Saturday 17 November 2007
- Bible Book:
- Colossians
"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross." (v.19-20)
Background
The key theme this week is the conviction that God, theredeemer, will reveal himself in the world to stand alongside thefaithful and to declare them to be his people. This conviction ismost clearly expressed at times of challenge and crisis when God'speople have been at their most vulnerable and when faith has beentested to the limit: the redeemer Testament belief developed intothe idea of the coming Messiah (God's chosen and anointed one) whowould rescue his people, and will come and bless his people.
In the Old and the New Testament it found its focus in Jesus and,above all, in his resurrection and hoped-for return.
But sometimes 'vindication' for the righteous (or the 'right ones')also means judgement for the unrighteous (or the 'wrong ones').Blessing for 'us' implies cursing for 'them'. And that isn't alwaysthe most appealing aspect of religious belief.
This passage therefore is a welcome challenge to those who want toclaim that God is on their side - be that Israel or the Church, orthe pious individual with a righteous glint in their eye who knowsfor sure that their faith will be rewarded.
These few verses tell a very different story. Their focus is thebeloved Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God, thefirstborn of all creation (
God has revealed himself in Christ, not for the benefit of aprivileged few (and tough on the rest), but for the sake 'allthings'. Heaven and earth are not seen as evil or corrupt (as inRevelation), but as held together in Christ, who is not just headof the Church, but head of everything. The risen Christ, thefirstborn from the dead, reveals God to the whole creation andthrough him God redeems everything, declaring everything to begood, just as he had always intended them to be.
To Ponder
Do you think that religious belief shouldessentially be about being 'right'?
What's the point of believing, if God is going tomake everything 'right' anyway?
Do you agree that this passage 'tells a differentstory' to the ones we have read before? How do you decide which isright?