This week, we’ll be reading from Colossians. Click the scripture link to read the full chapter (Colossians is only 4 chapters long).

Colossians 1:15-20 (CEB)

The Son is the image of the invisible God,
        the one who is first over all creation,

Because all things were created by him:
        both in the heavens and on the earth,
        the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
            Whether they are thrones or powers,
            or rulers or authorities,
        all things were created through him and for him.

He existed before all things,
        and all things are held together in him.

He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
        the one who is firstborn from among the dead
        so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
        and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
        whether things on earth or in the heavens.
            He brought peace through the blood of his cross.


Reflection

Reconciled. Reconnected. A relationship rekindled, restored, and renewed. That’s the promise of this ancient snippet of a hymn to Jesus.

Jesus is able to reconcile all things to himself because in himself he contains all things. Now that sounds odd, but listen again: “All the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,” Colossians says, and “all things were created by him.”

And we can go one step further: Jesus was born as a human being, lived as a human being, and died as a human being. Along the way, he experienced all the joy, pain, and complexity of human life. There is no experience, no feeling we can have that he doesn’t understand. There is no pain, loss or betrayal he cannot redeem.

Jesus can reconcile EVERYTHING to himself because in himself he contains all things. He makes peace between God and humanity not just by standing in between us, but by enveloping and embracing us and indeed all of creation. That’s why later in Colossians the writer can say: “Christ is all things and in all people.” (3:11, CEB)


For Pondering & Prayer

Sometimes we call this understanding of Jesus, which is predominant in Colossians and Ephesians, “the Cosmic Christ.” Have you ever had a moment where you felt at one with yourself, with God, with people, nature, and the whole cosmos? How do you think we can get those kinds of fleeting moments to last?

If there’s someone you need to forgive, does it help to recognize that Jesus is in them, too?