As many of you know, each year Providence Women walks through a different study in Scripture. This year, we will study the book of Colossians when we gather each month for our women’s meeting. Last year, we journeyed through the book of Ecclesiastes. This book indirectly pointed us to the hope we have in Christ by laying a heavy backdrop of despair found in the world and reality around us.
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:11
Against that backdrop of despair, we could see the mounting hope for a Savior to come. Ecclesiastes encouraged us to live this one life well and enjoy the days that we have. What we saw implicitly in Ecclesiastes, we will see explicitly in the book of Colossians – that life in Christ is one that is full of hope and fruitfulness.
As I began to dive into the book of Colossians, right away I noticed the use of the word Christ when referring to Jesus. In the modern church, we often think of Christ almost as the last name of Jesus. First name, Jesus. Last name, Christ. Yet, all throughout the New Testament, the authors referenced Christ to mean so much more than a last name.
Christ means Messiah or Anointed One.
Throughout Scripture, the use of Christ when referring to Jesus was not as much about saying His name, rather than acknowledging who He is and what He has done for us. He is not just Jesus, a man. Rather, He is Christ, the promised Savior, the Messiah, the one who has delivered us from our sin.
So, as we read through Colossians this year, let us not just hear Paul say the name of Jesus, but let us hear the resounding declaration of our Savior and Deliverer who comes to offer us new life in Him.
May we surrender our lives to Christ, trusting that joy is found not in the desires of our flesh but in Him.