THE VERSE

Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
~Colossians 1:15-17

THE THOUGHT

Oh that we would know the supremacy of Christ! We must see our Savior for who He really is- God the Son, one with the Father, the image of the invisible God. The babe who cried in the manger had spun out all the galaxies with a word. The man who healed lepers was the one who knit them together in their mother’s womb. We MUST know this; we must be captured by the supremacy of Christ! He never had a beginning or an end; He is the final, ultimate reality before which every knee will bow. He is the Creator and Sustainer; every molecule and subatomic particle in your body holds together only because He wills them to. All things were created by Him; stars and planets and every one of the millions of varieties of plants and animals exist because He said so. All things were created FOR Him- He willed us into existence for the display of His eternal glory, that all creation would know and celebrate the radiant perfection of the Son of God. What glorious difference it would make if we could see Paul’s vision of the risen and glorified Christ. Our hearts would be forever captured by the fiery intensity of His glorious beauty, and nothing on earth would satisfy any longer. What liberation from sin it would bring! Pride would be crushed in the dust beneath the feet of the exalted Christ; lust banished in the sight of everlasting, surpassing beauty; weak faith shown to be irrational in view of the One who upholds the universe.

We must apprehend this! We so desperately need this truth; we need the One who IS the truth. Know this Christ. Come to the cross and know the One who knows your every sin and chooses to forgive your rebellion. Know the supremacy of Christ.

THE PRAYER

Jesus Christ, I come humbly, knowing that You are God Most High, the First and the Last, the I AM, Yahweh. I am but dust, the creation of Your breath, sustained by Your power and forgiven by Your mercy. Holy Son, I want to know You! Capture me with Your beauty; terrify me with Your holiness; overcome me with Your love; move me with Your passion; change me with Your purity. I want to know You!

EXTENDED READING

John 8:54-58
Philippians 2:5-11
Colossians 1:15-19
Revelation 1:4-18

THE QUOTE

“Christ is God and man in one person. He has neither sinned nor died, and is not condemned, and he cannot sin, die, or be condemned; his righteousness, life, and salvation are unconquerable, eternal, omnipotent. By the wedding ring of faith he shares in the sins, death, and pains of hell which are his bride’s. As a matter of fact, he makes them his own and acts as if they were his own and as if he himself had sinned; he suffered, died, and descended into hell that he might overcome them all.” ~Martin Luther

This post is written by Brendan Beale, author of Cross Connections