Colossians 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.”
I recall visiting a leaning pagoda in a remote farming community of China which was built around the fourth century AD . It was listed as a national treasure and attracted many Chinese and Asian Buddhist disciples.
It had begun to lean because the foundation walls supporting it had weakened following an earthquake in the sixties. When the contractors began to dig beneath it in an attempt to prop it up, they discovered four levels of crypts and vaults which contained fabulous treasures donated by emperors and officials over the centuries. The treasures were so numerous they had to build a multi-million dollar museum next door to house them.
When I entered the complex surrounding the pagoda I walked through hallways housing large golden Buddhist idols of all shapes and sizes, each with its own unique features. In the crypt hall beneath the pagoda several finger bones were on display in a circular shaped enclosure. The finger bones were surrounded by thousands of coins and bank notes which had been tossed by Buddhist believers who hoped for atonement in the after life and prosperity in this life. These imported finger bones were reportedly from actual Indian Buddhas who lived a thousand years or so before Christ.
As I walked around the complex I quietly repeated over and over these words, “Jesus lives; Jesus lives.” After a while my Chinese minder’s wife who had accompanied me and several of my students on the four hour journey, began to also say aloud in Chinese, “Jesus lives; Jesus lives”.
I was delighted to hear her because only weeks before I had prayed in Jesus name for her ten year old incapacitated son. He had been ill from birth with an enlarged heart and God healed him instantly.
To her; Jesus did indeed have the pre-eminence over Buddhist idols and all things. All the treasure and all the religion associated with these Buddhist relics could not compare with the living Jesus who had risen from the dead and healed her son; her most precious treasure!
You and I serve the One who is alive and rules over all things; even death.
We serve the One who rose from the dead to substantiate His claim that if we believe in Him we will not see death.
We serve Him in His kingdom, no matter where we are in the world.
We do not serve the doctrines of demons or man’s religions; we serve a risen, living, pre-eminent Saviour who reigns over both men and demons and is forever going forth conquering and to conquer, Revelation 19.
