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Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. – Colossians 1:18

 

Looking at Colossians 1:13-20, we recognize that Jesus Christ deserves supremacy. In this passage, Paul describes the awesome spiritual dimensions of Christ as God sees Him. Verse 15 speaks of Him as the “visible image of the invisible God.” Then in verse 16, He is described as “the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth.” He is the actual Creator of anything that has ever been cre-ated—spiritual or physical.

Jesus is the invisible force that binds together even atoms and molecules. Through Him, all things “hold together” (v. 17 NIV). He is the Head of the Body, the Church (v. 18), and He was the first to rise from the dead as a firstfruit of all believers in the resurrection. Verse 19 reveals that all the fullness of God dwells in Him; that is, God’s character, energy, wisdom, and holiness are all contained within Him. Finally, His blood shed on the cross is the means by which fallen humanity is restored to God in peace (v. 20).

Jesus is everything to God, and He should have supremacy in our lives as well. Why should we be fascinated by anyone else? Who else or what else besides Jesus matters? God “has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

2020-12-31T10:53:26-07:00

Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. – Colossians 1:18

 

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2020-12-31T10:47:33-07:00

. . . You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7

The peace of God comes from the God of peace. In the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul tells us how to walk in continual, perfect peace.

First, he pleads with us to reconcile our relationships to others. He addressed a division in the Philippian church, saying, “And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement” (v. 2). Strained, divisive relationships will always block the peace of God.

Next, Paul says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”

(v. 6). If you make every concern a matter of prayer, God’s peace will flood your heart and mind, even when your understanding is crying,

Worry!

Finally, Paul challenges us to change our ways of daily meditation. Instead of thinking untrue, immoral, base, corrupt, and ugly thoughts from the enemy, he tells us to “fix [our] thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (v. 8). We must fill our minds with thoughts that are consistent with the heaven where we will one day live. Such thoughts will calm our hearts and bring the presence of the God of peace back into our lives. Then the peace of God will be ours until we see the God of peace face-to-face.

2020-10-03T00:00:00-06:00
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