I was certainly not looking for a religion and not looking for a god. Reading John’s Gospel I encountered God – and somehow knew I was in big trouble, if God is real then I had spent 18 years denying His existence and had no right to be in His universe. So in Jesus I found this paradox, the terror of encountering God, yet the hope of his words, “Follow me”.
So I followed… still am.
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GRO J1655-40, a black hole of about the same mass as a star. The companion star is being slowly devoured by the black hole.
At the risk of sounding blasphemous, this week’s memory verses from Colossians make me think of Jesus as being a bit like a black hole.
In astronomy, the idea of a black hole is that an extraordinarily large amount of matter (such as a giant star) collapses into an almost infinitely small space, generating a massive gravitational field that nothing can escape from. Similarly, when an infinite God wraps Himself in all His fullness into a single man, we have a very similar idea. (So we don’t need to be afraid of modern physics and very clever scientists – God has already “been there, done that“!)
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.
(Colossians 1:19-20 ESV)
Having already enfolded Himself, the infinite, eternal One, into a couple of cells in Mary’s womb, He grew as a child into a man and every action of Jesus was an action of God. So when Jesus submitted to the nails on that cross, it was God’s blood which flowed! In that act all things were reconciled in Christ to God.
Notice also that God was pleased to do this – God did not grudgingly redeem your soul
Image of black hole: NASA
Lensing simulation: Urbane Legend
We are all inclined to boast, some are more subtle than others (the condescending grimace smile of someone who feels superior, versus the fisherman’s story of catching a whale). Paul really goes for it in Colossians 1:17-18, starting with a John-like comment about Christ existing before all things and holding everything together, he then says that Jesus is head of the church before returning to speak of the beginning and Christ’s supremacy over everything.
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.
(Colossians 1:17-18 ESV).
What makes this boasting OK is that it is true – Jesus is all this.
I find it interesting how Paul structured this passage – I’m no literary scholar but even I can see the pattern:
- creation/beginning
- church
- beginning
Even the larger context of Colossians 1:15-20 has this movement, with emphasis weighted on beginnings/creation in verses 15-17 and on the church and reconciliation in verses 18-20. Paul seems to use our ready comprehension of the authority and power of Christ displayed as Creator to point out the even greater majesty and glory of his being the head of the church.
This puts caring for, serving, honouring, shepherding and loving the church into awesome perspective, doesn’t it?
Image of fair-sized trout: flickr
… just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
(Colossians 1:7-8 ESV)
My initial response to this text is that I’d like to be counted as a beloved fellow servant by the Apostle Paul, it would feel rather nice to have such a statement recorded in a letter sent to the church I had founded.
But stop and consider what it might take to be counted as a ‘fellow servant’ with Paul:
I am sure there are other attributes that can be found if a thorough systematic study were done, but the list above indicates what the Apostle Paul valued in his fellow bondservants. In effect a fellow servant with Paul is a bondservant of Jesus Christ and Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:25-28).
Not that all those who ministered with Paul lived up to this standard, he often mentions his distress over those who considered themselves as super-apostles (2 Corinthians 11:5), seek their own interests (Philippians 2:21), preach law and hinder people from obedience to Christ (Galatians 5:7, Galatians 5:12), deceive believers regarding the end times (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3, 2 Timothy 2:18), devote themselves to idle myths (1 Timothy 1:3-4) due to poor understanding (1 Timothy 1:6-7). There were also some who indulged in irreverent babble (2 Timothy 1:16-17)and teach error for shameful gain (Titus 1:10-11).
Considering these two lists; the attributes of a fellow bondservant of Christ; and the attitudes and behaviour of those who let Paul down, it is striking how easy it is to find examples of the second list in the christian world today yet how few stand out as examples of a bondservant of Christ. Obviously true servants of Jesus will be humble, consider the interests of others and not be a burden so are less likely to draw attention to themselves.
It would be pointless having a moan or rant about the lousy state of Christian leadership, it is human (sinful) nature for the self-seeking to rise into public leadership. However, those who have the most impact on individual baby Christians are often the humble, true bondservants of Christ and I can certainly grow in all the areas outlined in my list above. I would like to be counted as a fellow bondservant, yet am far from that currently. The beloved Epaphras is an excellent reminder of what my goal in life should be.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
(Colossians 1:1-2 ESV)
Over at A Holy Experience, Ann Voskamp is encouraging folks to join in memorizing the book of Colossians this year in bite-sized two-verses-per-week portions. Given that my own attempt at memorizing Bible verses fizzled around March last year I am keen to try this project and make it public so the shame of giving up will spur me on to persevere. I have downloaded Ann’s nicely formatted PDFs but am too stingy to use a new Moleskine notebook to paste the pages into and also prefer to use another translation so am simply handwriting the verses for the week in my usual planner diary. I actually find that handwriting Bible verses does help me to take them in and using the same Bible translation for memorizing that I read every day (well, most days) also helps it to stick.
So, being on the theme of beginning the year and making changes (see my post about Essentials), it is relevant to share some thoughts about the very first verse of Colossians which were seeded in my mind by a recent post on another excellent blog, Crave Something More written by Chris Tomlinson. In the particular post which stuck in my mind Chris ponders the astonishing change in Saul (Paul) from the guy who didn’t know who Jesus was when He knocked him off his horse (Acts 9:5) to the man who boldly stated that: “for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). This is the same Paul who says to the Colossians that he is ‘an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God‘. Saul had absolutely no intention of becoming an apostle of Jesus Christ. God had other plans for him.
This was certainly my own experience also. No dramatic lights and voices from heaven, but definitely an arresting realization that all my ideas about what was important in life were wrong and that not only is God real, but Jesus is real and without Him I am doomed. None of us are born into the Kingdom of God by our own will but only by the gracious will of God. As John so wonderfully expresses it:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
(John 1:12-13 ESV)
