Scripture's True Purpose: Teaching God's Way
Daily Scripture
Colossians 1:15-20, 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Colossians 1
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the one who is first over all creation,
16 Because all things were created by him:
both in the heavens and on the earth,
the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
Whether they are thrones or powers,
or rulers or authorities,
all things were created through him and for him.
17 He existed before all things,
and all things are held together in him.
18 He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
the one who is firstborn from among the dead
so that he might occupy the first place in everything.
19 Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
20 and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
whether things on earth or in the heavens.
He brought peace through the blood of his cross.
2 Timothy 3
15 Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, 17 so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Scholar N. T. Wright wrote that today’s Colossians passage strikingly linked creation and the good news of salvation in Jesus: “Jesus holds together the old world and the new, creation and new creation. The ‘salvation’ or ‘redemption’ on offer in Christianity is sometimes described as if it meant that the old world, the ordinary world of creation we all live in, was worthless…. Jesus Christ, says the poem boldly, is the one through whom and for whom the whole creation was made in the first place…. the Jesus through whom the world was made… is the same Jesus through whom the world has now been redeemed.” * The apostle Paul did not say the Bible would answer all of Timothy’s historical, scientific or financial questions. More important, he said, it was “useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.”
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Francis Collins, a leading geneticist and leader of the international Human Genome Project, wrote, “I hope you will agree that the scientific and spiritual worldviews both have much to offer. Both provide differing but complementary ways of answering the greatest of the world’s questions…. Science is the only legitimate way to investigate the natural world…. science alone is not enough to answer all the important questions. Even Albert Einstein saw the poverty of a purely naturalistic worldview. Choosing his words carefully, he wrote, ‘Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’ The meaning of human existence, the reality of God, the possibility of an afterlife, and many other spiritual questions lie outside of the reach of the scientific method.” ** The United Methodist Articles of Religion, which date back to church founder John Wesley, say “The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation.” *** What keys have you found that make the Bible, including Genesis 1-3, words God uses to equip you “to do everything that is good”?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I am ultimately your creation, and you love me, just as you redeemed and love the whole creation. Keep teaching me how to love and value what you made. Amen.
GPS Insights
Amy Fletcher
Amy Fletcher serves as the Student Ministry Director at Resurrection West. She has worked with students for over 20 years and loves seeing students experience God’s love and grace. Amy just celebrated 20 years of marriage and is thrilled to finally be in the stage of raising her own teenagers.
My whole life has been shaped by the church and ultimately how people read and interpret Scripture. It led me on the path to this community of believers and helping students to know God, grow in their faith, and experience God’s love. Teaching and understanding Scripture is a life-long journey. The science of understanding our world and how things work is also a life-long journey.
In Colossians 1:15-20, we see that everything in our world, from the grandest galaxies to the tiniest molecules, has purpose because it was created by and for Christ. This includes you and me. Jesus holds everything together, and through him, everything is reconciled. This scripture teaches us to align our lives with the truth of God’s love, justice, and peace.
Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 how to live, how to love, and how to reflect God’s grace in a broken world. It’s not just about knowing facts; it’s about becoming the kind of person “equipped to do everything that is good” – to carry out God’s love in the world.
As we read the Bible, we may not get answers to every question we have–about the world, the way people are, or how it all works. In my teen years, I was told that both science and religion require faith. Scientists often believe in theories and laws that they cannot personally observe or experience directly, like the laws of physics or quantum mechanics. Religion requires faith in spiritual truths that are not directly observable. Science and religion are partners, each addressing different aspects of the human experience and knowledge. Scripture’s true purpose is to teach us God’s way of navigating this world, bringing his reconciliation to those in desperate need of his hope, love, and peace.
So, I invite you to enjoy the journey as we explore the ultimate questions: Who are we? What is our purpose? How can we live in a way that reflects God’s love and purpose for our lives?
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, pp. 152-153.
** Collins, Francis S., The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (pp. 227-228, with quote from A. Einstein, “Science, Philosophy and Religion: A Symposium,” 1941). Free Press. Kindle Edition.
*** From https://www.umc.org/en/content/articles-of-religion.
