Have you ever given much thought to how the ancient societies seemed to have so many gods? If you are a student in any way, even just a casual student of ancient times you will know of some of the names in the past of ‘gods’ that societies had.
Just for fun, let me remind you of some:
- Ancient Greece; Rome; Egypt; Babylonia; Aztec; India; China; (and a lot more) had gods all had quite developed ‘gods’ that were meant to manipulate the chaos of life; control the weather and crops; increase prosperity and fertility; and gain power over their enemies.
- Why would they have so many? And what were some of the characteristics of these gods?
- Because human traits are so widely varied; such as love, hate, jealousy, and anger. Their were ‘gods’ of every human emotion.
- They used ‘gods’ to gain some control over the chaos of life and try to make sense of what often became the random nature of life.
- And they needed ‘gods’ to gain control over enemies.
This coming Sunday I am beginning to lay out the first of four in what is often referred to as “Christology hymns” in the New Testament letters to the church. “Christology” is the official word to describe the theology of who Jesus really is. The earliest churches likely sang these as hymns in their worship. They are rich and deep in their wording to describe who Jesus really is. Bottom line, if you did not believe these truths about who Jesus is, then you cannot call yourself a Christian. This theology of Jesus is NOT negotiable. You can debate lots of things, but these truths are hard lines in the sand theologically. We are spending this whole academic year building the theology of the Bible as God’s Word of eternal truth for us, and now we are at the theology of “Who is Jesus?”
I’m excited to open this up with Colossians 1:15-22 this Sunday as the first of the Christology hymns. I beg you to read this slowly, carefully, and think through the words here. Taking just a bit more time, just read the entire book of Colossians. You can read it in about 15-20 minutes. But let the above focus verses sink in. This letter to this church was clearly telling us ‘this is who Jesus Christ is —- ‘the visible image of the invisible (True/Creator/Eternal/Cosmic) God!”
I can’t wait. See you Sunday.
