English Standard Version
This passage is an incredible journey -- we start with the invisible God, and we end at the cross. It's remarkable that this is about one person, one incredible person who had every privilege in the universe and laid it all down -- the one who holds the universe together set down his life so that you might have life. Not just anyone -- but YOU. What Christ did is an individual act that would have been performed for you if you were the only person on the planet, such is the love of God.
I've heard it described this way before -- when we think of the invisible God, it's hard to know a God who is outside of time and space. It's like a character in a book trying to understand the author of a book -- there's simply no way to understand, unless the author writes himself or herself into the story so that the characters can communicate directly with the author.
This is what God does -- God enters into creation in Jesus Christ, and the same person who walked the dusty streets of Palestine, healing lepers and talking with children, is the same person who is the firstborn of all creation. We can say that it would have been easy to believe if we had been alive then, but the Pharisees couldn't figure out who Jesus was, and they were supposed to be experts! Even the disciples didn't seem to fully grasp it most of the time. Faith wasn't easy then, and it isn't easy now. But the disciples came to believe and grasp the wonder of God in Jesus Christ, and so they're trying to tell us, to tell you -- that the person who loves you enough to die for you is powerful enough to lead you through death and into eternal life.
Place your trust there. You won't be disappointed.
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