Text: Colossians 1:21-23
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”
While reading and meditating on today’s passage, take particular notice of the word you. Before coming to Christ, you were adversarial in your mind toward Him; thus, the Adversary easily influenced you into doing evil deeds. In turn, both your thoughts and actions alienated you from Him.
Yet in His great love, Christ died for you, and by accepting His death, you were reconciled to Him. Why, so you may stand before Him at your death, holy, blameless, even without a hint of blame. It is a standing that will usher you into an eternity with Him.
Those are the first and last pages as written by the Lord in Your Life Story; the middle pages of the book now shift to an autobiography penned by you.
The last page is fulfilled with “if indeed you continue in the faith.” Remember, Paul was writing to the ‘saints and faithful (emphasis mine) brothers…” (1:2), and that is important to remember in understanding just what he meant. The ‘if’ is not an “unfulfilled, hypothetical condition presenting the possibility of a future mode [but] having the idea of ‘assuming that you continue in the faith’” (Wuest). In other words, the last chapter in your biography is an established truth, not just a possibility, as you continue to be steadfast in possessing the gospel. How you carry out the gospel in your everyday life is still to be established.
What will we write today?