Imprint

Imprint. Those of you that live up north are still leaving imprints of your boots in the snow or maybe you can still make snow angels. Down here in the south the imprints being made are in the mud because of the amount of rain we have gotten so far this year. And some of you have made a trip to the beach already this year and have left some imprints in the sand as you walked along barefoot.

An imprint is the exact replica of what has been pushed into whatever the medium is that was used: snow, mud or sand. We make imprints of the hands and feet of our little children to remember one day how little they once were while they eat us out of house and home. Our fingerprint is an imprint that is unique to only us and can not be replicated by another.

The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ was the exact imprint of the nature of God the Father. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” - Hebrews 1:3a.  Jesus Christ was not a reflection of the Father but an imprint. The two terms, reflection and imprint, mean two different things.

A reflection gives off the glory of something else. The moon offers no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun. An imprint is the exact replica of what has been impressed into it. The glory of Jesus Christ was the same exact glory of God the Father. Jesus was not reflecting the light of the Father, He was also that same light. The Father and the Son have the same radiance of glory.

Jesus told His followers that if they have seen Him, they have also seen the Father. Jesus had the imprint of the exact nature of God, not the exact physical appearance because God is Spirit. We are to be a reflection of the glory of God but we’ll discuss that tomorrow.

Have a great day and God bless.