God’s Unspeakable Gift!

For the past several mornings, I’ve been ruminating on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In this letter, Paul shouts the supremacy of Christ. But he is not yelling at the Colossian Christians; he is yelling to them.

Picture it like this: Paul is on a ship called the “H.M.S. Gospel,” and he sees a group of people who are taking to the life boats and launching them onto life’s sea. They have lost confidence that the Mast(er) of the ship will take them to their eternal reward, and they are putting their trust in their own efforts at “rule-keeping.” Though the lifeboats look attractive, they all are fatally flawed by a leak in the hull. Their passengers are unaware that no amount of good works could ever undo even the smallest of their evil deeds, and they will stand before God helpless on the day of judgment. So Paul is shouting to them the supremacy of Christ; he is throwing them a life buoy to bring them back safely onto H.M.S. (His Majesty’s Ship) Gospel.

Only faith in the Master and the mast (that is, the cross and Christ’s atoning death on it) will bring a life-saving verdict. A lifestyle of godliness characterized by good works is a sign that the doer has understood and appropriated the divine forgiveness that comes only as the supreme gift of God’s grace. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift!