33 - Christian, Remember What You Were

“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”

In Colossians 1:21-22, Paul reminds us, if you’re trusting in Christ alone for your salvation, remember four things:

1.) Remember what you once were: alienated from God, an enemy of God, in bondage to wicked works.

2.) Remember what you are now: Reconciled to God the Father, even though you still live in a sinful world.

3.) Remember what you will be: Christ will present you perfect, faultless and above reproach, on the Last Day.

4.) Remember how the change came: Jesus did it all, by taking on human flesh and dying for you.

Today we’ll focus on the past and present aspects of these verses. What’s happened to you, and what’s presently true of you, if you’re a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ? You once were an alien from God, the enemy of God. Everything you did was inherently evil. But now you are reconciled to God, positionally holy and blameless before Him. And the change came because of the once-for-all death of Christ, God in human flesh.

In our next message we’ll focus on the future aspect of these verses. Christ will bring that reconciliation to its culmination by presenting you holy, blameless, and above reproach before His throne of glory. That will be your state for all eternity – free not only from the power, guilt, and bondage of sin, but also from the very presence of sin, from all effects of sin, and from the very possibility of sin, forever.

That’s our focus as we continue our series, Christ Above All: Studies in Colossians