Colossians 1:16-20 Angela

Father, I'm in need of your strength and joy today. I thank you that you are faithful to show us your fingerprints on our lives, especially when we are struggling to see you. I thank you that you do not play games with us, that if you seem distant it is only an illusion. Thank you that each day is a new opportunity to find the gifts of peace, joy, and self-control. These are the things I need today, and I thank you that you are faithful to answer our heartfelt cries. Infuse us both with strength, perspective, hope, and joy today. ~Amen.

1:16 "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."

This hearkens back to John 1 for me, where John expounds on the nature of Jesus; that he was the Word made flesh. That the Word of God that was spoken and brought forth all things upon the earth also became a created being housed in flesh. This is amazing, mind boggling, and mysterious.

The other part that is amazing is that every throne...every monarchy, every place where men rule was created by Jesus and for Him. In other parts of Scripture it says that the nations are his inheritance. As I've studied the queens, it is clear that the English Royals believed a version of this, though I'm not sure they understood it as God intended. They believed that the monarch was chosen by God, was infallible (much like the Pope), and was sovereign over the State in the same way that God was. I'm sure they used this verse and others like it to secure that notion. Of course, many of them abused that power for selfish gain. I think the lesson of Saul versus David is  the best to prove that it isn't men in leadership that God endorses so much as the position of leadership that is aching to be filled.

Then there is the part about visible and invisible. I have a hunger to see more of the invisible things that God created. I know invisible implies that they can't be seen, but at least I want to become more aware of that realm and understand its influence upon my life. It reminds me of myself...the conscious thoughts that I believe govern my day versus the unconscious thoughts that really do govern my day.

1:17 "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Wow! Before all things...to me this means that He came first, that He sits above all things. It denotes order for me. It also reminds me of the verses that talk about Jesus being the head of the body and also about His blood saving us. In our bodies, it's our muscles and ligaments that hold us together. It's our blood that keeps us alive, nourishing and cleansing every aspect of our inner and outer workings. He is like the ligaments and blood of the whole universe. It reminds me of the verse that says it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.

1:18 "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."

Head of the body...the head holds the brain which gives all the signals for the members and organs to move and work and do their work. And we are the body...I am the church, you are the church. Even if we're not in a church; even if we aren't serving in a church, we are the church. This makes me think of the verse that says we have the mind of Christ. As we surrender our wills to His will, He cleanses our mind from old thinking patterns and reactionary habits. He helps us to make new pathways and follow His leading.

He is the firstborn among the dead. He lived among us, in our sin and depravity. He felt the pull of sin, he was dead to God. And when He rose again, He stood as the benchmark for us. What he did we can do, how he lived we can live, how he loved we can love--to the extent that we surrender our wills, habits, and hurts to him.

He has the supremacy in everything. Even if it looks as though the world is going to hell, Jesus has supremacy. More and more I see God as a Father of the nations, meaning that the nations are immature just like children are immature. I see that he allows them to be in their immature state, just like we allow our children to be in theirs. He doesn't rush our progress. He patiently waits for us to mature and grow and become more and more like him. He doesn't bemoan the fact that we haven't learned how to share yet. He doesn't bemoan the fact that we are still filled with selfish ambition and vain conceit. He knows that one day we will be like him. He is not worried about our progress. He is always cheering us on.

1:19-20 "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."

God was pleased!!!! This is a verse that I think is often misinterpreted. The Scripture is clear elsewhere that Jesus left His divinity behind. If we don't believe this, then we have no hope that we can ever live as He lived. What I think this verse means is that God was pleased to fill Jesus with His Spirit and release His power into Him and through Him. He was pleased to have fellowship with Jesus even while he was in his fully human form. This means to me that God is pleased also to fill me when I cry out to Him; that He is pleased to commune with me in the same way. That the relationship Jesus and Father God had, the intimate friendship is open and available to me and that by coming into communion with the Father through the spilled blood of Jesus, I have full access to the throne room. I do not have to approach God with fear and trembling as though he will strike me dead. Rather, He is eager to hear from me and lend me His ear. I have the ear of my King, my God, my Daddy.

These five verses have to be the most concise version of the Gospel I can think of! I am filled with hope and wonder at His perfect plan for redeeming all things...visible and invisible; in heaven and on earth. Side note, it says that heaven had to be redeemed as well. Nothing in the created realm was left unaffected by the rebellion of satan and the rebellion of man.

Thank you, Daddy, that we can approach you with confidence even in our sinfulness. Thank you that by the blood of Jesus you have taken our guilt and shame and by giving us the mind of Christ, you have given us hope of a new start, a new life, a new hope for a better future. Thank you that once again your word has given me the faith to smile at my future without fear. ~Amen.