"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight."
Colossians 1:21-22

Present Yourself Holy

God did not wait until we promised to scrub our faces, put on our Sunday clothes, and go to Sunday School before He agreed to do this work of reconciliation. It was while we were in rebellion against Him, while we were doing wicked works, that He reconciled us to Himself. How many people do you hear saying, "I'm lost because God has made adequate provision for me?" People are lost because they want to be ~ because they are in rebellion against God!

"That were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind." This reminds us that there is a mental alienation from God as well as a moral alienation. We may think that people are lost because they have committed some terrible sin. The reason people are lost is that their minds are alienated from God. There is an open hatred and hostility toward God today.

"The body of his flesh" ~ here is an explicit declaration that Christ suffered ~ not just in appearance ~ but He suffered in a real body!

"To present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." Unblameable means "without blemish." That was the requirement of the sacrificial animal in the Old Testament. We cannot present perfection to God, and God cannot accept anything short of perfection! That is the reason we cannot be saved by our own works or by our character. We simply cannot meet the demands of a righteous God! But He is able to present us unblameable, because He took our place! "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2Cor. 5:21). Unreproveable means "unaccusable" or "unchargeable." God is the One who justified us! If God declares us to be justified, who can bring any kind of a charge against us? He is the One who has cleared us of all guilt!

Men and women without God are helpless and hopeless human beings. We do well to remember that sin is to the human nature what cancer is to the human body! Sin has plunged us into the depths and so marked us with morality that we have become brother to the clay ~ but God never meant it to be that way.

The world makes its own argument that there are things that can be considered good on the human level ~ but they belong to us only for a brief day. Nothing is divinely good until it bears the imprint of our Lord Jesus Christ! People may argue and make excuses, but it does not change the fact that in our human society we are completely surrounded by everything recent, temporal, and transient! That is why the Holy Spirit whispers faithfully, reminding us of the Christ of God, eternity walking in flesh, God Almighty come to live among us and to save ~ giving us eternity!

God Bless you as you keep in mind: Everything is wrong, until Jesus makes it right!   
    

"Lord Dictated Them"