A prayer of worship

I must admit, I don’t worship nearly enough as I should when I read the Bible. But this time, I couldn’t help myself.

Lord, as I look at this passage, I can’t help but worship you.

Jesus, you are the image of the invisible God. In you, we see Him who is invisible.

Jesus, you are the firstborn, the one who is preeminent over all creation. Why preeminent?

Because you are their creator. You created all things. All things! Visible and invisible. In heaven and on earth. Thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities, all things! Created through you! And created for you!

You were before all things! And in you, all things hold together!

You are the head of the church.

You are the beginning.

You are the firstborn, preeminent among all those who rose from the dead, because you alone never died again. You alone received a resurrection body upon rising from the grave.

More, all the fullness of the Father was pleased to dwell in you.

And through you, the Father reconciles all things through the blood you shed on  the cross. And by your death, you reconciled me to yourself, in order to present me holy, blameless, and above reproach before the Father.

You are the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to the saints. And now you dwell in us. You are the hope of glory.

In you, Jesus, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and I…we have been completely filled in you.

You are the head of all rule and authority.

In you, our hearts have now been circumcised, the power of sin cut off away from us. We have been buried with you in baptism, and raised with you through the powerful working of the Father.

I was dead in my trespasses. But now I have been made alive with you. The Father has raised me with you and forgiven my sins, canceling the record of debt that stood against me.

All the things that came before in the ceremonial law, the food laws, the festivals, the Sabbath, they were the shadow. But you, Jesus, are the substance, the reality that all these things pointed to.

You are the one from whom the whole body, the church, is nourished and knit together, growing with a growth that is from God.

Thank you, Jesus, for who you are. Thank you Jesus for all you’ve done.

Amen.