Colossians 1:18

Hey,
The rain has come and gone and now wonderful sunshine. The Lord has blessed our day with His wonderful creation. We had a great day at Lynn's yesterday as we helped with the nursery. We didn't get tons done, but helped with a few things. She took us shopping so Chuck could use a gift card that's probably over a year old; he now has a nice shirt for the winter.
Today's scripture is so full that I probably should spend days on it. I'll try to share all that's been revealed through my study. Colossians 1:18 :"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy."
The body/church is ALL believer's, not just the local church. When we trust Christ as Savior, we baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body (I Cor. 12:12-13). The word "head" in Greek means: source/origin as well as leader, ruler. Christ is the source of the church, His body, and the Leader.
When Paul uses the word "beginning" that tells us that Jesus Christ has priority in time, as far as the church is concerned, and beginning can be translated: originator. Because He is the originator, He supplies life through the Spirit. He gives gifts to people and then these people serve Him in the church.
He is the firstborn from the dead. Verse 15 uses this word first. It doesn't mean that Christ was the first person raised from the dead. But, He's the most important of all who have been raised from the dead. Without His resurrection there couldn't be any resurrection for others (us)
(1 Cor. 15:20).
Now for the theme of this portion: "so that in all things He might have the supremacy/preeminence." This phrase isn't used anywhere else in the New Testament. It's related to "firstborn" and magnifies the unique position of Jesus Christ. Col. 3:11: "Christ is all, and in all."
The false teachers in Colossae couldn't believe this and many can't today. I talked with my brother a couple of nights ago. He says that he believes the God of Abraham exists, but doesn't believe in Jesus Christ at all. He thinks that Buddha and Mohamed have as much claim to God as Christians. He uses the word Christians as those that are not Jewish.
I asked Him "what does God say about Jesus?" He couldn't answer me of course. I think he was also asking if knowing the God of Abraham would get him to heaven when he dies. When I tried to get him to clarify what he meant, he really couldn't, or wouldn't.
So, I'm praying for another opportunity to share His truth. My brother cut off the conversation when I shared some (very few) things that he didn't want to hear. God is great and I've been praying for my families salvation for 31 years and I know that He has heard. Now, I just need to be faithful and share when the opportunities are given to me.

Praying and sharing,
Sandy