He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Icons teach the faith visibly
An icon is a holy image used for prayer, teaching, remembrance, and veneration. Icons of Christ confess the Incarnation. Icons of St. Mary confess that God the Word truly took flesh from her. Icons of saints and martyrs show what grace looks like in human lives.
The Church teaches through Scripture, hymn, incense, color, fasting, feasts, and bodily reverence. Icons help the eyes learn the faith while the ears hear the prayers.
The communion of saints
Icons also show that the Church is larger than the people physically present in the building. Christ, St. Mary, angels, martyrs, apostles, and saints are remembered because the Church worships with heaven and earth joined in Christ.
When the faithful venerate an icon, the honor passes to the person shown. Worship belongs to God alone. Veneration is reverent honor given because God’s grace is seen in His saints.
Why Coptic churches feel full of images
Coptic churches often place icons near the iconostasis, in side aisles, and around the nave. The result is theological, not decorative. The building itself becomes a confession that the Incarnation sanctifies sight, matter, memory, and the human body.