These verses say a whole lot about the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you have access to a good commentary (the one I've been using by Peter O'Brien is superb), or if you have time for some extended reflection (maybe with a good study Bible nearby), you can go a bit deeper into the numerous statements about Christ made in this section. And I would recommend that.
My suggestion for today though is this: try to capture the big picture of these verses and meditate on that big picture. Turn it over again and again, ask God to help you understand it, and try to squeeze out of it all the implications for your life that you possibly can.
My sense for the big picture of 1:15-20: Jesus Christ is the supreme Lord of every square inch of creation and He is the supreme Lord of redemption and reconciliation, and He is the head of the body that we (through the cross) are a part of.
But don't let me stop you from meditating also on the trees.
1:21-23 tomorrow.
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This reminds me of the order with which God creates & sustains - and how clearly it has been established. Two things rolling around in my head -
ReplyDelete1. The link b/w Jesus' headship of the church & Adam's headship of Eve - that is, the biblical design, that both Jesus & the husband love the spouse (church) sacrificially, and how Satan attempts always to turn that created order upside-down. So clear in the story of the Fall - and in the story of every subsequent fall.
2. Jesus as firstborn - the reference to Jesus' inheritance in the context of all things being made by & for Him. How humbling to learn that we are His reward for the sacrificial work He did on earth, the cross, bearing God's wrath. That of all of that inheritance, all of the glorious things God has at His fingertips - He chooses to reward to Jesus, and Jesus regards as precious - us. We are God's gift to His son.