Colossians 2:1-5
I don’t know anyone better in this world than my
wife. I know what she will do in most
situations and I can actually feel her moods through walls (it’s a bit freaky)
but at the end of the day she is still an amazing mystery because she is
capable of more love and selflessness and piss-and-vinegar than I can
imagine. So all the while there is
nobody I know better than my wife I must admit that I am still in the dark
about her in so many ways. And you know what,
I am glad for that as it means the time that we spend together will always be an
adventure of discovery.
In Colossians 2:1-5 Paul describes that the God of
Creation is a mystery who is known in Christ.
He explains that the followers of Christ are knit together in love and unity
which make the realization, understanding, and knowing of God in Christ
possible. And it is this knowledge in
Christ that saves us from being tricked by persuasive arguments of this world
that seem to make sense. Paul is telling
us that we can know God, that we can find stability in this world of madness.
I have been a Christian over 20 years now and I can
attest to this. The arguments of men
make total sense at times. And there are
a lot of them. I like to think that I
know God but I’m guessing that if my determinations in situations differ from
your determinations that you would say that I don’t really know God and that
you know Him better. Welcome to the
denominational divide.
All the same though, God is known in Christ.
Jesus taught that if anyone would be his disciple that
they would pick up their own cross and follow him. These are words of sacrifice… Sacrifice.
Here is a word that seems foreign to me today. The idea of sacrifice seems as foreign a
virtue as honor, dignity, and self-respect today. However, as foreign as it seems there is no
end to the people who claim to be followers of Jesus in our culture.
But God is known in Christ and I submit that Christ is
known through self-sacrifice. Not
literal stake yourself to a cross type sacrifice but sacrifice that denies self
– which isn’t selfish. It’s giving up
your food so that the hungry can eat (fasting), it is giving your shirt when a
man takes your coat, and it is placing one ’s self in harm ’s way to care of the needy, the poor, the orphan,
the widow, the sick, and the helpless.
It is taking in the refugee who has no other place to go and it is not
killing the baby in the womb even though the mother’s life be in danger. Knowing the God of Christ is about the Cross that
Jesus sacrificed himself in order to save me and so if I would be his disciple
I understand that as I follow him that I too will sacrifice myself to save
others.
The rugged and bloodied cross of Christ is the door that
allows us entrance to knowing God. And
once we meet him we have a life time of adventure and discovery.
So do you hear it?
Faintly, in the background of your mind is the theme song from Indiana
Jones. (Da, da da dahhh, dah da da. Da, da da dahhh, da da, da, Da. Da!) There is an adventure worthy of Don Quixote
waiting for us, an adventure that leads us to meet the God of Creation through
Christ. It’s sure to be a hard and bumpy
ride but one that promises to be worth every second. It is an adventure that will likely kill us,
and will likely make us wish we were dead at times, but still, we get to meet
the God of the Universe! Are you kidding
me? What are we waiting for? The last one there is a rotten egg.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A1-5&version=NIV
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