“He is before all things…”
Colossians 1:17a
How easy to think of God as the Creator in the Old Testament and Jesus as the Son of God who showed up in the New Testament.
But Jesus was fully present at Creation. He was “before all things…” Present and active in the creation process, He was part of the plural Elohim (translated God) in Genesis 1:1.
The birth of Jesus on Earth was not the beginning of Jesus. He existed before time—He is infinite!
And the death of Jesus on Earth was not the end of Jesus. He made the ultimate sacrifice and then defeated death by coming back to life!
Fully man and fully God, He uniquely satisfied the righteous requirements of the law, making our redemption possible.
Man sinned, so man must pay the price.
Only God is perfect and a perfect sacrifice was needed for the once-and-for-all sacrifice.
Only Jesus is the God-Man – fully God and fully human.
Today is Easter Sunday! Individually and collectively, we are celebrating and proclaiming: 
This Easter is most certainly different from every other Easter you and I have ever celebrated. No patent leather shoes for our little girls or bow ties on our boys. No large family gathering with Easter ham and sweet potatoes. No Easter egg hunts for all the neighborhood kids. No Sunday worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
But the reason we celebrate remains the same: Indeed, He has! That tomb is empty! There were no bones found within!
The way we celebrate may be different, but the ONE and the REASON remains unchanged! We celebrate the One who was “before all things” — our infinite Jesus who made the ultimate sacrifice for us!
The rest of Colossians 1:17 says this:
“…and in him all things hold together.”
Let those words sink down deep, my friend. Whether these uncertain times find you suffering or only inconvenienced, whether they find you facing financial or medical struggles, relational or vocational hardships, we know — and we can declare — it is Jesus who holds us together! I pray He is holding you and your family together today!
Thanks to Bill Gaither, we can sing these beautiful words of worship every Easter and especially this Easter:
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives…
Sister friends, because He lives, we can face tomorrow.
And we can also face today.
Our Savior is ALIVE. He has RISEN! We may not know what tomorrow — or even today — brings. But we know the One who does … and if He can conquer death, He can handle anything this life throws at us!
Have a worshipful (albeit different) Easter, as you celebrate our infinite Jesus who made the ultimate sacrifice. He lives!
We’re less than half way through April …
we invite you to join us for the remaining weeks
as we write and study God’s Word with
Write The Word: Character Traits of God.
