Bible Passage: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 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…” (Colossians 1:21-22 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:21-29
We all, every last man, have a version of this fear:
“If anyone really knew me, they wouldn’t like me; they’d know I don’t belong here, that I’m a fake/failure.”
This fear sits judgmentally in church pews, claims the top bunk in our cabins at men’s retreats, and joins the work-laugh chuckles in the office cafeteria.
For some of us, this fear is the result of something specific, the wreckage of a known event—moral failures, broken relationships, years of deliberate choices we can’t undo.
Others of us are pricked by a more subtle doubt that somehow, for some reason, we are simply disqualified.
Ever since our first parents hid in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8), this fear has haunted each of our steps.
Paul gently but boldly speaks to this fear:
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 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…” (Colossians 1:2-22 NIV).
There is an important before-and-after to notice in this incredible transformation.
Then: Alienated. Enemies. Evil behavior.
Perhaps that’s where we still feel stuck. That’s not a soft, gentle prodding toward admission. Paul is blunt. He’s not describing an accidental, infrequent moral slip. This is hostility toward God (conscious or not) expressed in actual behavior. This was our real condition, not a rhetorical exaggeration.
“But now…”
Anyone familiar with studying the Bible knows the power of those two words.
They carry the weight of the Gospel. We have been reconciled through Christ. We are now holy, blameless, and free from accusation. The wrongs have been erased, not because they weren’t real, but because Christ dealt with them in His body on the Cross.
Oh, what a glorious reality—if only we could fully believe it!
Satan wants you to believe that your history, or your simple existence, disqualifies you. The gap is too wide. The damage too deep.
The Cross reaches for men exactly like us: guilty, alienated, afraid of exposure.
But now…
If you belong to Christ, that’s your current story. Don’t let fear or shame write a smaller story than the one God has already written.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You that Your sacrifice changes my standing. Even if I know it is true, it does not always feel true, and the lie that it is true is sometimes compelling. Help me to embrace the newness of life that Your sacrifice on the Cross has given me. Amen.
Reflection: What part of your past do you need to surrender to the reality of Christ’s newness?
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