Preach this to yourself: I am reconciled to God

We can grasp the significance of reconciliation to God only if we understand how dire our straits were prior to salvation.

The apostle Paul brings into focus the utter hopelessness of our condition in one of the Bible's greatest passages about the pre-eminince of Christ. Near the close of Colossians 1:16-23, Paul writes, "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach" (Colossians 1:21-22).

Paul reminds the Christians at Colossae they were previously "alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds." They were "alienated" from the only God -- estranged from Him. They were "hostile in mind" toward the loving God -- enemies of His. They "engaged in evil deeds" before the holy God -- demonstrating their alienation from and hostility to Him . These traits describe people who have no way of changing their status in any of these areas. Their fate is settled -- unless God acts in a reconciling way.

And He did for these now born-again men and women. Christ "has now reconciled you in His fleshy body through death," Paul writes. That is true for all of us who have flung ourselves on His mercy. The sacrifice of Jesus as a substitute for us has transformed our relationship -- or lack of relationship -- to God from estrangement to harmony, from enmity to peace.

You and I are no longer strangers to or enemies of God purely because of His grace and the all-sufficient work of Christ. You can say, "God is for me." You can say, "God is a friend to me." You can do so because you also can say, "I am reconciled to God."

-- Photo by Wang Xi on Unsplash