This morning I am reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians 1:15-23 NIV:
[15] "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. [16] For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. [17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. [19] For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
[21] Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. [22] But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--- [23] if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
I love Paul's descriptions of the realities of Christ, for they are so full of insight and understanding. I could sit and think about the first paragraph above for days. The reality of who Jesus is, what He accomplished and the perfection of Gods plan are really unfathomable. Although unfathomable, I greatly enjoy plumbing the depths of them.
The second paragraph is really where my mind landed this morning, as the idea of us being without blemish and free from accusation really grabbed me. I mean this really is the good news of the Gospel, namely that we are free from any blemish or stain of sin, and free from any future accusation because of Jesus' sacrifice for us. In God's sight we are free and can never even be accused of sin, if we continue in our faith and relationship with Christ. We really are hidden within Christ (Col. 3:3). When the Father looks at us, He only sees us in Christ, covered by His blood, united with Him in His death. There is no stain of sin on Him or possible accusation that can be raised against Him, which is why we experience the same freedom. Wow!
I think it is Graham Cooke who talks about our inability to grasp how good the Good News really is. We struggle with understanding how much favor we actually have in Christ. We can't believe that this message is really true, so we live life as if it wasn't, as if there were something we could due to earn the right for this to be true, to convince ourselves that maybe our merit could possibly qualify us for this gift of mercy and grace. We can't believe that when we accept Christ, we receive all that He won. This is like the game show where behind door number one is every prize available on the show. When we choose Christ, in response to His calling our name, we receive everything that goes with Him, I mean everything. Wow! What an awesome bit of Good News!
Jesus didn't suffer and die and rise from the dead that we would have a 'barely scraping by' experience of God's favor and love. He didn't pay the price for every sin, if there was some extra cost to be paid by each of us. He paid for it all! Like my friend John Brown likes to say, "all means all", he looked it up in the dictionary and that is what it means. We are free of all stains and blemishes caused by sin. The Greek word used here is Amomos which means, without blemish, as a sacrifice without spot or blemish, or morally faultless and unblameable. Wow!
If we are truly hidden in Christ and alive in Him, than everything in Christ is ours when we unite ourselves to Him, through faith. Now we just need to learn to accept that reality and live in that reality! Amen, help us Lord Jesus!
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