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Daily Bible - October 10

A devotional by Grace To You for reading on October 10th

Reading for Today:

Jeremiah 5:1 Chapter 5 1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. –6:30
Psalms 117:1-2 Chapter 117 1 O praise Jehovah, all ye nations; Laud him, all ye peoples. 2 For his lovingkindness is great toward us; And the truth of Jehovah `endureth' for ever. Praise ye Jehovah. Psalm 118
Proverbs 27:3-4 3 A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool's vexation is heavier than they both. 4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; But who is able to stand before jealousy?
Colossians 1:1-29 Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ `that are' at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints, 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as `it doth' in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard `it', do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; 14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: 15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; 17 and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it was the good pleasure `of the Father' that in him should all the fulness dwell; 20 and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, `I say', whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. 21 And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 22 yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: 23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church; 25 whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God, 26 `even' the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints, 27 to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ; 29 whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Notes:

Jeremiah 5:10 not the LORD’s. The people, depicted as vine branches to be destroyed (11:16, 17), did not genuinely know the Lord in a saving relationship, but had forsaken Him and given allegiance to other gods. The description of having eyes but not seeing and ears but not hearing (v. 21) is used by Isaiah (6:9) and Jesus Christ (Matt. 13:13) for such false professors as these branches. Jesus also referred to false branches which were burned ( John 15:2 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every `branch' that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. , 6).

Jeremiah 6:14 ‘Peace, peace!’ Wicked leaders among the prophets and priests (v. 13) proclaimed peace falsely and gave weak and brief comfort. They provided no true healing from the spiritual wound, not having discernment to deal with the sin and its effects (v. 15). The need was to return to obedience (v. 16).

Colossians 1:12 qualified us. The Greek word means “to make sufficient,” “to empower,” or “to authorize.” God qualifies us only through the finished work of the Savior. Apart from God’s grace through Jesus Christ, all people would be qualified only to receive His wrath. inheritance. Literally, “for the portion of the lot.” Each believer will receive his own individual portion of the total divine inheritance, an allusion to the partitioning of Israel’s inheritance in Canaan (Num. 26:52–56; 33:51–54; Josh. 14:1, 2). in the light. Scripture represents “light” intellectually as divine truth (Ps. 119:130) and morally as divine purity (Eph. 5:8–14; 1 John 1:5 5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ). The saints’ inheritance exists in the spiritual realm of truth and purity where God Himself dwells (1 Tim. 6:16). Light, then, is a synonym for God’s kingdom.

Colossians 1:19 all the fullness. A term likely used by those in the Colossian heresy to refer to divine powers and attributes they believed were divided among various emanations. Paul countered that by asserting that the fullness of Deity—all the divine powers and attributes—was not spread out among created beings but completely dwelt in Christ alone.

Colossians 1:27 Gentiles:…Christ in you. The Old Testament predicted the coming of the Messiah and that the Gentiles would partake of salvation (Is. 42:6; 45:21, 22; 49:6; 52:10; 60:1–3; Pss. 22:27; 65:5; 98:2, 3), but it did not reveal that the Messiah would actually live in each member of His redeemed church, made up mostly of Gentiles. That believers, both Jew and Gentile, now possess the surpassing riches of the indwelling Christ is the glorious revealed mystery. the hope of glory. The indwelling Spirit of Christ is the guarantee to each believer of future glory.

DAY 10: How does Colossians 1:15 15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; , 16 define Christ as God?

The Greek word for “image” means “copy” or “likeness.” Jesus Christ is the perfect image—the exact likeness—of God and is in the very form of God (Phil. 2:6; John 1:14 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. ; 14:9) and has been so from all eternity. By describing Jesus in this manner, Paul emphasizes that He is both the representation and manifestation of God. Thus, He is fully God in every way (2:9; John 8:58 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am. ; 10:30–33; Heb. 1:8). “The firstborn over all creation.” The Greek word for “firstborn” can refer to one who was born first chronologically, but most often refers to preeminence in position or rank (Heb. 1:6; Rom. 8:29). In both Greek and Jewish culture, the firstborn was the ranking son who had received the right of inheritance from his father, whether he was born first or not. It is used of Israel who, not being the first nation, was however the preeminent nation (Ex. 4:22; Jer. 31:9). Firstborn in this context clearly means highest in rank, not first created (Ps. 89:27; Rev. 1:5) for several reasons:

Christ cannot be both “first begotten” and “only begotten” ( John 1:14 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. , 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9 9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. );

when the “firstborn” is one of a class, the class is in the plural form (v. 18; Rom. 8:29), but “creation,” the class here, is in a singular form;

if Paul was teaching that Christ was a created being, he was agreeing with the heresy he was writing to refute; and

it is impossible for Christ to be both created and the Creator of everything (v. 16). Thus Jesus is the firstborn in the sense that He has the preeminence (v. 18) and possesses the right of inheritance “over all creation” (Heb. 1:2; Rev. 5:1–7,13). He existed before the creation and is exalted in rank above it.

The false teachers had incorporated into their heresy the worship of angels, including the lie that Jesus was one of them, merely a spirit created by God and inferior to Him. Paul rejected that and made it clear that angels, whatever their rank, whether holy or fallen, are mere creatures, and their Creator is none other than the preeminent One, the Lord Savior, Jesus Christ (v. 16). The purpose of His catalog of angelic ranks is to show the immeasurable superiority of Christ over any being the false teachers might suggest.

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