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The Timeless Lord!

And he is before all things
COLOSSIANS 1:17a

The BBC television programme, Dr Who, centres around a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids called "time lords", of which the series’ main character, the Doctor, is a member. The Doctor, like all other "time lords" is able to have a non-linear perception of time, which allows him to see everything that was, is, or could be at the same time. He is able to travel to different time period with his technologically advanced phone box which allows him to manipulate time lines.


The popularity of this fictional television series points to a deep yearning in all of us for someone who can see all of time and be inside of it. We want someone who not merely works for his selfish ends but  ultimately for our benefit. Someone who can defeat the evil enemies that lurks inside this temporal universe. In Dr Who, these enemies take the form of the fictional extra-terrestrial mutants known as the Daleks.

The good news is that we don't need to wish for that. The Bible says in Jesus we do indeed have a real Time Lord, far more superior than the one we meet in the BBC series. In the verse above, the Apostle Paul reminds the young church  at Colossae, that Jesus is before all things. The word before here means "prior to a point in time". So what exactly is Paul saying to us when he says Jesus is "before all things"?

The first truth he wants us know plainly is that Jesus, the Eternal Son of God is older than everyone! That baby born in Bethlehem is in fact ancient! Jesus is the oldest person in all of existence because as the Eternal Son of God, who lived in Nazareth, he was in fact there at the very birth of time! Jesus is not like Doctor Who claims to be a "time lord" and yet is in fact himself a prisoner of time. As the Eternal Son of God, Jesus exists outside our temporal universe, and yet interacts within it to the point that He has lived as man inside it!

Notice the Bible says Jesus "is". It does not say Jesus was! It speaks in the present tense to remind us that  the oldest man whoever lived continues to live and will never be outlived. Jesus has been, he is and will always live before all ages. We worship a living God not dead idols or even fictional characters. Our great Saviour Jesus is the ultimate cosmic constant! This truth is wonderfully expressed by Jesus who said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation. 22:13). 

The second truth we need to remember is that Jesus is before all things not just some things. The Eternal Son of God is not part of any creation in time. Jesus is the uncreated Creator on which all that is in time depends. Jesus is ontologically prior. There is nothing that I can think of that is not created by Jesus!  If we started listing all the things  the Eternal Son of God has created starting with the letter A, we would be here all day. Jesus created the air, animals of every kind, airplanes, ante and ant eaters, angels, apes, apples, aprons, artists, astronauts, athletes, avocado and all other fruits. The list is endless!

The final truth which Paul wants us to remember t follows from the first two : Jesus is before all things put together. There are only two categories - Jesus and everything else. The Eternal Son of God is in the category all by himself. He is not some sort of extension of everything else, his quality is fundamentally different from all that  is. Dr Who is a product of all that exists.

So we see that in those few words by the Apostle Paul we have a declaration of Jesus' three dimensional supremacy : time, quantity and quality.Why do we need to know all this?  Perseverance! Unless we have a good handle on the supremacy of Jesus over time we will grow weary and give up in our walk with him. We will doubt whether Jesus knows what has happened to us in the past or will happen to us tomorrow. Unless we have a good handle on the supremacy of Jesus over space, then will easily give up when evil forces press in. We will wonder how we can withstand the trials of life.

So we must thank God for the letter of Paul to the church at Colossae because we, like them, need to be constantly reminded that Jesus is indeed our Ultimate Time Lord!

 Series Posts :
Lessons from Colossae : Jesus is our God (1:15a) 
Lessons from Colossae : Jesus is our Head (1:15b)  
Lessons from Colossae : Jesus is our Creator (1:16)

Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2016
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