Seeds for 1/24/2023 - Colossians 1:20
Scripture: 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.
Observation: The first phrase captures my attention today. The rest of the sentence seems to play out that phrase.
“through Him” - Just like all things were created “through Him” (v16), reconciliation comes “through Him” too. Basically, Jesus does it all! He made it. When we broke it, He came and repaired it too. This is why He captivates all who truly catch a glimpse, as Paul is wanting us to do in this passage, of His greatness.
“to reconcile to Himself all things” - There’s that phrase again, “all things.” Going back to the beginning of verse 16, we’ve seen those words many times in just a few sentences. Not only that, Paul reinforced the point by expanding on it in that verse, writing, “For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth.” Now he does the same thing, writing, “through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven…” Allow me to go Bible Nerd for a moment and point out that Paul has bracketed this section by starting with “things in heaven and on earth” and drawing to a close with “things on earth or… in heaven.” This is a literary devise know to scholars called “inclusio.” Basically, it’s like a palindrome (e.g., “tenet” or “taco cat”) for a paragraph or passage, which was used to emphasize the connectedness of the whole by creating bookends with words, in this case, the centrality and supremacy of God the Son, Jesus Christ, in both creation and salvation.
My response to all of this is awe, gratitude, and praise.
Application: How does awe reorient your heart, mind, and soul? How does gratitude and praise keep you grounded in Christ?
Prayer: Lord, I’m awed by the expansiveness of your love and completeness of your power in Jesus. Be glorified in me today. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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