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Colossians 1:21-23
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 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, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
ESV
Amazing stuff in this passage this morning and it really continues Paul’s thoughts from the previous passage (verses 15-20).
Verses 15-20 leave us with this staggering view of Jesus: fully human, fully divine.
But then I’m drawn to a question that I love to ask about Scripture; “So what? What does that mean in connection with me as I seek to know, love, follow, and serve Jesus?”
These three verses answer the “so what” question.
First, Paul gives the Colossians a stunning reminder of who they used to be before they entrusted their lives to Jesus. They were on the outside looking in, totally and completely alienated from the Lord, and their lives reflected that in the things that they did and the things that they worshipped.
BUT NOW—that’s actually in the Greek language at the start of verse but for some reason the ESV missed it—BUT NOW, because of Jesus, they these believers have moved from being on the outside to the inside, they are part of the covenant family of God. They are now His sons and daughters, and the same thing is true of us when we entrust our lives to Jesus.
This doesn’t happen because of anything that we have done. It’s all because of Jesus. Through faith in Christ alone, because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we are transferred from darkness into the kingdom of light.
But it’s not over. Faith Jesus isn’t something that we simply check off a list and let it fade into the sunset. Faith in Jesus isn’t a one-off experience that’s part of a photo gallery of selfies of fond memories.
Faith in Jesus is an ongoing relationship that we live into every day because we now have a relationship with Jesus.
Relationships take time, they take presence, they take work to grow and mature and the same thing is true about our relationship with Jesus.
Don’t miss the huge encouragement from Paul at the end of these verses to continue in faith, being steadfast and not shifting from the Gospel. The point that Paul is making is that we have an ongoing relationship with Jesus, and we need to give that relationship our full attention.
That’s a constant work for us because there are so many things that want our attention, that want to be the center of our lives which, in essence, is to become an idol for us and replace Jesus at the center.
My challenge to you today is to take a serious look at your life and see if an idol might have crept in anywhere. It could be a material possession that you have to have or one that you spend loads of time and money maintaining and protecting, it could be a relationship, it could be a passion, it could be money, it could be a sport, it could be anything. Even things that are “good” or “healthy” can become idols if they threaten to take Jesus’ place at the center of your life.
The key is to do the work to keep Jesus as the central relationship of your life and let everything else find its right place in and through Him. Keeping Jesus at the center changes everything that happens throughout our day. Suddenly things take on a new perspective; big scary things become not so big, joy is multiplied, and we are empowered and embolden to live for Christ in all kinds of ways.
Bottom line, it’s our responsibility, by God’s grace, to live into and live out our relationship with Jesus, to grow and mature, fully becoming who God desires us to be.
God bless you, and know that you’ve been prayed for this morning. Keep Christ at the center.
Scott
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