He is the image of the invisible God.
Why icons matter
Icons are connected to the Incarnation. Because the Son of God truly became man, the Church can confess Christ visibly. Icons also teach the faithful to remember St. Mary, the angels, the martyrs, and the saints as living members of Christ’s household.
Worship and honor
The Church worships the Holy Trinity alone. She honors holy people and holy things because God’s grace has worked in them. Kissing, bowing, or touching an icon is understood as love and honor shown through the image to the person represented.
Icons confess that the word truly became flesh
Icons are possible because the Son of God became visible in the flesh. The Church does not worship wood, paint, or gold. She honors the person shown, and the honor passes to the prototype.
When the faithful venerate icons, the body is joining the confession that Christ truly entered visible human life and that His saints are alive in Him. The walls are teaching that the Church on earth worships with the Church in heaven.
The kiss is therefore an act of love joined to Orthodox confession.