In Colossians 1:12-20, Paul is finishing a prayer he has for the Colossian believers, and then he quotes what many scholars believe was an early Christian hymn. As such, these are some of the most powerful truths in the Bible. And the more we understand them, the more we will want to live into God’s bigger story of life and light and love and glory that Jesus came to give us. In this episode we will look at what that bigger story is and why it is so powerful to motivate us to follow Jesus as our Christ/King, and we’ll take a few minutes to pray through these life-giving verses in Scripture. Colossians 1:12–20 NIV ...[Give] joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 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 dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things... 1. The pre-incarnate Jesus was the God who created the entire universe. “The Son is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (v. 19). Colossians 2:9 NIV “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” “all things have been created through him and for him. He is before (in time; Jn 8:58) all things, and in him all things hold together” (v. 16-17). John 1:1–4 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. Hebrews 1:2–3 NIV …In these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 2. The incarnate Jesus was fully God who also became fully human, so he could rightfully and legally and fully take back Genesis 1:26-28. God is invisible, but Jesus, who became the saving King, perfectly reveals and embodies YHWH. And also true, God-intended humanity. He is “the firstborn over all creation” (v. 15), which means “the firstborn from among the dead” (v. 18). Christ was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrection body. Elsewhere Paul calls him the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1Co 15:20). Others who were raised from the dead (2Ki 4:35; Lk 7:15; Jn 11:44; Ac 9:36-41; 20:7-12) were raised only to die again. 3. We can’t see the reality behind the scenes of all that Christ has done and is doing. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things” (v. 19-20). Seven times in vv. 15-20 Paul mentions “all creation,” “all things” and “everything.” When Adam and Eve sinned, not only was the harmony between God and human beings destroyed, but also disorder came into creation (Ro 8:19-22). So when Christ died on the cross, he made peace possible between God and humans, and he restored in principle the...