Colossians 1:21-22

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…

If you became a Christian at an early age, this verse may be a little outside your experience…but for those of us who became Believers as adults (I was 28), it should ring painfully true. Belonging to the race of Adam, we are born alienated from God. Then as individuals, we each choose to accept and embrace that alienation with our hostile thoughts and evil deeds. It’s not a pretty picture…children in open and willful rebellion against their loving and compassionate Father…but it is an accurate one.

The ancient Greek word translated alienated (apellotriomenous) is literally “transferred to another owner.” This transfer of ownership, from God to Satan (and self), affected us in both mind and behavior. Sadly, most people grade themselves on a rather steep curve with Adolf Hitler on one end and Mother Teresa on the other. As a result, they really don’t feel that bad about themselves from a moral perspective, if they think in moral terms at all. In a culture that increasingly rejects the notion of an ultimate moral law, the gospel seems unnecessary. After all, why does a pretty good person need saving?

That being said, our culture’s opinion of itself is not what matters, but rather, the opinion of its Creator, and His opinion paints a starkly different picture. Every single person is alienated from Him. They are hostile towards Him and His Law, both in their minds and their deeds. In our sin, we aren’t having a slight disagreement with the Lord…we are spitting in his face. Prior to your conversion, you were a member of Satan’s family, and as the old saying goes: The leaf doesn’t fall far from the tree. You may think I am overstating all of this, but I’m not. It really is this bad.

But…for those of us in Christ…it isn’t anymore! On this side of salvation, Jesus can present each and every Believer to His Father as holy and blameless . Whereas, once we were gleefully playing on Satan’s team and completely unaware of our condemnation, now we are in perfect harmony with God and enjoy favored status for all eternity. It’s a crazy thought, really, but that is the power of Jesus’ death on our behalf. Amen and Amen!