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.
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.
21)
And you, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled
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too often, we can allow ourselves to become confused (in the scriptures) by not
understanding the context in which many words and phrases are used. What
happens is that we get used to a particular usage of a word and then, find it
hard to "shift" our understanding when necessary.
Illustrating
this is the use of the word "consist" in our text, today. What the
scripture is telling us is that Jesus holds all
things together. While men promise many things, it is Jesus Who does
all things.
Among
the many reasons that the Lord is able to do everything that He says is because
in Him is all strength. We have good intentions about many things, but can find
ourselves failing to exercise any kind of physical or spiritual strength. The
Lord's "strength," coupled with His unquestionable integrity, means
that there is absolutely no impediment to His performance.
Now,
we will all agree that the Lord has many "responsibilities" and
"items" on His "agenda." Knowing this, it should not be too
hard for us to understand that God means His statements to be statements of
"action," not debate. In
that we have His Spirit, He expects us to share His mind and see things as He
sees them. What He "sees" is a World rapidly coming to a close with
too many of its inhabitants unaware of Him. His difficulty with us lies in the
fact that we concern ourselves with too much that is not our
"business." He expects our business to be that which concerns Him.
No
doubt, it seems unreasonable to Him that we could have the advantages of
serving Him, yet try to do as little as possible for Him. You see, He knows that our growth will be
"stunted" at whatever point we decide to stop being obedient and
willing to follow His commands. Contrary to what many might want to believe,
your growth is not just "your" business. You see, when you stop
receiving from God, that is one less revelation you can pass on to another to
help him with his salvation. Of course, this will only be of concern when we make the welfare
of another a concern.
It
is time for all who will be saved and used of the Lord to live for Him!
It is not possible to live for the Lord and after the World. After all, if it
was not pleasing to God to live after the World before salvation, it is
most definitely not possible to live so after salvation.
It
is the Lord and only the Lord Who is capable of holding all together. It
is the responsibility of the Lord,
only, to hold all things together. This means that it is not up to us to solve
our problems, to worry about how anything will get done, to save anybody—or
anything else. Without the Lord, there is no stability or consistency,
so where does that leave our self-directed efforts?
We
have no excuses for not meeting the expectations of God. What is it that we
lack? Do we not have the promise of having our needs met? Do we not have the
Promised Power by which the heavens, the earth and ourselves
were created? There is absolutely nothing
that can remove me from the anointing of God--but me! As long as I remain under
the mantle of the Lord, I am empowered with all victory! As the children of
God, born of Him and bred to serve, the devil can never make us deviate
from what the Lord has said and is saying to us. In that it is He Who gives the
charge, He intends for us to successfully carry it out. Therefore, opposition
could never be coming to defeat us. Lest we forget, we serve a God Who takes
all opposition and uses it as an opportunity for growth.
Our
very spiritual lives depend upon us becoming determined to be moved by nothing!
"Movement"(when one is connected with the Lord) is a waste of energy,
for as long as we stay in the Lord, we are fortified by Jesus.
Now
is the time for us to focus on the miracles that have been worked in our lives.
We, of all people, have been privileged to see some of the "hidden mysteries"
of God. How, then, can we turn back? How can we question Him? There is nothing
the Lord might ask of us that would be "too much". He has issued
the urgent call for His people to stop procrastinating and discard all of
those things that have blocked our forward progress. From this point forward,
we will find it impossible to be blessed over what He has told us to discard.
Let us pray that our eyes might be opened to the urgency and seriousness of
His call.