This Jesus we worship
“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. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)
I was reading this passage this morning and it struck me how little we really know this Jesus. I mean…really know. Yes, as believers, we know a lot about Him. He is our Savior and Lord, that He paid for our sin, and that He is coming again in glory. We know these things, but do we understand them? For Paul’s prayer earlier in the letter was that God would give the Colossians (and us) “spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
So here’s my question. Why did Paul deem it necessary to pray continually this way when the Bible is so plain about who Jesus is? In fact, since we’re on the subject, why did Jesus ask His disciples who He was after being with them for so long (Matt.16:13)? Didn’t they know? Do we know?
I say this because we live in a world absolutely filled with commentary and opinions. Our world is dominated by a "Has God indeed said...?" paradigm. And we, like Pilate, have so much trouble grasping what is truth even when we’re staring at it (Him) in the face. Just go on a Google search and you will find a multitude of conclusions about Christ, who He was, who He is, and what people say He is not. We also know that most other religions and sects acknowledge Him as a prophet, a good man, a wise religious leader. Of course, they all have trouble accepting Him as God, certainly not as the only means to salvation. (I mean, what about other faiths? And those alleged people in isolated parts of the world who have never heard about Jesus. Are they doomed to destruction?) After all, to accept Jesus' sacrifice as the only means to God is to insult our human dignity; our sense of self-worth...and, ironically, by our demanding these "human rights," we insult God's majesty and Jesus' worth.
Even Christians seem to have trouble dealing with who Jesus really is. Everything about God and His mystical Kingdom seems so...well, counterintuitive. Some misguided souls, trying to reconcile all these conflicting views, have even postulated that there may be other ways to God besides Jesus. I mean, would God bank everything on Jesus?
But consider just these two points (among many)…if Jesus isn’t exactly who God says He is here in the passage I have posted, then God played the ultimate cruel hoax on His only begotten son by sending Him to die a horrible death on the Cross. And, secondly, as His followers, to worship this Christ as anything other than God the Son would be idolatrous and evil, for we are to worship no one but God alone.
However…if Jesus truly is who we believe Scripture says He is, then He is the quintessential everything. For it says that we exist because of Him and for Him. There is nothing that doesn’t have to do with Him. All of God’s Word is about Jesus for He is the Word, from Genesis to Revelation. Everything begins and ends with,through, and for Him. He is life itself; when we breathe, we breathe Him in. He is not the air, but the air is in Him. To see Jesus is to see God, to understand Jesus' nature and attributes is to understand God's nature and attributes. There is nothing apart from Christ, nothing outside of Him. The obvious implications of all of this being that every other religious pursuit is, at its very core, irrelevant and meaningless compared to knowing Him.
And to know Christ is to know life; it is the very essense of being fully alive. It addresses every purpose, the key to unlock the very heart issues of what we really long for, our most inner desires, all that we search for but can’t quite grasp but, nonetheless, know must be real. He is the answer to every question; the end of every story, the ultimate discovery of all science, and the final analysis of all human understanding.
Christ is creator, Lord, and master over everything that exists, both in the visible and invisible realm, so all of His creation must submit to His rule and reign. It’s not even a question of whether He is stronger than other principalities and powers; for He is power; He is strength and all authority must originate and flow from Him. Yes, this world we live in is categorically His world.
Yet, out of His unfathomable love (which means, a love we can’t fully grasp), He waits for us to want Him. For Christ is love. And He gives us free will because only love freely given is love at all. Yet, this is the ultimate parodox...in all human history, there has been no room for this God of love, whether in temples made with hands, an Inn in Bethlehem, or in our fickle hearts. No one is more ignored, no name more blasphemed than Jesus' name. And even for us who believe, why is it so hard to love and embrace this Lover of our souls? Why must our hearts wander so, pursuing everything but Him? And even in our seeking, why do we insist on learning more about Him without wanting to know Him?
So, really, the question is...will we make room for this Jesus in our hearts? For He is the answer to every question. For to know Him is to love Him; to wager all, to give up everything...all for Him. For He is worthy of no less. This is worship...and this is the Jesus we worship.
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. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)
I was reading this passage this morning and it struck me how little we really know this Jesus. I mean…really know. Yes, as believers, we know a lot about Him. He is our Savior and Lord, that He paid for our sin, and that He is coming again in glory. We know these things, but do we understand them? For Paul’s prayer earlier in the letter was that God would give the Colossians (and us) “spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
So here’s my question. Why did Paul deem it necessary to pray continually this way when the Bible is so plain about who Jesus is? In fact, since we’re on the subject, why did Jesus ask His disciples who He was after being with them for so long (Matt.16:13)? Didn’t they know? Do we know?
I say this because we live in a world absolutely filled with commentary and opinions. Our world is dominated by a "Has God indeed said...?" paradigm. And we, like Pilate, have so much trouble grasping what is truth even when we’re staring at it (Him) in the face. Just go on a Google search and you will find a multitude of conclusions about Christ, who He was, who He is, and what people say He is not. We also know that most other religions and sects acknowledge Him as a prophet, a good man, a wise religious leader. Of course, they all have trouble accepting Him as God, certainly not as the only means to salvation. (I mean, what about other faiths? And those alleged people in isolated parts of the world who have never heard about Jesus. Are they doomed to destruction?) After all, to accept Jesus' sacrifice as the only means to God is to insult our human dignity; our sense of self-worth...and, ironically, by our demanding these "human rights," we insult God's majesty and Jesus' worth.
Even Christians seem to have trouble dealing with who Jesus really is. Everything about God and His mystical Kingdom seems so...well, counterintuitive. Some misguided souls, trying to reconcile all these conflicting views, have even postulated that there may be other ways to God besides Jesus. I mean, would God bank everything on Jesus?
But consider just these two points (among many)…if Jesus isn’t exactly who God says He is here in the passage I have posted, then God played the ultimate cruel hoax on His only begotten son by sending Him to die a horrible death on the Cross. And, secondly, as His followers, to worship this Christ as anything other than God the Son would be idolatrous and evil, for we are to worship no one but God alone.
However…if Jesus truly is who we believe Scripture says He is, then He is the quintessential everything. For it says that we exist because of Him and for Him. There is nothing that doesn’t have to do with Him. All of God’s Word is about Jesus for He is the Word, from Genesis to Revelation. Everything begins and ends with,through, and for Him. He is life itself; when we breathe, we breathe Him in. He is not the air, but the air is in Him. To see Jesus is to see God, to understand Jesus' nature and attributes is to understand God's nature and attributes. There is nothing apart from Christ, nothing outside of Him. The obvious implications of all of this being that every other religious pursuit is, at its very core, irrelevant and meaningless compared to knowing Him.
And to know Christ is to know life; it is the very essense of being fully alive. It addresses every purpose, the key to unlock the very heart issues of what we really long for, our most inner desires, all that we search for but can’t quite grasp but, nonetheless, know must be real. He is the answer to every question; the end of every story, the ultimate discovery of all science, and the final analysis of all human understanding.
Christ is creator, Lord, and master over everything that exists, both in the visible and invisible realm, so all of His creation must submit to His rule and reign. It’s not even a question of whether He is stronger than other principalities and powers; for He is power; He is strength and all authority must originate and flow from Him. Yes, this world we live in is categorically His world.
Yet, out of His unfathomable love (which means, a love we can’t fully grasp), He waits for us to want Him. For Christ is love. And He gives us free will because only love freely given is love at all. Yet, this is the ultimate parodox...in all human history, there has been no room for this God of love, whether in temples made with hands, an Inn in Bethlehem, or in our fickle hearts. No one is more ignored, no name more blasphemed than Jesus' name. And even for us who believe, why is it so hard to love and embrace this Lover of our souls? Why must our hearts wander so, pursuing everything but Him? And even in our seeking, why do we insist on learning more about Him without wanting to know Him?
So, really, the question is...will we make room for this Jesus in our hearts? For He is the answer to every question. For to know Him is to love Him; to wager all, to give up everything...all for Him. For He is worthy of no less. This is worship...and this is the Jesus we worship.
posted by Pastor Mel at 12:42 PM
3 Comments:
Great article! One thing that I think we all tend to believe is that we have some sort of will to believe, to have faith, to create our own destiny...when I think scripture teaches differently.
John 6:44
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me (draw) him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
NT: #1670
helkuo (hel-koo'-o); or helko (hel'-ko); probably akin to NT:138; to drag (literally or figuratively).
That scripture tells us that we are dragged to Him because maybe we don't have the "will" to actually go to Him. Many scriptures tell us that God gives us "faith" "belief" it's all from HIM, so I think if we had a free will, God wouldn't have to give those to us.
John 12:32
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will "draw" all men unto me.
The same word here for "draw" or dragged...doesn't seem to give man much say in the outcome of Jesus being lifted up.
So, really, the question is...will we make room for this Jesus in our hearts?
I thank God that He has given me the faith to believe and I desire more room for Him in my heart!
Thanks for your insights Mel.
Yes, this is the great parodox of faith. God is in charge both of history in general and of our lives. We are unable to come to know and serve him on our own. We are completely dependent upon his decision to save us, and his work in our lives to transform us.
And equally true, we humans must make responsible decisions. We will be judged by God for how we respond to him. In other words, we must choose to be chosen! Thanks for your comments.
Thanks for stopping in from the other side of the world! It's interesting that you mentioned the Essenes. I just returned from Israel and was at the Qumran site last Thursday. Our guide (who is a second-generation native born Jewish Messianic believer) mentioned that many believe that Jesus studied with, was accepted by, and lived among the Essenes until He was lauched in ministry. We know that John the Baptist was part of them.
The theory here concerning Jesus and the Essenes is that He actually celebrated the "Last Supper" on Tuesday evening, when the Essenes would've observed it, not on Thursday evening as traditionally thought. It has some interesting implications on the timeline of the final days of His arrest and trial. Our guide said that this timeline is much easier to explain to the Jewish Scholars than the traditional view.
Anyway, thanks again. I will check out your blog when I get a chance.
Mel
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