“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
In this passage, Paul is writing to the church in Colossae about what it meant for followers of God when Jesus died on the cross. He writes that we were once alienated and hostile in mind, then Jesus died on the cross, and so we became holy, blameless, and above reproach. This means that God doesn’t look at us with disapproval or disappointment, he cannot be mad or angry at us. What we do or have done doesn’t change our standing with him. It was made right when Jesus died, and it stays that way.
We are human. We mess up and we fall short. Because of this, we sometimes believe God wants nothing to do with us. When you fall into an old bad habit or when you have been away from God for a while – it can seem hard to be with him again. It’s really easy to believe that God is mad at us and that we can’t get anywhere close to him because have messed up. This passage totally refutes that belief. According to Paul, the fact that he is mad at us simply cannot be true. Shame, condemnation, and disapproval were done for when Jesus died on the cross. We don’t have to feel guilty anymore. This changes everything!
So, if Jesus died and God’s not mad or disgusted by us, then now what? The answer is we get to live freely and unafraid. We don’t have to live carrying shame or in fear of what God is going to do or think about us. Jesus died so that he could live in relationship with us forever. It’s important to note that forever isn’t just referring to heaven – it also includes right now. We get to live today with the peace of mind that God wants to be with us, no matter what. Because of the cross, we can approach God with more confidence. We can let go of things from our past that we still carry around. We can drop all the offenses that we feel like are held against us.
pray
God, thank you for what Jesus did on the cross. Thank you that you love me unconditionally. Today, give me personal revelation on what the power of the cross means to me and my life. Any shame or guilt that I am holding onto, I release it to you. Teach me what it means and what it looks like for me to come to you in confidence. Show me what it means to actually live in the complete freedom that you have given to me. Amen.
Sarah T.
