Wednesday, June 29,
2016, 5:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Near the Cross.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Colossians 1:15-29 (ESV).
He is Preeminent (vv.
15-20)
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.
“He,” in this passage of scripture, is referring to Jesus
Christ, the Son of God the Father, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins” (v. 14). He is God, he was with God in the beginning, and all things
which were made were made by him, i.e. he is our creator. He is completely
sovereign and supreme over all which he created, including he is over all
kings, kingdoms, rulers and governments on this earth. He is also the one who
determines who is going to rule what countries, too. He sets (establishes)
rulers in their places (See: Ro. 13:1; Jn. 19:11; Dn. 2:21; 4:17). He even
gives us rulers who are evil, because they serve his ultimate purposes for our
lives, oftentimes to draw us to (or closer to) God.
So, if you are one who plans to vote (in America) in this
election, then know that, no matter how you vote, God is still going to be the
one who establishes rulers in their places, and he will be the one ultimately
to decide who ends up ruling over us. As well, I believe there is no real
difference between the political right and the political left. I believe they
are just two sides of the same whole, and they are both headed the same
direction, which is to the rule of the beast (See: Rev. 13) and the one world
government and one world religion. This is the direction the world is headed,
and it is going there fast. But just know that God/Jesus is in control over all
things, and that all which takes place will serve his purposes, mainly to draw
people to faith in Jesus Christ and to revive his adulterous church, I believe.
Jesus Christ is also head over the church, his body. Now the
church is not a building. It is not a business of human origin, nor is it a
corporation under the headship of any human government. That does describe the
institutional church, but that is not the true church. We don’t “go” to church.
We “are” the church, although we do go to gatherings of the church. So,
attending church merely means we are gathering together with fellow believers
in Jesus Christ for the study of the Word, for fellowship, for prayer and for
communion, no matter the location or the day. Yet, many who profess the name of
Jesus have turned the church into something God did not intend. They made it
into a human business, marketed just like any other business, and with the
government (in America) as head in place of Christ. So, God is calling his true
church to separate themselves from what is not of him so that he is her only
head for, I believe, the institutional church is under the judgment of God.
Reconciled to God
(vv. 21-23)
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.
To be reconciled means to be reunited with God. When God
first created humans, they had not yet sinned, so they enjoyed perfect
fellowship with God. Yet, when they did sin, that separated them from God, and
thus all humans have been born into sin and are separate from God, and we come
up short of attaining God’s divine approval (See Ro. 3:23). So, God the Father
sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth to die on a cross for our sins. He who
knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died, our sins died with him and
were buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious
over Satan, sin, hell and death for you and for me. Through his death and
resurrection, he provided the way for us to be reconciled (reunited) with God.
Through faith in Jesus Christ we can be reunited with God and can have eternal
life with God both now and forevermore. Amen!
What that means for us, though, is so much more than just
being forgiven of our sins and having the hope of heaven when we die. When
Jesus died, he put our sin to death on a cross so that when we come to him in
faith we might also die to sin and be resurrected with him to newness of life.
Peter said that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Being
reconciled to God means we don’t live like we lived before. Instead of walking
in the flesh and doing evil deeds, we are now empowered by God to walk
according to the Spirit, and to no longer gratify the evil desires of our
flesh. Jesus reconciled us to God so that we might live holy lives, pleasing to
God – all in the power and working of his Spirit now living within us, and not
in our own flesh.
So, how is this accomplished? Well, for one, we can’t just
pray a prayer and then be congratulated that we are now free from all punishment
and that heaven is our eternal destination. It doesn’t work like that. Coming
to faith in Jesus Christ means we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected
with Christ to newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness.” We walk by faith, and not by sight. And, that faith is
continuous, not a one-time experience which guarantees heaven no matter what.
In John 3:16 we read that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believes (believing) in him might not perish but have
eternal life. That word “believe” is present tense, which means we must believe
today and tomorrow and the next day and so on and so forth until the day we
die, or we are taken up to heaven.
Mature in Christ (vv.
24-29)
Now
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what
is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the
church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that
was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery
hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God
chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of
this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present
everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that
he powerfully works within me.
We were not born just to die. We were born to live. In other
words, we are not born of the Spirit of God just so we can go to heaven one
day. We were born from above in order that we might glorify God with our lives,
that we may live in him and him in us. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ we
are crucified with Christ so that we (our flesh) no longer live, but now Christ
lives in us, and the life we now live, we live by faith in Jesus Christ, who
gave his life up for us.
Christ in us, via the Holy Spirit, encourages, strengthens,
and empowers us to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God. As we submit to
the cross each day, and surrender our wills to the will of God for our lives,
we continually give over lordship of our lives to Jesus Christ so that he can
live out his life through us. And, this is why Jesus died, that he might
cleanse our hearts from sin, come in to dwell within us, and to live his life
out through us, not just to give us an escape from hell and the promise of
heaven when we die. A saved life should be a Christ-filled life submitted to
the cross of Christ, and surrendered to Christ’s Lordship.
Jesus also did not die so that we would remain spiritual
infants all our lives. He died that we might mature in Christ – in faith, love,
and in purpose. We are to continue in the faith, “stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that
you heard.” We are to grow in Christ through sitting at his feet each day,
listening to him speak his words to our hearts, and via obeying what his word
teaches us. Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him
who gave his life up for us (2 Co. 5:15). If we continue to live sinful
lifestyles, we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to
death the misdeeds of the flesh, we will live eternally with God (See: Ro.
8:1-14; cf. Lu. 9:23-25).
So, if you are counting on a prayer you prayed one day to
get to heaven, think again. We must continue in Christ, stable and steadfast,
not shifting from the hope of the gospel, and we must daily be putting to death
the deeds of the flesh and putting on Christ and his armor. This is not to say
we must live in sinless perfection, but lack of perfection should never be used
as an excuse for continued and willful sin against God. Jesus died that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness, so let his Spirit today crucify you
with Christ in death to sin, and resurrect you to newness of life in Christ, now
lived to his righteousness.
Near the Cross
Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near
the cross;
There a precious
fountain,
Free to all, a
healing stream,
Flows from Calvary 's mountain.
Near the cross, a
trembling soul,
Love and mercy found
me;
There the bright and
morning star
Sheds its beams
around me.
Near the cross! O
Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes
before me;
Help me walk from day
to day
With its shadow o'er
me.
Near the cross I'll
watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting
ever,
Till I reach the
golden strand
Just beyond the
river.
In the cross, in the
cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul
shall find
Rest beyond the
river.
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