Quote for the Day
“…to present you holy in his sight.”
Today's Prayer
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ and for reconciling me to yourself through His work. Draw me to your eternity each and every day.
Colossians 1:21-23
Colossians 1:21-23 (NIV)21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Message
Verse 21 starts out with a reminder that we were once enemies and alienated from God. What a desperate state! Many Christians today have not fully lost that feeling. They continue to focus on the past and what they have not done or not accomplished. This attitude of looking back encourages this feeling of alienation from God. This is NOT the place or attitude God desires us to be.The purpose of Colossians (and the rest of the Bible) is to keep us focused on the future, the real future: ETERNITY. God is a God of eternity. Eternity is where He resides each and every day. Because of that we are able to live in eternity TODAY! Why? Because of Christ Jesus.We have seen so far in Colossians that Christ is supreme over all the earth and every created thing. We have just seen in the last passage that through Christ, God has reconciled all things to Himself, and now we see the very personal message directed to you and me. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies,” (and if you want to dwell on the past, this is past tense) but NOW we are reconciled (and have been since the cross) to God through Christ. God sees us as holy because of our relationship in Christ. There is no reason to think about the past, only eternity and today, because today we are in Christ and Christ is all about eternity.One small point to remind anyone who wonders about those who have not heard this good news…. Paul makes it clear that it has been proclaimed to every creature on earth…. That includes you and me!
