Tag: Colossians

Categories
2020 Bible Reflections

April 6th 2020: Colossians 1:18-23

Colossians 1:18-23 New International Version (NIV)

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. 19 For God was pleasedto 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.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] 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, and do not move 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.’

Listen to Colossians 1 here: Colossians 1 Audio

What we need at a time like this is words fit for a time such as this. What we need at a time like this is a Leader, a King, a Saviour, a Friend, fit for such a time as this. There’s not a prince, president or prime minister who could come close to the goodness of Jesus ‘for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things’. Wait a minute, I knew Jesus was great, but all the fullness of God, every part of God, all the bits I understand and all the bits I don’t understand, the bits that will stay beyond my comprehension for the whole of my life, all of it dwelt in Jesus? That’s mad. And  that’s not even all of it is it. Through Jesus (notice, not through Haydon, or you, whatever your name may be) everything is brought back together with God, whether it’s on Earth, in Heaven, or anywhere else. That’s even madder, isn’t it?

We can be presented holy and without blameless and accusation to God. That surely can’t be right. Even the most perfect-seeming of us is blamed for something, or accused of something, even if it’s only by us ourselves. More likely, we’re all the subject of blame and accusation, and rightly so. And you, Paul, writing this so that the Church can hear, having already said that Jesus is the head of it all and is the one who holds it all together, you’re saying that we can be free. We must have to do a huge amount for this freedom, surely?

We have to continue in the faith, stand firm, trust God and hold to the hope of the good news of Jesus Christ.

In one way really easy. At least for those of us who live in societies where we are not persecuted or prosecuted for following Jesus, but in another way a real challenge. What is the good news of Jesus Christ? Amongst other things, ‘no man knows greater love than to lay down his life for his friends’ or, ‘if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me’, or again, ‘in this world you will have trouble’, not ‘you might have trouble’, but ‘you will have trouble’, ‘“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.””

Maybe it’s not so easy after all.

But in the end Jesus, who holds all things together and brought us the possibility of peace is the one who presents us to God. There is hope. Hope in Jesus. Hope is Jesus.

Something to Do

Think about your hopes for the next few weeks and months. What will you do to achieve them?

Something to Pray

Pray for those who are losing hope today, that they would know comfort. Pray that someone would come to mind for you to get in touch with today.

Categories
April 2016

April 5th and 6th 2016: Colossians 1:15-2:15

You can follow today’s reading by clicking on this sentence.

So much of what makes knowing and following Jesus so exhilarating, so crucial, so necessary to human flourishing is encapsulated in the readings which we are looking at here. Continuing on from our jaunt in to Romans a couple of days ago, Paul is at pains to emphasise the sheer majesty and wonder of Jesus, and his total sufficiency. Not just in terms of what he has done, but in who he is. It isn’t just his action that makes him acceptable to God and able to present us holy and blameless to him. It is who he is. Similarly, the work of salvation Jesus has done for us doesn’t just render freedom where captivity once resided, it changes us at the very core of who we are. We are new people. We wear the skins we have always worn, but everything ultimately consequential about us has been made new because of this god-man, this second Adam who has won the victory and brought us to fullness of life. He is only able to do this because the fullness of God dwells in him, or to put it another way, because he is God.

We are full of life because God has made us full of life. Nothing we can do can make us more full of life. We are full as full can be already. Don’t be deceived by claims that you can have more, better, a closer relationship with God through a certain way of living, speaking, singing or anything else. You have fullness, closeness, full intimacy already. Accept no weak substitutions for intimacy with God. Instead, rejoice that you have the freedom that was meant for you. Freedom to know the Lord, to trust him, to give your life to him. That’s all this life is for. Everything else is a pale imitation of life, joy and the hope Jesus died and rose to make real.

Categories
January 2016 Lectionary Ramblings

January 5th 2016: Colossians 3:12-4:1

You can read today’s passage by clicking on this sentence.

Over the last few days we’ve been thinking in different ways about being ‘in God’, and here’s another perspective on it. We are to ‘clothe ourselves in love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.’ We, hidden with Christ in God as we are, can only clothe ourselves in love because God, who is love, enables us to love as we live in him. Again, reading this passage, it is feasible that I should decide that clothing myself in love is something that I must do, a decision, or series of decisions, resulting in actions which show that I am clothed in love. It may be that this is what writer of Colossians was getting at, but as is my wont, I want to argue for a slightly different reading. I think, following from yesterday’s passage, the writer is exhorting those who heard and read the letter to return again to a place of submission to God, that our gentleness, patience, humility and other positive relational characteristics would flow from a renewed sense of who God is, who we are, and what we are called to be and do for him.

Again, this isn’t a free pass for us not to bother with behaving in a way that imitates the character of Christ. We do have a role to play in living life as Christians, but the single most important thing I think most of us have to do is also the hardest thing for most of us: we have to accept that God, rather than ourselves, or other people, is who we really need. If God really is my strength, my refuge, my deliverer, my shield, then I am not my strength, my refuge, my deliverer, my shield. I can be strong. I can be purposeful. I can be of use to God in the building of his kingdom perhaps, but these are as nothing compared to the strength and purpose of God, his overwhelming desire for relationship with me, his pursuit of reconciliation, not just with me, but with the whole of the world, which has already been successful. I am important to God. My life is his. He has clothed me with love. Now I have the opportunity to live for him today.