Putting Christ First: Christ, The New Age
Colossians 1:21-23
Out with the Old (v. 21)
- Paul describes our state before Jesus
- Alienate from God: Our standing
- With our minds against God: Our thinking
- Practicing evil: Our actions
- Paul connects evil actions with a hubris on our thinking
- Presuming that we know better than God
Enter the New (v. 22-23)
- Through His sacrifice, Jesus ushered in a new age
- In which we are declared:
- Holy: Set apart for God’s use
- Blameless: Like the Old Testament sacrifices
- Above reproach: Legally innocent
- Not by our own merits, but by Christ’s work
- This declaration has a future-focused undertone
- It is something started on the Cross
- And something that Christ is working out in us even now
- Thus, the call to continue in the truth of the Gospel
- So that, when we stand before His Father, we will have in it fullness (Phil. 1:6)
- The work of Jesus has ushered in the Messianic era
- Marked by holiness, righteousness, and truth
- But, we await the full culmination of this new age
- Which will take place when Christ returns
Putting the Pieces Together
- Because Jesus is lord of all (v. 15-20)
- We can have confidence that God’s rescue mission (v. 13-14) will be successful
- Ushering us into the Messianic Age (v. 21-23)
So What?
- Have you trusted in Jesus’ work of reconciliation?
- Are we letting Him transform us now?
- Preparing us for eternity with Him
Meditation Verse: Colossians 1:22