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

MY world

I've been trying to straighten out my world. It gets stressful. I find it difficult to be an expert in cosmology, economics, politics, history and so on. But how else can I live in MY world unless I understand it all?

If a solution is not forthcoming to a problem, maybe the problem is with the problem. Maybe I am trying to answer the wrong questions. What do I do with MY world? The starting point isn't to understand and master it all, the starting point is to realize that I don't have a world. I have a body, mind and spirit, and that's it. My Soul (all of me) is not a world and does not have a world. I live in a world. The world I live in is not my own. I don't need to know how to justify and explain everything that is, I need to know how to be me in this world that is not my own.

God created me and I live in his greater creation. My life is about living wisely in HIS world by knowing Him and choosing how to live wisely in His world.

Psalms 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, (2) for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

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.

Blessed is good

When an idiom is familiar enough we don't pay much attention to what it means, we just figure out when to use it.

"Would you like some more tea?"

"No, I'm good."

'I'm good'? Saying that in London could come off quite oddly. Perhaps it is a statement of superiority: 'you can't improve upon my already good condition, so don't even bother'. Or maybe it is a sad confession of grammatical deprivation: 'uh, I always get confused, 'well', 'good', 'fine'… whatever, the shorter the better'.

But what does it mean: "I'm good"? It basically means (though I doubt it is consciously noted): "I'm blessed". The message Jesus told his disciples when he sat them down on the mountainside began with an emphatic declaration that the most unusual mix of people and circumstances were actually 'blessed'. The poor in spirit? They're good. Those who mourn? They're good. The meek? They're good…

In Greek the word makarios means well off, in a good state. It is not something that is done to someone, as in to bless them, as much as a description of how they are. Like eating fresh vegetables, you do not get a 'blessing' from God for eating them. God has made it such that eating wisely is in itself blessed (good).

So does that strip the beatitudes of their spiritual dimension? Poor in spirit, mourning, meek, starving for right, merciful, pure hearted, peacemaking, picked on for loyalty to right… are all these like vegetables, just laden with passive blessing? Ultimately, no. The blessed repetitions in Matthew 5:3-10 are bookended by FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. The details are unlocked further on, but essentially the 'blessed's/'good's are people who find their source of life transforming hope in God. When we effectively experience that we have the ultimate reason to say: it's fine, "I'm good."

Matthew 5:3-10

(3) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

   (4) "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

      (5) "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

        (6) "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

        (7) "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

      (8) "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

   (9) "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

(10)"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.