Undisputed — Over Creation - Thursday
Today’s Verse
Colossians 1:21-22
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (NLT)
When Paul wrote this letter to the people of the church in Colossae, he told them that they had been God’s enemies. But this was not a claim exclusive to the people of the church in Colossae. Paul actually used this terminology of being “enemies of God” in his letter to a church in Rome when he said this in Romans 5:8-10, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
Here, Paul is making the claim that we have all been enemies of God. But have we? I mean, that’s a pretty intense statement to make, is it not? To be God’s enemy means we have been actively opposed or hostile to Him. And while that may sound intense at first, I think that if we do some soul searching, we will find that we have all been opposed to God and His way of life when we chose to live our lives how we wanted instead of how God wanted. We have all sinned, we have all been distant from God, we have all even opposed God. We have all been His enemy.
But notice Paul is not trying to discourage the people of the church in Colossae, nor is he trying to make them feel bad about themselves. Rather, Paul is highlighting the significance of the grace of God.
For Paul does not end on a “you once were” statement, but he continues on to a “yet now Jesus” statement.
For we once were God’s enemies, yet now Jesus has reconciled us to Himself. What that means for us now is the same thing it meant for the church in Colossae. We are now holy and blameless as we stand before God without a single fault.
You, who were once far away, have been brought near and blameless before God. Now, nothing hinders us from approaching Him in prayer.
REFLECTION
I encourage you to genuinely approach God in prayer today. Do not pray wordy prayers, using big churchy words to make it sound better. Just approach God. Tell Him what’s on your mind, what’s crushing your spirit, and ask for His help.