And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18
I don’t know about you, but I find the longer we’re Christians, the more susceptible we are to “doing church” instead of simply being the Church. I’m talking about the mind numbing routine where we say and do things habitually, even unconsciously. For example, one thing I’ve noticed relatively recently is how the name of Jesus has become sort of buzz word — in church.
We may sing to Jesus and about Him during praise and worship, but it’s almost as if it’s just a door we enter to get numbed up before the prick of the sermon, where we get straightened out and snapped back in shape. Then we bring Jesus in at the end, as the door to salvation. But I haven’t heard His name much during the sermon, much less be the focus of the sermon. Have you?
What are we saying about Jesus when we leave Him out of the substance of the service, treating Him like a passageway we manipulate on a hinge, relegated to the bookends of Sunday service? If we’re conveniently placing Him during Sunday service, are we doing that the rest of the week as well? Is Jesus the substance of the instruction and correction we give our children or is He the closer at the end of our speech? That last one hurt so before condemnation has a chance to set in, let’s quickly move to what Jesus has to say about Himself!
Jesus certainly is the door (1), the door to salvation in the fullest sense of the word; safety from danger, disease and destruction. And true, He is the beginning and the end (2), but He’s also everything in the middle. After we enter through Jesus as door, He is the way (3) and it’s in Him we live and move and have our being (4) . As His Church we are the fullness of Him and He wants to fill every aspect of our lives(5) – and we need Him to. All creation exists by Him and for Him (6). We can’t help but be blessed when we keep Jesus at the center of our worship services, marriages, parenting, careers, and everything else for that matter.
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SOUL FOOD
(1) John 10:9
(2) Revelation 21:6; 22:13
(3) John 14:6
(4) Acts 17:28
(5) Ephesians 1:23
(6) Colossians 1:16-18
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