A Remarkable Change. Colossians 1:22. Sometimes, we don't realize all that has happened or what the Lord Jesus achieved through His death on the cross. His death was originally to satisfy God’s justice before we could be accepted in Christ because of His unmatched worth. He was completely without blemish, and no fault was found in Him. We, on the other hand, were full of sin, and even our nature was inclined to it. In His flesh, His righteousness allowed a Holy God to be satisfied by taking our sins upon Him. No true accusation was ever made against the Lord; He was morally perfect, and His character was without stain. But we had a serious problem; we were sinners through and through by nature and in practice. Therefore, His death made it possible for us to be born again.
We who were once enemies of God and alienated by our own wicked deeds will one day be presented as above reproach because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Being reconciled to God by God makes us holy and blameless in His sight, even though that may not be so in the eyes of people. His grace working in us can make us what He wants us to be.
Paul explained that Jesus’ physical body died, which was his answer to those false teachers who claimed that Jesus was a spirit, not a real human being in a human body. He suffered death in our place, so we can be confident that His sacrifice was sufficient and that He removed our sins. As saints in Christ, we are positionally holy. Our conduct here should reflect practical holiness. God Himself reconciled us even though He knew our wicked works.
Now, we are accepted in Christ, who were aliens and reconciled to God because of the Lord Jesus Christ and His reconciling work. His death on our behalf removed all that once defiled us and made us something of real worth through our Savior. Today, in God's eyes, we are clean from every blemish, every spot. In Christ, our righteousness, we have been declared righteous. Remarkably, God does not accuse us because, in death, Christ fought a battle against our enemies and won; by His grace, we're made a new creation in Christ Jesus.
This was done in His actual physical body that Jesus inhabited during His time here. Through His death, the incarnate Son of God bore our sins in His body, and sin and death were conquered. In His sinless perfection, He paid the price for sin and “yielded up His spirit.” He, who had the power to lay down His life and take it again, did so as our substitute. The wages of sin have been paid. Christ has died in the place of the ungodly. Justice has been satisfied to God’s satisfaction.
God forbid that I forget or diminish what Jesus did in death. God's holiness, in response to all the sins I had committed, satisfies me completely and, more importantly, satisfies God. From that victorious cross-work, countless reasons have arisen for me to bless the Lord, honor, and serve Him daily. He is the Person who has reconciled us to God. There is no other who could make that happen. He alone is "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." The price He paid for reconciliation was that He did it "through death."
The wages of sin have been paid for by the death of the only sinless One who was "made sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him." The purpose behind His reconciliation was to present us holy, without fault or accusation, to God. Our position and condition were that we were enemies who were alienated from God because of our sins. That has been completely changed; now, we are set apart for God and by God. Because we are without blemish positionally because His blood has justified us, we can be absolved from accusations of our unworthiness through the worth of our Lord and Savior. The proof of reconciliation is lived out in the lives of grateful, redeemed people committed to living by faith in Him.
The way believers are presented as above reproach in God's sight is that of those who were accused and condemned but are now acquitted, pardoned, forgiven, and justified by His grace. Now, in God's sight, we are blameless and above reproach. The reproaches that were on us “fell on Him.” We are completely cleared of every charge. As those whom the blood of Christ has redeemed, we are called to live holy and blameless lives before others.
To do this, we must “present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service” or our spiritual worship as priests. We cannot be careless, indifferent, or casual about our responsibility as “A holy priesthood.”