The Jesus Plus Challenge

06/20/00

And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him.17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. (COL 1:15-17)

I recently did a funeral where one of the adults came up to me after I had read Psalm 23 and several New Testament passages on the resurrection. She asked who David was and who was Paul the Apostle. On one hand I wasn't surprised. On the other, it continues to shock me when I encounter the growing ignorance of the things of God. And it is this ignorance that provides the seedbed for cults to grow in. Cults like this one that tried to grow in Colossae.

Cults, by and large, will twist and distort the biblical teaching about Jesus Christ. They either detract from it, add to it or attempt to transform the apostolic doctrine. In this case, they were attempting to tell the Colossian Christians that they needed more than "just Jesus." And this is exactly why Paul lays this foundation in Col 1:15-17. 

If you were to draw a circle, beginning at "12" on a clock face, then you would place this first idea, He is the image of the invisible God, at that point. Then at three o'clock, place verse 16, "He is creator." At the six o'clock position, place the idea of verse 17, "sustainer." And at nine o'clock, place verse 18, "head and preeminent." This little diagram will show you how complete, in a visual way, Christ is. He is God, creator, sustainer and preeminent. You don't need "Jesus . . plus." And there is only one conclusion that can be drawn from this: "so that he might have first place in everything."

If you need Jesus plus something, someone else, then that means Jesus isn't in first place. Not really. That means that Jesus and whoever/whatever you need are at minimum "co-equal." Yet Isaiah 42:8, 48:11 clearly show that God will not share His glory with another. Most often, in the warp and woof of life, the subtle attempt to add, detract or transform the preeminence of Christ comes in the form of a "secret." Some write will appeal to mystery or some long lost idea, now recently discovered (bible code?!), and with this new discovery you will have all you ever could want. But like a cupful of sand to a man dying of thirst in the desert, so are these promises of insider knowledge.

Paul will later unravel these threads he's mentioned in verses 1:15-17, one by one, and demonstrate their implications to the Christian life. But for now, you can rest assured that Jesus Christ is all you've ever needed and all you ever will need to satisfy the longing of your soul. Here's an exercise: Go through the book of Colossians and make a list of every time Christ's identity is challenged, then defended. Look how Paul did it. Then you'll be ready for the Jesus-plus challenge when you encounter it.

Grace and Grins is an electronic devotional written by Christopher A. Faria (see disclaimer below). All Bible quotations are from the New American Standard Version, İİ2000 Lockman Foundation and used by permission. To subscribe/unsubscribe to Grace and Grins email: Subscribe gracengrins-subscribe@listbot.com Unsubscribe gracengrins-unsubscribe@listbot.com