Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1:15-23 (New Living Translation)
Christ Is Supreme
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,[a] 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.[b]So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
DEVOTION:
“You are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” How often do we as Christ followers forget how Christ’s sacrifice has changed us? How would we live differently if we truly understood and believed that we are “holy and blameless?” This passage is so freeing to me. It allows me to stop beating myself up for my faults and failures, and to live as the person God made me to be. My teacher recently told me, “When we sin we are not being our true self- not who God made us to be. When we live His way, we are living wholly as our true self.” This passage clearly supports his statement. I’d like to say that I have that all figured out, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. How would I live if I truly understood who I am in Christ?

PRAYER:
Father, thank you for the sacrifice of your Son – through which you have saved me and made me “holy and blameless.” Help me to see myself as you see me, and to live accordingly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.