God’s greatest gift of love, the gift of salvation through the acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is His son is simple. All we have to do is believe He is the son of God. However, it seems too simple for some. Some think they must work for their salvation, but this is a fallacy. We just need to accept the gift.
Once we accept God’s great gift, we allow Jesus to work in our lives and transform our hearts. God has given us His Word to guide us into relationship with Him and others. Simple. Nothing else is needed. However, it is this simplicity that confounds people. Surely there must be something else to receiving eternal life. The Church in Colossae was struggling with this simplicity. They were being inundated by false teachings, stating that there had to be more to being a follower of Christ. Paul knew that human teachings and philosophies added to the Scriptures is eternally deadly. Therefore He wrote the Colossians to explain that Jesus Christ is God’s love in person, and nothing more than belief in Him is necessary. Paul’s letter could be written to us today, as the world’s philosophies are often distorting the Word of God. Read Paul’s exhortation to us to stay pure in our following of Jesus.
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:1-14)
Knit Together in Love
When we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, He puts us in community. Ideally, the Christian community is knitted together in love. Because we are each uniquely made by our Creator, we will not see eye-to-eye with everyone. However, when we give control of our lives to Jesus, His love knits us together in community. It is His love that brings us together, using our individual strengths to benefit the community of Believers. Jesus knits our lives together to show the world what God’s love really looks like.
We are like a beautiful sweater knitted together with yarn of different colors, working for the same function. In the case of the sweater, for warmth, in the case of the community of Believers, for living out the Gospel for the world to see. Just as there are different weights of yarn, usually, the heavier yarn, being the warmer, so too there are different degrees of warmth of love exhibited by the community of Believers. This is because each Believer is in an individual relationship with God. The closer a walk with Jesus, the “warmer” the Believer is with God. The warmer a Believer is with God, the warmer the love the Believer will be able to show to others.
Hidden Treasures
The gift of Jesus Christ as our Savior isn’t a gift that is used once and then no longer useful. Rather, it is a gift full of mystery of the greatest treasures here on earth and in Heaven. The more we spend time with Jesus, the more His gift is given to us. As we get to know Jesus more intimately, He gives us the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. These are not the wisdom and knowledge of the world, but rather the true wisdom and knowledge of God and His character. These treasures of godly wisdom and knowledge help us navigate our lives and give us understanding, though, only an inkling of the Father and all that He is. These treasures stabilize our faith.
Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ will try to persuade you of the folly of your faith. However, they have totally missed the mystery of the Christ. He came down to earth and took human form while being fully the Divine. It is Christ that makes us complete and holy so that we may spend eternity with the Father. Christ also has all authority over the rulers of this world and even more, authority over death. When we are baptized in Christ, we are no longer facing an eternal death, but an eternal life because Jesus took our sins upon His shoulders and nailed them to the cross. This treasure of sacrificial love for us is far more valuable than anything there is on earth. This is the mystery of the Christ.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus] was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. John 1:1-4
Photo Credit: Walmart 2021. Retrieved from https://www.walmart.com/ip/Holiday-Time-Women-s-Christmas-Sweater/315606405 on Dec. 1, 2021.
