Exploring God
Astronomy is an interesting discipline. Extremely smart people look through telescopes to see objects in space, to watch and observe the activity of those objects, and to discern how our universe works.
But, for that knowledge to be gleaned, astronomers must look and look again and look some more. They are constantly observing to see the nuances and changes of what they see.
To know God better, we must be willing to look intently at God to learn more about who He is and what He does. Fortunately, if we are willing to look that closely at God, He is willing to show Himself to us. Though God has revealed Himself in many ways, He reveals Himself most clearly through the Son, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:15-20 gives a powerful description of who Jesus is. Verse 15 starts off this way: “The Son is the image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15, NIV). In other words, when you are looking at Jesus, you are looking at God. If you want to know what God is like, watch Jesus. What would God do? See what Jesus did. What does God think about a certain situation? Look at what Jesus thought about similar situations. Want to explore God? Get to know Jesus more.
This passage goes on to describe some of who Jesus is. First, He is the Creator. “For in 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 have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16, NIV).
Everything that we see around us has been created by Jesus. He was present at creation. And, He was active in creation. Through Him, all of creation came to be. And notice, not only was everything created through Him, it was also created for Him. All of creation exists to bring glory to the One who made it. The world around you is for God’s glory. Your life was created for His glory.
Second, Jesus is the Reconciler. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20, NIV).
The relationship that was severed between us and God when we chose to rebel against Him by sinning can be restored through what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross. Our relationship with God can be reconciled through Jesus.
In this passage, we see that when we are looking at Jesus, we are looking at God. By exploring who Jesus is, we know more of who God is. We discover that God is the Creator because that is what Jesus did. And, we discover that God wants our broken relationship with Him restored so Jesus died on the cross to be the reconciler. Do you want to know God? Then, know Jesus.