For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:9-10
Do you ever read a verse or two and then ten seconds later find yourself thinking, “Wait. Whoa. What was that?!”
Sometimes we can read without actually reading, just like we can hear without listening.
A few months ago I had a Whoa Moment as I read through the book of Colossians. Chapter 2 tells us that the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form – that’s Jesus. In the very same sentence we’re told that we have been given fullness in Christ.
Every single ounce of the Deity rests in Jesus and we – you and I – have been placed, given fullness, in Christ. We are in Him! But wait a minute because it gets even better. Chapter 2 follows the promise found in Chapter 1: We are in Him but He is also in us.
We are never, ever alone.
Time and time again I come back to seven words found in Colossians 1 — Christ in you, the hope of glory. Maybe it’s the beauty of it all or perhaps I’m caught up in wonder I can’t explain, but I think at its deepest level my heart is tied to this verse for one reason:
Christ is with us and so we have a reason to hope.
He walks with us and so we can rest in Him.
He extends grace and so we can accept the full measure of joy.
He came humble and small and so we can celebrate our own smallness, counting it as a gift.
There’s so much in this world that is spinning ‘round and when we get gut-level honest our plates are too full, our minds cluttered, our hearts wrung thin. And yet there He is. Right in the chaos, in the middle of the muck, in the midst of the change.
He is with us – in us. Never far, always right at hand.
We are never without a reason to hope because in all things and at all times, Hope is in us and with us.
