Colossians is a beautiful epistle penned by the apostle Paul. His writings have shaped my life, my theology and my thinking since I began my journey with Christ. Sitting and contemplating Jesus and how great He is, I had a thought and I will share it here. I want to let you know that in Jesus, there is no deficiency. Jesus is the First and the Last and it is Jesus who we look to for our sustenance. Christ fulfilled a dual role in coming to this planet and becoming flesh (John 1:14). I will discuss both roles here. I thank God that in His infinite wisdom He gave us what we needed in Jesus.
Firstly, Jesus fulfilled the role of a forerunner. Hebrews 6 describes Jesus as our forerunner in that He went before us behind the veil and paved the way for Christians to follow Him. Now, we cannot follow as flesh and blood but Jesus has opened the curtain to the Holy of Holies and given us access, that is the hope that we have as believers when we leave this place. I want to focus on Jesus, in this instant, as the forerunner and example for humanity, as we live in the flesh. Hebrews 12 calls Jesus the author and finisher of the faith. He is the supreme example of how a human being should live life, submitted to God.
Colossians 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Jesus Christ is the firstborn over all creation. In His humanity, he explained God to man (John 1:18). He gave man a snapshot of the nature and character of God. He also became the supreme human example! 'Firstborn of all creation' has nothing to do with the time Jesus' birth but has everything to do with His status among the human race. Many have misconstrued this scripture to infer that Jesus was created. He is eternal and therefore cannot be a created being like us. But "firstborn" (Greek, prototokos) has to do with His preeminence. Jesus Christ is preeminent among humans because He lived as one of us and was without sin. He was sent here by God to replace Adam, hence He is known as the "second Adam" (Romans 5). The reason He came in flesh was to give to God the Father the perfection that was desired from the beginning when mankind was created; the perfection that sin destroyed. By fulfilling this, Jesus is the prototype of what a human being should be and therefore, the example that all humanity should pattern their lives after. How awesome is God?
Paul also states it this way: Romans 8:29 "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren"
So the human race, as brothers and sisters of Jesus (in his humanity) and subjects of Jesus (in His deity) have Christ to pattern ourselves after and God to thank for giving us such a Great High Priest!
Not only was Jesus the greatest example of humanity while He lived in the flesh, He also set a precedent that every believer can have confidence in. As a side note, the humanity of Jesus was totally necessary so that He could actually die. He needed a body so that it could be killed and the substitutionary atonement be completed. Jesus Christ had to taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:14) in order that we might have our sins forgiven. His death necessitated His resurrection. Colossians 1:18 "He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." Jesus Christ, because He was resurrected gives believers the hope that we too will be resurrected after we die. That hope is an "anchor for the soul" (Hebrews 6:19) that we cling to knowing that this is not our final resting place. Christ defeating death came after three other people had been resuscitated. The three examples are Lazarus (John 11), the widow's son at Nain (Luke 7) and Jairus' daughter (Luke 8). I cannot say that they were resurrected because they all died again but each of these examples preceded Christ in death and coming back from the dead.
How is Jesus firstborn from the dead if three people beat him to returning from the dead? Again, we must examine the meaning of the word firstborn. It means preeminence or of first importance and does not have any chronological implications. So, of all who were raised, Jesus is the leader because His resurrection means that the sting of death no longer exists. None of the others could make this claim. Because Jesus got up, we too will get up. We too will be resurrected provided that we are saved!
So Jesus Christ is the leading man. Not Denzel or DeNiro or Pacino but Jesus. There is none that I would rather have as my leader than Jesus. He is just, He is right and He is good. He is all powerful and God made it so that Jesus might "have first place in everything." There is no race that He has not won, that is no battle that has ever gotten the best of Him, there is no sickness that He cannot heal and there is no person that he cannot save. Thank God for giving us a human example Who existed in time and a spiritual example Who exists in eternity. Thank God for Jesus! God's peace be upon you.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Sunday, March 2, 2014
One Way Ticket
Thinking about this world and what we deem important, it is always funny to me how we seem to forget that this is not our final stop. The bible says that we are pilgrims here, sojourners who should be looking for a better home (Hebrews 11). When we are born into this world, we receive a one way ticket from here to eternity. Sure, it is nice to have nice things and to accumulate savings and 401K's but we cannot take any of that with us.
Hebrews 9:27-28 "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
The scripture says that we are all destined to die and after that, we face the judgment. Those of us who are in Christ will face a judgment, not to determine if we go to heaven or hell, but to determine what gifts we will receive on the other side.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
Every Christian's work will be tested by fire. We are not saved by works but we should bear fruit that shows that we walk with Christ. Our works should glorify God. With the one way ticket that we have received, let us do all that we can to lift up the name of Jesus. William Barclay in his commentary on Hebrews says "from the beginning, Christianity was a religion of judgment. No Christian was ever allowed to forget that in the end, he/she must face God, and that what God thought of him/her was infinitely more important that what men thought of him/her."
For the unbeliever, they too have a one way ticket. They too have to face a judgment. They too are only sojourners. Once when I was a college student, my roommate and I were discussing the afterlife. He said that he believes once we die we turn into energy. At that time, spiritually, I was nowhere near where I am now but I was not buying that. There is not a transition to energy, as blissful as that sounds. There is only a judgment of fire waiting:
Hebrews 10:26, 27 "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES."
We are born into this world with a one-way ticket to eternity. Where we spend in eternity depends on the decision that we make here to either follow Christ or remain in our sins. Jesus has paid for our sins but it is up to us to accept that payment. That decision has eternal consequences. Is your ticket stamped in the blood of the Lamb?
Hebrews 9:27-28 "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
The scripture says that we are all destined to die and after that, we face the judgment. Those of us who are in Christ will face a judgment, not to determine if we go to heaven or hell, but to determine what gifts we will receive on the other side.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
Every Christian's work will be tested by fire. We are not saved by works but we should bear fruit that shows that we walk with Christ. Our works should glorify God. With the one way ticket that we have received, let us do all that we can to lift up the name of Jesus. William Barclay in his commentary on Hebrews says "from the beginning, Christianity was a religion of judgment. No Christian was ever allowed to forget that in the end, he/she must face God, and that what God thought of him/her was infinitely more important that what men thought of him/her."
For the unbeliever, they too have a one way ticket. They too have to face a judgment. They too are only sojourners. Once when I was a college student, my roommate and I were discussing the afterlife. He said that he believes once we die we turn into energy. At that time, spiritually, I was nowhere near where I am now but I was not buying that. There is not a transition to energy, as blissful as that sounds. There is only a judgment of fire waiting:
Hebrews 10:26, 27 "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES."
We are born into this world with a one-way ticket to eternity. Where we spend in eternity depends on the decision that we make here to either follow Christ or remain in our sins. Jesus has paid for our sins but it is up to us to accept that payment. That decision has eternal consequences. Is your ticket stamped in the blood of the Lamb?
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