Christ is the visible image of the
invisible God.
He existed before
anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on
earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as
thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation
together. Christ is also the head of the
church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. Colossians
1:15-18 (NLT)
It's just as important to the
Christian faith to know why you believe, as it is to know what you believe. The evangelist George Whitfield was witnessing
to a man, and asked him, What do you believe?
The man replied, I believe
what my church believes.
And what does your church
believe? asked
Whitfield. What I believe, replied
the man. Undaunted, the evangelist tried
one more time.
And what do you both believe?
Why, we both believe the same
thing!
We study a letter like Colossians
because we must continually guard against all the ways our sharpness as witnesses
of the faith can be dulled and pointless.
Paul wrote this letter while
being held captive in a Roman prison. If
you've read the book of Philemon, you would be aware that both letters were
written at the same time, and sent back to Colossae. The letter to the Ephesians may have also
been in the same mail bag.
The occasion of this note is the
danger that they were being led astray by some false teaching. They were being told to tone down their view of Jesus. It was okay to include Him in...just don't
get too fanatical about it!
Paul didn't spend a lot of words
attacking the false teaching; he simply held up Jesus.
Banks take the same approach
about counterfeit money. They will train
tellers to recognize false currency without ever showing them a counterfeit
bill. They simply start them out with
large stacks of real bills and say, "Count it!"
After counting thousands of real
bills, you know a fake instantly!
The Colossian church was being led to believe that Jesus was less
than Lord of all. This is not
Christianity; it is the kind of syncretism that says Jesus is OK - we'll put him up on
the shelf next to Mary, and Buddha, and money, and career, and the Daytona 500.
Beloved, your Christology (what you believe about Jesus)
determines your Christianity. As the old
saying has it, If He's not Lord of all, He's not [your] Lord at all!
For You Today
As you go to work, school, or the
mall, or wherever else – in all your conversations and decisions of life,
remember that you are the servant of the preeminent One; Jesus is Lord, and you
are His servant!
Think about that on the Rocky Road
today; and have a great day!
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