The Book of Colossians: Is Jesus Enough?Sample

Is Jesus enough for your life?

Colossians 1:13–22 reads like a song sung over all of humanity, declaring with stirring lyrics the pre-eminence of Jesus: His supreme excellence and greatness.This passage is divided into three parts—two stanzas bracketing a bridge, which is the big takeaway: When Jesus is central to our lives (as He is central to creation) we find identity, freedom, and purpose.

In the first stanza, Paul says Jesus is the head of creation. (The second stanza focuses on Jesus as head of the church, which we covered yesterday.) The Greek word prōtotokos, translated as “firstborn,” doesn’t refer to time, but to place or status. Jesus wasn’t the first being created (He created everything, after all). Firstborn simply means “of first importance or rank.”

Paul also tells us Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” So, if you want to know God, look at Jesus. Paul adds, “All things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). He’s the agent and the goal of creation, and everything—including you—belongs to Him.

Between the two stanzas of Colossians 1:13–22 we find the powerful bridge statement: “He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). For the phrase “hold together,” Paul uses the same Greek word that would’ve been used by the Stoic philosophers of the day to talk about their personal lives. He’s suggesting Jesus holds together our lives in the same way He holds together the universe. This would’ve been staggering to the Stoics. It’s an astounding idea in our culture, too, that the Creator is intimately involved in the details of our lives and that the degree to which you have your life under the lordship of Christ is the degree to which your life will hold together.

You probably know kids (or grownups) who won’t allow different food types to mingle on their plates. That’s no big deal. But what is a big deal is how we tend to segregate our lives in the same way. We separate our recreation, relationships, finances, sexuality, hobbies, and Christianity. These precisely defined fragments have no effect on the whole. Ultimately, this is frustrating and ineffective because God never intended our lives to be compartmentalized. Jesus cannot simply be another iron in the fire of your life; He’s meant to be the fire. The wondrous truth is that this deeply connected, holistic life isn’t something we earn, but something we’re brought into by grace. As adopted children of the King—with new identities and reestablished callings—our brokenness is redeemed, and we become more of who we already are in Jesus.

All creation centers around Jesus, is held together by Jesus, points to Jesus, and finds its fulfillment in Jesus. It’s all about Jesus—and so is your life.