During yesterday’s sermon, Pastor Mary helped us to remember that Love is not simply a four-letter word, Love represents Jesus. Today’s passage from the Apostle Paul continues to guide us to further understand that Love, Who is Jesus, is the supreme visible representation of the invisible God. Paul is stretching the Colossians’ perception of God, and the Holy Spirit is seeking to use today’s Word to stretch each of our perceptions of God.
Within the next 48 hours, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus, Who lovingly came to earth to reconcile everything to Himself. God made peace with everything in heaven and on earth through the ultimate sacrifice of pure love that Christ made on the cross.
If you and I truly believe that Jesus’s sacrifice is our greatest gift, then His love should fill our hearts each and every day, and we should want to share this gift with others. There is no greater gift than the gift of God’s love. Not one of us deserves it, but He graciously lavishes us with it, and His love is available to everyone.
Each one of us is an essential part of the Body of Christ, His Church; and Paul reminds us that Jesus is the Head of the Church. Consider how lost we would be without our head. Jesus is the Head because He is all wisdom, all knowledge, and He knows the loving plans that He has for His Church. As the Body, you and I need to love Jesus and love one another like Jesus loves each of us so that we can come into agreement with His glorious plans for His Church. As Paul clearly reminds us, Christ is Supreme over absolutely everything.
Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)
Christ Is Supreme
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Prayer: Jesus, please forgive me for minimizing Your love at times. Help me to make You and Your love the foundation of each day. Quicken my heart to know when I am not representing Your love. Thank You for coming into this world to save me. Your loving sacrifice is my greatest gift. Holy Spirit, please guide me to share Your love today with others. I ask all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.