Presented Holy and unblameable, by Given O. Blakely

Presented Holy and Unblameable
By Given O. Blakely

Some accomplishments of Jesus

And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." (Colossians 1:20-22)Devotion 25 of 31PRESENTED HOLY AND UNBLAMEABLE " 22b . . . to present you holy and unblameable . . . " Other versions read, "holy and blameless" (NKJV), "holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (NIV), "without blemish and unreproveable" (ASV), and "holy and blameless and above reproach" (ESV).

There is an objective served by our reconciliation – a Divine objective. It has to do with God's "eternal purpose," and therefore, though present, is not anchored in time. The primary objectives of this purpose are not fulfilled in this world, and ultimately they do not have to do with temporal things. Every outworking of this purpose within this world is preparatory. All of this may appear rather evident, until you consider the nearly universal thrust of Western Christianity. When reaching the lost, resolving domestic issues, and streamlining daily living are considered the hub of Divine purpose, reconciliation loses its significance. There is an enormous amount of theological smoke that is being blown about these days. It clouds the real issues, obscures Divine intentions, and blinds men to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. It all sounds nice, and appears to be very helpful, yet much of what parades itself as being of Christ is actually more closely related to the Old Covenant than the New Covenant, and often it has nothing whatsoever to do with man's personal identity with the Living God. Human behavior was the thrust of the Old Covenant – "DO and live" (Lev 18:5; Gal 3:12). But that is not the thrust, direction, or primary objective, of the New Covenant. In Christ, the real issue has to do with AFTER the present heavens and earth pass away. It has to do with what will occur AFTER death, and AFTER the judgment. AFTER we see the Lord as He is, then the fulness of the purpose of God will be made known AND realized. Until that time, everything is preparatory for those epochal events. This will be made most apparent in the following statements. PRESENT YOU " . . . to present you . . . " Most versions read the same way: "to present you." Some more liberal versions read, "to bring you before Himself" (NJB), "As a result, He has brought you into the very presence of God" (NLT). WHEN IS THE INTENDED PRESENTATION? The word "present" means to place beside or near, to set at hand, to present a person to another, and to bring into fellowship and intimacy (THAYER). The issue here is WHEN that presentation is intended to be made. The New Living Translation places the time in the now: "He HAS brought you into the very presence of God."

It is true that now we may come into the presence of the Lord, drawing near "with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb 10:22). That, however, it NOT a presentation, but an invitation. Furthermore, our present access to God is by faith, and is not a true presentation.

In this world, WE "present" our bodies to God a "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1). Our text, however, speaks of the Lord doing the presenting. The presentation of our text has to do with our appearance before the Lord AFTER the end of the world. It is consistently represented in this manner in Scripture. The focus of reconciliation is an ETERNAL consummation – one that is satisfying to God and honoring of Christ. 1. "Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall PRESENT us with you" (2 Cor 4:14). 2. "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may PRESENT you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor 11:2). 3. "That He might PRESENT it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:27). 4. "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may PRESENT every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col 1:28). 5. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to PRESENT you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). This is speaking of a formal presentation, when the Lord Jesus receives His bride (Rev 21:2,9), and the Father Himself is joined with us (Rev 21:3). It all begins here, in this world, when we believe the record God has given of His Son, are baptized into His death, and are raised with Him to "walk in newness of life" (1 John 5:10; Rom 6:3-4). It continues in this world as we "live by faith," and "perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord" (Rom 1:17; 2 Cor 7:1). However, we have not yet been presented to the Lord. The work is still being completed. The Lord is finishing what He has begun, and performing the work until the day of Christ (Phil 1:6). We are still being "changed" (2 Cor 3:18), "renewed" (Eph 4:23), "conformed" (Rom 8:29), and perfected (1 Pet 5:10). We are still fighting and laying hold on eternal life (1 Tim 6:12), running (1 Cor 9:22; Heb 12:1), wrestling (Eph 6:12), looking (Tit 2:13; 2 Pet 3:12), and waiting for His Son from heaven (1 Thess 1:10). But the time will come when we will be "presented" to the Lord before an assembled universe. Everything about salvation is calculated to prepare us for that moment, and nothing about the reconciliation wrought by Jesus detracts from it. Any approach to religion that fails to take this into account is void of the Spirit of God, and is therefore counterproductive to everything Jesus is doing. As strong as that may appear, it is not nearly strong enough. PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to live with a constant consideration of the time You have appointed for the presentation of Your people. --GivenB@aol.com