Have you ever been treated coldly by someone, only to later discover they'd been told something about you that simply wasn't true? It's a strange thing. Nothing about you changed, but everything about how they related to you did. And the moment they learned the truth, the whole relationship turned around.
What we believe about someone shapes how we live with them. That's true at work, in our families and in our friendships. And it's just as true when it comes to Jesus.
This week at One Church we began a new four-week series in Paul's letter to the Colossians, called Colossians: Christ is King. Linda Bailey opened the series with Colossians 1:15-23, a passage that paints one of the richest pictures of Jesus anywhere in the Bible. You can watch the full message in the video above, or listen to the audio version below.
A Brick Wall at Work
Linda began with a story from a job she once had. A new colleague named Matthew joined her team. They'd never met, had only one mutual friend on Facebook, and Linda did what she'd hope anyone would do for a newcomer: she welcomed him, showed him around and offered to help.
But every conversation felt like talking to a brick wall. Matthew barely responded, rarely looked her in the eye, and over the weeks it started to affect their work together.
A couple of weeks in, Linda found out why. The colleague who had left had warned Matthew before he arrived: "Linda Bailey does not want you on the team. You need to be really careful of who she is."
Once Linda knew, she sat down with Matthew and told him plainly that it wasn't true. She was glad he was there and wanted to work well with him. It took a little while for him to trust that she meant it, but their working relationship changed completely. When Matthew eventually moved on, he wrote her a lovely note about how much he'd enjoyed working together.
"Our beliefs determine our actions."
Matthew's behaviour was shaped by what he believed about Linda. And Linda's point was simple: our understanding of who Jesus is, who he thinks we are and how he wants us to live will totally change the way we live our lives.
A Small Church in a Shaky City
That's exactly why Paul wrote to the church in Colossae. He hadn't planted this church himself, but he'd heard about it through the people who had, and he wanted these believers to have a strong foundation in who Jesus truly is. He knew that what they believed about Jesus would shape both their relationship with God and their relationships with one another.
Colossae had once been a thriving city on a trade route, probably at its peak around 500 BC. By the time Paul wrote, it was smaller and less significant, and not long after this letter a huge earthquake struck the region. Colossae wasn't considered important enough to rebuild. Yet there was a community of Jesus followers there, and Paul cared enough to write to them.
The religious world around them was crowded. Linda drew on English theologian N.T. Wright to describe how each city and town had its own gods and goddesses. People offered sacrifices to keep the gods happy and get what they needed. If things went wrong, the natural question was: who isn't worshipping properly? In that world, following Jesus instead of the local god made you an easy target for blame.
The Problem with the "Enlightened Few"
On top of that, a way of thinking we now call Gnosticism was beginning to take hold. Linda was quick to say she's no expert, but the basic idea was that the physical world was bad, broken and evil. Bodies, creation, anything you could see or touch, was inferior. The goal was to rise above it all to a higher spiritual realm, and only a special, enlightened few could truly get there.
N.T. Wright puts it this way:
"The Gnostics believed like Plato that the material world was an inferior and dark place, evil in its very existence, but that within this world could be found certain people who were meant for something else."
Linda compared it to medieval European artists trying to draw elephants. They'd never seen one. They'd only heard descriptions and read accounts. So they did their best, and the results were... creative. Some got the trunk roughly right, but none of them managed the ears. The Gnostics felt the same way about everyone else's understanding of God: you might get a rough idea, but unless you were one of the enlightened, you'd never really see the whole picture.
Into that world, Paul writes Colossians 1:15-23: "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created... He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Linda drew out three things from the passage.
1. Jesus Reveals God to all
The first thing that comes through clearly is that Jesus reveals God to everyone. Not just the enlightened. Not a special few. Not those who can climb to some spiritual height.
Linda pointed to one small word that Paul keeps repeating: all. The firstborn over all creation. In him all things were created. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things.
"Jesus did not come for the chosen. Jesus did not come for the elect... No, Jesus came so that all may have access to God."
Paul makes the same point in Galatians 3: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Linda also quoted Marty Solomon, who observes that Paul uses the most inclusive language possible to describe the incarnation and the reconciliation of all things, doing everything he can to avoid the kind of thinking that splits the world into spiritual and physical.
So often, Linda said, we compare ourselves to others and come up short. I'm not good enough. I don't know enough. I haven't been a Christian as long. I don't know the words to the songs. I can't quote the Bible like they can. But that's not the comparison Jesus makes. There is no hierarchy in our faith. No one is greater than anyone else. All have access to God through Jesus.
2. Jesus Redeems us through his Blood
The second thing Linda highlighted is that Jesus redeems all through his blood. God was pleased "through him to reconcile to himself all things... by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." Once we were alienated from God, but now he has reconciled us "by Christ's physical body through death."
Linda noted something striking here. The very thing the Gnostics thought was evil, the physical world, is exactly what God used to bring salvation: the physical body of Jesus.
When people believe their bodies and the physical world are worthless, Linda said they tend to go one of two ways. Some decide it doesn't matter what they do: eat what you like, treat your body and other people's bodies however you like, because it's all bad anyway. Others go the opposite direction and try to control and restrict everything, piling up rules about food and behaviour to try to reach a higher spiritual plane.
Paul isn't against spiritual disciplines. Rules and good habits can be helpful. But they are not what saves us. Linda quoted commentator David E. Garland:
"God's plan from before creation was to reconcile all things through Christ and that design has not been revised. The Colossians do not need a supplemental salvation plan and cannot attain this peace and reconciliation through heavenly visions or rigorous asceticism."
We need to be careful, Linda warned, not to slip into thinking our salvation depends on how good we are, what we give, what we do or what we say. Our salvation is purely through Jesus.
3. Jesus is King Today
The third thing is that Jesus is King and Lord right now. Verse 18 says he is "the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."
Linda explained that "firstborn" here isn't mainly about birth order. It's a title of honour and authority, a position of glory. Jesus is the one who is worthy, as the congregation had just sung in worship.
"You don't have to wait until heaven for Jesus to be the King and Saviour and ruler of your life today."
You don't need to be able to recite half the Bible. You don't need to master every spiritual discipline. You don't need to wait until you're perfect. Jesus wants to be part of your life now, if you choose to give him that place of honour.
Marty Solomon again:
"The idea that we are spirits trapped in prisons of flesh, walking in a world that is doomed to destruction, just waiting for some glad morning when this life is over... is not congruent with the teachings of Jesus, let alone Paul and the New Testament. It smells more of Plato than it does of the Bible. The kingdom of God is here now, deeply engaged with this world of flesh and blood, soil and spirit."
Wherever you are on the Journey
Linda finished by speaking to people at different points.
If you're still not sure about Jesus, or about the Bible, she said she was glad you were there and encouraged you to keep asking questions and keep exploring. One Church will be running Alpha after Easter next year, a great space to explore those questions over time.
If you've realised that you do believe these things, that Jesus is for you, that you're redeemed through his death and that you want him in your life, you can simply talk to God like you'd talk to a close friend: "Jesus, come into my life. I want to follow you. Show me how." And then talk to someone: the person who brought you, the person beside you, or anyone at One Church.
And if you've been following Jesus for years and thought, "Nice chat, Linda, I've read Colossians before," she had three questions, the same ones she'd been asking herself that week:
If you believe Jesus reveals God to all people, how's your evangelism going? Are you starting conversations about Jesus and showing him to friends, colleagues and family through your words, actions and generosity?
If you believe you're saved only through what Jesus has done, how's your forgiveness going? Are you bringing your failures to him again and again and actually receiving his forgiveness? And are you forgiving others as he has forgiven you?
If you believe Jesus is King and Lord, are you showing it? If someone looked at your thoughts, your actions, your spending and the way you speak to people, would they see that Jesus is King of your life?
Just as Matthew's beliefs about Linda showed up in how he treated her, our beliefs about Jesus show up in our actions, our attitudes and our reactions.
One way to Live it out this Week
Pick one of Linda's three questions, the one that stings a little, and sit with it each morning this week. If it's evangelism, think of one person in your life who doesn't yet know Jesus is for them, and look for one small way to show or tell them. If it's forgiveness, name one thing you keep carrying and bring it to Jesus each day. If it's about Jesus being King, choose one area of your life, your money, your words or your time, and ask what it would look like for him to rule there this week.
A prayer for your Week
Lord Jesus, thank you that you show us what God is like,
not just to a special few, but to all of us.
Thank you that we are made right with God through your death on the cross,
not through anything we've earned.
Be King of our lives today, not someday.
Holy Spirit, show us where our actions don't yet match what we believe,
and help us live it out in everything we do.
Amen.
Personal Reflection
What have you believed about God, or about yourself, that has shaped how you live, for better or worse?
Where do you tend to compare yourself with other Christians and feel like you don't measure up?
Of Linda's three questions (evangelism, forgiveness, showing Jesus is King), which one do you most need to hear this week, and why?
Small Group Discussion
Read Colossians 1:15-20 aloud and count how many times the word "all" appears. What stands out to you about Paul repeating it so often?
Linda's story about Matthew showed how a false belief can shape a whole relationship. Have you ever had a wrong belief about God that shaped how you related to him? What changed it?
Gnosticism said only an "enlightened few" could really know God. Where do you see versions of that idea today, in church or outside it?
"There is no hierarchy in our faith." Do you find that easy to believe? When have you felt like a second-class Christian, or treated someone else like one?
Linda described two opposite reactions to seeing the body as worthless: "do whatever you like" or "control everything with rules". Which way do you lean, and how does it show up in your life?
Many of us believe in our heads that we're forgiven but struggle to receive it. Why do you think that is? What helps you actually accept forgiveness?
What would it look like, practically, for Jesus to be King of your life today rather than someday? Which area of your life is hardest to hand over?
Share one of Linda's three questions that you want to work on this week, then pray for one another.