Topic: Before and After
Colossians 1:13-23
You’ve seen the pictures in newspapers and in magazines advertising procedures to make you look younger. They’re “before” and “after” pictures. But to tell you the truth, the only difference I see between some “before” and “after” pictures is that in the “before” picture the individual is scowling while in the “after” picture she is smiling. Otherwise, as far as I can tell, there has been no change to the individual, which makes me wonder about the product they are pushing.
The same is true for Christians. If we were to look at spiritual “before” and “after” pictures of ourselves, would we see any difference? I mean it’s not like you can go to the farmers’ market and pick out the Christians just by the way they look. There is a difference between Christians and non-Christians assures the apostle Paul. Let’s find out what those differences are as we ponder our spiritual “before” and “after” pictures. Paul’s “before” picture of us begins with this description: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21). In Chapter 3, Paul expounds on our hostile life like this, “…sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.”
What can we do about this? Nothing. The only solution is for God to intervene, and He did so through Jesus. Paul went on to write: “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” (Colossians 1:22). This is our spiritual “after” picture. Look at how beautiful it is. Paul says that through Jesus’ death, we are without blemish. God declares us clean of sin. And because of this we’re promised a wonderful future in heaven. But death doesn’t seem like it could bring cleansing, does it? Consider Mt. St. Helen. When it erupted, countless animals were covered in ash and died. When biologists went back, they were amused to find clumps of wildflowers growing in the shape of elk and deer. The seeds of those flowers had found nourishment in the decaying bodies of those animals. We don’t just find nourishment in Jesus’ death; we find the cleansing that we need from our sins so that we also take on the “shape” of our Savior.
There might not seem to be much difference in the “before” and “after” pictures you see in advertisements, but there is a big difference in your spiritual “before” and “after” picture. We were once God’s enemies and deserving only of his wrath. Now, thanks to Jesus, we have been cleansed. God sees us as holy for Jesus’ sake. So live what God has made you to be. Show this God-given beauty to others that they too will want to learn about the beauty they have in Christ.
See you Sunday,
Dr. Scott Kallem