"I am glad
when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of
Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the
responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but
now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know
that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the
secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone
with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect
in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so
hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me." - Colossians 1:24-29
Well speaking of "suffering," my family is passing around a flu bug so my apologies for not giving you a daily connection. I'll try to catch up.
As I've shared in previous posts, there is a tension in our culture because of the exclusive claims of Christ. We live in a world where everyone wants to believe that "all roads lead to heaven." But when faced with the reality of Who Jesus is, it's impossible to deny that His life, death and resurrection are essential to reconciliation with God. A better way to say this my be "Not all roads lead to heaven, but all roads run through Jesus Christ."
I write this to set up the essence of this passage - that while Christ is supreme (Colossians 1:15-20 - Day 5), He is also radically inclusive. Because all the fullness of God lives in Christ, his grace is able to cover the sins of the world.
So Paul boldly proclaims that the secret is out - the "riches and glory of Christ are for the gentiles too." There's plenty to go around.
As I've shared in previous posts, there is a tension in our culture because of the exclusive claims of Christ. We live in a world where everyone wants to believe that "all roads lead to heaven." But when faced with the reality of Who Jesus is, it's impossible to deny that His life, death and resurrection are essential to reconciliation with God. A better way to say this my be "Not all roads lead to heaven, but all roads run through Jesus Christ."
I write this to set up the essence of this passage - that while Christ is supreme (Colossians 1:15-20 - Day 5), He is also radically inclusive. Because all the fullness of God lives in Christ, his grace is able to cover the sins of the world.
So Paul boldly proclaims that the secret is out - the "riches and glory of Christ are for the gentiles too." There's plenty to go around.
And what is the "secret?" Christ in you. The Spirit of Christ dwelling in Jew and gentile - available to all who ask, all who desire mercy!
How is your life different because Christ dwells in you?
And this brings us back to Paul's motivation - why apologize for evangelizing Jew, Greek, pagan when Jesus is the center? "We tell everyone" - Paul wants to present more and more people to Christ. He wants more and more people to have Christ's riches and glory, to have Christ's Spirit dwell in them. Jesus is everything.
How is your life different because Christ dwells in you?
And this brings us back to Paul's motivation - why apologize for evangelizing Jew, Greek, pagan when Jesus is the center? "We tell everyone" - Paul wants to present more and more people to Christ. He wants more and more people to have Christ's riches and glory, to have Christ's Spirit dwell in them. Jesus is everything.
What's your motivation? Is Christ supreme in your life? And how does that fuel how you relate to others?
No comments:
Post a Comment