Reconciled

Colossians 1:19-22 states:

19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20And, 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.

21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

It is a sobering thought, this concept of reconciliation. Paul states that we were aliens and enemies not only in mind but in works. We were at war with the Creator. I was reading an excerpt from John MacArthur about this idea of being at peace with God. He brought up an interesting point, one I myself had never thought of - that not only were we at war with God before Christ, but God was at war with us. His wrath was completely upon us because of our sin, so much so that He was going to punish us for eternity in hell, and justifiably so. This was not contingent on whether or not we believed it to be so.

And whether you understand your war with Him or not, you ought to understand His war with you. Now, that puts it in a different light, doesn't it? You see, God is at war with the sinner. God is the enemy of the sinner. God fights against the sinner. God is the enemy of sin. God is the enemy of Satan. - John MacArthur (The Security of Salvation Part 1)

But thankfully for us it doesn't end there. Yes God is angry. Yes God is just. Yes He is holy. But He is also merciful, gracious, forgiving, and loving. And because God is perfect and complete in His Person He made a way to satisfy His wrath and still offer to us a peace treaty if you will. He did this by sending His own Son to sacrifice His blood so we didn't have to. How humble and grateful should this make us? The very Person whom we were at war with, the Person who was our chiefest enemy offered us reconciliation through the sacrifice of His own Son. We can now live as people who belong to Christ.