The preeminent Gospel
Posted by justicetabernacle on April 11, 2011
i love this version of the Gospel- which paul shares with us in colossians 1:15-23
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
there is certainly not much more that needs to be added to that- He was before all things, is all things and all things were made for Him. what is left for us to do than to merely surrender our whole existence to Him…? and the crazy thing about it is, that even if we don’t- we eventually will. the reality of this truth is that it is totally unaffected by whether or not we believe it or not. it simply is.
so while apologetics and evangelism are vital and certainly a central part of our mission- in the end, we are merely discussing our human response to this reality- certainly not pleading a case for the actual truth. the case has been, and is, opened and closed.
ps. i love the line “you were once- hostile in mind” wow- amazing that something paul wrote over 1,000 years ago would be so fitting for our culture and society today. let that line marinate for a while today- ‘hostile in mind’
*hasler
