Colossians 1:1-29

Where would we be without Christ?  He is the only source of hope that we have and it is because of Him that we can know and be rightly related to God.  Christ deserves to have preeminence in our hearts and ought to be the object of our affection, attention and adoration.  As we reflect on who Christ is and what He has produced in our lives, may our hearts be stirred to thank and worship Him.
CHRIST RESCUSES US FROM SIN: We were lost in the darkness of our sin and without hope in this world.  Christ came to this world to deliver us from the grip of sin and to bring us into the glorious light of His presence through His death and resurrection.  This work of Christ is our reason for being able to rejoice and give thanks for the work that He has accomplished on our behalf.  There is no way that we could be free from the sin that condemns us eternally before God, but Christ has set us free through faith in the cross.  This truth should fill our hearts with joy and gratitude and send us to our knees to worship our Lord who has rescued us from sin.
CHRIST REVEALS THE FATHER TO US: The reason that we know God is because of the revelation of Christ.  He came to earth that we might be able to see and have record of the very character and person of God.  Jesus is the perfect image of God because He is God.  He is our creator and is the sustainer of the universe.  He knows us completely and He knows the Father perfectly.  He is the perfect revelation for us to be able to know and be able to please God.  He knows exactly what the Father requires and He knows exactly how to communicate the Father to us.  Christ’s revelation of God is perfect and is recorded for us in the Bible and then pressed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  Christ has revealed who the Father is and how we can please and worship Him.
CHRIST RESTORES US TO THE FATHER: Since Christ knows the Father and us perfectly, He is well aware of the fact that we do not measure up to the standards that God requires.  Our sin separates us from the Father and makes fellowship with Him absolutely impossible.  We are at war with God.  The relationship between man and God has been broken by sin.  However, Christ is the means by which God determined man could be restored to fellowship with Him.  We are not without hope, we can enter into an intimate relationship with Christ that allows us to respond to His love, follow His will and live for His glory.  All of the hostility of God towards sin was poured out on Christ and when we place our lives in His, we are eternally restored to sweet communion with and given full access to the Father.
CHRIST REACHES THE WORLD THROUGH US: The glorious message of redemption has been entrusted to those who have experienced it.  We how have been rescued, received revelation and restored to a right relationship with the Father are not responsible to proclaim this message of hope to the world.  We cannot remain silent, we must not shy away or become distracted from the privilege we have of proclaiming this message of hope.  The world waits in their sin in complete ignorance of the help that we can offer them through Christ.  Announcing this message must be our priority in life and is worth any amount of suffering or sacrifice in order to bring this message of forgiveness from sin to the nations of this world.

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