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Day 337 or December the 3rd. Jesus is totally

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unique. Our thoughts today come from Colossians

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chapter 1 verse 16. For in him all things were

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created, things in heaven and on earth, visible

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and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers

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or authorities, all things have been created

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through him and for him. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Colossae was a town rather

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past its best, and about a hundred miles to the

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east of Ephesus, not far from Laodicea. Paul

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suggests this letter be sent to the church in

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Laodicea, so that they could read it too. He

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says that he has written to the Laodiceans too,

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but we have no such surviving letter, so it could

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well have been lost. Nevertheless, this one survives,

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and has much to teach us. It addresses the current

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questions and doubts of the first century and

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the twenty-first century, about who Jesus really

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was, and if he truly was the Son of God. These

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doubts arose immediately after his resurrection.

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Such a fantastic account of someone coming back

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from the dead does stretch our mind, and it was

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equally incredible then. However, Paul lays his

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case out very clearly, and then, as he usually

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does, he relates how these amazing facts can

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impact the lives of everyday, ordinary people.

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And now today's action step. If our verse today

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is untrue, then it bowls the mind how many otherwise

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sane and sensible people over the centuries have

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believed it and been willing to die for their

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beliefs. Surely they couldn't all have been wrong.

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Surely the millions who serve him today can't

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all be deluded. It takes more faith to believe

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that than to believe what some atheists are saying

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today. Jesus is totally unique and the only person

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to have risen from the dead. Paul makes amazing

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statements to encourage and stimulate the believers

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in Colossae. This same Jesus has not changed,

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and despite doubters and scoffers throughout

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the intervening centuries, he is still the only

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one who can save us and put us right in God's

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sight. He is truly unique and worthy of praise.