For a few hundred years now, Christians have had tunnel vision when it comes to the work of Jesus. We have learned the habit of thinking that truths such as Jesus’ cross and resurrection, reconciliation, being saved, the new birth, justification, and eternal life are something for personal salvation only. We are in the tunnel, we look to the end and all we see is Jesus’ gospel in connection with my individual salvation.
Does Jesus redeem us? Yes! Augustine told us to behold the incarnation of our Lord who became a personal man and understand his love for us personally. For who else can unravel the twisted and tangled knottiness of our foul sin which marred God’s image in us. It is your sin Jesus came to forgive. It is you he came to cleanse. Jesus our Lord came to save his people from their sins. And all of us as baptized members are personally members of his one body. Our personal salvation is part of Jesus’ real work. But if we think Jesus’ real work of redemption only includes our salvation from hell and flight to heaven we don’t have the whole story. What about life & creation?
Rather than having a tunnel-vision-gospel, we need to have a bible-vision-gospel. And that comes out in the Colossians 1:15-20 passage, particularly v.20. What brings Paul to make this astounding statement that changes our whole outlook about the end? He understands the real person and work of Jesus!
Read v.11-14. God our Father has qualified us to receive the inheritance of his kingdom and he has taken us from the Kingdom of darkness to put us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins.
But who is Jesus. Read v.15-20. Jesus is God and man! Here, as in 1 Corinthians 8 and Philippians 2 the Shema contains Jesus. Here O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one! He is the very image of God, the revelation of JHWH himself. Jesus is...
Creator. He was the wisdom of God, the Father’s agent of creation. “For by him were all things created…” All things were created through him and for him! This perfectly fitted him to become human at his incarnation. And thus it perfectly fitted him to take the role of v.20 to be the Reconciler of his world.
Lord. Jesus is the first born of all creation. Meaning he is the first to rise from the dead as man in the new creation. He is first, now being the perfect human. Actually the risen body of Jesus is the one bit of this physical world that has already been put right. This why it is right and proper for him to be before all things, the sovereign ruler over creation, the head of the church, the supreme pre-eminent Lord, the judge of the world (Acts 17:30-31).
So Jesus as the God–man has become what he always was; the pre-existent Lord and Creator of the world (God). But he has also become the human Lord of the world. You can see why in him all the fullness of God dwells. So this world can now see God. Actually the times of ignorance is now over (Acts 17:30). Of course he is eminently, wonderfully perfectly fitted to be the Saviour of v.20.
Redeemer. This is the thrust of v.20. Jesus is the redeemer of his people and his creation. As Creator and Lord it was through him the Father reconciled all things whether on earth or in heaven to himself. Jesus has made peace through the blood of his cross. Through his sacrifice, healing, restoration, forgiveness, and peace between man and God, man and creation, man and man has been made and will be practiced forever.
So the real work of Jesus the Creator, Lord, and Redeemer is to reconcile his own creation and people back to the holy God. To reconcile means to restore to peace and harmony. Jesus real work is to restore sinners by rescuing them and forgiving them, and to restore our created world to its intended place of peace, justice, and harmony.
No comments:
Post a Comment