Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 220
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
all things and holds the creation together. Because of the Son’s blood
shed on the cross, everything in heaven and on earth is reconciled to
God. The supremacy of Christ is the great theme of Paul’s letter. Christ
is sufficient for everything the Colossians need, and no other power or
ruler can ever be his equal.
Paul then explains that this great victory by God’s Son has implications for how the Colossians should live. All the rules and laws they’ve
been told to obey were only shadows; the reality has arrived in Jesus.
Since they have been raised with Christ, the believers are now to live
freely in his Kingdom of light. As they do so, their relationships must
be marked by a commitment to love each other. A new life of humility
and forgiveness, rooted in the Messiah, will anchor their community.
Paul also gives the Colossians practical instructions for household life,
showing how followers of Christ should have an attitude of love and
service in their everyday relationships. This includes how they relate
to others within the human institutions in which they live. While these
institutions won’t always change overnight, God’s people can move
them closer to the ultimate goals of Christ’s Kingdom.
At the end of the letter we find specific instructions for the Colossians to share this letter with the nearby church in Laodicea and to read
their letter in turn. This shows how the books in our New Testament,
first written for particular local churches, were shared and eventually
gathered into a single collection for all God’s people.
