Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him— if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.
Colossians 1:21-23
Have you ever given someone a present and thought: “Yep, nailed it this year, this is the perfect present…?”
One time I can think of it happening was when we gave our son Callan a Lego Ninjago dragon. We knew it was something he was really hoping to get. He’d got some bits and bobs of Lego before, but he was pumped to get his first decent Ninjago set. He’d been watching the film on what seemed like a daily basis, and if he wasn’t watching it he was playing with the couple of wee Lego men he had, pretending to be the characters from the film.
When it came to Christmas morning, we knew he was going to be over the moon. We knew it was exactly what he was looking for. It was the perfect present to give to him.
He was delighted! For months afterwards, if folk came to our house, he was still showing off his Christmas present… “Have you seen my dragon?!”
But the joy faded and slowly but surely the lego dragon was amalgamated into the rest of the Lego collection.
Did you know that Jesus will one day hand over a perfect present?
Well… He was born the holy one, the Son of God. He died the sinner’s death, so that His people could be forgiven. And now He’s at work to make His people holy, to be in the presence of the holy God for all eternity.
These verses in Colossians 1 beautifully paint the picture of the Good News of Jesus.
‘Once you were alienated…’
In our sin, we were not holy, and so could not come near to the holy God.
‘But now he has reconciled you…’
Jesus died, and rose again to reconcile us to God, to forgive our sin so that we could come near to the holy God.
‘…to present you holy, faultless and blameless before him…’
One day He will present us, His people as perfectly holy. Faultless and blameless – with absolutely no more stain of sin.
‘…if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel…’
Our only responsibility is to continue in faith, living with trust in the Good News of Jesus.
If we have come to Jesus in faith and repentance, we are declared holy, and are already reconciled to the holy God. But here and now we still battle with sin. We daily turn to Jesus in repentance and faith.
Jesus started that work. Jesus will one day finish that work.
It’s crazy to think that Jesus will present his church as holy, as perfect. If you’ve spent any time in a church you’ll know that churches are filled with far from perfect people. So, it must be Jesus that makes it possible for us to spend an eternity with the holy God. We need His divine intervention, and He’s promised He will do it.
God will present himself with a perfect gift that will last for all eternity. Jesus came to live, die and rise again. He returned to heaven, and one day He will come back for His people, and He himself will present them as holy, faultless and blameless.
O Come Let Us Adore Him!
A thought to remember: Jesus will one day present His people as holy and blameless.
A question to ask: How does Jesus’ promise to present you as holy encourage you to daily turn to Him in repentance and faith?
A bit more to read: Colossians 1:15-23
A song to sing: O Great God