Colossians and the Story

Colossians 1:15-29 is a good example of the Story: Creation Fall Redemption Transformation Completion are all there:

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.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

So why do I exist (and the world in which I exist)? Through and for Christ. What has happened? Alienation then reconciliation, through death, the formation of a community of hope laboring in a painful world toward being telos.

My existence, and the world in which I exist, have a source. Today, as I start the week of 'to-do' lists and appointments and opportunities for success and failure... I frame my awareness with Christ.

The goodness of existence and opportunity is personal

Creation-good: The delight of Wisdom in the children of man

Proverbs 8:22-31 "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. (23) Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. (24) When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. (25) Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, (26) before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. (27) When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, (28) when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, (29) when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, (30) then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, (31) rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.

There is good. A father loves his children; delights in them living out their lives. Likewise God delighted in Wisdom, working alongside in relationship of delight and diligence. The goodness I experience in seeing my kids work and exercise wisdom has a Source. The wise thing to do is to honor that Source; loving, delighting, rejoicing in God my creator.