Supremacy! Colossians, Week 2 - Tuesday

Colossians 1:17-18


¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

If you remember from Monday's post, God is the creator and everything and everyone is created for him. Now this is taking us a little bit deeper. In verse 17 we are able to understand that God is also what holds us together. He is also out sustainer.

Sustain means to support, hold, or bear the weight of; to keep going, as an action or process

God sustains us! Everyday is another process, each day has its own weight. We have a God who loves us enough that he helps us through it all!

Reading further on into this scripture we see in verse 18 that he is the firstborn from among the dead. This is referring to Christ's resurrection. That is why in Romans 10:9 it says believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. The resurrection is everything, if it weren't for that then nothing would have changed. But it did! Christ went to Hell, bearing all of our sin and punishment. Then after 3 days was resurrected and brought back to life, to the kingdom of God.

Because of this the scripture goes on, so that he might have supremacy. Supremacy is the state of being supreme [highest in rank or authority; sovereign; last or final; ultimate.] For this reason we should not worry or fear, we serve a God who is supreme! No one can defeat him. If we can really grasp and understand that God already has the battle won, then we would trust him without doubt in any situation. Our faith would just explode!

Therefore, today the challenge we have before us is to trust in God with everything that we have, believing that he is supreme! (Don't forget to live today on purpose!)


~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

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On Purpose! Colossians Week 2 - Monday

Colossians 1:15-16


¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

In this passage we find a great description of 2/3 of the trinity, God the Father and God the Son, Jesus. That isn't all this scripture offers us. Here we get a great epiphany! Now let's just say that we all know and understand that we are all created by God (if this is new to you I suggest reading Genesis).

Look at the very last line of this scripture, "all things have been created through him [this is what we're in agreement on] and for him." Wow, so you mean to tell me that EVERYTHING and EVERYONE was created FOR God?! YES!! This thought, as simple as it is, can be tremendously hard to grasp! Often times we get bound up in condemnation [the state of being condemned ~> to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure. to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment], which is not from the Lord. John 3:17 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

You see at the fall of man (also found in Genesis) we became sinful and took on this nature, therefore we are all sinners. The bad news is that God hates sin and can not look at sin, BUT (the interjection that changes things around for us!) He loves us anyway! John 3:16 tells us "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Because of this we have been given grace.

Grace is what saves us! Grace is defines as a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior. When we come to know Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior we get to have a new start, a clean slate! My all time favorite scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!".

You might be wondering how we get to be "in Christ", great!! There is an answer for that!!! Honestly, it'll be the best answer you can ever receive in your entire life!!!! (I apologize for all of the "!!!", I just get so EXCITED about this!!) Romans 10:9 says, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's it!! Nowhere in the Bible does it say "if you go to church for 'this many' months in a row, then you can be saved. It also never says to get your act together and straighten up, then you will be saved. NO!! All it takes is confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart!! I can tell you this, I was no where near having my act together when God came into my life and saved me! Yet, he did. I still have a LOT of work to do, but the cool thing is, now I'm not doing it on my own!

Our scripture says that WE are ALL made FOR GOD. Jeremiah 29:11 (another one of my favorites) tells us "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." When God created us, he created us for him! There is a purpose to your life! You don't have to settle for the good enough life you have. Our staff at Life Church is reading this book called GREATER by Steven Furtick and that is precisely what the book is about, not settling for a good enough  life when you can have a greater life.

If we can understand that every day, every moment of our lives have a purpose to them, then maybe we can start living on purpose. What would it look like if everybody started living their lives on purpose? If teachers started teaching their students on purpose... If parents started parenting on purpose... If business men starting doing their busyness on purpose... Wouldn't our world accelerate? Wouldn't there be more passion and direction and movement in this world?

What would your world look like if you started living your life, your days and moments on purpose? What would that do in your marriage? In your relationship with your children? In your job? In your happiness? Use this week as a test. Wake up every morning and first and foremost thank God that you have this life to live, but then ask for help and a reminder in every moment to live it on purpose! Write it down at the end of the day! See what happens...

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

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