Colossians 1:21-23

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

     God is in the business of reclaiming and reconciling things back to himself.  This Scripture is letting us know that in spite of ourselves God wants us to be his. He is saying, "Hey you, come here! I have something for you. I did this amazing thing for you. While you where making your own decisions about life I sent my son for you. He went on a rescue mission. Yes, a rescue mission. For you, and yes it hurt. It hurt me so much that I had to turn from it. It pained me to see my son like that." 

     Jesus had to take on and bare the weight of sin. There was nothing in creation that could handle cleansing us from sin. The sacrifice of animals was just a way to show you that nothing could or would clean us from the sin problem that we have. Only someone that was truly without spot or blemish would reconnect us back to God the way we are meant to be. Jesus is the lamb of God that both cleanses us from sin and then by his blood allows us to walk in a new nature. Not by us, or by our actions but by his being in our place. 

Jesus

     I think people today are missing the big picture of the bible. It is Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus. This might be as simple or fundamental as something could ever be but it is so important. So I look to the book of Colossians. 

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

    Paul means that Jesus is the first of us all. Before creation was made he was. If we believe in a God that was before creation why don’t we put him first before us? Our lives were placed under his supremacy. Then WHY do we stress over the trivial things in life? When he has taken care of those trivial things. 

     We have a problem in the Church today. We forget Jesus. He is the cornerstone of the Church. He is in all of scripture. We miss him most often when reading the Old Testament. Shoot we forget him when we teach the New Testament. But, he is all over the book. He is so forgotten. 

     I would love for people to put scripture is such high regards in our lives. We put TV shows, sporting events,  concerts over the Christ. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy some good mindless entertainment once in a while but, we have forgotten our first love. Just like the church in Ephesus in the book of Revelations. The reason that our people are not growing is Jesus is not lifted up as priority in our lives. We are looking for four steps to a better prayer life! Let's just do this. Read the scriptures, sit with Jesus in prayer and plead with him. Maybe if we did that we would see change. The only thing you need to experience is Jesus. If when we lay our heads down at night we have not pursued him, at the end of that day Satan has won the battle. Let our view of Jesus be higher than everything in life. Then we will have peace in him.