We continue to look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians. This is the second week of three which build upon each other, so they are aimed to be read together, but also stand on their own.
The letter to the Colossians is the high-water mark of divine revelation in the New Testament.
Paul presents one of the most sublime, unparalleled revelations of the Lord Jesus in all of Scripture. He gives believers a stunningly elegant vision of Jesus Christ – exalted, glorious, high and lifted up.
Paul began his letter by pointing out that if the church would lay hold of Christ and become absorbed with Him, they would bear fruit. They would:
- be filled with the knowledge of God’s will
- receive spiritual understanding and wisdom
- walk worthy of the Lord and live pleasing in God’s sight
- receive God’s infinite power, endurance, patience and joy
- be provoked to thankfulness.
We continue...
This Christ is the firstborn of the entire cosmos, the first person to appear in creation, and He is Preeminent in all of it.
All things visible and invisible were created by Him, through Him, to Him and for Him.
He is the Originator as well as the Goal – the Creator as well as the Consummator.
BUT that’s not all.
This Jesus existed before time as the eternal Son.
He is above time and outside of time.
He is the beginning. In fact, He was before the beginning.
He lives in a realm where there are no ticking watches and clocks.
Space and time are His servants.
He is unfettered by them.
This Christ is not only before all things, but the entire universe is held together in Him.
He is the cohesive force, the glue and gravitational pull that holds all created elements together.
He is creation’s great adhesive, the hinges upon which the whole cosmos turns.
Remove Christ, and the entire universe disintegrates. It comes apart at the seams.
Remove Him, and creation’s wheels come off.
BUT there’s still more.
This Jesus is the very meaning of creation. Eliminate Him, and the universe has no purpose.
Remove Him, and every living thing loses its meaning.
But more than all of this, the One who created the universe watched it fall.
He saw the cosmic revolt in heaven and the wreckage on earth.
Under the caring eye of the Father, the Lord looked upon His own creation as it morphed into an enemy – His own enemy.
And then He did the unthinkable:
He penetrated a fallen world.
This Jesus pierced the veil of space/time.
He became incarnate and took on human flesh
He became a human being.
As a human he was touched with the same temptations, the same infirmities, and the same weaknesses as all humans, only He never yielded.
Jesus Christ entered into His own creation to reconcile it back to Himself and to His Father.
The Creator became the creature to make peace with an alienated creation.
But how?
Part 2 of 3
Part 1 was last week and part 3 is next week.
Based on "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet
This weeks YouTube link with songs for worship is available here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHnJn7EgQjAyAYjqciHlAM4vvKjE8wr3P
Have a blessed week
Jacquey
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