SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Jubilee Life Coaches blog. Today I will be sharing from Colossians chapter one verses fifteen through seventeen. And I've titled it in Christ, All Things Hold Together. Let me share it with you today. Now there's a teenager. He was born into a Christian family. His dad and mom love God and they also love their children dearly. I know the parents uh have worked hard to care for him, guide him, and point him to point him in the right direction. But for now he does not believe in God. Apparently he thinks it's all a fairy tale. But I am encouraged by his honesty and continued communication with his parents. That matters. And I find myself saying, In due time, may he come to know the Lord. Lord open his eyes to see the beauty of Christ. Now this is not a wishful thinking. His parents are praying for him, just as the Apostle Paul prayed for the Colossians, chapter one, verse nine. We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Is there someone in your life who reminds you of this teenager by any chance? Perhaps it is your spouse, maybe your parents or children. Maybe it's yourself. Maybe you have a difficult time believing in God. Maybe you are not sure Christianity is all that true. Maybe you wonder sometimes whether Jesus is just one religious figure among many. Well, I have some news for you. I consider it good news. Um there was a group of people living in a region in modern day Turkey some two thousand years ago, uh in a in a city called Khalasi. And the apostle Paul had not met many of them personally, but he had heard of their faith. They lived in a time and place filled with many philosophies, religions, temples, spiritual claims, and so-called gods. And many attractions uh in the world, including financial wealth and material possessions, were pulling them in all different directions. The common denominator, they all claim to have the truth. So how would the Colossians know if Christianity was true? How would this teenager know that Christianity is true? What made Christianity different? Well, in a simple answer, it was Christ Jesus. Jesus did not merely claim to be one teacher among many, he did not simply say that he knew the truth. He said, I am the way and the truth and the life. John chapter fourteen verse six. He did not say that if we followed him long enough that perhaps one day we might find eternal life. He said that life is found in him. Now this is a stunning claim, but different does not automatically mean true. So how do we know that Christ is who he claimed to be? How do we know that he is not merely useful, inspiring, or religiously meaningful, but truly Lord over all? Colossians one tells us that Christ is not merely one piece of life, that he is the image of the invisible God, the perfect representation. And he, Christ, is the perfect revelation of the God that we cannot see with our naked eyes. He is the firstborn of all creation, uh not meaning that he was created, but that he is supreme over all creation. All things were created by him, through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Let me ask you a question. How together is your life these days? If your thoughts scattered, if your emotions are restless, and if your work feels overwhelming, if your relationships feel like they are falling apart at the edges, I have news for you. And it is good news if you would listen to it. Your life may be trying to tell you something, and that is God, the Creator, has designed life so that we begin to unravel whenever Christ God is not at the center. It's simple as that. Sometimes this happens in an irreligious way. That is, we we purpose purposely forget the Creator God. We live as though that humanity is that we are the cosmic accidents. We deny the existence and supremacy of God because frankly, the thought of a creator is very inconvenient to our choices. I mean, if there is a creator and if he has moral standards and that is absolute, then we are not on our own, and we were made by him and for him, as the Bible says. So instead of living as the Creator intended us to live, many of us try to live and build our lives on things of this world, such as achievement, control, success, and self-protection. Not bad, these are not bad things, but these are not absolute things, nor are these things that we were meant to live for. But those things were uh really never meant to satisfy the soul. And we are not satisfied even with achievements and control and success and and whatever self-protections that we may have gathered for ourselves. No wonder we are frustrated. No wonder life feels like it is coming loose at the edges. But uh sometimes this happens in a religious way as well. And this is the more dangerous uh uh way in my opinion. Um religious people make Christ our so-called number one priority. And this is more dangerous than we may realize because we can keep hanging around Jesus without surrendering to Christ as the very center of all things. Both irreligious people and merely religious people have one thing in common the self remains at the center. Mere religion manages sin. Mere religion stays busy with church activities while the heart remains unmoved. Mere religion asks Christ to bless the life we are still trying to control. Prayer becomes a burden when we try to steer God toward the blessings that we want. We make God useful for our purposes. But that is not Christianity. Christianity is not using Christ to hold our lives together. Christianity is discovering that Christ Himself is the one in whom all things are held together. What comes to your mind when you read Colossians chapter 1, especially verses 15 through 17? For me, I get somewhat emotional because I'm drawn to Jesus Christ, not merely because he is useful, but because he is beautiful. Colossians one fifteen through seventeen says, Christ 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. This is not merely a scientific statement, although it is true over all creation. This is not merely a theological statement, although this is full of glorious theology. But this is a statement of faith and this is a statement of adoration. Paul had once been a deeply religious man, trying to hold everything together through zeal, law keeping, and self-righteousness. Martin Luther was similar. He knew something of the same burden, and this was centuries later. But when Christ met them, religion became worship and adoration. Duty became delight. Fear gave way to wonder. They did not merely find Christ useful, but they saw him as beautiful, the supreme being, the creator of all beauty, amazement, and wonder. And frankly, this is why Christians follow Christ, even when it costs them everything. That is why the supremacy of Christ is not only about power, glory, and honor, and these things are indeed part of the supremacy of Christ. But the supremacy of Christ is about about love. We follow Christ because we have come to see that Jesus Christ is more beautiful than everything that once pulled our hearts away from Him. The Colossians lived in a world full of secular pressure, cultural competition, and promises of fullness from all kinds of philosophies. We kind of know that world too, don't we? The basic premise of this world has not changed much. We're told to prove ourselves, improve ourselves, compare ourselves to others, and make securities for ourselves. We juggle so many things at the same time. We run from one obligation to another. And perhaps as you're listening to this podcast, you're parked somewhere waiting for your child's swim lesson or some kind of a event to finish. And it is evening, but your day is not over, and you still have a perhaps a child to care for, a parent to look after, a message to answer, or a bill to pay, or conversation with your spouse that keeps getting pushback because there just does not seem to be enough time. But the good news does not say you hold everything together. No, the good news says in Christ all things hold together. I know this teenager has not yet seen the beauty of Christ because if he did, I know that he would have a glow in his face. But his parents did not do not lose hope. His parents continue to pray, love, speak, listen, and wait for this teenager. The parents are doing what they can to introduce their child to not merely to Christianity as a religion, not merely to Jesus as a priority in life, but to Christ Jesus as life itself, as the ultimate truth itself, as the ultimate beauty itself, as the ultimate reality itself that Christ is. Christ Jesus is not merely an idea, but his Lord. Christ Jesus is not merely the one we serve, but as the one whom we rest in. In Jesus all things hold together. In Jesus Christ, our scattered hearts are gathered, held together, and therefore, even in this busy world, as so many things pull us apart, in Christ we stand today and forevermore. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

You are the image of the God of sea, supreme overall for you are God before the stars, before the body.