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Colossians 1:22
but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him—
Kayode Crown
December 20, 2024
There are two parts to this verse: what Christ has done for the believer and what He wants to do.
And this verse perfectly mirrors the previous one. In the previous verse, you were not just strangers, which would be bad enough, but also enemies—not just enemies in your mind, but also in deed.
In this verse, we see that the solution is in Jesus. Through His death on the cross, we were brought near; the sin that hinders our relationship with God was put aside, and He achieved reconciliation. Basically, God is smiling on us.
Colossians 1:21 | Colossians 1:22 |
And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, (NET) | but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— |
Formerly strangers (far away) | Now reconciled |
Formerly enemies in your minds | Your new aim is holiness |
Formerly enemies through evil deeds | Your new aim is to be without blemish and blameless |
All blame on you. You are strangers and enemies and practiced evil deeds | All glory to Jesus who achived all these through his death on the cross |
Everything is viewed from how God sees things. The unbelievers have a certain conception of themselves, but the first column represents God's conception of them. The believer may have a certain conception of herself, but the second column is the new reality.
Let’s take a trip back to the Garden of Eden. It has to be all the way to that time because that is when the scriptures began. God created the world with clear pronouncements that it was good. Everything was good until man became alienated from God through his sin, and we see the implications of that through the ages.
That may be clear to you—the fact that, because of Adam, sinning is our default state (Romans 5:18–19)—since you see the sin in yourself and in everyone around you. But what may not be clear is what the death of a man, Jesus, thousands of years ago has to do with you today?
It would have nothing to do with you if that man were not also God, with the capacity to take on all sin.
It would have nothing to do with you if that man were also not your creator, with the ability to complete his mission regardless of the opposition.
It would have nothing to do with you if that man were also not pure and without sin so that he is not trying to free us from what he is in bondage to, making the whole thing a lie.
It would also have nothing to do with you if God had not decided, as declared through John the Baptist, that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
In the Old Testament, the lamb was used to cover the sins of the children of Israel. This lamb was something that you 'raise' and then sacrifice. However, this Lamb—Jesus—was special. He grew up before God (Isaiah 53:2) after his incarnation, and God put him forth for his own purpose: to take away the sins of the world.
It was what God wanted, and he set in motion a series of events leading up to the cross, including the choice of Abraham and even Israel as a special people for God. He initiated this to both highlight the grievousness of sin and simultaneously demonstrate that his love overcomes even sin, as he hung on the cross for the sins of humanity.
God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, vividly illustrating the consequences of sin, rejection of God and His word, and lack of obedience to Him. He placed angelic sentries who use the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3).
Therefore, the only one who can access the tree of life is the one who can endure the sword of judgment against sin and live again. That was Jesus, and now, in Him (remember that we died in Him and also rose with Him [Romans 6:4]), we have eternal life. We get to live forever.
This is how Jesus said it: "The one who lives and believes in Me will never die" (John 11:26). Jesus used the word "die" differently than we typically do. Remember, He said that Abraham, whom we would consider dead, is not truly dead before God (Luke 20:37-38). God had said an invincible death would be the lot of Adam and Eve if they sin. He stated that on the day they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they will die, and they did. God's disposition toward them went from favorable to not. That is true death.
Jesus took death on our behalf. Remember that on the cross, He said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).
Because of what happened to Jesus, we are restored to “walking with God in the Garden of Eden.” Humanity is brought back into a relationship with God, but not all of humanity—only the elect, those who have been chosen in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 1:4).
This goes to show that God is in control of everything, even the number of people that will believe. He is in control of all of history, so that we can rest assured and be confident that the Scriptures are true: the blood of Jesus truly reconciles us back to God. God is in charge and is trustworthy (2 Timothy 1:12).
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