April 22nd – The Eternal Question




‘Who is Jesus?’
In John’s Gospel Chapter 7 we read a number of people’s opinions about Jesus.These were just ordinary folk, confronted by him, and they said what they thought. ‘He’s a good man’, some said, others ‘He’s a con man’; or as Eugene H. Peterson translates it in his cute old American reference to carpet baggers of the Old West -‘Not so, he’s selling snake oil’. ‘You’re ‘crazy’ said the religious to him, ‘as if we were trying to kill you’. ‘He could be the Messiah’ said some. ‘The Messiah himself could not do more than this man Jesus does’.In the populace some said ‘This has to be the prophet’, some ‘He is the Messiah’.Thus the crowd was divided about him.Police sent to arrest him explained why they hadn’t brought him in ‘We’ve never heard anyone speak like this man’, and so it went on.
Who IS Jesus? Who is this man who says the things that only God has the right to say, who does things only God has the power to do? Who is he?
All men and women pass their opinions. Christian followers declare – ‘This is the Son of God’; ‘He is the express image of the invisible God’; ‘the Saviour of the world’; ‘the word made flesh’; the intelligence, ‘the wisdom and the power of Go’: the lowly one who is enthroned above all: the Messiah of the Jews: the mediator twixt heaven and earth: the total embodiment in human flesh and blood of the one invisible, almighty God, who is from all eternity – God. Who do you say he is? This is Paul’s understanding in Colossians 1:15-17Colossians 1:15-17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  

WP-Bible plugin
and 19.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities;all things were created by him and for him.He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him”.

A Prayer:
Glory be to you, Lord Jesus, Messiah,for by your life and death, your resurrection and ascension, you have opened the Kingdom of God for all who trust you.

Now read Colossians 1: 13-29Colossians 1: 13-29
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: his...: Gr. the Son of his love 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. in...: or, among all 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. having...: or, making 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in...: or, by your mind in 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; to fulfil...: or, fully to preach the word 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: in: or, among 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.  

WP-Bible plugin

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Thought 4 The Day

The Kingdom of God is not for the well meaning, but for the desperate. (James Denney)

THROUGH THE YEAR CALENDAR

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Click on any previous date in the above calendar to read the relevant Through The Year post
Believe it or Not
Sometimes you just can't believe it's true!
A Word in Time
Life has a funny way of connecting us all!
Cooke's Tour of The Bible
Frank Cooke's journey through the Old and New Testaments
Take 2
Some useful life lessons
Mind Stretchers
An open mind is a healthy mind!
Bible Bloopers
Even the Bible has its funnies!