Colossians 1: The Preeminence of Christ

There are only four more days left of this study and I am seriously not wanting it to end.  It has been so good for me to have motivation to do devotions every morning and to have accountability as I share what He is doing in my heart through His word.  It will be nice to not have to blog every single day to keep up, but the routine of being in His word every day is something I don't want to let go of.  So, what am I going to do next?  I had started studying Romans before this study, so I am going to continue with it.  I won't share every day what I am learning, but, maybe once a week I will share a little bit of the truth that He is revealing to me, because I love being able to testify of who He is. 

As I started reading Colossians, one phrase in Paul's greeting stuck out to me - "by the will of God".  When I looked up the word "will" used here in my Strong's Concordance, it defines it as "of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ, of what God wishes to be done by us, commands, desires, pleasures".  I love the first part of the definition: God purposed to bless us, even though we had sinned against Him, by sending His son.  He had a plan from the beginning and, even though man chose to disobey, He was not finished with us yet.  Isn't that wonderful?  The second part of the definition is also convicting, because I need to be living my life in a way that pleases Him.  He has a purpose and a plan for my life, but I need to follow Him and trust Him to lead the way.

In verses 3-8, Paul thanks God for the Colossians.  He lists three specific reasons he is thankful for them: their faith to Jesus, their love for all the saints, and the hope they have in heaven.  Faith, hope, and love are the three basic foundations of the Christian life.  We must first have faith, believing that He died a death we deserved to pay the ransom we couldn't pay on our own.  For it is by faith we are saved, not by works.  Secondly, we have hope in Christ Jesus, because He has given us a future in heaven.  In Him we have "in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (Titus 1:2).  Finally, we are called to live out our calling by loving one another.  As 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." 

Paul then prays for the Colossians in verses 9-14.  He prays for three things:

• that they would know God's will - to have spiritual wisdom and understanding that leads to changed lives
• that they would walk worth of their calling - to fully please the Lord, for "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1)
• that they would be strengthened with all power by His glorious might - to have strength that only comes from the Lord to live our lives the way He desires, that we might persevere and endure and know the joy of the Lord

In verses 15-23, Paul explains the preeminence of Christ.  This is my favorite part of this chapter, because I love how Paul constantly reminds us of what Christ has done for us and the hope that we have in Him.  The word "preeminence" means that He holds first place above everything.  How do we know the preeminence of Christ?

• He is the image of the invisible God - "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
• He is the firstborn of all creation - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
• He is the creator of all things - "yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." (1 Corinthians 8:6) 
• He sustains creation - holds together, establishes, or unites parts into one whole, "And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:22-23)
• He is the Lord of redemption - reconciles to himself all things and brings peace through His blood, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18)

 I have every reason to rejoice, because He has delivered me from so much and has given me so much hope.  Colossians 1:13-14 says, "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  This is my hope.  Hallelujah!