God’s Rescue Plan

He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

–Colossians 1:22

We are not born into this world spiritually neutral. The Bible says we come into this world separated from God. Yet He instigated a plan to restore that broken relationship.

In Colossians 1:22, Paul described God’s provision for our salvation: “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death.” The price of God’s plan of reconciliation was the death of His own Son, Jesus Christ. When Jesus hung on the cross, He endured the condemnation from God that you and I deserve for our sins.

Why would God go to such lengths to reconcile a relationship with people who didn’t want anything to do with Him? Is He that lonely up in heaven? No, God was willing to pay such a high price to bring us into a right relationship with Him for one reason: His great love for us. Ephesians 2:4–5 says, “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”

Out of His great love for us, God reconciled us to Himself through Christ. Paul revealed the purpose of this plan in Colossians 1:22: “He has now reconciled you . . . in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”

These words are pregnant with meaning. “Holy” means separate, different, set apart for a special purpose. Now that God has saved you, He has a special purpose for your life.

“Blameless” was used to describe the animals sacrificed in the temple. They had to be without spot or blemish. God sent Christ to die for you so you could be perfect, without any sin at all. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done—the blood of Christ is sufficient to forgive all your sins.

“Beyond reproach” means you don’t have to fear further punishment. In the future, God is not going to dredge up your past sins and say, “On second thought, I want to revisit this sin.” God doesn’t do that. In Jeremiah 31:34, God said, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Does that mean God can’t recall your sin anymore? No. Forgetting your sin means He chooses not to hold it against you. You never have to fear further punishment. That is the purpose of God’s rescue plan.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “Saved and Secured” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.