Hello and welcome to Friday’s Foundations Podcast. Today is one of those days that even though the passage is only 6 verses long, they are some of the most discussed in the New Testament. There are hundreds of years of discussion about almost every word in every line… So please forgive me that we can’t cover everything. But I hope to cover one big idea well… and I guess that is the purpose of this podcast, to give us a good thought from the Bible to help us draw close to God today. And I love that we are doing this as a church through Lent.

REFLECTION

So, the Colossians didn’t always know about Jesus… and about God. Just like you and I. A co-worker of Paul’s, called Epapharas, who we came across on Wednesday, had started the church and had told Paul about the how well they were doing but also the moments of pressure to turn away from Jesus.

A bit of looking into Colossae showed me that the Colossians had grown up worshipping different Greek and Roman gods that governed different parts of human life. For example: Aphrodite, the Goddess of beauty and love; Nike, the goddess of victory (I didn’t realise that’s the back story to their brand name) etc. So into that way of doing life and faith, many of those who had started to believe had been including Jesus as another God to worship. They had become “Jesus plus something else” people.

For many of us at STC, we have heard that idea discussed before on Sundays. That the true gospel is that salvation comes from faith in Jesus alone… not Jesus and good causes… not Jesus and fruitfulness… not Jesus and generosity… even though activity, fruitfulness and generosity are part of what we have been saved for, but not the starting place of God’s grace working in our lives.

And so, to this group of believers, whom Paul had never met but he had heard so much about their strengths and temptations, he says this:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In other words, Jesus is before all your other images and gods. You do not need to fear or feel obligated to them. He came before them, all things have been made through him and for him.

Today and especially this week as we have been thinking about grace… what is God saying to us about our faith in Jesus? Are there any moments of pressure where we feel we have got to earn God’s love? and so we – like the Colossians in this letter – are tempted to make the gospel “Jesus plus something else”?

On the other hand, does the top spot in our heart feel a little crowded today? It does in mine some days. The things that ask for our worship might not look like Greek statues or gods, but sometimes the things like career, family, or how I am doing compared to others have a way of shaping my mood… or who I think I am…

The good news is that Jesus is bigger than any of our moments of pressure.

Let’s pray and ask God to speak to us about our faith in Jesus.

PRAYER

God, thank you that if we want to know what you are like we just have to look at Jesus. Thank you for drawing us close and giving us peace and simplicity, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

READING: COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dea...