For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)
The good news of the gospel is that it pleased the Father that all the fullness of divinity should dwell in Jesus the Son, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
The good news of the gospel is that it pleased God to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth to Himself. When Jesus came, He announced that the kingdom of heaven, a.k.a, the kingdom of God, was now at hand — present on earth. All His works on earth were a demonstration of the authority and power of the kingdom, and He taught the disciples to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!”The good news of the gospel is that it pleased God to make peace — shalom, wholeness, oneness — through the violence of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. There the battle was fought and there the victory was won.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight — if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:21-23)The good news of the gospel is that it pleased God that those who were once alienated from Him, whose thoughts and works were against Him, should now be reconciled to Him in the flesh-and-blood body of Jesus. It pleased God that through Jesus’ death on the cross, we should be presented holy, blameless and above reproach before Him, now and at the last day.
The good news of the gospel is that it pleased God that we should participate in this reconciliation, not by the futility of human striving, but purely through faith in Jesus, in whom all the fullness of God dwells in human flesh. This is the “hope” of the gospel. In the Bible, hope is not about wishful thinking; it is not tentative or uncertain. It is about positive expectation, joyful anticipation.
The gospel of God’s pleasure presents us with this good news, this hope, this expectation: The wholeness of God’s shalom in the world — the reconciliation of heaven and earth, of God and humanity, through faith in King Jesus the Messiah.
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles
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