Aug 12, 2010
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
My friend and I were talking about the Colossians series we're in at Fellowship when we met for coffee this week. We were remarking about the excellence and richness of this letter by Paul. It's pretty much got it all right there in just 4 chapters and 95 verses. We said we might choose it to take to a foreign land, a desert island or the moon if we could only take one such book of the Bible.
Paul starts the letter off with a beautiful offering of thanksgiving and prayer in verses 1-14 of chapter 1, which is a good prayer to pray for ourselves and others every day. In fact, my small group did just that every day for a week and the fruit was plentiful. Next, Paul gets to the most important thing that he wants to communicate, which is the absolute supremacy of Christ in verses 15-24. Just take a minute and let these words sink in....
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (NIV)
AMEN, HALLELUJAH, AWESOME, AMAZING, WOW and every other superlative in English or any other language! Wouldn't you agree?
In the next section of the letter, verses 1:24-2:5, we get insight into Paul's efforts and suffering on behalf of the church and his heart-felt encouragement for the people he was raising up in Christ. This is followed by a freeing and empowering section on freedom from human regulations through life with Jesus (2:6-23). Then comes chapter 3 and the first six verses of chapter 4 where Paul gives wise and life-giving instructions for holiness, for relationships lived out in ways that honor and serve Christ, and for watchful, expectant praying and purposeful, grace-filled conversation with others. He wraps up the letter in the rest of chapter 4 with final greetings and updates on some of his co-laborers. And just as he began the letter, he ends it with a blessing of grace.
I love the fact that throughout all of 2010 thus far we have been focusing on Jesus in our sermon series. First, was the series "Captivated" which was all about Jesus as an absolutely captivating King over an equally captivating Kingdom that we are invited to become captive to. Next, the "Hidden In Plain Sight" series traced the scarlet thread of God's love and plan of redemption through Jesus that is woven throughout the magnificent story of God's interaction with His children told in the Bible. Praise be to God that we can accept his invitation to receive that redemption and the abundant life that is ours in Christ Jesus, if we will only believe.
So, let us take our cue from Paul and set our hearts and minds on the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ, on the truths and principles laid out for us in this letter to the Colossians, and on the other "things above" rather than on the earthly things around us. For Christ is our life now. Colossians 3:1-4.
