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. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 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. (Colossians 1:18-20)
Paul wrote the letter of Colossians because a dangerous false teaching was spreading in Colossae: Gnosticism. Ahhh! Have you heard of it? Gnosticism comes from the Greek work for “knowledge.” Its teachers taught that to be saved, you needed special knowledge from them. Unfortunately, that special knowledge denied that Jesus was a human being. It denied that faith in Jesus is all we need to be saved.
Does that sound familiar? Those ideas are still alive today: “You need our special knowledge!” “Jesus isn’t really God.” Or, “Jesus isn’t really a human being.” Sound familiar?
Listen to Paul’s response: Jesus “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.” When the Bible talks about Jesus, it doesn’t mess around. Jesus has the supremacy! No one compares to Jesus. Christ is above all!
Here’s why: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” All the fullness of God is in Jesus. If I were to tell you that I have all the fullness of an ice cream cone in my hand, what do I have in my hand? An ice cream cone! If all the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, what is Jesus? God! Not part God. God! You need this knowledge to be a Christian: Jesus is the fullness of the true God!
But it’s not all about knowledge. If it were, what would we be? Gnostics! Listen: “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 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.” Jesus is the fullness of God. And Jesus is a Man. Why? So he could die on the cross. Why? So we could have peace with God.
Don’t be led astray by false teachings. There’s one thing you need: Jesus! He’s the fullness of God.
Dear Jesus, don’t let anyone pull my heart away from you. Don’t let anyone convince me that you’re not God and Man, my perfect Savior. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Amen.
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