DIG for Tuesday 31st of July…..now some good news for us…..Colossians 1 v 20

Colossians 1 and 2 have great descriptions about Jesus and we have started working our way through these.

It also holds some wonderful truths about you!

This verse talking about peace and reconciliation is all about you.

You are now at peace with God.

You have now been reconciled to God.

You are now in a state of peace and reconciliation with God because of the blood of Jesus.

Because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross there is now nothing between you and God.

There is a lot more to tease out of this verse (I have many messages and sermons on this topic that you are welcome to have, just ask), but the bottom line is that sin has been dealt with.

Sin used to be a barrier between man and God, but Jesus has removed that barrier once and for all.

You have been reconciled to God. You are now in a state of peace.

More on this over the next few days…………..

Colossians 1 v 20….. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

 

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DIG for Monday 30th of July…..all fullness dwells in Jesus…..Colossians 1 v 19

This verse once again reminds us that Jesus is God. The fullness of God resides in Jesus on a permanent basis.

But it doesn’t say that does it Vic?

Not exactly, however it is implied given the verses around it and definitely when we read this along with Colossians 2 v 9.

The words fullness and dwell in this verse are the same in 2 v 9 where we a retold it is the Godhead that dwells in fullness in Jesus.

Deity dwells in fullness in Jesus as Jesus is God; we have seen that clearly already in these brief daily studies. The bible, again and again and again, tells us that Jesus is God.

Dwell in this verse means to reside in permanently. Jesus was God in heaven before He came to earth and He is God now in heaven once again.

The amazing truth for us is that He was also God while on earth in flesh as a man.

And because of this He could die for us in our place; die for us as God.

That is a wonderful truth; your God died for you!

Colossians 1 v 19…..For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell

 

DIG for Sunday 29th of July…..Jesus is the head…..Colossians 1 v 18

A body cannot survive without its head; that is obvious! A body needs the head to co-ordinate all its functions and to allow it to live.

In this verse the church is described as a body, with Jesus as the head.

The church is not the building that we meet in on a Sunday.

The church is the body of believers; you and me and every other Christian.

The church is made up of people, not of stones and mortar.

The Greek word for church is ekklesia and means the called out ones, or a religious community.

The church is the body of believers, and Jesus is the head of that body.

Jesus is essential in any “church”; without Him it will not function correctly and appropriately.

Jesus must be Lord in our lives and in the communal life of our church or fellowship.

Jesus must be central to all we think and do.

Without Jesus our “church” would be headless and useless!

Colossian 1 v 18….. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.

DIG for Saturday 28th of July…..it is all about Him…..Colossians 1 v 17

Jesus is the most important “thing” in your life; or he should be.

This verse again emphasises His importance.

Not only was He the agent of creation, but He now continues to hold creation and the universe together.

It is not the Higgs Boson that keeps everything together; Jesus is upholding all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1 v 3)

Jesus has the most awesome power; His words continue to keep this amazing universe in existence.

You are literally being held together by Jesus this morning. The natural way is for all to break up and decay, to move towards chaos. This is true for you, the earth, galaxies; it is true for everything.

There is a force however holding all of this together.

Physicists will never find this “mysterious” force; they may claim to have found something like it or similar to it.

We have already found this force friends; it is called Jesus.

Not only does He hold all together with awesome power but He has time to have a relationship with you.

Awesome!

Colossians 1 v 17…..And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

DIG for Friday 27th of July…..Jesus the Creator…..Colossians 1 v 16

Jesus was the agent of creation; Jesus was the Creator.

This is another amazing truth from this section of scripture (these truths keep coming and coming!)

Jesus did not come into being when He was born just over 2,000 years ago. He has always been and always will be.

Genesis 1 v 26 we read “And God said let US make man in OUR image”.

Do you see the importance of that verse?

Many people think God was alone at creation; He was not.

God has always, and will always, be a three part God (sorry, I cannot remember the fancy theological name for this). He will always be The Trinity.

Jesus and Holy Spirit were with Father God before creation, and Jesus had a huge part to play at the beginning of our time.

This verse says He created everything, and just as importantly it was created for Him.

It is also wonderful to think that the Creator of the whole universe came it live among us as a man.

That is also truly awesome!

Colossians 1 v 16…..For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him

DIG for Thursday 26th of July…..was Jesus born…..Colossians 1 v 15

But if Jesus was the express image of God and is indeed God how could He have been born?

This verse seems to say that Jesus was born; in fact he was born first.

Don’t worry, that is not what this section of the verse means.

This is a good example of where we really need to look at what the Greek word means in this verse. If you do not have one already I would recommend that you get a hold of a copy of Strongs or another concordance to look at the Greek yourselves.

The English word “firstborn” comes from a root Greek word that means foremost in time, place or importance. It talks of whoever it is describing as being before or best.

It is really saying Jesus was before all things, and is better than all things. He has pre-eminence over all things. He was the first and he is the best.

It is not saying he was born first.

In Jewish culture at the time the “firstborn” was seen as being the best of the family, and was given all in terms of inheritance.

Jesus was, and is God’s best.

He is first and above all things.

Colossians 1 v 15…..Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature

DIG for Wednesday 25th of July…..Jesus, the image of God…..Colossians 1 v 15

Jesus is exactly the same as God; indeed Jesus is God.

What an amazing truth. Jesus was fully man yet was God; and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…..full of glory and grace (John 1 v 14)

So if we want to see what God is like we look at Jesus. Jesus only does what the Father does and only does what the Father tells Him to do.

Many times Jesus tells us that in the gospel of John (John 5 v 19, 5 v 30, 8 v 28)

We can learn so much about God by looking at Jesus; they are one and the same.

Jesus never refused to heal anyone; God is the same.

Jesus was full of compassion for all He met; God is the same.

Jesus healed all on many occasions; God is the same.

Jesus delivered people from bondage and from the demonic; God does the same.

Jesus loved people; God is the same

If you want to learn more about God, study the Gospels and learn from Jesus.

Colossians 1 v 15…..Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature

DIG for Tuesday 24th of July…..forgiveness of sins…..Colossians 1 v 14

The first truth we see about Jesus in this passage of Colossians is truly awesome for each one of us on a personal level.

We have been forgiven of our sins.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3 v 23) and need this sin dealt with in order to be reconciled to God.

The blood of Jesus has been shed to give us forgiveness.

We have this forgiven because of the work of Jesus, and not because of anything that we have done.

You have been redeemed; that literally means to be ransomed in full. A price had to be paid for your forgiveness.

Someone had to pay for you to receive forgiveness, and Jesus paid with His blood!

In God’s “economy” forgiveness can only be achieved through a blood payment (Hebrews 9 v 22)

You cannot ever do anything to achieve forgiveness; you cannot pay blood for your own forgiveness.

However the great thing is that you do not have to.

Blood has already been shed for your forgiveness. Jesus has already (past tense) paid for your sin.

Thank you Jesus!

Colossians 1 v 14…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins

DIG for Monday 23rd of July…..Jesus as seen in Colossians; awesome…..Colossians 1 v 13

I’ve often told the fellowship at MGF that the best description of Jesus in the whole of the bible is written in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians.

In chapter 1 and 2 we read an amazing list of attributes and characteristics of Jesus. We also read about His great finished work on the cross.

He is God (2 v9)

He had a hand in creation (1 v 16 and 17)

He is the head of the church (1 v 18)

We also read some amazing things about ourselves due to His finished work on the cross.

We have been reconciled to God (1 v 20)

We have been forgiven (1 v 14)

We are holy and unblameable and unreprovable in the eyes of God (1 v 22)

We are complete in Him and have everything (yes everything) we need for an abundant life (2 v 10)

All these amazing truths are wrapped up in us being taken out of darkness and into His light.

Colossians 1 v 13…..Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son

DIG for Sunday 22nd of July…..the need for fellowship……Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25

I had a very interesting morning at church today; some interruptions during the message from an enthusiastic atheist and also some challenging questions from more people in our post sermon Q&A session.

I was however greatly encouraged by many other people there.

Hebrews 10 shows us why we meet together for “church”.

We need to exhort each other and provoke each other to love and good works.

As believers we cannot do this “Christian thing” on our own.

Yes, we have the Holy Spirit to encourage and guide however we need others around us to encourage us and help us to move forward (this is the provoke to love and good works bit!)

We also need to be around people in order to encourage them.

We meet to be blessed, however we also meet to be a blessing. I can see faces of a number of people this morning who were a great blessing to me. I hope and pray that I was a blessing to others in return.

Keep meeting in fellowship is my recommendation to you. It doesn’t of course need to be only on a Sunday morning; it could be any number of ways to have fellowship.

But you need to have fellowship with other believers; to be blessed and to be a blessing.

Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25…..and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching.