Day 4
Lisa Scheffler, author
Have you checked out the new Pastors Pregame Podcast with Bruce, Jaime, Mark, and Lisa? New episodes every Thursday! It’s available at cfhome.org/pregame or on the Apple podcast app.
Read
Colossians 1:21–22 (NIV)
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
Study
- Notice the contrast set up by “but now” at the beginning of verse 22. What is Paul contrasting?
- Paul makes a point to say that God has reconciled believers through Christ’s physical body. Go to com and read the note on 1:22 in the Faithlife Study Bible. Why might Paul have emphasized this point? (If you have not already done so, you’ll need to sign up for a free Faithlife account.)
Think about
- Paul is reminding the Colossians of the amazing truth at the heart of the gospel message. Most of these believers came out of pagan religions that practiced idolatry. They’d trusted that the sacrifices they made to false gods would give them security. They’d been living in rebellion and violating God’s design for humanity. Now they not only knew of the one, true God, but they could be reconciled to him through Christ. They had the opportunity to live as God intended.
What do people in our modern world trust in to find peace and wholeness? What do they sacrifice to? How can we show our trust in the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ?
Pray
In your prayer time, thank Jesus for enduring the agony of cross so that you could be reconciled to God. Spend some time with God in worship — through music, by taking a prayer walk outside, or whatever works for you.
Talk about
- 2 Corinthians 5:18–21 reminds us that not only have we been reconciled to God through Christ, but “he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” We get to share with other people the good news that they can be reconciled to God. Discuss what it means to be an ambassador who represents Christ and shares his message through meaningful conversations. What does that look like in practical terms?
Listen to this week’s podcast here!
