Who’s in charge around here?
Isn’t that what we want to know when things aren’t going the way we would hope? When the situation is deteriorating, when our life seems to be disintegrating, we want to know to whom we can go for help.
This is exactly where Paul starts as he writes to the Colossians: Jesus is in charge. He is at the front of the line, before everyone and everything else. He is the gravitational force that holds the universe together. He is the sole head of the church family.
Jesus Christ is true God. All the divine character and all the divine attributes dwell inside of him. The totality of God, with everything God is, is found in Jesus.
God’s purpose for him was clear. Jesus, the divine Son of God, was sent to bridge the chasm that sin had created between God and mankind. He was on a mission that would cost him his life, but at the same time it would restore peace between God and humanity.
As the One who is before everything else in creation, and the firstborn in the resurrection from the dead, he is the true source of our hope.
So, you now know who is in charge. And you also know just how powerful he really is. Finally, you know his loving purpose for you — to bring you back to God, fully reconciled and at peace with him.
If your life is going well right now. Jesus is the one to thank.
But if your life is deteriorating and disintegrating right now, Jesus is the one in charge. And he has huge shoulders. He will carry the load for you. He is your peace. And he is your hope.
Remember, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. The created universe. The church of the redeemed. You, and your life.
“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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:17-20, NIV).
Lord Jesus, you are first. You hold all things together. Send me your Holy Spirit, and give me the will to make you first in my heart. Grant me faith, and hold me together. You are my Savior and my one true hope.
Our Bible reading for Sunday, October 4, is Jeremiah 7:30 – 9:16, Colossians 1:1-23 and Psalm 116:12-19.
Header image based on "Hubble Catches a Spiral in the Air Pump" by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CC By 2.0
pastorjeffgunn 
Our Bible reading for Sunday, October 4, is Jeremiah 7:30 – 9:16, Colossians 1:1-23 and Psalm 116:12-19.
“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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Colossians 1:17-20 NIV
Heavenly Father, you are the first and the last, the beginning and the end. I know that Jesus is before all things of this earth and is the spiritual glue that hold my life together. Thank you Lord, thank you for sacrifice that made me new. A gift of blood that atoned all mankind of their sins. What a wonderful message, a message that is free for anyone that would hear it. Lord continue to bless all I do as long as I out you and your gospel first in my life. Lord bless others so they can come closer to you in their lives. Truly you alone can make this world a better place.
~Paul Montenieri
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