Colossians 1:18 ‘He is the Head of the Body, the Church…’ Pic # 4 from the planned Colossians 1:15-20 board book. The Church—all those who have ever or will ever trust in Jesus as Lord, God, and Savior across all of time and space—is the Body of the crucified and risen Christ, and He is …
Here is the one thousandth and thirty-fourth picture in the verse picture series, which is also the third and fourth pictures planned for inclusion in the upcoming Colossians Board Book. This picture will span two pages and the associated text will be Colossians 1:16. ‘For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on …
Colossians 1:15, ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, for by Him, all things were created…’ This is the artwork from the first two pages of a planned board-book based on Colossians 1:15-20. I’ve recited these verses over our son almost every night of his life as a way …
John 20:28, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Thomas’ confession that the crucified Jesus who is risen is His Lord and His God (echoing the OT titles of YHWH) is an event that takes place in a single moment in time…and yet, simultaneosuly, it is an encapsulation of every moment of the Christian’s life. As Paul …
Hebrews 12:2, ‘…looking to Jesus, the originator and perfector of faith.’ One of the surest ways to descend into a labyrinth of confusion, apprehension, and spiritual weakness is to make our own faith the object of our scrutiny. ‘Am I really trusting?’ ‘Is my faith sincere?’ ‘Is my faith strong enough?’ etc. Questions like those …
Job 14:13, ‘…that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!’ There’s much to see in the first half of v.13, but today’s image comes from a consideration of just those final two words: ‘remember me!’ What does it mean to be remembered by God? There is a sense in which it means …
Hebrews 3:7-8, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…’ Why does the author of Hebrews cite Ps.95 (and so allude to Exodus 17) in this context? How does this situation apply to his readers? It would seem that the parallel to the ‘voice’ of Ps.95 / Ex.17 …
Colossians 3:22-23, ‘Whatever you do, work from your [very] soul, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.’ [author’s translation] Though these words are written to 1st century bondservants, they remain applicable to any Christian who works under the authority of someone …
The Paschal Trilogy – Part II/III – Holy Saturday Matthew 26:20, ‘When it was evening, He reclined at table…’ Considering Jesus’ final meal with His disciples, Irenaeus of Lyons makes the beautiful observation that ‘[Jesus] administered food to [His disciples] in a recumbent posture, indicating that those who were lying in the earth were they …
The Paschal Trilogy – Part I/III – Good Friday Leviticus 17:11, ‘…the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls…’ When YHWH spoke these words to Moses, the primary referent was the animal sacrifices that God provided to deal …
Ephesians 5:20, [give] ‘thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…’ Consider that the Holy Spirit calls us to give thanks *always* and for *everything.* Of course, this is easy (though we still often forget) when our bodies are healthy and our loved ones are safe …
In Colossians 2:2-3, Paul seeks for the Colossians to be “united in love, even unto all the riches of full assurance of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God, [which is] Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” Paul labors for the Colossians to be united to …
Proverbs 30:5, ‘Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.’ A number of things to note in this verse. First, see the wonderful hope (or terrifying certainty, depending on the posture of our soul toward Him) that every single word God speaks WILL prove true. Period. …
1 John 3:5, ‘…He appeared in order to take away sins…’ Jesus appeared—the Word was made flesh—in order to take away sins. But what does it mean that He takes away sins? Certainly He bears them in Himself as the representative head of redeemed humanity (2 Cor.5:21); certainly He secures their forgiveness through the sacrifice …
Matthew 13:44, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field…’ In this picture, I wanted to focus on the ‘hiddenness’ of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God—the reign of the risen King—is a treasure, to be sure; it is a treasure worth all that we are and have. And yet, it is …
Ephesians 4:15-16, ‘…grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.’ That is a complicated sentence, …
Psalm 46:4-7, ‘There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts. YHWH of …
2 Corinthians 5:21, ‘For our sake, [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that IN HIM we might become the righteousness of God.’ The union of Christ and His Bride lies at the heart of the Gospel. We see that here in this text. Why is Christ ‘made sin’? Because He …
Luke 19:41-42, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’ As Jesus draws near Jerusalem, He weeps because the City of Peace is blind to that which truly makes for peace. What, specifically, is it that makes for peace? …
Psalm 27 Rather than a specific verse, this image attempts to visually exegete some of the central movements of the 27th Psalm. So, perhaps the best way to explain it is to walk through the elements of the image in the order that they appear in the Psalm. David begins by confessing that YHWH …
