Perspective as a Prelude to Passionate Worship
From Colossians 1 – 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth [a]fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
Preeminence of Christ
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [b]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption [c]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or [d]principalities or [e]powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 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 may have the preeminence.
Quoted in the Eric Metaxes's biography, Dietrich Bonhoeffer looks back in times of even more intense persecution on memories of sharing bread and jam with his seminary students. "The peripheral things were enhanced by an appreciation of the central One."
Looking to find what launched Paul into his famously ecstatic exaltation of Christ at the end of Colossians 1, I find a similar phenomenon. The particulars of one flock in spiritual formation may not be that exciting themselves. They may as often be exasperating as exhilarating. As Paul talks to a group who has "learned from Epaphras," he no doubt has an accurate picture in mind of what the flock was like before Epaphras' lesson.
As a veteran of the twists and turns of discipleship, he certainly has a realistic idea of how far they have to go. They still, he says, helping to develop in knowledge, and wisdom, and spiritual understanding.
Yet, the earliest evidences of the new life being revealed in them turned Paul's heart, mind, and words back to Christ's creative power. As real as the Colossians' battles are, as bumpy as becoming is in this seminary of suffering that was growing in Christ-likeness in the first century, even these are peripheral compared to appreciation of Christ's centrality.
Christ is still, stakes Paul, in the creating business. This has been in His character, rejoices Paul in verses 15 and 16, from eternity past. His charges are neophytes whose faith and practice have a relatively recent beginning point. Yet, Christ the One in Whose hands they and their development rest, has no beginning point. He has been creating perfectly because that is Who He is and what He does. This latest phase is no more daunting than any expression of His expertise which has gone before.
Paul might reasonably seek to differentiate himself from those he leads. When you get to this point, he might say or imply, then you can dip into the deep theology I'm about to revel in. Not so. Paul says what is happening in his life is integrated with what is happening in theirs.
Christ has delivered US, declares verse 13 from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We are riding the waves of this process together, like Bonhoeffer and his disciples breaking bread. What we leave behind transferring by grace from one kingdom to another, we need not regret because Jesus is still creating in and around us.
Preeminence of Christ
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [b]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption [c]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or [d]principalities or [e]powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 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 may have the preeminence.
Quoted in the Eric Metaxes's biography, Dietrich Bonhoeffer looks back in times of even more intense persecution on memories of sharing bread and jam with his seminary students. "The peripheral things were enhanced by an appreciation of the central One."
Looking to find what launched Paul into his famously ecstatic exaltation of Christ at the end of Colossians 1, I find a similar phenomenon. The particulars of one flock in spiritual formation may not be that exciting themselves. They may as often be exasperating as exhilarating. As Paul talks to a group who has "learned from Epaphras," he no doubt has an accurate picture in mind of what the flock was like before Epaphras' lesson.
As a veteran of the twists and turns of discipleship, he certainly has a realistic idea of how far they have to go. They still, he says, helping to develop in knowledge, and wisdom, and spiritual understanding.
Yet, the earliest evidences of the new life being revealed in them turned Paul's heart, mind, and words back to Christ's creative power. As real as the Colossians' battles are, as bumpy as becoming is in this seminary of suffering that was growing in Christ-likeness in the first century, even these are peripheral compared to appreciation of Christ's centrality.
Christ is still, stakes Paul, in the creating business. This has been in His character, rejoices Paul in verses 15 and 16, from eternity past. His charges are neophytes whose faith and practice have a relatively recent beginning point. Yet, Christ the One in Whose hands they and their development rest, has no beginning point. He has been creating perfectly because that is Who He is and what He does. This latest phase is no more daunting than any expression of His expertise which has gone before.
Paul might reasonably seek to differentiate himself from those he leads. When you get to this point, he might say or imply, then you can dip into the deep theology I'm about to revel in. Not so. Paul says what is happening in his life is integrated with what is happening in theirs.
Christ has delivered US, declares verse 13 from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We are riding the waves of this process together, like Bonhoeffer and his disciples breaking bread. What we leave behind transferring by grace from one kingdom to another, we need not regret because Jesus is still creating in and around us.
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