Paul’s presentation of Jesus in Colossians is as exalted as any in the New Testament. The letter presents Christ as both the Creator and Reconciler of the universe. Paul makes these lofty claims because the church in Colossae was under attack. Heretics promoted a version of Christianity where Christ was not supreme.
They didn’t deny Christ. They dethroned Him. They didn’t doubt Christ’s prominence. They denied Him pre-eminence. These false teachers didn’t replace Christ. Rather, they refused to place Him at the center…of everything.
If that sounds familiar, it is. We also live in a society and world that subtracts from Jesus and adds to the Gospel. We live in a world that doesn’t deny Christ per se (most people admit He existed), but it certainly dethrones Him. The world denies Him pre-eminence and insists He is to be kept in the realm of personal beliefs, or behind closed doors. Paul’s message of Christ at the center of everything is a stark contrast to the world’s message of me at the center of everything.
I’m calling our Lenten sermon series “Christ at the Center” because He is the center of everything. As we go through the season of Lent, we’ll see…
- We Have a…Christ-Centered Gospel (1:1-14; Ash Wednesday, February 14)
- We Live in a…Christ-Centered Universe (1:15-23; February 21)
- We Have…Christ-Centered Motivation (1:24-2:5; February 28)
- We Cherish…Christ-Centered Fullness (2:6-15; March 6)
- We Have a…Christ-Centered Mind (3:1-11; March 13)
- We Wear…Christ-Centered Clothes (3:12-17; March 20)
- We Work for…Christ-Centered Reconciliation (4:7-18; Palm Sunday, March 24)
Our Series Hymn, “Christ, the Life of All the Living” (LSB 420) will also reinforce this. By the end of Lent, I can guarantee you’ll be singing the famous refrain with a new sense of appreciation and fullness: “Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.”
My hope and prayer for this Lenten season is that you see how Christ is at the center of everything, and that you learn again that Jesus, “….is the beginning and the firstborn among the dead, so that in everything He might have first place” (Colossians 1:18).
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XXV, Number 7, February 2024.)