Something Greater

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. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him...(Colossians 1:19-22) The English word, “reconciled”, is from the Latin “reconcilio”, from the Greek “calo”, meaning to call. The literal sense is to call back into union . A lesson in Greek: Apokatallasso: fully reunited (reconciled) Katallasso: mutually changed (“changed down”) Allasso: made different Allos: else (AS “elles”, meaning “other”) Putting it all together, reconciled means: Mutually changed and fully reunited. Reconciliation is closely related to making peace. God made peace through a change on H

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15) Families traditionally have honored the first child born to a family , especially the first boy. Is that wrong, right, or just natural? Is it biblical? The Old Testament indicates it was a common custom: Laban (Jacob's uncle) said, "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. (Genesis 29:26) Reuben (Jacob's son), you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. (Genesis 49:3) Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine." (Exodus 13:2) If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he

He 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. (Colossians 1:15-18) Jesus is the image of God, writes Paul. What can that mean for us? We have no photographs of Jesus, no portraits were drawn or painted while He lived on earth. Why could Paul have not simply said that Jesus “is the invisible God?” Is an image something less than the real? Is Jesus something less than God? Let's begin our study by looking at the original Greek word that Paul used. “Image” is translated from the Greek word, eikon, meaning a likeness, a statue, or a profile . It could mean a representatio

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:11-12) God provides an inheritance Paul prayed for the Colossians, thanking God that He had qualified them to share in something valuable, something worth passing on. The Greek word for “inheritance” comes from a word that means to break, especially of bread. When the Greeks broke a loaf of bread to share at the dinner table, they used a word that was directly related to the word for inheritance. Every time they broke bread they were acting out the concept of sharing valuable property given by the owner when he died. This is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ . Jesus used this same word when he spoke of his own death: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat;

"May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." (Colossians 1:11-12) From the day that Paul and Timothy heard of the new believers in Colossae, they began to pray regularly for them. Paul wrote this letter to them to encourage them to join with him in prayer, to cooperate in God's work in their lives. In his prayer, Paul describes two of God's purposes for the Colossian believers: Reflecting God's worth Strengthened with all power Let's focus on the idea of strength , especially as described here in Paul's prayer. The Greek word translated here as strengthened came from a word meaning force, especially miraculous power , from a word meaning to be able or possible. Immediately we see that Paul was praying that God would