Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Colossians 1:21
When you think about your life story, are there pivot points where the course of your life dramatically changed? Are there times when you recognize how a choice, decision, or action resulted in a different outcome? When these things happen in our life, we typically describe our lives as how things were before the pivot point and then how things were different after these pivot points. Paul does the same thing in our passage in his letter to the church at Colossae. He defines every Christ follower’s life into two categories: Before Christ and after Christ. Verse 21 starts with “Once you…” and goes on to describe our standing before God prior to Jesus coming to bring the peace we talked about yesterday. Regardless of your upbringing, how many mistakes you have made, or how many things you have accomplished, the beginning of every human story can all be described by Paul in verse 21, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” That is how every person’s story starts.
Every story that you love has a conflict, a challenge, something to overcome. This is what draws us into stories and causes us to resonate with our favorite characters in the books we read and the movies we watch. When we zoom out and remember the overarching story of Scripture, we see a people who are alienated from God with no way to get home. There is no path to peace. Not only are we alienated from God, but we also find ourselves as enemies of God as we live lives that reject the Lordship of Jesus. It was into this reality that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and it was from this reality that he came to reconcile the world. When we pause and remember that we were once alienated from God, the focus of the story shifts away from us and onto the only person who could ever bring reconciliation and a path to peace.
“Once you were…” but the story doesn’t end there. We’ll pick this up tomorrow when Paul describes how everyone’s story can pivot from alienation to reconciliation. Before jumping to the “but,” take today to reflect on what life would look like without Jesus coming to reconcile us to God.
Reflection:
1. What do you feel as you read the words of Colossians 1:21? “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”
2. How does the reminder of your status before God without Christ cause you to embrace the reconciliation you can experience today?
3. What are some of the “pivot points” in your story where God has shown up to change the course of your life?
Pray through the truth of the human condition found in Isaiah 53:1-3:
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
