Singular Devotion

“Him we proclaim…”—Colossians 1:28

The problems of our world are too numerous to count or mention. Like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to stop the evil from seeping into the world around us, polluting everything it comes into contact with, destroying countless lives in the process. But for the Christian, there is one answer—Jesus Christ. He is the singular answer to the world’s problems, for in Him the problem of sin has been dealt with, and it is in Him we find meaning and purpose in a world that swims about in its own filth. He is the only one who can clean up the sin that stains our hearts. He is the object of our faith, the means by which we are saved, and the result and goal of our lives.

It is no wonder that in the early church when divisions and factions arose, it centered on who Christ is. He is the one who was prophesied to come and save us after the fall of Adam and Eve. He is the suffering servant who came to take our sins and infirmities upon Himself. He is the one who came born of a virgin—fully God and fully man—as man to identify with us in our afflictions—as God to pay a price that we could not. He is the one who endured the taunts and jeers from an unbelieving world. He is the one who came riding triumphantly on a donkey, among shouts of deliverance. But, it was also He whose name they cried out to be crucified. It was Christ who underwent the scourge, and it was Christ who was convicted of a crime of which He was wholly innocent. It was Christ who carried the cross to Calvary, helped by Simon of Cyrene. It was Jesus who laid down His life on the cross, stripped of His clothing and dignity before a world not worthy, offering His hands and feet to be pierced in the most supreme act of love that is unfathomable to the unregenerate mind. It was Jesus who agonized on the cross between two thieves, becoming sin on our behalf, and it was He who gave up His Spirit even as He asked the Father to forgive those who did this to Him—so great was His love. It was He who was taken off the cross and placed in a rich man’s tomb. It was His tomb that had the stone rolled in front of it with guards positioned outside of it so that it could not be said that He rose from the dead. But, it was He and only He whom death could not hold! It was He and only He who rose from the dead because neither death, nor sin, nor Satan had any hold on Him. He is the one who ascended into heaven and has promised to return again in like manner.

Jesus is the one whom we proclaim. He is our hope, He is our salvation, and He is our Lord. Any rest that we receive comes from Him, any guidance, any provision, any direction, are all from Him. He is our Lord and our God and He is our singular devotion. Amen.