“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:17-18, ESV)
Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning and who told the ocean – you can only come this far? Who told the moon where to hide ‘til evening – whose words alone can catch a falling star? I know my Redeemer lives. Let all creation testify this life within cries I know my Redeemer lives!
For a particular season in my life, I used to sing this song quite regularly. It was especially requested on Easter services. It’s one of those songs that you just can’t sit still in your seat and listen to – you’ve got to get up because of the joy that overwhelms you from inside.
Simply because, for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, our Redeemer – we know that he is alive in Heaven. Seated at the right hand of God.
We do not serve a dead God, a wooden statue or mythical creatures – we serve the one that is above all. Christ is superior to all other beliefs because everything came from him.
This is the point Paul was trying to make to the church in Colosse. False teachers were gaining a foothold in the church. These teachers were failing to acknowledge the preeminence of Christ. Basically, they were instructing people that it was okay to believe in Jesus – but they also needed to believe in other things. That they needed to do other things, like circumcision and abstain from certain foods. The teachings of that time also placed angels as mediators between God and man. Paul was emphasizing that whatever rank of being there may be, ultimately Jesus created them all. They all answer to Him.
Over two thousand years later, we continue to see the effects of heretical teaching infiltrating society. Some worship Mother Mary over Jesus. While others teach about worshipping the stars and space. Some charge their people with paying penance for deeds done wrong versus the all-consuming grace that is given freely by Jesus. Others believe that there are many paths to God and are always pursuing “paths to enlightenment.”
Our world is in a desperate search for “something” to fulfill them.
Paul was stressing that all things are fulfilled in the person of Christ. Not in a church; not in a priesthood; not in a building; not in a sacrament; not in other Christians; not in a method or a program, but in Jesus Christ Himself.
All wisdom and spiritual understanding can be found in the God-man who redeemed everything and thus now has authority above all.
“Jesus, we thank You that You are the true source of everything we need to survive in this world.”
For His Glory,
Laura Holmes (www.ephraimministries.org)
TRBC Women’s Life
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