Colossians 1:15-20 — The Christ Hymn Over the last year or so I’ve been slowly making art for a board book on Colossians 1:15-20. Today I’m able to share the final piece of that project: the cover art for the entire book. Updates on getting this all into print will follow. Most of my visual […]
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Colossians 1:20b, ‘…making peace through the blood of His cross.’ Here’s the picture for the final two pages of my planned Colossians board book. With the art all finished up, it’s time to start setting type and then looking over publishing options. But first, a brief write up for today’s image. The ‘peace’ that Paul
Colossians 1:19-20a, ‘For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven…’ [This illustration is for pages 8-9 of the upcoming Colossians board book.] Two life-alteringly beautiful realities are bound up in these few words of the Apostle.
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Colossians 1:18b, ‘…He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the Dead.’ This is the fifth picture in the planned Colossians 1:15-20 board book. When Jesus walks out of the tomb, the New Creation has begun. But Jesus is not raised from the dead *into* the New Creation (as we are now in union to Him
Colossians 1:18 ‘He is the Head of the Body, the Church…’ Pic # 4 from the planned Colossians 1:15-20 board book. The Church—all those who have ever or will ever trust in Jesus as Lord, God, and Savior across all of time and space—is the Body of the crucified and risen Christ, and He is
Colossians 1:17, ‘And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ Two brief points: First >> Jesus Christ (precisely as the crucified and risen one), is *before* all things in at least 2 ways: 1) The slain and risen Son precedes all other realities in worth—He is beyond all things in
Here is the one thousandth and thirty-fourth picture in the verse picture series, which is also the third and fourth pictures planned for inclusion in the upcoming Colossians Board Book. This picture will span two pages and the associated text will be Colossians 1:16. ‘For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on
Colossians 1:15, ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, for by Him, all things were created…’ This is the artwork from the first two pages of a planned board-book based on Colossians 1:15-20. I’ve recited these verses over our son almost every night of his life as a way
Colossians 2:14, ‘He cancelled the record of debt that stood against us, with its legal demands; this He set aside, nailing it to the cross.’ ‘Nailing it to the cross.’ This is crucifixion language…Paul sees no tension whatsoever in affirming that Jesus Christ is the image of God, the Ruler of Creation, the Source and
Colossians 3:22-23, ‘Whatever you do, work from your [very] soul, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.’ [author’s translation] Though these words are written to 1st century bondservants, they remain applicable to any Christian who works under the authority of someone
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In Colossians 2:2-3, Paul seeks for the Colossians to be “united in love, even unto all the riches of full assurance of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God, [which is] Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” Paul labors for the Colossians to be united to
Colossians 1:15, ‘…πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως…’ (the Firstborn of all Creation). I won’t get into this one too much now for the sake of time….suffice it to say that, though the Son of God is eternal and uncreated, the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, is not eternal since His humanity is created. So, according to His humanity,
Colossians 3:1-3, ‘If, then, you were raised in Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; set your minds on the things above, not on the things of earth, for you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God…’ Ch.2 concludes with a
Colossians 2:23, ‘These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.’ What is the ‘indulgence of the flesh’? Certainly something like lust, illicit sexuality, drunkenness, and various forms of addiction come to mind.
Col 3:5-6 [8], ‘Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. […anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk…] On account of these the wrath of God is coming. The ‘therefore’ at the beginning of this passage refers back to 3:3, ‘you have
Ps 90:12, ‘…teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.’ Much of our culture is designed to prevent us from numbering our days, to prevent us from looking steadily at the absolute reality of our own mortality and the unshakable certainty of our own death. But this is
Ps. 52:8-9, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever…I will wait for your name, for it is good…” David as a tree in God’s house is an image for his trusting in the Lord. As in Ps. 1:3—and
Isaiah 50:4-6, “YHWH God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary…He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught…and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike,
Colossians 2:17, “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.” The translation I typically read from renders the last part of this verse, “…the *substance* belongs to Christ.” And that is accurate, it gets the point across. But while looking at this verse
Colossians 1:20, “…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” The same all things that were created in and through Christ as their source and ground, the same all things that exist for Christ as their telos (Col.1:16), and the
