“Jesus is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in
heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or powers – all things have been created through him and
for him,” (Colossians 1: 15-16)
Our proclamation that Jesus is God seems foolish. In the 32 week bible survey course that I
teach here at Bethel, we often simply say to one another, “This seems
crazy!” Indeed, at first glance it can
indeed seem crazy what we say about Jesus.
Still, while acknowledging this, we recognize that it
couldn’t be any other way. What we
proclaim about Jesus – that he is God, that all things have come into being in
him and for him – is at the heart of our faith that God is up to something
quite remarkable and unbelievable in Jesus.
If Jesus is who he says he is, then what we say about
Jesus is actually quite reasonable. I
often wonder if we, as children of the Enlightenment, have lost our ability to
be awed by God. I have often said that
when I chose to respond to Jesus in my life, I did so because I came to the
conclusion that if I was going to believe in God at all, it was going to be in
a God that so loved me that He chose to come and live a life like mine, full of
struggle, suffering, and pain. But that
this God would be God-enough to do something about it. And in Jesus, I have come to profess, God has
done exactly that.
He has taken away the power of my fear, the inevitability
of my death, and the reality of my sin.
This darkness does try to overcome me.
However, the light of Christ shines ever-present in my life. And this
allows me to dare to live as fully and completely a life of faith as I
can.
And truly, this is as crazy as anything I may say about
Jesus. But I know it is true in my life.
And it is true for you too.
Light of God, shine into my heart, my life, and my faith
so that I can be a light to others. Amen.
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