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Christ is the
visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all
and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created
everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we
can't see--kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created
through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds
all creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He
is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God
reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on
earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far
away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts
and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this
through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has
brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you
stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this
truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received
when you heard the Good News.
(Colossians 1:15-23 NLV). Not
long ago I was watching a National Geographic special on PBS.
It centered on the immense pressure of a deep-water environment.
One particular species of fish was presented that lived five miles below
sea level in the ocean. In studying this fish it was discovered that because it
had adapted to such pressure, it could not be safely brought to the surface
without decompression. Even then it was very unlikely that the fish of the
ocean’s depths could survive above sea level.
You know, it really works this way in all of God's creation. There's an environment that things and people were created to be in, and things really work when they're in that place. They really don't work very well when they're not where they were designed to be. Well, thankfully, God makes very clear the environment you and I were created for so we don't have to waste our lives searching for it. In fact, probably the single most important question you have to answer while we're on earth is this: Why am I here? God answers that question in our reading this morning. We are created by Him and for Him. Just like those fish were created to be in the pressure of that deep sea we were created for a relationship with God. When you have this personal relationship with Christ, you are finally where you were born to be. When those deep-sea fish are outside the environment they were made to live in, they eventually die. So do we. Some of that dying happens even now, as we keep looking for love in places that don't deliver it, looking for some inner peace, some fulfillment in achievements and relationships and experiences that can't possibly give it to us because we are not where we were born to be. His call to you is to put your total trust in Him to be the Rescuer from your sin. The moment you do that, the relationship you were born for becomes yours forever. Isn't it time to experience the relationship you were made for, to be where you were born to be? Trust Him today! |
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