5/5/15- Cinqo de Mayo - Freedom in Serving

23if 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.

24Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:23-27)

Thoughts: The truest freedom is not found in getting the whole world and God to serve our own selfish soul.  As Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless til they find their rest in thee."  When we learn who is really Lord- who made us, who gives us direction, help, strength in life- then we have a purpose.  The word of God in fullness- the gospel- is worthy of spreading and our lives.  For a long time the clarity and full message of the good news was not known.  Now it is.  That the message is clear- that God loves us and has come to free us from sin- calls us to give ourselves to The Message and the Lord of The Message. It is in giving ourselves to the One who can set us free that we are made free indeed.
    Cinqo de Mayo is a day not about alcohol but of freedom.  But the greatest freedom is found in serving the Lord.  

Prayer: Lord, I seek to give myself to you because you have given yourself to me already.  I serve you, because you are worthy.  I serve you because in your service I find hope and freedom.  

5-2-15 All of God for all of humanity

 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and 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. (Col. 1)


Thoughts: Jesus has all the fullness of God.  Not half the fullness.  Jesus is not kind of God in the flesh, but fully he God in the flesh.  All of God was given to Jesus so that all of creation would be brought to God through Him.  His blood is all sufficient- for it is not just man's blood- but God's.  

Prayer: Help me to appreciate your fullness and work through you to reconcile others to yourself.  

4/30/15- Jesus as the image of God

15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  (Colossians 1:15-16)

Thoughts: This is a statement of faith- Jesus is the image of God.  If you want to know what God is like- look at Jesus.  The image of God is the image of Christ- who was before all creation.  All things are created in him and for him.  Her is not before all creation just in terms of time- but before all creation in terms of supremacy.  It is the supremacy as the creator that is the point.  People misunderstand this verse if they think Jesus is only number one among a long line of created beings.  All that we see or do not see; all powers; all were created through and for Him.  This does not degrade His godhead- but elevates and praises it. 

Prayer: Lord you are worthy of all I am as my King and Lord.  

4/28/15- Holy and faithful

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters^a in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father. (Colossians 1:1,2)

Thoughts: For the next few weeks we'll be looking at Colossians.  Colossians is a great book about faith, love, and unity.  In our world where there is disregard of human life and property this is a great and timely book.
     Paul speaks with the authority of an apostle.  He was made an apostle not by his own doings, but by God's will.  He had the approbation of the other disciples in this.  Paul was writing with his friend and disciple, Timothy.
     He was writing to the saints- the holy ones in Colossae.  They are made holy as they are called by God to be holy.  We are not holy because we are good on our own.  We are made holy by the grace of God that calls us to be different and holy.  We are called to be faithful in our holiness as brothers and sisters in Christ.  Holiness and faithfulness go together.  Faithfulness without holiness means little.  But holiness without faithfulness also means losing holiness.
    In response to the holiness and faithfulness Paul offers grace and peace.  

Prayer: Lord give me grace and peace and enable me to be holy and faithful to you.
 

8/20/14- Colossians 1

15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and 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. (Colossians 1)

Thoughts: Jesus is the firstborn over all- living and dead- He is Lord of all. It is not that Jesus is not God's eternal Son- He is eternally begotten before all worlds- before creation.  Arianism (Jehovah's Witnesses are a form of Arianism today) believed Jesus was just a demi-god not a true God.  But this passage affirms that when you look at Jesus you see an image of God.  If you want to know what God is like- look at the life of Jesus.  He is the exact representation.  He is more than just a good man, but Jesus is also the creator of the world and of the Church.  Not only is Jesus the image of God but God lived in Jesus fully, and redeemed the world through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  Christ came and paid our penalty for sin on the cross.  So it is possible to have peace with God and not struggle against Him if we will but believe that Jesus is the image and fulness of God who gave Himself for us on the cross.  

Prayer: Help me to believe you are the geratest Lord.  I rededicate myself to you.  

2/11/13- Identity of Christ

¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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.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 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. (Colossians 1:13-19) 

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23 quotes from Isaiah 7:14)

Thoughts: In Jesus Christ we see God- as complete in human form as we could possibly see Him. When the believers saw Jesus they believed in Him.  Thomas fell down in worship- and Jesus accepted it.  Even the demons testified to His divinity as He expelled them.  The unbelieving religious leaders tried to kill him because they believed he claimed to be divine and claimed to do divine things like forgive and heal.
In the passage above it is clear that Jesus Christ is:
1) The Savior- (vs. 13)- rescuing us from the "dominion of darkness"
2) The Forgiver (vs. 14)- rescuing us from our sins.
3) He is the image of the invisible God- Like a sacrament- the visible form of God's invisible grace.  He is like a picture of God- in one place and moment- fully identified as God. 

4) He is the firstborn of creation- before all things (15 & 17)- He is eternally  begotten. 

5) He is the Creator (16)- Creation was by and for Him.  That is about as divine as you can get.
6) He is the Sustainer of all things (17)- He holds things together.  Without His grace and love creation disintegrates- the polarized flee from each other.  He also holds us together when we cannot hold ourselves together. 

7) He is the Head of the Church- not the minister/priest/elder/archbishop/pope.  It is His Church.

8) He is the firsborn from the dead- as He is the firstborn of creation.  He is the first to be raised and stay raised (eg. Lazarus was raised but then died again). 

9) He created all powers and is supreme over all (16,18)- thrones, powers, authorities- have no power but by Him- even Pilate who crucified him had no authority over Him that was not given by Him. 

10) The fullness of God dwells in Him- (19)- God did not halfway live in Him- but fully. 

11) He is the Reconciler- (20)-bringing God to humans and humans to God as ultimate priest. 

12) He is the Peace-maker- through His blood on the cross. He not only brings us together, He seals the deal by paying our penalty making peace with God.  We have peace with God through the Prince of Peace.  

What else could Paul say?  He was trying to say as clearly as he could- that Christ is not just a man, not just a half-man/half-God, but fully human and fully divine. 

Prayer: You are worthy O Lord- to receive our worship- our glory and power and wisdom and wealth and praise.  You are the Lamb who was slain to bring us peace.  May I worship you in all my words and deeds this day.  

We confess the mystery of His two natures, divine and human, in one person. We reject any understanding of the communication of attributes that must result in a blending of the two natures such that Jesus Christ is neither truly God nor truly human. We insist upon sufficient distinction between the two natures to preserve the truth of the incarnation, that Jesus Christ is indeed Immanuel, God-with-us, not one who used to be God, nor one who has merely been sent from God. Rather, in His coming we have seen God’s glory, for Jesus is the exact imprint of God’s very being and in Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. The divinity of the Son is in no way impaired, limited, or changed by His gracious act of assuming a human nature, and that His true humanity is in no way undermined by His continued divinity. This is a mystery that we cannot explain, but we affirm it with joy and confidence. (Essential Tenets- The Fellowship of Presbyterians)

6/20/12- Wisdom and Faith

²⁸ He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. They may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (Col. 1:15; 2:4)

(Graduation from Union Theological Seminary VA)


Thoughts: The Colossians were influenced by Greek philosophy and a kind of proto-Gnosticism (a belief in salvation by secret knowledge).  It is always hard if not impossible for the Christian faith to separate itself from the philosophy and cultural thinking around it.  In our day, we face an interesting mixture of Enlightenment skepticism (that leads to the dreary skepticism of Hume and meaningless nihilism of Nietzsche) and the postmodern idea of "it doesn't really matter" what you believe.  Fine-sounding arguments can be made against the faith.  After all, in this life we see through a mirror dimly.  If it were perfectly clear, then faith in God would not be faith.  Faith makes sense, and makes sense of life.  Yet at some point as Kierkegaard said, we must take a leap of faith.  Faith always involves an element of risk and mystery.  Too many philosophers act as if they know all the elements of the equation, when knowledge always is limited.  In reality, every philosophy also has to live with an element of mystery and belief in its own system.
    Paul was saying that we should use human wisdom in our teaching to help people to grow into maturity.  But all true wisdom and the treasures of all knowledge are ultimately found in Christ the Creator of all- and the giver of our minds.
    I used to believe we could argue someone into the kingdom of Christ.  But very few are drawn to Christ by argument.  There reaches a point where we have to see that we are not the judge of God, but we need to submit to His love.  Arguments about the existence of God, the purpose/design of life, the miracles or lists of answered prayers all fall short to those who do not want to believe.  But when the thirst for ultimate reality- the thirst for God and His love and mercy in Christ overwhelm the thirst for knowledge- then faith is found.  In the end we must not only humble our souls before Christ- the giver of our souls.  We also must humble our minds before Christ- the giver of our minds.  All wisdom and knowledge- are found in the one who give "peace of mind."  


Prayer: Help me, Lord, to submit my thinking to you. Give me grace to use my mind to the best of its ability to honor and glorify you.

The Mirror Image

¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:15-20)

Thoughts: Jesus is the mirror image of God the Father (Heb. 1:3; Jn. 1:18: 14:9). If you want to find out what the invisible God looks like- look at Jesus.  Any other image we conjure up becomes an idol- and a distortion.  But we can also distort and tarnish the image of Christ.  We can make Christ in our image- or make Him into the way we want Him to be, instead of listening to how He is described by the eyewitnesses and those who lived close to Him when He walked this earth.
    Years ago I went to the "House of Mirrors" at the State Fair.  At first I thought it was boring, but then when I got in the middle, it was hard to find my way out.  There seemed to be 20 doors and 40 images of myself.  It is important to get the true image.  I also saw in that same house of mirrors some mirrors that made me look overly fat, and other mirrors that made me look taller and skinnier than I really was.  It is important to get the right image of Christ- for this image of Christ points out to God the Father.  Jesus was the One who taught us to see God as Father, and as a God who loves us, cares for us when we are sick, and welcomes us back to Himself when we are prodigals.  The Bible gives us a good, clean, untarnished, undistorted image of Christ.  The Bible is the glass that reflects that image- but Christ is the two dimensional-incarnated image of the multi-dimensional, multi-faceted Father.

Prayer: May I see you clearly revealed in your Word, Father.  May I see you clearly revealed through the Living Word who came for me.  

6/6/12- Colossians 1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.  (Col. 1:1,2).

(Colossae today)

     2 Corinthians, Philippians and Philemon  all mention Timothy as well as Paul as the senders of the epistle.  But what is unique to this introduction are the words "to the holy and faithful saints."  The readers were viewed as being set apart- to be holy.  The introduction has a family theme: "brothers, and God our father."  This family is found in the geographical city of Colossae, and in the person of Jesus Christ.  
   Paul was not alone but had Timothy.  He was reminding the Colossians that they were inter-dependent on each other and even more truly on God.  We too are dependent on God, our Father.
   

Prayer: Help me, O Lord, to know that I am in you and with many other brothers and sisters.