"We may behold Him as in a mirror" by John Calvin

"Paul calls the Son the 'image of the invisible God', meaning by this, that it is in Him alone that God, who is otherwise invisible, is manifested to us, in accordance with what is said in John 1:18, 'No man hath ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath Himself manifested Him to us.'

For Christ is called the image of God on this ground-- that He makes God in a manner visible to us. The sum is this-- that God in Himself, that is, in His naked majesty, is invisible, and that not to the eyes of the body merely, but also to the understandings of men, and that He is revealed to us in Christ alone, that we may behold Him as in a mirror.

For in Christ He shows us His righteousness, goodness, wisdom, power, in short, His entire self. We must, therefore, beware of seeking Him elsewhere, for everything that would set itself off as a representation of God, apart from Christ, will be an idol."

--John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, trans. T.H.L. Parker (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 308. Calvin is commenting on Colossians 1:15. Ephesians 3: 18-19.

He Will Never Fail Us by John Calvin

“God both calls Himself our Father and would have us so address Him. By the greatness of this name He frees us from all distrust, since no greater feeling of love can be found elsewhere than in the Father.

Therefore He could not attest His own boundless love toward us with any surer proof than the fact that we are called ‘children of God’ (1 John 3:1). But just as He surpasses all men in goodness and mercy, so is His love greater and more excellent than all our parents’ love.

Hence, though all earthly fathers should divest themselves of all feeling of fatherhood and forsake their children, He will never fail us, since He cannot deny Himself.

For we have His promise: ‘If you, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven?’” (Matthew 7:11)

–John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill, ed, Ford Lewis Battles, trans, Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960 [1559]), III.xx.36.