Colossians 1:15,19
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… For in him all the fullness of god was pleased to dwell…”
This is really the beginning of the content of Colossians, this letter that Paul wrote to the church in Colossae. After he greats and speaks encouragement to them regarding what he has heard about their faith, he begins the significant portion of his letter by making this claim about Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God… [and] in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” There is no room for criticism of this, there is no room to argue that Jesus is anything less than completely God.
There have been many times in church history that people have attempted to claim that Jesus was a good teacher, or a prophet, or something else that is good, but less than God. Paul is adamant here: Jesus is fully God. There is nothing about Jesus that makes him less than God, not fully God, or incomplete. Perhaps this was in response to the teaching prevalent at the time that everything physical was bad, that it was only the spiritual that was good, and therefore is Jesus had a body he couldn’t possibly be completely God. Paul clearly rejects this.
What we have in Jesus Christ is the ability to see God. This is profound. Before Jesus only the effects of God could be seen, only his miraculous works were visible, and at times his presence could be seen through things such as fire or clouds, but never his image. This was all new with Jesus, and a profound thing. The Master of the Universe wanted to be seen by his creation, he desired to be identified and known. Wow. What an honor and a privilage.
What should be my response to this? Well Paul encourages the church to “continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard…” That should be my response: to hold firmly to what I have learned about God, to run after Jesus with all that I have, pursuing this incredible opportunity of relationship with the God who made me and actually wants to know me and be known by me. Wow.
Thank you, God, for your Son.
Thank you that you have made a way for me to know you,
to know you in your fullness.
You are a good and great God, the only God.
I do not deserve what you have given me,
and therefore I submit myself, my moment, and my life to you.
Amen.
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