In our Bible study yesterday, we talked about the truth that Jesus was present at and involved in the creation of the world. Think of this remarkable truth this Christmas day: Jesus came as a baby into the world He created! Through creation, He demonstrated His glory and His creativity. Throughout His ministry on earth, Jesus demonstrated His power over creation as He calmed storms, walked on water, healed the sick, raised the dead, and ultimately rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. As He showed His power over creation and defeated sin and death, He taught that He is the sustainer of everything. He holds everything together.
We are reminded that Jesus is the sustainer of everything in Colossians 1. In this passage of Scripture, Paul teaches us important truths about Jesus. He explained that Jesus, “holds all creation together” (verse 17). How does Jesus hold everything together? The main way He holds everything together is by making "peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross" (verse 20). As Paul reminds us in this passage of Scripture, we were once "far away from God," but through Jesus, we have been reconciled to God and have peace with Him if we place our faith in Christ (verse 21). What is the result of this reconciliation with God? Paul writes that God "has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault" (verse 22). Through His blood on the cross and the forgiveness of sins, we are made right with God. In other words, Christ sustains us and reconciles us to God. This is the greatest gift we could ever be given.
The joy and miracle of Christmas is not the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree, the presents we will unwrap today, or even the people we love whom we get to celebrate with. The miracle of Christmas is Jesus: the sustainer of everything. Praise Him today and every day for holding everything together. Praise Jesus that He has brought peace and reconciliation between us and God the Father when we have placed our faith in Him. Merry Christmas, friend! What a Savior we have to celebrate today!
This Christmas, make room for Christ. Go on a walk and talk to Him. Tell Him how much you love Him. Thank Him for the gift of peace with God the Father and for eternal life available to us through Him.
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
