There is a
scripture passage in Colossians 3:11 which says that “Christ is all, and in all.”
Colossians 3:9-11 (NKJV)
9 Do not lie to one another,
since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put
on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who
created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised
nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and
in all.
The Greek word
for ‘all’ is pä's. Here is a definition of pä's from Vines Expository Bible Dictionary
which states this: “all radically means "all." Used
without the article it means "every," every kind or variety…"every
building," "every family," and "every house;" or it may
signify "the highest degree," Used with the article, it means the
whole of one object. In the plural it signifies "the totality of the
persons or things referred to." Used without a noun it virtually becomes a
pronoun, meaning "everyone" or "anyone." In the plural with
a noun it means "all.””
It seems
like such a small word to draw such attention, but it is significant because it
speaks of the totality of the reign of Christ over “all” things.
John
1:1-3 (GWT)
1
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 He was already with God in the beginning.
3
Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made
without him.
In a fallen
world it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Christ Jesus is the “Word” by
which everything exists. Satan has
sought to corrupt God’s creation from the very beginning by bringing doubt into
the equation of the “ALL” of creation. Ostensibly
Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden that God didn’t really mean what He said,
and that we as humans are so inferior to God that we had somehow got it wrong,
and we can come up with an explanation for the “ALL” of creation by utilizing our
intellect and our logic.
Genesis 3:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said,
‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the
trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the
midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch
it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5
For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of
its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
John
1:11-14 (NKJV)
11
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Greek
word in the above passage for ‘dwelt’ is skā-no'-ō,
which means "to pitch a tent", or "to tabernacle," it is
translated "dwelt." The tabernacle
or tent was a physical representation of what the spiritual tabernacle is
to become, (literally our bodies). And the "Word" (Christ) would come and pitch His tent over us that we may abide with
Him in the safety of His tent forever. We can
trust in and rely upon the one who is the Chief Shepherd who owns the cattle on
a thousand hills.
Psalm
50:9-12 (CEB)
9
I won’t accept bulls from your house
or goats from your corrals
10 because every forest animal already
belongs to me,
as do the cattle on a thousand hills.
11
I know every mountain bird;
even the insects in the fields are mine.
12
Even if I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you
because the whole world and everything in
it already belong to me.
It is tough
to argue with a statement like that! Christ
has stated that He not only created the whole world but everything in it, and
everything belongs to Him! When I stated
the passage above Colossians 3:11
that Christ is all, and in all, it is not for the benefit of reminding God of
His responsibilities that He needs to Man up and start taking charge of the
world again. No, it is more to remind us
that He desires to pitch His tent over us, to adopt us as His family, to put on
the family ring on our finger, and for us to wear His best robes. This identifies us as being part of His
family.
The
tabernacle was only a symbol of what is to come, that is Christ dwelling (pitching his tent) or living within you.
Ephesians
3:14-19 (NKJV)
14
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He
would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and
depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Christ is
all, and in all! Not just figuratively,
but literally. He made the earth and
everything in it. We are the ones which
have needed to come to the understanding that God loves us through His Son
Jesus Christ. We are also the ones who
have not realized the great power in Him that was given to us to be able to
stand in the knowledge and passion of Christ.
The word “under-standing”
is a legal term at it's root meaning which literally means to "to stand -under" or to "comprehend one's standing". As it says in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God.” Another word for Right in this passage is the word Authority. God gave us the right (authority or standing) to boldly stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest, and speak in
His name to declare the purposes of God.
As family we are now co-heirs with Jesus which also gives us the authority as
family to have standing to reign in
Christ.
We have a
high calling and purpose which is to tell everyone we now know, or whom will
come to know, that God Loves Us all, and He wants us to come home and receive
His most precious gift, His Son Christ Jesus who imparts LIFE freely.
Colossians
1:15-17 (NIV)
15
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
Jesus Christ
is all, and in all!
God is good
all the time―all the time God is good!
Stephen
Barnett
You Are Mighty
Words and Music by: Craig Musseau
You are mighty, You are Holy
You are awesome in
Your power
You have risen, You
have conquered
You have beaten the
power of death
Chorus:
Alleluia, we will rejoice
Alleluia, we will
rejoice
Copyright ©
1989 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright
secured.
The Lyrics above are copyrighted by the respective artist(s) and are demonstrated here for educational purposes only and not for profit.
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