FOCUS Day Fifty | Colossians 1:9 – 2:10
DAY FIFTY | COLOSSIANS 1:9 – 2:10
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Jesus, The Excellent One
Once, when I was about fifteen years old, I heard a message on Colossians 1:18. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. I had no idea what that word, preeminence, meant but I knew that it was important – important enough that the sound of the word made me feel uncomfortable.
My fifteen year old life was conflicted. I know that doesn’t sound too unusual, and maybe all of the inner turmoil that I experienced was just normal teenage stuff. Or maybe not.
On the one hand, I had a sincere love for Jesus in my heart. Looking back, I can see how there was a mixture of real relationship with God and religious posturing to gain the approval of people. There was a hunger for God. There was also a deep sense of conviction, a clear knowing, that God had a plan and purpose for my life.
I had felt “called into ministry” when I was in eighth grade, even though that calling has played out nothing like what I could have ever imagined. I can still close my eyes and hear the evangelist preaching out of Isaiah 6:8. Who will I send, who will go for us? Hear am I, Send me! I still identify that as the moment when I volunteered to do whatever, and go wherever, whenever He wanted.
But on the other hand, I was so broken and confused. Despite living in a loving home, with amazing parents, the enemy had been able to sneak in and unleash brutal attacks against me. Some of my earliest memories are plagued by sexual brokenness. I was not so much abused, as I was contaminated. In several instances, other children who had been abused, passed what they had experienced on to me.
That led to pain and confusion about how to navigate life. In some ways, I had a great childhood with so much love and acceptance. But there was the other part as well, and something told me that I shouldn’t talk about those things that had happened to me. To be honest with you, I didn’t know how to talk about them.
Looking back, I can see how God poured out His grace so freely and faithfully. He had already done a beautiful work in my heart about my identity, and I really could sense His Spirit drawing me after Him. But confusion also remained in my heart, and many times I felt trapped by the gap between my genuine love for Jesus, and the place where shame and self-doubt seemed more real than He did.
Sitting in the pews at our church, I wrestled with this word, preeminent. What did it mean? Almost as if he could hear my inner thoughts, the man who was speaking said that preeminent meant first place – in everything. Ultimately. No questions asked.
It means the tipity-top of the tipity-top.
While this word felt a little over the top, I couldn’t understand why I felt so uncomfortable with it. I had grown up in church my whole life, and I considered myself to have an above average knowledge of the Bible. But this word, this thought…
He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
What did it mean? Why was it taking so long to sink in?
He is the Head. He is Beginning. He is the firstborn. So that in everything, He is #1.
Hmmm. I was starting to get it.
No-one can compare with Him, He is worthy of it all.
I could feel every shred of insecurity and shame begin to tremble within me. I couldn’t afford to maintain my inner conflict anymore. Jesus was worthy enough to have the tipity-top of every part of my heart.
There have definitely been many hard moments over the thirty years since I was fifteen. I have walked through highs snd lows, with seasons of amazing hunger for God, while other times struggling with apathy. But I can look back to my fifteen year old self, and say that was the day when I realized that didn’t have to leave well-enough alone. I wanted to trust Him that He was powerful enough to allow me to walk in real freedom.
There was something about realizing how amazing and majestic He is that made me want to give Him my life more completely than I had ever known before. He is overwhelmingly good, and there is noone like Him. He is the definition of excellent, He is worthy of my whole being.
And that is what I think about, when think about the first two chapters of the book of Colossians. How over the top, amazing and spectacular Jesus really is. He is the definition of excellency – Perfect Love made accessible to us through His grace.
Within the span of just a few lines in those first few chapters, Jesus is acknowledged as the Head of the body, the image of the invisible God, and the One who holds all things together. He is our the one who reconciles our lives to God, and redeems us from the pit.
His Spirit dwells in us, and welcomes us to open our eyes and find our life in Him. It is in and through His abiding presence with us that we have the hope of glory. There truly is no one like Jesus.
As Paul writes this letter to the Colossians, He writes about how the fulness of God dwells with us, in bodily form, in the life of Jesus. He is the One in whom all of the treasures and riches of God are hidden. And He is in us, and we are in Him!
It is said through many different words and in many different ways, but He is the Champion of champions, the First Place of all first place winners. He has no rivals. No one can compare to Him or equal Him in any way.
Now, in the light of all of that, Paul says, don’t allow yourself to get cheated by the best that this world has to offer, in a way that would cause us to miss Christ. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
Beware. Be aware. Don’t Miss Christ.
Don’t let the things of this world grab your attention. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived. Don’t miss out on Christ.
He is preeminent. He is worthy. He is enough.
In my fifteen year old mind, the inner turmoil felt like a fair fight. I had gone through hard stuff, and sometimes it really did feel like that pain was stronger and bigger than God’s Love. The fight was between Good Brad and Broken Brad. I could feel the tension, and wondered who would ultimately win. I felt sure that I was going to either do something great for God, or end up so far away from Him and sin really big.
But His excellency was challenging my fear and shame.
That day, in the second row of the church, I encountered One whose love was so far superior to my brokenness. His power and strength was enough for my weakness, and my sinfulness was swallowed up by His holiness.
On my own, I struggled with self-hatred. In Him, I was perfectly loved.
On my own, shame fueled violent lust, In Him I was holy, blameless and pure.
I was certainly broken, but Colossians 2:10 tells me that I am complete in Him. Really. Complete. There is no one like Him, and as Paul told the people of Athens, even in our darkest moments, He is not as far away as we might think.
That is why we turn our eyes to gaze upon Him. We take one step towards Him, only to find that in His love He has already been coming to us. Jesus, You are Excellent!.
I pray that you would realize that this excellent One that overwhelms us with His goodness, finds pleasure in walking with you. I pray that you would believe God’s Word, that you are complete in Him, dwelling in the One in whom all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells. And finally, I pray that as you turn your face towards His and gaze upon His beauty, that you would be rooted and grounded in Him, growing a deep connection with the One that you walk with. May He always have the first place in your hearts, the tipity-top of the tipity top.
Blessings,
Brad
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