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Colossians 1:16 · World English Bible

Colossians 1:16 Meaning For by Him All Things Were Created

For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

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What does Colossians 1:16 mean?

Water takes the shape and color of the cup that holds it, yet it is one water pouring into every cup. Thrones and unseen powers, the visible and the hidden, all pour from a single source and bend back toward it.

From the Sufism reading below.

Colossians 1:16 through 1 lens

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SUFISM

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Water takes the shape and color of the cup that holds it, yet it is one water pouring into every cup. Thrones and unseen powers, the visible and the hidden, all pour from a single source and bend back toward it. The heart that treats any of these, rank, influence, a title, as the point has confused the cup for the water.

So a person might name honestly what he chases and ask whether it was made through that source and for it, or only for himself. Everything here is a place where the Maker is showing, on loan, meant to lead home rather than to be kept.

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Live Colossians 1:16 today

  1. Say out loud what you have actually been chasing lately, the promotion, the follower count, being the one people ask. Just name it honestly, without rushing to judge it.
  2. Treat someone today exactly the same whether they rank above or below you, the barista and your boss, the intern and the client. Let your tone give nothing away about their position.
  3. When a win or a loss at work hits you harder than it should, hold the title or the outcome loosely for a second. It was on loan the whole time.

What am I treating as the point, when it was only ever the cup?

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

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