowing Jesus personally—not just knowing about him—change the way you live, make decisions, or relate to others?