There are times when, it seems, two verses contradict each other. This daily devotional by Pastor Steve clears up the confusion by explaining how Jesus shows us the Father.
Nuggets
- Jesus showed us God the Father.
- God and Jesus, together, created all things.
- Jesus is in the big things in our lives — and the little things.
Devotions in the Pastor Steve’s Sermon Series
God has blessed me with a handsome, soon-to-be husband that supports my blog. He said that he was going to do some writing, and this is what came out of that session.
Read on to see how Pastor Steve ties two seemingly conflicting passages together to bring us closer to God.
The Image of God
“He [Jesus] 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” (Col. 1: 15-20 ESV).
Before you start reading this, I want you to read Colossians 1:15-20 three times. Yes, that’s right, three times!
Before each time you read it, I want you to ask God to show you what He has shown me right before I wrote this, so that you will have a full and complete understanding of this passage of scripture. The significance of the truth in this verse has been lost by most Christians — in this day especially.
So let me try to effectively communicate what I have seen in this passage of scripture so that you will be blessed by it, too.
Visible Jesus, Invisible God
Jesus showed us God the Father.
Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God! The Bible plainly tells us that no one has seen God at any time, (John 1:18) and yet this says that He is at the side of the Father, and He has made Him known.
In John 14: 7, Jesus says to the disciples, after saying that no one comes to the Father except through Him, that if they had known him, they would have known the Father. From there Jesus points out, “… From now on you do know him and you have seen him” (Jn. 14: 7 ESV emphasis added).
So, is John contradicting himself when he says in one place no one has ever seen God at any time and where he is quoting Jesus saying from now on you do know him and have seen him? No, not at all.
Jesus is referred to as the “Son of God” and so He is. But one of the main things we Christians tend of forget is that Jesus is very much God … you know … “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus the Creator
God and Jesus, together, created all things.
We often forget that Jesus was in on the creation of all things. John 1: 3 says that “All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made” (ESV). Yes, that’s our Jesus being talked about there.
Now, refer to the passage of Scripture that I just had you read three times. What does it say in verse 16? “For by him all things were created …” and look at the list of what “all things” means.
In essence, this shows that everything that we know, including governments, trees, oceans, whatever you care to mention, was created by Jesus! EVERYTHING!
Jesus in All Things
Jesus is in the big things in our lives — and the little things.
Have you ever heard it said that Jesus is in all things? I can’t begin to count the number of times I have heard that in my Christian life, which began when I was 12 years-old… I’m now pushing 60 years old.
In all that time, while I’ve heard that a bunch of times, I can honestly say that I have never had a clear idea of what that meant until recently.
When I met my beautiful, soon-to-be wife last year and began to realize that she was obviously the answer to nine years of praying for another wife, I began to truly realize just how gracious God truly is. Even when I had gotten to a point where I had stopped believing He cared about me that much to bring me another wife, He still showed Himself to be very gracious to me.
As time went on and our relationship continued to grow and prosper, there were certain things that I realized that need to happen if we were going to eventually get married. Well one day not much after that, God caused one of the very things to happen that we needed to happen.
Before, it seemed like something impossible (is there anything too hard for God?) to have happen, and yet, it did. Almost immediately after I realized that God had caused that thing to happen, I heard very distinctly in my spirit, “See, I’m in ALL things!”
I got a picture of several different scenes in my mind right then, ranging from microscopic molecules to the planets and the vastness of space. That realization totally blew me away!
God is in ALL things! He is in the most microscopic organisms. He is in the vastness of space. He is in the grass, the trees, the clouds … ALL of creation.
God is there, and He is in control of ALL OF IT!!! And you know what?
If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He is in you, too! The only difference is… we must ask Him to be there and allow Him to have control of our lives. (1 Jn. 3: 24). To be sure, He is still in us to the extent that He keeps our vital organs functioning so that we remain alive until our time has come, but that is our physical man.
But our spirit man is the one that will live forever in either Heaven or hell. That’s where we must ask Him for his redemption.
Making the Connections
Please grab onto this in your heart of hearts and hold on to it. The devil does not want us to understand how much Jesus is truly in all things. He wants us to keep believing in Jesus with a little j – if we believe in Him at all.
The devil does not want us to realize the extent to which Jesus truly is God; how much He truly is in all aspects of all things that exist in the universe that we know of … and even the parts we may not know yet. Why? You may be wondering.
Well, the fact of the matter is, if the devil can keep you believing that everything is too hard for God, then it’s an easy step to keep you from believing that God is not able to save you from eternity in hell.
The Bible says:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn. 3: 16-18 ESV).
I could go on and on about the importance of this and you being sure you get saved before you pass away, but you know, I believe God is enlivening the heart of someone reading this right now and helping you to see your need for salvation, even though it may not make any sense to you right now.
How Do We Apply This?
I want you to know that you don’t need any specific words to say to get saved. Just open your heart to Jesus and plainly say, “Lord, I need you! I need your salvation. Show me what I must do.” And He will show you.
If you have done just that, would you email Elaine here and let her know that you have? We will be sure to get some material to you to help you with the next steps in your new life in Christ Jesus.
God bless you, and please let us know you have been touched by Jesus today.
Father, I pray for those who have read this and understood Your calling out to them. Lead them into right relationship with You and direct their paths. In Jesus’ Name I pray.
Amen.
What do you think?
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