You, that were…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 –Colossians 1:21-22
One word with which Paul frequently sums up the accomplishment of the cross is “reconciliation,” the bringing together of two parties that were previously at odds.
Here in Colossians Paul describes in detail why this reconciliation was necessary. First, you (and every other human being) were alienated from God, pitted against him both in your mind and in your wicked actions.
There is not a person in the world who is by nature at peace with God. While we love to invent our own ideas and images of God, we resist his authority over us and his self-revelation to us, in the Bible. We would a thousand times rather live our own way than submit to his perfect and just and good way.
And for this reason, we are unacceptable in God’s sight. He is good and we are evil. He is right and we are wrong. He is holy and we are dirty. But Jesus, Paul announces, has reconciled us through his death on the cross.
No longer are we dirty and guilty and wrong in God’s sight, if we are Christ’s. Because he sees us in Christ, God now views us as holy, unblameable, and unreproveable!
And the clear implication is that, for those who are now in Christ, they have been reconciled to God in their minds and in their actions. No longer do they strive to rebel against his authority; they now strive to please and uphold God’s glory.
What about you? Are you in Christ? Have you been reconciled to God?
