He Is

 

Hey, Cobblestone,

     He is… (from Colossians 1:15). Please hold that thought.

     Do you think it’s possible to know something so well that you no longer understand it? I do. Some things seem automatic, given, to the point of not bothering to understand how or why they work. Toss a small child into the air – what could possibly go wrong?

     Please be advised: Nothing is automatic.

     Go ahead, toss the small child. Toss her high enough to give her a thrill – but not high enough to bounce her head off the ceiling. Toss her straight up so she’ll come straight back – unless you have another intended receiver with advance knowledge of the play. There’s a reason – and one reason only – why things turn out well when they’re done right and poorly when they’re done wrong. Jesus is the one and only reason. He is. Hadn’t thought of that one? I’m not surprised; it slips away from me, too – more often than I care to confess.

     Look past the decaying Halloween displays, past the more up-to-date Christmas light shows, and every once in a while you’ll spot a little banner proclaiming, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” True, that – and so much more.

     For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell… (Colossians 1:19). Jesus is not only the reason for the season, but also the reason we have seasons, or any need for seasons at all. Without Jesus, the chair you’re sitting in disappears. The floor of your house won’t catch you because your house is not there. Neither is the earth in which your house was founded. The small child you tossed into the air is now lost in deep space.

     All the power that spoke all things out of nothing, established the orbit of every heavenly body, and makes your lungs able to pull oxygen from ordinary air – Jesus. Ever since there was something, there has never been nothing. And Jesus is the reason…

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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together (1:16-17). 

     And yet…

    All the fullness of God chose to make his appearance, like every human since the first two, through all the travail and humility and sloppiness of human birth. Joseph and Mary greeted all the fullness of God, laid him in a manger, and immediately had to figure out how to be a family of three in the day-to-day. All the fullness of God decided to take the long route: And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). All the fullness of God was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). All the fullness of God stood undaunted as the haughty Roman governor, looking straight into the eyes of Truth, spluttered, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). All the fullness of God – for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). All the fullness of God – not some portion thereof, not however much fits in an infant-sized package, not just whatever it took to do three years of ministry in Palestine… no, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in our Savior and King, and dwells at this moment, and dwells forever.

     Try to come up with one word to encapsulate the forgoing truth. I dare you. Amazing? Terrifying? Baffling? Try to do it with ten words. I double-dare you. You’ll need better words than I’ve ever heard spoken. Even Paul, the original writer, used twelve – and he was under direct inspiration from God.

     If we’ve lost the wonder of Christmas – and for the greatest part, I believe we have – maybe that’s because we’ve become too familiar, actually, with the wonder. Too many passing seasons. Too many ho-hum readings of the story. Too many distractions. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, since Paul sent that colossal letter to the Colossians? But I also believe the wonder is recoverable, and by simplifying rather than complicating, we can encounter this season – indeed, all seasons – like the children we truly are. If I were to choose, not one word or ten words, but two, I would circle back on these:

     He is… ( from Colossians 1:15, remember?)   

     He is the image of the invisible God

    He is… the firstborn of all creation

    He is… before all things

    He is… the head of the body, the church

    He is… the beginning

    He is… the firstborn from the dead

    He is… preeminent.

    And as if that weren’t enough, he’s coming again… suddenly! (See Revelation 22:20).

     If you and I were to be so bold – bold in the Lord, of course – as to simplify further from two words to one, we would certainly be left not with an ordinary word, but with an extraordinary name. Speak the name, Church, even before you see it written…

     Jesus.

 There-it-is... wonder, recovered.

 

Grace and Peace (because He is) and Merry Christmases,

 

John