Summary: - Col. 1:1-23 - Proteuoto - be first, hold the first place, to have pre-eminence, literally means having the first, highest, chief, and best place in all things. - a great battle is raging (Rom. 8:28-39, Luke 6:46-49) - seek Christ, embrace Christ, know Christ, and you have touched Him who is Life, and in Him resides all Truth, Values, Virtues, and Gifts in living color. Beauty has its meaning in the beauty of Christ, in whom is found all that makes us lovely and loveable. - biblical community is founded and found on the connection to that person - conversion is more than a change in direction; it's a change in connection - Shubh - to call for "repentance" - implies not viewing God from a distance, but entering into a relationship where God is command central of the human connection - major diseas of the church today is JDD (Jesus Deficit Disorder) - Testimony we are called to bear: 1. the center and circumference of the Christian life is none other than the person of Christ. 2. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from His teachings. 3. God's grand mission and eternal purpose in the earth and in heaven centers in Christ ... both the individual Christ (the Head) and the corporate Christ (the Body). This universe is moving towards one final goal - the fullness of Christ where He shall fill all things with himself. 4. being a follower of Jesus does not involve imitation so much as it does implantation and impartation. - what God the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to you and to me. He's our indwelling Presence, and we share in the life of Jesus' own relationship with the Father. - following Jesus means "trust and obey" (respond), and living by His indwelling life through the power of the Spirit. 5. the "Jesus of history" cannot be disconnected from the "Christ of faith". 6. it's possible to confuse "the cause" of Christ with the person of Christ 7. Jesus Christ was not a social activist nor a moral philosopher 8. it is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ Himself - the meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success 9. only Jesus can transfix and then transfigure the void at the heart of the church. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from His church - the Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It's a corporate journey. Knowing Christ and making Him known is not an individual prospect. Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth with a crash. 10. in a world which sings, "Oh, who is this Jesus?" and a church which sings, "Oh, let's all be like Jesus," who will sing with lungs of leather, "Oh, how we love Jesus"? - may God have a people on this earth who are a people of Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. A people who are consumed with God's eternal passion, which is to make His Son preeminent, supreme, and the head over all things visible and invisible. A people who have discovered the touch of the Almighty in the face of His glorious Son. - a people who wish to know only Christ and Him cruicified, and to let everything else fall by the wayside. A people who are laying hold of His depths, discovering His riches, touching His life, and receiving His love, and making HIM in all of His unfathomable glory known to others. - Jesus the Christ: - Christians don't follow Christianity; Christians follow Christ - Christians don't preach themselves; Christians proclaim Christ - Christians don't point people to core values; Christians point people to the cross - Christians don't preach about Christ; Christians preach Christ - He is our pursuit, our passion and our life
