Colossians 1:15

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". ESV

1 Peter 2:24

"He himself bore our sins in his body".

If a coin has someone's head on it the actual person's head is not an image but the "real thing". When is Christ an image and when the "real thing"? e.g. in 1 Peter 2:24 when He "bore our sins in his body" is His body "an image", the "real thing" or both? If the image element is present here what is being imaged?

Is every aspect of who Jesus is/was part of this "image", or are there aspects to Jesus where He is representing Himself and not His Father?