if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

The true benefits and fruit of following Christ are discovered over the long haul. If you’re looking for immediate return, every time, you are going to be disappointed. The real value is found as you continue in your faith. When you face a challenge, and despite your constant fears and nagging doubts, stand firm and not moved from the hope found in the scriptures, sometimes over a long period of time, you discover things about God’s faithfulness, love and goodness, that you would never have understood, that words cant express, without that time of testing.

As in the words of the old negro spiritual, I’ve decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back…..

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—

Jesus death on the cross has not only brought us back into relationship with God, from whom we had been estranged and seperated, but made us new in every way. We come into God’s presence holy. The greek word in hagios and means a saint. Did you know you are a saint? Not because of anything you did, but because of what Jesus did. As far as God is concerned, in Christ, you are perfect in every way. When was the last time your boss told you that?  :-)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.

When I hear Christians complaining about their life or circumstances, and that they were better off before they were saved, I think of this scripture. It’s like the Israelites complaining about their new life out of Egypt . They said Numbers 11:5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. Sure, but what about the beatings, the suffering, the endless work for little reward, the sense of hopelessness and meaninglessness to life.

It is important we remember the whole picture of what it was like before we met Christ and not employ selective amnesia. We were alienated from God, living as his enemies, and yet he reached out into our world and reconciled us to himself. Sounds like a God of love to me. Let’s give his way a go

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The blood of Jesus contains the power of reconciliation. The word means to return to its former state of harmony. When things go wrong, break down, fall apart in life, we can get things back on track by:

1. Reconciling with Jesus. Discovering and admitting the part we played in the dilemma and asking for forgiveness through his blood shed on the cross.
2. Asking for his plan of reconciliation in the business, marriage, relationship, situation, job etc. Proverbs 3:5-6 says

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

This process may be short and easy or it may be long and arduous. It doesn’t say how long to trust, it just says trust……..

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…

When we look at Jesus in the Bible, we get a clear picture of what God is like, because he is God. The compassion Jesus shows toward the poor, the suffering, the downtrodden, the broken, the alienated, the hurting, the seeking, the lonley, is a full and complete picture of how he feels toward you. Our response is to allow Christ to dwell fully is us. That is the calling of the Christian.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

1. Jesus and the church, are inseparable. He is it’s head. Being part of a local body of believers is vital to growing to our potential in God. Jesus said it is our love for the church that distinguishes us from the world (John 13:35).

2. Jesus is our beginning. When you come to Christ you realise that before him, you were not truly living and that when we give out lives to him, we begin to live according to our true purpose.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

We can trust that all things will hold together for us if we first understand that Jesus was and is before all things. Jesus was not a supercharged version of man. He was fully human like all of us, but he is also fully God. He did not become the Son of God when he was born in Bethlehem, for he was with God in the beginning (John 1:2). As we put him first and before all other things we have going on in our lives, we can have confidence that all the other stuff will hold together

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Paul makes clear the Divine nature of Jesus. He was not just there at creation, but is The Word which brought all creation into being. He also finishes off with the nature of all things, that they were all created by Jesus and for Jesus.

¹⁵[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.

This is the amplified version of this text. If we want to know what God is like, we need merely look at Jesus. He is God with skin on. Although the Jehovah’s Witnesses use the last part of this scripture to teach that Jesus was a created being, it is clear from the context, although he was born, he was never created, for he was, as John says in John 1:1 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god and the word was God.

14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

What a tremendous summary of the work of Christ. Our freedom came at a high cost. It was purchased by Jesus upon the cross. And then he forgave…… Simple, but so profound. If it doesn’t cause you to worship in thanksgiving, you can’t fully understand what he has done for you.