For by him (Jesus) all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Colossians 1.16
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1.3
God saw everything that he had made and it was very good.
Genesis 1.31
Imagine for a moment, if it is even possible to begin to do such a thing, the scene in heaven as creation began. The Father, the Son and the Spirit in perfect harmony planning and putting into effect all things. Seeing all that they, in the Unity of the Trinity, had made and declaring it very good.
Such a pause for thought should humble us and cause us to think carefully about the world in which we live. We should surely be humbled as we see the mess that we as sinners have produced in the world but at the same time we should look at the world and see Jesus for it is his creation in every part.
At the level of the beautiful natural world this verse from an old hymn sums it up.
Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green;
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen:
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,
Flow’rs with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.
It may sound a little sentimental to our modern ears but is there not a truth for us here that in the light of the scriptures quoted above, we should see Jesus everywhere?
Then there is a further challenge in that he created ‘thrones, powers, rulers and authorities’ and therefore we need to look for and see Jesus in that area as well. Again deeply flawed, and unless seen in the light of them being his creation, frightening. So many examples – Burma, North Korea, China, Iran……and at some level every power and authority in the world including our own in the UK. But as we look at such, we need to lift our eyes to Jesus who created all things.
In doing so we must seek to be more faithful image bearers, as we touched on yesterday, so that others who surely find it impossible to see Jesus in much of our broken world might see him in us, those whom he has brought into the kingdom of the Son he loves 1.13.
We are called to lights in a dark world and we will only do that as we reflect the light of the one who has done everything for us. The chief way in which we do that is by fixing our eyes on Jesus remembering that all is his and pointing all to him.
May God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit enable us so to do to his glory.