Supreme Leader // Colossians 1:15-23

The Supremacy of Christ
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and 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.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Footnotes:

Colossians 1:21 Or minds, as shown by

Words, phrases that stuck out:

For today's post, I am going to approach it slightly differently. As I read this, I noticed two main "sections": first is verses 15-20, which discuss Jesus' divine, eternal nature. The second part is verses 21-23, which address the truth of a believer's relationship to Jesus in light of the truths in the first section. So, I'm just going to list all the points that hit me and briefly comment on each main section after...

*** Section One: ...image of the invisible God... ...firstborn over all creation... by him all things were created... in him all things hold together... he is the head of the body, the church... For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things...by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.: Ok, so many things...but these are truths I need to hold on to every second of the day. If I claim to believe in Jesus as my only redeemer and savior, I need to know that he is infinitely more than just some nice guy who lived and had some cool ideas. He is God among us. He created. He has every atom under his command. He is our Supreme Leader. And all things are reconciled, are made new, due to the Cross. This needs to be what drives me!!!!

*** Section Two: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies... ...now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight... ...if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.: Do I really live in gratitude realizing that I was once God's enemy? I need to...because through Jesus, I am now viewed as holy again in God's sight. But it needs to be real. The last statement there (from verse 23) is a confusing one, as some think that one can lose one's salvation (by not believing anymore), and others say once saved, always saved. Regardless of your "bent", I think this does show us that if our faith is real , we need to allow it to change every fiber of our being...all the time. Standing firm in the midst of the wavering seas of life. That is my prayer for myself today: to stand firm, despite emotion, circumstance, desires...

Questions for me today:


Is Jesus my Supreme Leader? Do I seek Christ in ALL things? What does that look like? What needs to change?