First Generation Understanding

Philippians 2:5-8 & Colossians 2:9

There has been a lot of rewriting of American History in recent years. It is amazing how much clarity is claimed from a distance of two centuries! The claim is made that those closest to the events were too clouded by their agendas to accurately record what happened. We don’t have any agenda, or so the modern claim goes, so we are in a better position to clear up those forced social, political and economic agendas and really understand what happened. But all they have are historical documents that were “colored” by those agendas. How are they able to filter out what really happened from such tainted sources? How do they keep their own agenda (and we all have a point of view that taints what we see and say) from overwhelming their reinterpretation of these historical events? They don’t!

Paul the Apostle wrote much of the New Testament. He was, if you remember, one of the people who opposed Jesus’ followers immediately after the Resurrection. We don’t know if he was part of any of the opposition during Jesus life, but we read of him popping up within a couple of years. He was a bit younger than Jesus was, perhaps seven years or so.

Paul had every reason to continue to oppose what Jesus said about Himself, but he didn’t. Instead, Paul writes profoundly about the nature of Jesus, being God and man. He does that in the two passages for today.

In Colossians Paul says in very straight forward terms that everything that constitutes Deity is present in Jesus. Nothing is left out. If I were to say that everything that constituted a python lived in you, I would back away because I would not want to be squeezed to death. Paul writes, that in Jesus, everything that God is, resides there.

In Philippians, Paul discusses in a more detailed way what happened when Jesus took on a human body. The heavy theological content is used by Paul to teach us about how we are to act toward each other. We are to be humble, willing to serve. But in the process of teaching about humility toward each other, Paul teaches us about Jesus.

Paul writes that Jesus adds the nature of a human being to the nature He already had, the nature of God. To do this Jesus had to not consider what He wanted, but what was best for us. He had to take selfishness out of the picture, not that He was ever selfish.

Many volumes have been written on these verses, so I won’t expound much more. If you have questions about Jesus’ Deity, and especially these verses, may I suggest this article. It is not the best, but it will get you started. It is rather scholarly, and filled with content, but for those who want more, it will help.

A word of caution. Remember that everything on the internet is not true! Many of the “scholarly” articles out there start with the bias that dismiss Scripture and Jesus’ intervention in history. They downplay our sinfulness and God’s grace in buying us back from sin. So be careful as you search. Ask your pastor for guidance in what to read. Pray!

Day 109

Memorize: Expectant prayer and greetings

Colossians 4

Key Verses: 3, 6, 16, 18

As Paul wraps up his letter to the Colossian church, his heart is drawn to prayer. You can find out a lot about a person’s relationship with God and with others when you listen in to their prayers. Listen to Paul’s. Paul wants them to pray for him, not for more wealth or health, but for more effective ministry. What do you ask others to pray for when you are asked? Do you ever ask others what they want you to lift up in prayer? Maybe this is a habit worth adopting as our own. Maybe we should be asking for prayer and praying for each other. Could it be that we don’t really believe prayer makes a difference?

Sometimes we miss changes to share the hope we have in Christ. Paul says that we need to be wise in dealing with non-believers. We often fail to maintain our new standing in Christ, and instead speak and act from the old nature. We need wisdom when talking with non-believers in order to make the most of every opportunity.

Remember, God can defend Himself. When people attack, most often then do it out of pain and deep questioning. If we answer too quickly, without really hearing the root of their question, we will miss the mark. A soft, slow response like, “It seems like you have thought a lot about this. Tell me more.” This would open up many more doors than a rapid defense. If we stand solid in Christ, do we need to worry that their arguments will sway us away from the Truth? Listen to their stories. Listen to their reasoning. Then, perhaps, ask them how their view of the world is helping them with the difficult issues of the world like starvation, war, death and injustice. If you have listened, and ask out of a sincere desire to understand them, it will open up their heart to further discussions.

Paul seems to have had a genuine concern for people. He certainly knew many and drew some to help him in his work. Who do you in your corner? To whom do you reach out when things get tough? Who do you call when good or bad news arrives? If you don’t have a few people, perhaps now is the time to begin creating a team, an inner circle of friends.

Notice that Paul wants this letter passed around to the other churches in the area. The truths shared are not just for the Colossian believers. They are for us as well. Christ holds the first place in the Universe. There is no one higher than He is. We need to acknowledge Him in our lives, and give Him that rightful place in our everyday living.

Paul signs the letter with his own handwriting. The custom of the time was to dictate letters to someone who would write down what you said. Paul wanted to make sure his readers knew he approved the content of his letter. Sounds like the taglines on the end of political commercials, doesn’t it! “I’m Daffy Duck, and I approved this message.”

Review: Romans

Day 108

Memorize: Principles for Christian lifestyle

Colossians 3

Key Verses: 1, 5, 11, 17, 23,

One of the most important skills a soldier trains is aiming. We spend countless hours training to shoot targets, to aim at the right place. I remember being on the firing range at night and not being able to see a single target. As you can imagine, my scores were not very good. You see, I had no idea where to aim. In life we must know where to aim.

Paul tells us to set our hearts and minds in the presence of Christ, to aim our lives in His direction. This will change our perspective on everything here in this life. Our present difficulties just won’t seem as large or overpowering. From heaven’s perspective, tears and sorrow will all make sense. The big questions of life will be answered and all the temporary will be gone and the permanent glory of heaven will be evident. We need to lift our hearts and minds to heaven. It will give us the ability to face the challenges of this life with a renewed hope and focus.

After we readjust our aim, then Paul renews his call to put to death these temporary desires that conflict with God’s eternal purposes. As Jesus-followers we must say goodbye to some things and hello to some others. We have a friend who is a Jesus-follower, but curses like a sailor. She can be praying one minute and using the foulest words the next. Sometimes we just need to stop some things and start some others. Paul mentions a few, but the list could be much longer. Our lives need to be exuding compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. These are not things that come naturally. They are things that must be put on after we change our aim and put off the old. It is not enough to stop cursing. We must then put on speech that reflects our change in perspective.

But this is not simply self-improvement. We allow the Spirit to change us from the inside out. We let His peace become the driving influence in our lives. When that happens, our relationships with each other change. All our family relationships become permeated with peace. The fighting disappears. Our work relationships change; we become more productive for the right reasons. Our attitude reflects our corrected aim, an aim infused with heavenly perspective on earthly life.

Day 107

Memorize: Objections to false teachers

Colossians 2

Key Verses: 3, 8, 9, 13, 17, 22

All the self-help books would stop being produced if people got a hold of the Truth in this section of Scripture. Wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ! This does not mean that when we become Jesus-followers we get God’s hard drive downloaded into our brains. But, we do get connected to His resources and knowledge. He passes along to us what we need in the moment in a way that brings Him the glory and honor that is rightfully His. Because we have a worldview that includes the Creator, we don’t get sucked into defending infinite complexity accidentally happening. No cosmic soup pond lightening stories for us. We don’t need aliens from other planets seeding life here. Talk about needing faith to believe!

Because we accept that God created order and structure to the world rather than random chance and chaos, we can accept reality as it is, rather than fantasy as we need it to be. Because we are not afraid to have God in the equation, reality makes sense. Brokenness makes sense. This wisdom and knowledge is a treasure worth holding onto and valuing. It will hold us fast in the every-changing winds of “newest” innovation and idea. We won’t get hoodwinked into believing that all religions teach the same thing. What stupidity! What naiveté! The millions of gods of Hinduism cannot be the same as the one God of Christianity. 1 ≠ 100,000,000! The god “who used to be like us” of Mormonism is not the same at our unchanging God of Christianity.

When we have Christ we have all the reality of God. We get the benefits of being identified with Christ in His redemptive work: life, death and resurrection. This is reality. The outward trappings of religious practice that change over time and across cultures are not the reality. They are but shadows cast by the Truth itself.

Do you remember the game played at the bus stop where you stepped on other people’s shadows? What an empty game. But it is no emptier than trying to please God by attempting to gain His favor by what we do. All we do accomplishes nothing. Because of what Jesus has already done, we are already accepted by God. We have the reality. Why would we want to grab shadows?

Review: Philippians

Day 106

Memorize: Hope produced by Christ

Colossians 1

Key Verses: 10, 13, 15-20, 22, 27

Paul makes a direct connection between faith and fruit. When people have a living faith in Jesus their lives produce fresh fruit, fruit that satisfies the hungry people’s souls. The readers of this letter had grown in their faith and there was fruit evident in their lives. The hard question for today is this: is there fruit in your life that demonstrates that Jesus is the answer to life’s questions? Can people even tell you are a Jesus-follower, or are your words of faith just empty words? Is our life worthy of the sacrifice paid? Our lives should be filled with wisdom and understanding. There should be God’s strength enabling us to endure hardship.

Sometimes we forget that we were rescued! We were on the spiritual Titanic, without a life vest, and the lifeboats have long since departed. He rescued us from spiritual darkness. I have some relatives who don’t know Jesus. As crisis arises, they don’t even have the hope of prayer in their lives. They have nothing outside of themselves to which they can hold. They have no hope. I am saddened by it. But we have a new start, a new hope, a new kingdom to which we now belong.

Verses 15-20 are jam packed with theology, truth about Jesus. I wish that I could take weeks to unpack these verses, but I can’t. As an example of the richness of Truth, look at verse fifteen. When you go to the Empire State Building in New York city, you can make your own souvenir of our visit. You put a penny in a machine, turn the crank and your penny comes out flattened with an image of the Empire State Building pressed into the penny. The same thing happens when a signet ring is pressed into the wax on the back of a letter or official document, sealing it. Jesus is God’s image that was pressed into humanity leaving His mark. We can look at the image on the penny, the wax, or on the world and see what the impression maker looked like. We can make out the details of the imprinting body. So, when we look at and examine Jesus, we can know exactly who God is and what he is like. Jesus is the invisible God made visible, and He left His mark on the world, and in our lives.

Jesus created all things, holds all things together, is in charge of the Church, and made it possible for all the old prejudices to be overcome. And the mystery is no longer a mystery: Christ now lives in us. We have become the dwelling place of the Creator of the Universe! There are many good expositions of this passage, but here is a quick outline to begin if you want.

Day 105.99

Colossians: Hope

Acrostic Theme: HOPE

Author: Paul

Date Written: 61-63 A.D.

Audience: The Church at Colossae facing four errors in understanding who Jesus is

Key Verse: 2:9-10

Outline:

Introduction (1:1-14)

I. The Preeminence Of Christ (1:15-23)

   A. In Creation (1:15-17)

   B. In Redemption (1:18-23)

II. The Apostle Of Christ (1:24-2:7)

   A. Paul's Service (1:24-29)

   B. Paul's Solicitude (2:1-7)

III. Warnings Against The "Colossian Heresy" (2:8-23)

   A. Warning Against Philosophy (2:8-10)

   B. Warning Against Judaistic Ceremonialism (2:11-17)

   C. Warning Against Angel Worship (2:18-19)

   D. Warning Against Asceticism (2:20-23)

IV. The Christian Solution (3:1-4:6)

   A. Set Your Mind On Things Above (3:1-4)

   B. Put Off The Old Man (3:5-9)

   C. Put On The New Man (3:10-17)

   D. Familial Responsibilities (3:18-4:1)

   E. Exhortations To Prayer And Proper Conduct (4:2-6)

V. Paul's Companions (4:7-14)

   A. Commendations Of His Messengers (4:7-9)

   B. Greetings From His Friends (4:10-14)

Conclusion (4:15-18)

Colossians

01. Hope produced by Christ

02. Objections to false teachers

03. Principles for Christian lifestyle

04. Expectant prayer and greetings

Recap: The Law, Church, Joys

26Sep2010 Colossians 3:21

21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Fathers can have a greater influence on the outcome of children than we thought. Studies have shown that the relationship of a father to their children is key to their successful transition to adulthood. If fathers are absent or disengaged from their sons, the sons are much more likely to act out in negative, aggressive ways. Daughters are much more likely to become involved sexually earlier. Mothers are key in the early development of personality, fathers are key in development of responsibility. But fathers often embitter their children leading to discouragement. When fathers are inconsistent in the lives of their children, establishing and maintaining clear rules and boundaries, not consistently demonstrating love and acceptance, withholding praise and correction, children don't know what to expect. When rules change children don't know how to respond. They end up frustrated, not knowing what to do to keep in relationship with their fathers. The more that happens, the more they develop a bitter taste for dad. When they can't seem to please because dad is either inconsistent or unavailable, why bother trying. They get bitter, not even wanting dad to be around. If fathers are absent the children lose their intensity for life. They lack both positive and negative feelings, they become flat emotionally. The relationship with dad is a key to that zeal for life. Moms spoil, dads embitter. But dads don't have to embitter their kids. They can be connected and consistent in their interactions with their children. They can invest time and emotional energy in what their kids are doing. But his becomes increasingly difficult as our kids plug in electronically and isolate. In order for dads to reconnect it takes effort to create a space for that interaction. The kids will probably go kicking and screaming since it means they too will have to get outside their comfort zone. They will have to unplug and interact with an adult. But dads, it is worth it. Do something, anything that can help you connect. Don't expect instant results. Expect kicking and screaming, but put in the effort.

25Sep2010 Colossians 3:18-19

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

I happen to think that men and women are different, that we have different areas of struggle and different weaknesses as a result of Adam and Eve's sin choices. Here is one example of that difference. Wives struggle with submitting and husbands struggle with loving. Often times wives struggle with submitting because husbands don't love, and husbands don't love because their wives are not submitting. We could point fingers all day long, but the blame is circular with fingers pointing all directions, including at ourselves. And finger-pointing has been going on since the beginning and it never solves anything. Most couples fight in predictable patterns. Usually there is one person who pursues and one who withdraws. Each is internally motivated out of concern for the other. The pursuer usually wants to resolve the issue because they care about the relationship and don't want unsettled matters to block that relationship. The withdrawer does so out of a sense that they don't want to hurt the other person, so withdrawing saves the other person pain. Of course each is usually aware of other emotions happening in the moment. The most common is anger and frustration. But if we could slow down and get our emotions under control, have a safe place to talk and feel supported in that talk, we might be able to share our concern for the other person. Paul nails the issues. Men and women are different and so often we compound that by marrying someone either just like us or opposite from us. You see it does not matter what personality they have, they are different and there will be some difficulties. Notice that there is a phrase modifying wives submission, "as is fitting in the Lord" and a modifier for the husbands, "do not be harsh with them." Both have to do with our character as we fulfill our respective roles in marriage. We are to reflect the character of Christ. Submissive does not mean doormat because Jesus was not a doormat. Nor does loving mean some mushy expression that allows wives to run all over husbands. Jesus' love was difficult and demonstrated the grave nature of sin and rebellion. It taught the lesson that we all need forgiveness. So, today as you are living your life, remember both sides of this coin in your dealings with others. We each must submit and we each must love. Both expressions reflect the character of Christ, something we are to be doing in our lives.

24Sep2010 Colossians 3:15-16

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

We live in a world of turmoil and uncertainty. Every day there is a new scare. Some are real, like Judgment Day. Some are made up for political reasons like Global Warming. We see it in the commercials for hand sanitizers and disinfecting products. How I ever survived childhood I don't know! I know I ate dirt. But the scares sell products. So how can a Jesus-follower live with some sense of normalcy in a world that sells catastrophe? Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart! We must take time to let that peace settle into our being, into the center of us. It will not happen automatically or quickly. We must purpose to spend time in God's presence, listening to His Word, confessing our sins and waiting. But in our world of instant, we don't have time to get this peace. We need to spend time with other believers and have growth-filled and challenging interactions. No one likes to be admonished, called on the carpet for some spiritual infraction, but we all need it from time to time. If we want peace with God, we must allow the crucible of fellowship with other believers to do its work. We also need gratitude filled worship in our lives. We did not get to our present spiritual position by ourselves, unless we are proud and therefore are out of sync with God. God's grace, His work not ours, is working in and through us to bring us into right relationship with Himself. It is God's work in us. We did not get here through our own efforts. I think of the Olympic athlete. It took parents and coaches and trainers and sponsors and encouragers and lots of their own perseverance to make it to the competition. Without all those others they would not be there. In our spiritual journey, we need to take time to be thankful to God for what He is doing in and through our lives. We can only be thankful if we have our sense of self-worth in proper perspective. If we are big-headed, we cannot be truly thankful. I pray that the air would be let out of our spiritual balloon so that we see ourselves as God sees us, valuable because He is breathing life into us, not because we are filled with our own hot air.

23Sep2010 Colossians 3:11

11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

There are no racial, ethnic, religious, economic, or class distinctions in the Body of believers. I like churches that look like Baskin Robins, 31 flavors all in one place. But there are not many of them around. Most have one or two flavors. There are many reasons for this, some economic, some sociopolitical, some personality driven, and some culturally shaped. But the reality of eternity is that all those manmade boundaries don't actually exist from an eternal perspective. We are all one, united and free to be so. We feel no pressure to pull together because we are together. We feel no pressure to push apart because we are all an intimately connected family. We are one. I have had some marvelous experiences in churches that worked at being open to this type of openness. Some were successful, but not without resistance. You can't get the stupid out of humanity! Some great, God-loving individuals can still have problems based on their own issues. Even when they know the truth their gut gets them in trouble. Years of prejudice can be hard to undo in a moment's time. I think of the woman robbed at gunpoint by someone of another race. That woman could have difficulty with others of that race for a time. That would be natural. It is self-preservation. God wired us to learn from experiences. But the Spirit can wire us as well. We can have Him work in our hearts and minds and change us, but we must be willing to accept those changes. I don't know what your experiences in life have been. I don't know the pain you have been through that center around racial, ethnic, religious, economic, or class, but I do know that the Lord wants to bring you beyond those experiences. Someday, in eternity, those barriers will not exist. They don't need to exist today.

22Sep2010 Colossians 3:2-3

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

You might have heard the phrase, "He is so heavenly minded he is no earthly good." But I think the opposite is true much more often, that we are so earthly minded we are no heavenly good. All that is of this world is going to disappear. "We can't take it with us" captures the truth. When we are setting our minds on heaven we are gaining an eternal perspective on our temporary visit on this planet. This is not home. We are vacationing here. From an eternal perspective this 80 years we spend on earth are just a heartbeat, one oscillation of an oscilloscope. But this heartbeat determines our place in eternity, so we need to see it from that perspective. That is why Paul says we must keep our minds tuned it to that fact, a fact that includes our current position of right relationship with God. When I am wearing my uniform a different set of rules apply to my conduct. I must always have a cover (hat) on when I am outside. I must salute those of higher rank and return the salute of those with lower rank. If I drank alcohol I am not allowed to drink when I am in uniform except at official military functions. My uniform must be complete and worn properly. When travelling I must have my dogtags on my person. I must not participate in "conduct unbecoming an officer" or I can be punished for that conduct. Before I was in the military I did not have to subscribe to these types of regulations. I was free to act stupid. But now I must temper my actions in line with my position as an officer. So it is with us as Jesus-followers. We need to always remember that we must not participate in "conduct unbecoming a Jesus-follower." We are wearing the uniform of God. Our life is hidden in Him. Our actions not only reflect our connection to God, but they reflect our commitment.

21Sep2010 Colossians 2:20

20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

Dead men don't have to obey the speed limit! They don't get cited for criminal misconduct. They never get in bar fights. They don't commit adultery. They never steal. They don't gossip. In fact, dead people never do anything wrong! Of course they never do anything right either! All joking aside there is a point to this: we are dead to the rules that held us captive to sin. We don't have to obey our sin scripts, those endless conversations in our heads that drive us toward repeating the past. We don't belong to the past. In Jesus we have been set free. The connection has been broken, our DSL, Dead Sin Link, has been severed. We now can choose to be connected to a new network, one where pleasing God is the language spoken. It is a wireless connection so we can always be "online" with God. Our connection does not have to be limited to certain times and places, certain "hotspots." A clear strong signal is always available. There are never any "dead zones." Our signal never gets "dropped." When we said "yes" to Jesus, we started a new connection, one that will carry into eternity. The death-link was replaced by the life-link. But we must be "online" in order to get the latest for God. But even with all this connection available, still at times, probably more times than we are willing to admit, we choose to act as though we were dead. We pick up the dead carcass and move the hands and feet. We might move the mouth and do a bad ventriloquism act. But why put in all that effort? Why spend so much time with the dead you rather than the live you? Spend time today connecting and living in the live you.

20Sep2010 Colossians 2:17

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

I am amazed again and again at the lengths people will go to grasp shadows rather than the reality! The verse right before this one spells out some legalistic proscriptions that the false teachers in the Colossian church were putting out as requirements for Jesus-followers. They included diet and worship day proscriptions. They were all externals which were substitutes for the reality found in Jesus. Don't think that there are no shadows today. Some folks travel around the world to go to a "revival" hoping that obedience to the Scriptures will become obsolete. If they can just "catch" what is happening in one place, then somehow the daily grind of everyday life will not matter. People too often seek the miracle, the high of the mountaintop because the obedience of the valley is work. We want the instant, when only the slow-roasted has real flavor. We seek Oprah emotions or "Makeover" tears instead of the connection with others in our own community. We seek reality at a distance because reality close at hand means that we have to be real with each other, that we have to drop the façade and let down the guard and create some real connection with another human being. But when we have been hurt in the past and we don't want to risk that pain, so we substitute shadow for reality. We watch the carefully edited church service on TV because the local church is messy, real people with real body odor. Those people at church have problems. They are messed up. They need some help. That is why they are there. And that is why you need to be there also. You have problems. You are messed up. You need some help. It is in the rubbing of shoulders with real people that the crucible of the church brings out the best in people. When we are genuine and like Jesus with each other the barriers get dropped and we experience Jesus in the flesh. We know genuine joys and genuine sorrows. We experience the full range of true feelings, not like those scripted responses elicited by Hollywood's programmed musical crescendos and special effects. When we are reaching out to each other as Jesus wants us to reach out, then we are truly alive. Until that happens we are living in a shadow world. We grasp but come up empty handed.

10Sep2010 Colossians 1:21-23

^21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ^22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ^23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Once you were…but now. This is one of the wonderful things about being a believer. There is no place for pride. As a believer we recognize that we once were enemies of God, but now we part of the family. If it weren't for God's work in our lives, we would still be separated from God. It was nothing we did that made the change and therefore nothing for us to boast about. If someone is boastful as a believer I have to question their walk. It was Christ's physical body that died. He was the One who lived the perfect life in contrast to our life that was filled with evil behavior. He was obedient and we were disobedient. He deserves Heaven and we deserve Hell. Once you were…but now. Notice that we must continue in the faith in order to keep the hope we have in the gospel. Our lives must match our confession. We must allow the Spirit to work on our will so that we are willing to do what God calls us to do. It is always about God's work in us. It is always His strength enabling us to be obedient. Remember, once you were…but now He has reconciled you. It is all about Him.

9Sep2010 Colossians 1:19-20

^19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ^20 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.

Paul was writing to a particular audience, some of whom appear to have been caught up in Gnosticism. Part of Gnosticism was the belief in an elaborate system of gods and semi-gods that separate this sinful world from the ultimate, pure and holy God. This elaborate system of intermediaries was called the Pleroma. This word Pleroma is the same word Paul uses in this verse that is translated "fullness." In order to counter the false notion of multiple layers of gods between us and the pure, holy god, Paul says that the whole system of connections between us and God is found in Christ. Paul says all creative power rests in Christ. He has it all. There is no need for some complicated system in order to bring creation back into right standing with God. Jesus did that on the cross. The Holy God entered this sinful world and restored peace between Himself and this sinful world. Jesus bridged the gap. He made the way. We don't need any intermediaries. We can go directly to Holy God and have fellowship with Him freely. We don't need saints or anyone else to be our go between. We can enter God's presence ourselves. In fact, we are invited to enter through His blood that was shed for us. Enter His presence today, freely and openly. Forgiveness and strength are there to meet your every need.

8Sep2010 Colossians 1:18

^18 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.

Paul now moves on to tell us the relationship Jesus has to the church. We know He is over all creation and that He existed before there was anything to be over. So Paul moves to giving us a picture of where Jesus stands in relationship to the church. First Paul states that Jesus is the head of the body. The head is in charge of the body. It gives all the commands. It guides and protects from harm. If the brain is dead, we know life cannot continue. Next Paul says that Jesus is the first in the resurrection line. He is first both in time and in position in that line. He is the first to rise from the dead and stay alive, and the One who is the most important person to be in line. He led the way. He was in the line in order to restore us to our position in the line. That is why Jesus has supremacy. He has first place in relationship to everything, whether in the Church or in creation. This reality flies in the face of so many today who want to turn Jesus into something other than the Creator God. They want Him to be a prophet so they can dismiss His demands on their lives. Prophets only speak to religious topics. And since our Western world is trying to silence any demands on our lives, it is an easy way to silence Jesus' demands. We are "free" to choose what we want. Freedom has become our god! Paul by contrast says that Jesus is in that one position in the universe to place demands on us. He has supremacy (first place) and He wants us to acknowledge this fact and live our lives in a way that show the world that He has supremacy in our lives as well.

7Sep2010 Colossians 1:16-17

^16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ^17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The previous verse stated that Jesus is over all Creation. This verse explains those specifics in relationship to creation itself. The first thing said is that Jesus was the one who actually did the work of creating all the "things" of the universe. Notice he states this twice. All things were created by Jesus. To create means to make something out of nothing. He didn't take preexisting materials and fashion them into something new, like a modern sculptor who makes art out of recycled trash. If it is a "thing" Jesus made it out of nothing. All things that you can think of, things in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, even any imagined powers that might exist, Jesus made them all. But that is not all. Jesus existed prior to all things. If He is before all things, then He is not at "thing" that was created. He existed before the "let it be" of creation. Before there was creation itself, Jesus existed. But He is more than simply involved in the past history of creation. He currently keeps it all together. He is the glue of the universe. Scientists now realize that there has to be some other "something" that keeps the universe from falling apart. They keep looking for the hidden physics that explain how everything doesn't fall apart. They sometimes name it dark matter because they can't see it. They know it is there, because if it isn't there, then the physical properties of the matter they can see would not stay together. It would literally fall apart. Jesus is in charge of that holding together of the universe. Each of the thoughts that Paul records here were aimed at the false teaching of his day. They also hit the false teachings about Jesus that exist today.

6Sep2010 Colossians 1:15

^15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ^

The biggest issue that faces ever generation is the identity of Jesus. Over the next several days we will look at this passage from Colossians and see what the Scriptures have to say about who Jesus is. Much of what is said gets a cursory look as we read the English translation, if we bother to think about it at all. The first said a Jesus by Paul is that He is the image of the invisible God. This word image is the impression left on creation that lets us know what God is like. Do you remember playing with modeling clay when you were younger? Remember pressing the clay against objects and looking at the resulting dent in the clay? You push it against a small toy soldier and pull it away, and you could see the shape of the soldier in the clay. That empty space where the soldier was is called the "image" of the soldier. Jesus is "image" left when God came in contact with His creation. You can examine that image and learn what God is like. The details of Jesus life and ministry tell us everything we need to know about God. The second thing Paul says is that Jesus in the firstborn over all creation. The firstborn is the one who has all the privilege because of his position. It has nothing to do with order of birth, but everything to do with the honored position. Jesus is in the top spot over all creation. He is not part of the creation, but over all of it. Some people want to turn Jesus into just some nice guy who lived and died, end of story. Paul says that Jesus is over all of creation. Getting to know Jesus is a worthwhile pursuit. When we get to know Him, we get to know everything we can about God because Jesus is in the most important position in the universe.

5Sep2010 Colossians 1:14

^14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is the source of our redemption. But what is redemption. Redemption means to purchase back from somewhere. We were sold in the slave market of sin. We had no choice but to sin before we came to Christ. Sin was our nature. Just as a dog acts like a dog, and not like a cat, showing its nature, so we were sinners and therefore we sinned. But Jesus came and paid the price so that we could be removed from that slave market of sin. The thing that kept us sinning was the penalty that was not paid. Jesus paid the price we could never pay. And as a result of that payment, forgiveness became available to us. Forgiveness is about right relationship. As long as there is unforgiveness, there is a barrier in the relationship. Redemption brought us back into right relationship with God. The past is not brought up. We get treated as though the sin never took place. In our human relationships we know the importance of forgiveness. When a relationship has been strained because of a sin by one party against the other, forgiveness becomes an important element in the restoration of the relationship. Confession, repentance and forgiveness. All three are necessary for the relationship to be restored. Both must know what happened: confession. The one who did the wrong must turn away from the past action and consistently move in a different, non-sinning direction. Then the one who was wronged needs to offer forgiveness and move beyond the past. Because Jesus died and paid the price for our sins, we can now live lives of obedience.

4Sep2010 Colossians 1:13

^13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ^

One of the difficult things to grasp is that we used to be on a sinking ship called sin with no hope of rescue. Now we are on solid ground. This is the great transfer. It happened in an instant, the instant we accepted the work of Christ for ourselves. One moment we are seeing the water fill the ship and the next moment we are on solid ground. When we recognize our sinful state and the hope there is in Christ, God does a work in our hearts. He makes us alive in Christ. The life-switch gets flipped. Instantly we are alive, having been dead. We have seen some great rescues in the movies of our time. The special effects have been amazing. But none of those compare to the rescue that Jesus did on the cross and in the empty tomb. The world that had no hope of rescue from sin's death-grip has now been given the option of new life. The inevitable end of darkness and despair now has the possibility of light and life. The life of faith is one that recognizes and acknowledges this fact daily. It is all about what Christ has done on our behalf. It is never about what we did or do. Are you able to recognize the kingdom in your life? Are you able to see the Son working in your life? If not, maybe you need a transfer!