SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/3/2017 11:05 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Aim of
Reconciliation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
1:22b
Message of the verses: “in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”
In my study of the gospel of John I am finishing up
chapter 16 and chapters 13b-16 we see Jesus preparing His disciples for what
Jesus was about to do, and that was go to the cross where reconciliation will
take place, and so Paul in this section of Colossians is reminding those in the
Colossian church about reconciliation in order to show them who Jesus Christ is
to tear apart the beliefs of the heretics who were saying that Jesus is not God
come in the flesh.
God has an ultimate goal in reconciliation which is seen in this last part of verse 22, and that goal is to present the bride of Christ to God holy and blameless and also beyond reproach for that is the only way we will be able to be with God for He is perfect and so we too have to have that kind of perfection to be in His presence. Paul gives similar words to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” Jude 24 says “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”
John Macarthur talks about three words in his commentary
and gives the Greek word that is translated and the first one is “holy” Ohagios) and this means “to be separated
from sin and set apart to God. It has to
do with the believer’s relationship with Him.
As a result of a faith union with Jesus Christ, God sees Christians as holy as His Son.” In Ephesians 1:4 we read “just as He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless
before Him.” We read that God chose us
to be holy and blameless before Him and to be that is to be holy. Paul writes in a very wonderful verse: 2 Cor.
5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.” The
great exchange is seen here so that former sinful believers have now made this
great exchange of being sinful to becoming righteous through what Christ did on
our behalf.
“Blameless” (amomos)
“means without blemish. It was used in
the Septuagint to speak of sacrificial animals (Num. 6:14). It is used in the New Testament to refer to
Christ as the spotless Lamb of God (Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19).”
“Beyond reproach (anegkletos)
“goes beyond blameless. It means not
only that we are without blemish, but also that no one can bring a charge
against us (cf. Rom. 8:33). Satan, the
accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), cannot make a charge stick against those
whom Christ has reconciled.”
What a wonderful Savior we have who took our place on the
cross in order for us to be reconciled to God and He to us as we have learned.
2/3/2017 11:26 PM
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