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Saturday 24 November 2012

Colossians 1:18-23 - Head of the church

Christ is the head of the body, the church. Jesus is the living leader of the church. We do not just follow the teachings of a man who lived two thousand years ago, we do not just remember Him. Jesus actively leads the church, through the Holy Spirit. If we make anything else head, then we are heading in the wrong direction.
Jesus is also the firstborn of the new creation. He is the firstborn from among the dead. What that means is that we will be raised to new life just as He was raised from the dead.
"Fullness" was a term used in Gnostic teachings, referring to the sum of supernatural forces controlling the fate of people and the world. Paul declares that all the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus. Ie Jesus contained all the character and power of God in Him. There is a warning herein how we interpret words in the Bible. If we just took "fullness" in isolation, forgetting or not knowing that Paul was using it as counter term to Gnostic type teaching, then we might end up reading too much in to the meaning of the word here.
Through the blood of Jesus God is reconciling all things to Himself. This does not mean universalism in the sense that all are saved regardless of whether or not they believe, it does mean that the salvation in Christ is open to all to lay hold of through faith. It also means that the reconciliation extends to all of creation. All of creation was and is affected by man's sin, likewise all of creation will be affected by Christ's salvation (see Romans 8:19-22).

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