The Stature of Christ

Text

"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 and the first born from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." —Colossians 1:17-18

Bible Reading

COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

Devotional

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Jesus of Nazareth. In our process of getting to know him, we usually begin with his earthly ministry. Then we must learn to make the connection between his earthly ministry and his heavenly ministry. The same Jesus who was robbed of his clothes and executed on a cross is the One who broke the dictatorship of the prince of this world. We must learn to know him as the One who is now in charge of God's armories. We must believe and experience that he can supply every need of ours, far above what we can pray or desire.

But when we have said this, we have not yet said enough. We must learn to make a connection between Jesus and the world as it existed long before he entered it as a baby. He was "before all things." He existed with God long before his earthly ministry. When the almighty speech of God created the universe, Christ was the heart and harmony of that order. Apart from Christ, the harmony of the created order disintegrates, loses coherence, is void of meaning. For "in him all things hold together." The implications are far-reaching: Jesus, who is the heart of the cosmos, is also the head of the church.

Christ, this divine person, entered into creation when it was falling apart. From the side of the Creator he came to the side of the creature. In his earthly ministry, he allowed the disintegrating forces of sin and death to spend themselves on him. By his death he turned the tide. And he emerged as the new "beginning." He gave the whole world a new direction. Leaving the tomb and entering glory, he represented a new creation, a whole reordering of life in which Christ has supremacy.

Please don't say this is too difficult. It is so tremendously profound that it's worth an hour's meditation, a life of devotion, an eternity of praise.

REFLECTIONS

Perhaps this Scripture and reading opened some new windows for you on who Jesus is and what he did. Meditate on it for a while—you don't have to put in a whole hour, but let its far-reaching truths sink in. Then praise God.

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I apologize again for not updating yesterday. I will update again later this evening - but I'm very glad I didn't try to comment on this devotional entry. Its taken me 20 minutes just to read the entire thing and be able to formulate some thoughts.

The truth of Jesus is more than I can comprehend. As I was at the gym today, I was watching a movie where people stopped to pray over their meal. It struck a chord in me because sometimes I wonder if people are able to comprehend the depth and meaning of "Who Christ is?" The scriptures above do very well at explaining. He was, is and forever will be, Lord of lords and King of kings! When you read in the scriptures about the remarkable life that Jesus lived - it can paint a picture in our minds at how beautiful His earthly ministry was. You can also try to think about what He was doing before He even entered the scene that day when He was born the virgin birth and laid to rest in a manger. He has been watching, intervening and providing over/for His elect this whole time and will continue to so until we, His children are called up to sing praises to Him in the Heavens.

Christ humbled Himself and became man and laid His life on the Cross. Can you imagine? A Holy God who humbled Himself to come and provide a way for us lowly sinners to have a hope of Glory. This is the Gospel and while it is simple, it is also quite weighty when looking and digging deep into the whole situation. Another thought I was thinking while at the gym was I wonder how many Christians have really ventured to look past just the physical aspects of Christ's crucifixion. Its actually quite funny how these thoughts came to my mind. A movie came on that starred the man who played Jesus in the well known movie "Passion of the Christ" and while I was staring at him, my mind played back to the gruesome yet still not wholly accurate scenes of the beatings Christ took.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is important to understand the physical pain that Christ endured on His children's behalf. We are, by culture, a very visual and physical society and when we see things like that, it gives a bit of shock value and gives a certain level of perspective. BUT - I think it would be well worth every believer and any other person who is wondering about this Jesus guy - to try and comprehend the pain that Christ felt, within His Spirit. Can you even imagine - Christ, holy and pure - not only being physically beaten, but bearing the full, unadulterated wrath of God! The first time I actually looked past the physical beatings and took a look at that truth, it rocked my world.

But lets look at the definition of the word

Wrath: 1 : strong vengeful anger or indignation 2 : retributory punishment for an offense or a crime : divine chastisement.

Now we have all been yelled at or punished for something in our lifetime. But what weight did that hold? Yes we may have done something horrible: did drugs, drank and drove, spit on someone, got in a fight, lied, cheated - but the punishment that we get here on this earthly planet - is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. What if God, who is Holy and can not partake of anything that is sin, placed his "divine chastisement" on you, for all the wrong that you had done? What if God had made me carry my own sins and die with His back turned and His wrath on me? Now what if He made me carry my own sins and the sins of all His elect... Knowing the person I am is enough to know that I could not take on that task. I could not carry that cup.

But Christ. Christ not only lived a human yes sinless life, was 100% man and 100% God, but He drank the cup of wrath and died in my place. What's even more remarkable is that He not only drank the cup and died the sinner's death. He rose again, conquered death and sin and provided a way for us to come to the Father! He ascended into Heaven where He continues to watch over His children and provide for them. He sent us the Holy Spirit as our companion, our friend, our guidance while we are still on this earth. And He is preparing a place for us in Heaven where we can stay with Him forever and ever and sing praises to God who is worthy of our praise.

Wow. The Stature of Christ. May we praise Him all of our days and remember what the Gospel is and what it isn't. It is not simply "God made you for a purpose". Lets dive in and learn about the life of Christ, on earth and in heaven. Lets learn and walk in His footsteps. We have the Holy Spirit, we can do it through Him. Wow... Praise God. Amen! Grace&Peace.