For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:20
"... in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell..."
Through the human person of Jesus, God was able to show us God's love, to show us how to love. In I John 4:19, we read "We love because he first loved us." Now, what can that mean? James Mackey, in "Jesus, the Man and the Myth" writes that we humans need to "first feel the grace of some human presence, feel forgiven, accepted, served [before we can] then feel all life and existence as grace, and then feel inspired to be gracious to others. [Most of us] can only sense ourselves and our world valued and cherished by God when we feel valued and cherished by others." So it is through Jesus' love for us that we can come to know, appreciate, be "reconciled to" the immense love God has for us. Jesus was willing to die on the cross for this love. In Jesus' death, we can know God suffers. We can know God walks with us in our suffering, weeps with us in our times of trouble. In Jesus' death we can know God understands what we go through. And in Jesus' resurrection, God tells us that God is always with us, that life with God begins right now, and is infinite and never-ending. Amen to that!
Patti Sachs
