- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 11,642
And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. Colossians 1:21-22 AMPC
“Then and Now” features are popular internet clickbait. That gorgeous actress we all dreamed of in the 80’s is now a middle-aged grandma. The leading man of ’93, who all the girls thought was just hunky, is now—dare we say it?—just chunky.
In the physical world, then-and-now signifies decline. In the spiritual realm, it’s the opposite.
The apostle Paul describes our “then”—life before Christ—as estrangement and alienation from God, hostility and wickedness toward Him. But thanks to the Father’s grace and the Son’s obedience, we “now” enjoy reconciliation, holiness, faultlessness, and irreproachability. The change is entirely due to the goodness of God, who has “drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
Then-and-now may be rough on your body, but it works wonders in your soul.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for reconciling me to Yourself through Jesus Christ. May I always respond in obedience and love.
“Then and Now” features are popular internet clickbait. That gorgeous actress we all dreamed of in the 80’s is now a middle-aged grandma. The leading man of ’93, who all the girls thought was just hunky, is now—dare we say it?—just chunky.
In the physical world, then-and-now signifies decline. In the spiritual realm, it’s the opposite.
The apostle Paul describes our “then”—life before Christ—as estrangement and alienation from God, hostility and wickedness toward Him. But thanks to the Father’s grace and the Son’s obedience, we “now” enjoy reconciliation, holiness, faultlessness, and irreproachability. The change is entirely due to the goodness of God, who has “drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
Then-and-now may be rough on your body, but it works wonders in your soul.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for reconciling me to Yourself through Jesus Christ. May I always respond in obedience and love.
