OLD GARY

Jesus accomplished the recociliation by his scarifice on the cross. The cross was the blood offering as a payment for our sin. We are presented to God with our sins forgiven and saved through the sacrifice and blood shed by Jesus.

RECONCILE Change completely. Jesus being reconciled as having made the sacrifice of himself for US. He will now be their to Save US as he is the ultimate sacrifice.He can now reconcile all things.

Jesus is the "Head" of the Church as it is the "Body". Jesus claims the Church as his- it is of him and follows as directed by the head which is Jesus and direct the Body. We as the Church (body) must honor and be led by the head (Jesus). Today respect seems to have reduced in the Church and fails to acknowledge that Jesus is the head of the Church and glory is to him.

Jesus as God is over all things. Jesus created the thrones,rulers,principaliies, authorities etc. They were created by him and for him. The things created whether of man or spritual are for Jesus and exist for him. All these created powers exist only to serve Jesus as God and Savior of man. In todays world the powers appear to exist only to be self serving and even forget the people they are to serve. The powers seem to have forgotten they owe everything to God. We can pray that reality will set in and the powers of man and the spiritual powers will wake-up and return to serve the creator. We have forgotten God in Government and its allies which must change or it will be changed by God.

Jersus as the firstborn over all creation is that he is "preeminent" or over all things. Jesus as the firsborn is as with God in Genesis that he created all things. Jesus was part of the creation of all things, all peoples, all leaders and all authority. Jesus as part of the Trinity since the beginning of earth is part of creation. His present role is the new covenant and the Savior to mankind after taking the form of man. He has been the beginning, the past and now is the future. The living God.

Is Jesus the image of God? Scripture verses state that Jesus is The Living God- God made visible as man. Jesus appeared to the Jews and gentiles and it was stated that he was God. The God of the Jews was a spiritual being only and seems only to have shown himself to Moses. Jesus says " Here I am the son of God and like my Father "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father". Seeing is believing! This is poweful but through being visible as man the resurection has very personal human meaning. Jesus was just like one of us in appearance so more believeable rather than just a Spirt. Today we must have faith based on the biblical teachings and revolations. The Bible attests to the risen Lord and we believe in the Living God.

Two qualities are redemption and Forgiveness In Greek it means buying back or freeing a slave. Jesus Paid the price for us with his life to allow us to be freed from Satan and sin. Significant in that we are Born Again and freed from our past to live in Christ.

Action verbs are ; Qualified Rescued Redeemed Forgiven Action is by God our Father Action on US Mankind the ones in Darkness Qualified by Christ in our union with Christ Rescued or Delivered by Salvation and being saved through Jesus Christ

Darkness is the realm of Satan and us without God who is "Light". Paul reminds the Colossians of their past in Darkness and now they have found the light through Jesus Christ. The Governing bodies of life can either be governed by the standards of man or striving to be Christlike and follow his teachings.

Paul prays for the Colossians and prays for; Knowing Gods will, Have spritual wisdom, To live a life worthy of Jesus, To bear fruit by doing good works, Grow in your knowledge and relationship with God, Gain strength through Gods power. It is hard to pinpoint the most or least important of these. It would seem to miss a step noted in the prayer would detract from being a fullfilled Christian. I made note of the emphasis in the text That we are saved by Faith BUT We are saved for Good Works. This point seperates many religions on topics of saved by Fath alone. I think a true Christian who is saved proceeds to be born again and it is reflected in a Christian life which is Good Works.

A carpenter is often a person who deals in exactness and making things fit. It was important to exact the best of his followers and show them the way to fit in to their new Christian walk. He would have interacted with customers and seen more of their human frailities and needs. I do wonder if this was needed as Jesus is the Son of God so would have these talents a part of his personal makeup.

Hello To everyone, Hope I am doing this intro OK as just joined the group. This is my first study with Joyful Heart. I am Gary, 68 and retired most of the time. I live in Sedalia MO "The Gateway to the Ozarks" and married for 46 years with two grown daughters. We travel some to Florida and Virginia to visit our children and their families. We attend local services when in the area. I am looking forward to the challenge of study and sharing with others.