A Meditation on Col 1:19-20
‘For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’
Colossians 1:19-20
The truth of the Gospel is so breathtakingly beautiful that it defies belief—a holy mystery, yet undeniably real, proven by the presence of Christ within us. This truth is found in the incarnation and reconciliation brought by Jesus. God delighted in having His fullness reside in a humble, penniless preacher from Nazareth. The wandering Galilean, who proclaimed the kingdom of God, reflecting the very heart and values of the Father, is the God-Man.
So, what does God look like?
God looks like Jesus, who embodies divine love and justice in ways that challenge every preconceived notion of power and authority. He looks like the one who moves toward the brokenhearted, who touches lepers and welcomes outcasts, offering healing where society only offers rejection.
God looks like the one who weeps at the grave of His friend, fully entering into human sorrow, yet who also stands at that same grave and calls the dead to life.
He is the one who hungers in the wilderness, who bleeds on the cross—real flesh and blood, fully human—yet also the one who multiplies loaves and fishes to feed thousands, walks on water, and delivers the final blow to death itself.
The incarnation is not a half-hearted experiment but a profound commitment of God to be with us fully. In Jesus, God enters into our suffering, lives as one of us, and dies for us, revealing a divine commitment to share in our humanity and to invite us into His divine life. This vision of God, revealed in Jesus, is not just a theological assertion but a lived reality that has challenged and transformed countless lives.
This image of God lays down the gauntlet and issues a profound challenge to every competing vision of God. It challenges the gods of power and domination, the gods who rule by fear and force, who demand sacrifices but offer nothing in return.
In Jesus, we see a God who rules through sacrificial love, who conquers not by killing His enemies but by dying for them. This God doesn't demand that we climb to heaven; instead, He descends to us, taking on our humanity, our pain, our death, so that we might share in His life.
This radical vision of God, revealed in Jesus, overturns all others. It stands against any view of God as distant, wrathful, or indifferent. It challenges the idea that God is aligned with the powerful at the expense of the weak. Instead, it shows us a God who sides with the oppressed, who lifts up the lowly, and who defeats evil not with violence but with self-giving love. This image of God, the God-Man who suffers and redeems, is the true vision of divinity, a vision that heals, restores, renews, and brings peace to everything it touches.
In Jesus, God’s true nature is revealed—not just as a distant deity but as the One who enters into our world, our suffering, and our story. There is nothing and no one beyond the reach of the Father’s embrace, an embrace revealed through Jesus.
This incarnation and reconciliation didn’t come cheaply—it cost nothing less than the blood of God enfleshed.
Some might find it scandalous to believe that God would die at the hands of human sin and corrupt powers, but that’s the very heart of the Gospel.
When God wields His power through Jesus, it’s not through force but through self-giving sacrifice. In that sacrifice, God defeats sin and death, revealing His true power—a love that redeems, heals, and transforms all it touches.
- Swales, 2024
Photo- Swales, Adel Parish Church
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