“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 16, 2020. Read Colossians 2:6-15 and Psalm 113.
“In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
When my wife and I went to Haiti with medical mission teams, we got to see a form of transportation called a tap-tap. A tap-tap is a cross between a taxi and a bus. It’s usually either a pickup truck with a cap or an SUV of some sort that has been fitted with bench seats along each side of the back. Going from place place is simple. For a fee you hop in the back, and when you get to your destination, you “tap” or slap the outside of the truck so the driver knows to stop and let you off.
The amazing thing about a tap-tap is the number of people that fit inside. We rarely saw one with less than a dozen people crammed in, with bags or sticks or chickens tied to the outside. At some stops, it seemed like the stream of people getting off would never end. We only got to ride in a tap-tap one time, when our small bus broke down and couldn’t pick us up at the end of a clinic day. It was crowded, bumpy and dusty, but it got us back to the place we were staying.
It’s just as amazing to think that God can be stuffed into one human being. But “the fullness of deity,” every attribute and quality of God, took up residence in Jesus, a baby born in Bethlehem. Just when someone thought they had him figured out, more power and authority, more compassion and mercy, more grace and forgiveness would come pouring out of him. Jesus wasn’t just partly God. He wasn’t a part-time God. He wasn’t a scaled down version of God. He was the real deal. All things were created by him and for him. Angels were around when Jesus was around. He brought light to the darkness. He dismissed the demons. He brought the dead to life.
Paul wrote these words to remind Christians in Colossi that they didn’t have to look elsewhere for wisdom or advice. They would find everything they needed in Jesus. He had given them faith and life, and had a handle on their future. Part of our lives as Christians is unpacking all that divinity packed into the person of Jesus. You want to know God better? Get to know Jesus!
Thank you, Lord, for packing all that, all the fullness of the deity, into your son, my Savior, Jesus! Amen.
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