# 48 2018 Dev. Col. 1:19 Omnipotence! Read verses 15-29. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Colossians 1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Christ) 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
In this section Paul establishes Christ’s omnipotence in God; as the Son in the triune God. Paul refutes the concept of worshiping angels, of worshiping knowledge, and relying on human knowledge. The Colossians were being led astray by those promoting a gospel that appealed to mankind but it was a false gospel.
What is leading people astray today? Given the decline of the church it is a question long over due and it is a question we all must answer for ourselves. Obviously those who do not acknowledge Christ can not know God and are led astray by every new idea and concept of worship. Christians vary in belief; there are hundreds of thousands different denominations. The problem today is a misunderstanding of Jesus Christ; His humanity, His radical approach to life on earth when He came to walk among us, His purpose made clear in His life and His radical love for the whole world.
Who is Christ anyway? Paul gives us the answer: “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
As followers of Jesus here in the West, we are a very tame example of Christ! We have become afraid to listen to the Holy Spirit, afraid to speak out, we are afraid to speak to others about Jesus. We are afraid of those people who do not know Jesus, but those are the people who Jesus came for! Fear allows us to condemn everyone not like us! We are afraid of change; tradition has misled many of us. We also fear suffering, but as Paul says Christ’s suffering is not yet filled up in him, it definitely is not yet filled up in us. The answer is recommitment to follow Christ in Spirit and in truth. We should be known as radical Christians and as Jesus “geeks”!
When reading Paul’s description of Jesus, we should be amazed and we should be encouraged because along with everything else, Jesus is the head of the body the church. That means the church will survive and expand, she may be different than we know her, because if we continue to worship as we do now she is slowly dyeing. If she is to expand she may not do so in this country, we are much too comfortable and have no sense of the demands of the gospel on our personal lives, but she will expand. Further, Christ is above all things “and in him all things hold together, if God is for us who can be against us” Let us rejoice and rededicate ourselves during this holiday season!
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