Christ, the FULLNESS of God

So, it's been a while. Not because I haven't been learning and praying for the team, but because I haven't been able to articulate what I have been learning! It was a long semester in which the Lord fixed my eyes on Jesus and went to town clearing up a lot of misconceptions that I had of Him. I'm gonna try to give you the simplest form of what I have learned... it comes from Colossians 1-2.

Colossians 1:12 says that the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. THEN Colossians 2:28 says 'therefore, let no one disqualify you..." These verses are like bookends, like two buns of a hamburger. The meat, what's in the middle, is the most important part.

The middle consists of two main sections that are all about the sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ (1:15-20 and 2:10-15). The Colossian church has this problem where they worshipped these aeons or star gods in order to obtain salvation, so when they heard about Jesus, they just threw Him into the mix. He became just one of many gods that they worshipped. Paul combatted this idea by magnificently articulating the uniqueness and sufficiency of Jesus in 1:15-20.
                     

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And 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, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Then in 2:10-15, Paul reminds the Colossians of what has happened in their lives since they accepted Jesus. They had been filled in Him (2:10), they had been circumcised in Him and were no longer controlled by their fleshly desires (2:11), they had been buried and raised to new life in baptism (2:12), they had been made alive with Jesus and forgiven (2:13), their record of debt from their sin had been cancelled or erased (2:14), and the demonic rulers and authorities who condemned them had been triumphed by the seemingly weak cross (2:15).

BOOM BABY. That's the meat. Because of who Jesus is and because of what has happened in our lives by accepting Him as Lord, we do not have to let others "disqualify us." See, there were many people in the Colossian church who thought that Jesus wasn't enough for salvation or qualification. They thought they also needed to worship these star gods, beat their bodies, have spiritual visions, and gain some kind of "special knowledge" from those spiritual visions. They were oppressing the rest of the church and forcing these other qualifications on them. But Paul was saying 'No way! Jesus is the fullness of God that fills all in all, and you have been filled in Him, and that is enough. You don't have to beat your bodies or worship other star gods or angels or have these spiritual visions. You have been qualified by God through Jesus. So, don't let anyone disqualify you!"

So, for our team... I know that we all have insecurities and thoughts that we are not qualified for this ministry of reconciliation. But the truth is, we are qualified. Not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus and what He has done.
         ⁴ Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who has made us competent^[c] to be ministers of a new covenant... 2 Cor 3:4-6

Pray for the team, that we would be reminded of the sole sufficiency of Jesus. That we are just jars of clay but that we have great treasure in us. Pray that our confidence would be in Christ alone and not in ourselves. That we wouldn't think too highly of ourselves (Romans 12:3), but that we would think much much much higher of Christ! Pray for our insecurities... we DO have something to offer the people we will meet in Kenya- even though there are language and cultural barriers.. Pray that we wouldn't be afraid or hesitant in our ministry- that we would really enter in into every opportunity, whether to pray for someone or to play a game with a child or whatever.. Also, pray for WISDOM. In James it says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God for it because He gives generously to all without finding fault. I gotta admit, I lack wisdom. We are learning more about Kenyan culture, but there will be tough situations I am sure... pray that we would humble ourselves, that we would observe a lot and learn from the people there, that we would go not with an attitude of "oh I have all this to give you because I am so wealthy blah blah blah..." but instead with a teachable attitude, ready and willing and overjoyed to learn. THANK YOU! Intercession is so powerful... we need it! :) Keep checking back for more... we leave in a month and six days!

-Kristen


"An intercessor pleads with somebody in authority on behalf of somebody else." -The Happy Intercessor, p. 66

"The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him." -Mere Christianity, p. 133