{"id":4690,"date":"2024-07-13T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/?p=4690"},"modified":"2024-07-13T05:07:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T21:07:50","slug":"daily-devotion-july-13-2024-christ-the-reconciler-of-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/2024\/07\/13\/daily-devotion-july-13-2024-christ-the-reconciler-of-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Devotion (July 13, 2024): Christ the Reconciler of Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; da_disable_devices=&#8221;off|off|off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; da_is_popup=&#8221;off&#8221; da_exit_intent=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_close=&#8221;on&#8221; da_alt_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_dark_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_not_modal=&#8221;on&#8221; da_is_singular=&#8221;off&#8221; da_with_loader=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_shadow=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.21.2&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong style=\"font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium);\">TODAY&#8217;S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote is-style-default\" style=\"border-color: #0693e3;\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Please read <span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Colossians 1:15\u201323<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Colossians 1:20 (ESV)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- \/divi:pullquote --><!-- divi:paragraph {\"align\":\"center\",\"fontSize\":\"medium\"} --><\/figure>\n<h1 class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>DEVOTIONAL<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><em>by <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stephanie Reloj<\/span><\/em><\/span><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!-- \/divi:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!-- divi:paragraph {\"fontSize\":\"normal\"} --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine a beautiful tapestry that has become torn and faded over time. A skilled weaver carefully restores it, mending the tears and restoring its vibrant colors. This mirrors Christ&#8217;s work with creation. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Christ restores and reconciles all things, healing the brokenness and bringing everything back to harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-justify para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Colossians 1:15-23, the apostle Paul begins by declaring Jesus as the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. This highlights Jesus&#8217; divine nature and His authority over all that exists. Everything in heaven and on earth was created by Him, through Him, and for Him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-justify para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 20 is particularly pivotal: &#8220;and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.&#8221; Here, Paul reveals that Christ&#8217;s death on the cross is not just about human redemption but encompasses the entire cosmos. The fall of Adam introduced sin and corruption into the world, impacting all of creation. Romans 8:20\u201322 vividly describes how creation itself was subjected to frustration and is now groaning, awaiting liberation from its bondage to decay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Christ&#8217;s sacrificial death and resurrection set in motion the reversal of this curse. By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus made peace and initiated the restoration of all things. This cosmic reconciliation will be fully realized at the end of the age when Jesus returns, restoring creation to its intended order.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as a crooked picture on the wall cries out to be straightened, creation groans for restoration. In our world, we witness the effects of this fallen state\u2014natural disasters, environmental degradation, and the brokenness in our relationships and societies. However, we hold onto the hope that through Christ, all things will be made new.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>REFLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does understanding Christ&#8217;s role in creation deepen your appreciation of His sacrifice on the cross? In what ways do you see the effects of the fall in the world around you? How can you participate in God&#8217;s work of restoration? What does it mean for you personally that Christ is reconciling all things to Himself?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>PRAYER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to reconcile all things to Yourself. We are in awe of Your plan to restore not only humanity but all of creation. Help us to live in the hope of this restoration and to be agents of Your peace and renewal in the world. May we remain steadfast in our faith, trusting in the ultimate victory of Christ. In Jesus&#8217; name, we pray. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/divi:paragraph -->[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TODAY&#8217;S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE Please read Colossians 1:15\u201323 &#8220;And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.&#8221; Colossians 1:20 (ESV) DEVOTIONAL by Stephanie Reloj Imagine a beautiful tapestry that has become torn and faded over time. A skilled weaver carefully restores it, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotionals","category-text-devo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4693,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions\/4693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}