Summer is over, another school year has begun and I’m looking forward to working with all of the students here at Calvin Christian again. Last year in chapel my focus was on the book of Colossians. I picked Colossians for my chapels because I wanted to very clearly present Jesus Christ as the Pre-eminent One, the Only and All-Sufficient Savior.
This year’s theme for the entire school is Rooted in Christ, Growing in Grace, based out of Ephesians 3:16-19. The late theologian William Hendriksen calls the book of Ephesians the corollary of Colossians, the natural result of Colossians. Colossians shows us Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom and Ephesians shows us his bride, the Church, the body of Christ and what Christ has done for her.
This image of Christ and his bride is at the very center of what it means to be Rooted in Christ. We are united with him, we have the source of our life in him and the work that he accomplished for us on the cross. Another image that is used frequently is that of the vine and branches (John 15:5-8). Without being united to the vine, there can be no growth. So it is by God’s grace alone that we are to be found “in Christ” and it because we are in Christ, we are able to grow in God’s grace each and every day. As Jesus says in John 15, “I am the true vine… No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” – John 15:1a,4b
May God give us his grace each and every day, and keep us in Christ so that we may bear fruit in our relationships with one another, and for His kingdom.
