He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be
preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to
dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of
His Cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing
evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His
death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above
reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith,
stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel
that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation
under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Colossians 1:15-23
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to quote all of this passage. It is just too good to miss out on. If I had to pick only one subject of Scripture to call my favorite, it would have to be the verses that speak of the greatness of Jesus Christ. This passage is one such example.
Remember where we just were. Paul had been thanking God for the Colossians’ faith and encouraging them by sharing how he had been praying for them. He pointed everything back to the Good News of Jesus Christ and instructed his flock to turn to the message of the Gospel for strength, wisdom, and power to live in a manner worthy of the Lord.
Now Paul turns his focus to the central character of the Gospel: Jesus Christ. If Christ had not emptied Himself from His position in heaven and taken on the form of man, we would not have any reason to rejoice. But, thanks be to God, Christ did come to earth, live a perfect life in submission to God the Father, and take our sin upon Himself in order that we might become the righteousness of God!
I sometimes wonder how I can sit and write those words without constantly alternating between jumping for joy and falling on my face with tears in my eyes to worship King Jesus.
It is inconceivable to me that Jesus would die for me. I wasn’t even a good person! I was His enemy. I am responsible for the Cross. I am responsible for the agony that He experienced. And I continue to exchange fellowship with Him for the enticements of my flesh and of this world. How ludicrous that He should still care at all about me! And yet, He does. He loves me.
I wish there was a way to share just how passionate this reality makes me. Words fall short. Life doesn’t quite capture it. But, I’ll try anyway.
Jesus isn’t some arbitrary mythological cartoon character. Jesus is God. And He walked on this earth. And He experienced the same hardships and temptations and evil that we do. The only thing is, He remained perfectly righteous through all of it. I dare you to wrap your mind around that! Try and imagine how you could remain perfect through even a single day or event that tries your patience or causes anger. Jesus was perfect.
And this man died. But not even death was enough to destroy Him. Instead, Jesus rose from the dead and promised to destroy death and destroy sin, which for all of us leads to death.
Jesus Christ is alive! Do you get it? Every last failure, every last sorrow, and every last trial will be an afterthought when Jesus is finished restoring order and making all things new! When He presents us holy and blameless and above reproach before God, what else will matter? Will we want to argue how right we were back in ’04 when we yelled at that guy in Target or validate our frustration with the “bob” haircuts? Will it matter that we lost our job and had to eat ramen or lost a friend in an accident? Will these trials still appear bigger than Jesus Christ when we are with Him in glory? Perish the thought, friends!
And I say all of this as a man who knows the daily conflict of suppressing my flesh’s desire to make everything about me. It is exhausting. But there is goodness in it. There is glorious goodness in waging the good war against the flesh and the world and the devil. For when we have proven our faith to be genuine, our life will go on for eternity in the presence of the One who is preeminent: Jesus Christ.
When we are thinking rightly about Jesus, we are not thinking much of ourselves nor our circumstances. They are not nearly as important in light of the Gospel. Jesus Christ died for our sins and He will come back to take His brothers and sisters with Him to glory. Let this hope anchor your heart and soul to Christ and His victory. Let this hope cause a decrease in self-focus and an increased focus on Christ. He has made peace by the blood of His Cross. That peace is ours and will be forever. Can anything compare to Christ?
For the glory of King Jesus…
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