How big is God? Not really “How big is your god,” because (regardless of any misguided spirit of multiculturalism) there’s only one God and He revealed Himself to all humankind in Scripture. He’s not a white god or a Jewish god or an African American god or any other group’s god—He’s God; the Highest Power over all reality. But do you really know Him? Do you realize, do you genuinely and fully comprehend, exactly what He can accomplish in you to bring you successfully to eternity? Or is He merely a figment of your imagination; an impotent construct of your own mind?
“And you, who once were alienated [from God] and enemies in your mind by [your] wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through [Jesus Christ’s ] death [on the cross], to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Colossians 1:21-23 NKJV)
God can do all things; He can accomplish the seemingly impossible, around us and external to our existence, but even more so internally in us—if we take Him at His Word; if we believe He wasn’t lying to us when He said He can. That is what today’s verse is saying.
We are alienated from God because of our sins, but He reconciled us (it’s been done; already in the past) to Himself—He bridged the unbridgeable gap between sin and holiness—in the person of His Son Jesus Christ; in His death on the cross on our behalf two thousand years ago. That’s the “gospel;” the “good news” for humanity!
Why did He do that? To one day present us “holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” How? Under what circumstances?
If we “continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel (the good news) we heard.”
So first, we have to believe God—we have to take Him at His Word that He can present us to Himself “holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
Isn’t that impossible?
I am convinced there are entire swathes of our population who have come to actively hate Christ because they feel He stands diametrically opposed to their own identity; to who they feel they are as human beings. Yet that’s exactly it—Jesus Christ is the antithesis of sin—of course He’s opposed to anything unholy in us because He came to do away with its stronghold on us. But He does not stand opposed to us—He stands opposed to that which is unholy in us.
And that’s the difference, the crux of this issue, the distinction. Let me repeat it: Jesus Christ is not opposed to us—He came to save us up out of all unholiness that engulfs and threatens our relationship with God.
So the question becomes not, “Is God opposed to me and who I am?” But, “Do I trust Him enough to take impossible-to-fix-me and make me who He wants me to be?
So that’s my question to you—do you? Do you you trust God—Jesus Christ—enough to give Him access to your life and make you who He wants you to be; ultimately to present you “holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight?” Because He can and will, if you ask Him to—if you trust that He can and will.
This isn’t circular, mind you—it’s not “believe it and it’ll be true,” although believing you are a new creation in Christ is part of it. It’s you being given, gifted, awarded holy status through Jesus Christ’s finished work of redemption on the cross—because that’s why He did that—and trusting Him that He has now made you a new being in Himself, in Christ, because you are “in Christ.”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away…all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)
Trust is the issue. Believing that He can do it; that you are who He says you are; that He will “present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight.”
How’s this going to work in practice; in your very real and sometimes messy life? Well, depending on how deeply mired you were in the muck and mire, you may relapse. You will be tempted at times; there may be times you go back and roll in the stuff you were cleaned of.
But it will never feel good. You’ll know you shouldn’t, and as soon as you’re done you’ll regret it, because by doing it you “grieved”—saddened—Christ Spirit (of holiness; Holy Spirit) in you.
But if you don’t give up your faith, your hope, your trust, in Him; if you cling to Christ with the tenacity of life and death—because that is what it really is a matter of; if “you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard”—He’ll bring you successfully to eternity holy and blameless and above reproach. He is the only One who can get this job done and no one is too impossible for Him!
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 NIV)
Dear Lord God,
Thank You that even though I was alienated from You, Your enemy in my mind because of my wicked works—that even because of all that, You reconciled me through Your death on the cross, and present me holy, and blameless, and above reproach in Your sight, if I continue in my faith, grounded and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel which I heard! Help me remain convinced of Your power to accomplish the impossible in me until my dying breath!! Amen!!!
