In a world of troubles, confusion and uncertainty, I am so thankful that God has graciously preserved His word for us! Oh, what would we do without it? Its pages repeatedly tell us and then tell us again of His faithfulness, His grace, His sovereignty and of all His wondrous attributes. I would like to consider the words given to us from Colossians 1:13-18. It is here that we find the Apostle Paul writing, as he begins by speaking of God the Father, "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." In only five verses of scripture we are blessed to see glimpses into the following truths:
Unable to rescue ourselves from the domain of darkness, God has recused us.
Upon rescuing us, God then transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
In His beloved Son we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This redemption, the forgiveness of sin is only found in our Lord Jesus.
The One we have redemption in is also our creator and the creator of all things, the things in the heavens and the things on earth. The visible things we can see and the invisible things that we don't. He is creator and sovereign over all thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities.
All things have been created through Him and for Him.
He, as creator, is before all things!
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is both the beginning and the firstborn from the dead.
He will come to have first place in everything.
Of course, we could spend much time on any one of the above referenced truths and we would come to find hope and assurance in each one. As you may have noticed, I purposely left one off of the list and it is that one that I would like to leave you with today. "In Him all things hold together"! What a great reminder for the present time. There are times when it may seem as if your world, or even the entire world, is falling apart with troubles everywhere and anticipation of further troubles ever present. But we are blessed with the ability, by God's grace and through faith, to know and trust that in Christ all things hold together. And all things will continue to hold together in Him until our creator redeemer determines otherwise. By God's grace, let us be people of faith, believing God in all that He has revealed to us in His word. May we live among those who are distressed as people of great hope and assurance in our Creator Redeemer. May we be a witness of the One who said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” May He come to have first place in your life and mine. Never forget this Lord's day, or any other, the matters of first importance. That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. That He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures! And remember the promise and reminder found in Hebrews 10:37, "For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay."
