The Supreme Reconciliation | Colossians 1:19-23 | Pastor John Miller

I want you to follow with me as I'm going to read our text verse 19 down to verse 23 of Colossians chapter 1 Paul said for please the father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of the Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things and earth or things in heaven and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and Unruh provable in his sight if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven aware of I Paul am made a minister now I want you to look back with me for just a moment at verse 21 as I introduce our theme Paul says and you he makes it personal I believe it's applicable to the Colossians and to us right now you that were sometimes this is their past alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works now here's their present you are now reconcile God the Father said God the Son to reconcile a rebel planet if you wanted me to describe the message of the Bible that would be a great succinctness unn to reconcile a rebel rebellious hostile planet now the word reconcile is one of the five key words used in the New Testament to describe the riches of our salvation in Christ along with the words justification Redemption forgiveness and adoption you know I'm a firm believer that every Christian should learn these words and someday I've been saying this for many years but someday willing I want to do a series on keywords of the Bible and will do a sermon on each one of these words but these words are important for you to understand the richness of the blessings of how God saved you in Christ so let me give you a quick definition of these five statements justification is God declaring the guilty to be righteous in Redemption slaves are set free in forgiveness our debt is paid and forgotten in the doctrine of adoption strangers are made sons and now fifthly in reconciliation enemies become friends let me repeat that real quick in justification the guilty are declared righteous in Redemption slaves have been set free and forgiveness our debt is paid and forgotten in adoption strangers are made sons and in Reconciliation our topic this morning enemies become friends now Paul in this context I want to set it for you it's still talking about the preeminence of Christ back up to verse 18 at the very end of that verse Paul says that in all things he that is Jesus Christ might have the preeminence now what do we mean by preeminence the word preeminence means the most important place the supreme place we use the word prominence for an important place but pre-eminence means the most important place to many people Jesus is important but to God the Father Jesus is to have the most important place in our lives in our church and in our worlds so Jesus is to have preeminence because we saw verse 15 he's the image of the invisible God we saw in verse 16 that he is the creator of all creation and we saw in verse 18 that he is the head of the church now as we move into verse 19 Paul gives us one more reason for Christ's preeminence Jesus is the one through whom the father reconciles a fallen world so you might say these are the reasons for Christ's preeminence he's the image of the invisible God number two he's the creator of all creation number three he's the head of the church and number four he's the reconciler of all things not only does he redeem us by his blood but he reconciles us back into a right relationship with God and I believe that this is the greatest need in the world today when God made Adam and Eve from the beginning the book of Genesis and he walked with them and have fellowship with them in the garden and then sin came into the world because they disobeyed God what happened Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden they were separated from God and God had to provide coats to cover their nakedness and an animal had to die and shed his blood for them to come back into fellowship with God but they were separated from God and eventually died so death and separation and emiti and hatred and division all came into the world as a result of sin and God's sending his son was a rescue mission to save us and to reconcile us and to bring us back unto God now from this text I want you to see three truths about the supreme reconciliation if you're taking notes you can write them down the first point is a little longer than the second so don't be timing me you're going to be freaking out thinking he's going to get through three of these will never get out of here I just thought I'd warn you okay because the main message in this first point here it is the father's reconciling pleasure verse 19 to 21 so if you wanted to outline this text the first point is the father's reconciling pleasure verse 19 to 21 now let's go back and read that passage says lord please the Father then in him should all fullness dwell and that he made peace through the blood of his cross by him that is Jesus Christ reconcile all things to himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet notice this at the end of verse 21 now hath he reconciled now very important connective there's the word for in verse 19 it shows that the basis for the preeminence of the son was the pleasure of the father you might say it pleased the father that in him all fullness dwell and please the father that he have preeminence because he is the reconciler of all things so the father's pleasure is the Father's will or plan when it says in that statement it pleased the father what does that mean it means that this is the Father's will this is the father's pleasure this is his purpose that in His Son Jesus Christ should all fullness dwell what does that mean in him should all fullness dwell let me tell you very simply it means that the full essence of deity dwells in Jesus Christ it means that he has every bit God as though he were not man and every bit man as though he were not God in Jesus Christ and these are that this is important you got to dot every I and cross every key the Jesus was fully man sinless because he was born of a virgin he didn't inherit a sin nature jesus never sinned but he was fully human he was tired he slept he wept he was weary yet emotion all the things that we have Jesus Christ have he was fully human and fully divine but he wasn't two people one God and one man he was one person you go I don't understand neither do I you know but you're teaching this yeah because that's what the Bible teaches you know if I could understand God he wouldn't be big enough to take care of me my brains about this big you know this is what theologians called the hypostatic Union they like to give big names to these doctrines and that means that two natures dwelt together in one person Jesus Christ there's nothing more important for you than to understand the nature of Christ fully man fully God let me give you one more statement to clarify this his humanity did not lessen or diminish his deity and his deity did not lessen or diminish his humanity it's just as heretical to deny his humanity as this to deny his deity and he had to be both God and man to be able to reconcile them it's almost as though when Jesus was hanging on the cross he grabbed God and he grabbed a man and he brought them together and they met at the cross on Jesus Christ what a beautiful picture because he's the god man he can bridge the gap between sinful men and a holy God so he is the reconciler because he is the fullness of the Godhead now notice the fullness there is in him not around him not upon him but in him 2nd Corinthians 5:19 Paul says it this way God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself so that fullness of deity dwells and the word dwell actually means to dwell permanently so here's the point Jesus Christ deity was fuses Christ deity was fused with sinless humanity for all eternity did you get that Jesus deity was fused with humanity for all eternity that kind of has a rhythm or a rhyme or meter to it you can learn to quote that or memorize that his deity fused to humanity for all eternity he's the glorified god man and have enough you know a lot of times people say well I can't believe that a man could become God and you know what neither do I because a man didn't become God God became a man and there's a difference you know a lot of people believe that they're becoming gods or they can you know find the inner divine essence there's a lot of men who have aspired to become divine but there's only one God who actually became a man this is what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 - being in the very form of God thought equality with God not something to hold on to but he emptied himself not of his deity but the display of his deity and he took on the form of a servant that means he took on full humanity to the womb of the Virgin Mary and therefore he became obedient unto death the death of the Cross and Paul goes on in Philippians 2 to say therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue she confess that he is one Lord he is Lord to the glory of God the Father he is to have preeminence so Jesus Christ has the fullness dwell in him now here's the question why would God become a man and the answer is in verse 20 and 21 to reconcile all things now what does reconciliation itself mean what's the meaning of the word it means to change relationship from hostility to harmony it's a change of relationship from hostility to harmony you know the Bible teaches that before our conversion the man in the sinful state that had mankind apart from God is actually an enemy of God that we're strange from God and God is the one who reconciles up here's a few important points about the doctrine of reconciliation God is the reconciler we are the reconciled we never reconcile ourselves to God that's a work that we cannot do God reconciles us unto himself and we're going to see it's through the death of his son Jesus Christ and that's an important distinction otherwise it'd be like any other religion if you're baptized if you're good if you have communion that you can somehow reach up by your good works and you can bring God down to you but that doesn't happen in religion man is reaching up to God in Christianity God is reaching down to myth and God is the one who reconciles man unto himself he takes away the enmity and the blockage and the obstacles so that we can be reconciled and brought back in harmony with him God removes the barrier and guess what that barrier is it's a little word the three letters starts with a letter s s I and what's that spell sin you don't hear much about sin today oh I can't believe the pastor's talking about sin we're not sinners Bible says we are you know the Bible even says if you say you've not sinned you just send you life I've had people argument on a sinner and if you don't believe me I'm going to punch you out veins popping out on their neck I'm not us haha everyone has sinned everyone has fallen short of the glory of God the Bible says there's no one righteous no not one the sooner that we understand that the sooner we can appreciate the God idea that God wants to reconcile us even though we are sinners now notice in verse 20 having made peace through the blood of his cross that's the means by which God reconciles us the blood of his cross that's a descriptive term to explain the death of Jesus Christ notice in verse 20 - in the body of his flesh through death so you have in verse 20 having made peace of the blood of this cross in verse 22 you have in the body of its flesh through death it is the cross of Jesus Christ it's the apex of all history both secular and redemptive when Jesus came to redeem us and to reconcile us back to God's we can't reconcile ourselves only God can do that you know the end of World War two when we were in the South Pacific fighting the Japanese you know that the war was over and there was the peace treaty with sign did you know this many Japanese soldiers were still hiding in the jungles on some of those South Pacific Islands thinking the war was still on and they're hiding in fear and they're looking for the enemy and you know they're eating coconuts and bananas and they're sleeping under the trees and they were afraid and and some of them actually were there for months and years they couldn't get him out of the jungle they thought the war was still over you know a lot of people are like that was God you know the war is over a peace treaty was signed that the blood of Jesus Christ and God is reaching out to you you don't have to hide anymore come out of the jungles believe and trust in God he's opened the door made the way so basically what happened was is we were enemies and estranged from God and the obstacle that kept us from God was our sin and God took care of the sin issue at the cross now this does not mean that automatically everyone is saved you have to repent and believe in Jesus Christ and be born again to be saved it doesn't automatically save the world and we'll see that in just a moment but the war is over peace treaty has been signed and now all you need to do is let the little white flag go up in your heart and turn back to God and say God I'm sorry for my sin and God wants you to be reconciled we can have peace with God I want you to notice the object of reconciliation and verse 20 all things all things and he goes on to say in earth and that which is in heaven that just about covers everything now what does he mean by all things let me tell you what he does not mean he doesn't mean that Satan is going to be saved he doesn't mean that demons are going to be saved he doesn't mean that unsaved people unregenerate people will be to heaven there is a false doctrine known as Universal is a universalism teaches that in the end no one will go to hell no one will be lost no one will perish even though John 3:16 says God loved the world so much he gave His only Son that whoever believes and will not perish but have everlasting life but you have to believe in him or you will perish you do not have member lasting life so this statement all things isn't teaching universalism as you compare Scripture with Scripture you say well what is it it comes in two categories all things comes in two categories category number one all created things the creation the cosmos you ever wondered why there's hurricanes and floods and tornados and all of these natural disasters we call them acts of God for God getting blamed for all of it man's sin that brought it upon the world did you know that Jesus Christ is going to come back and he's going to reign on earth and guess what no more tornadoes no more floods no more famines no more pestilence no more war he will reign on earth as king of kings and Lord of lords there will be peace our it's called the Millennium the thousand year reign of Christ and yeah I believe it's going to happen literally I believe Jesus Christ comes back in his second coming and that he reigns on earth for a thousand years and the Bible says that at that time they'll beat their swords into plowshares and their spears become pruning hooks and nations not going to lift up sword against nation they'll not learn warning anymore that there will be peace on earth because Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace will be reigning on earth I look forward to that day don't you when we pray thy kingdom come and we pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven that day will be fulfilled so the restitution of all things is talking about the created world in Romans 8 it says the whole creation groans and travails waiting from the manifestation of the sons of God but there's a second category more pertinent to this text in verse 21 and that is sinners will be redeemed and you who are sometimes alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now half he what reconciled so those who believe in Jesus Christ repent of their sins and trust him as Lord and Savior they will be reconciled I want you to notice what we were before we were reconciled our past verse 21 alienated enemies and living in wicked works we were enemies and we were living in wicked works the word alienated means estranged verse 21 means that we were separated from God Adam and Eve knew God had fellowship with God sin brought separation Paul says in Ephesians 4 verse 18 that were alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in us and because of the blindness of our hearts so there's that time before conversion when we were actually ignorant and blind and we were estranged and separated from God as we look at these points just just remember what it was like to to be blind and ignorant and separated from God remember before you were a Christian you just lived in spiritual darkness you didn't know the truth and you were living in bondage separated from God notice he says also that we were enemies so more than just strangers we were hostile toward God we were at enmity with God means that were actively opposing God and willfully breaking his law notice it involved our minds our fallen state affected our sinful minds verse 21 in Romans chapter eight verse seven Paul says the carnal mind is it enmity with God it's not subject to the law of God and it cannot be you ever met unbelievers that just get angry when you want to talk about Jesus and it's fun you can talk about everything else and everything else the minute you bring up Jesus Christ what you say decide hair stands up on the net I'd like to share Jesus I want here ah Jesus let's talk about Buddha yeah let's talk about booting that's game talk a mobile ham and a Confucius or any other person yeah we can talk about Jesus they want to talk about God they're hostile toward God we're enmity were at war with God and then thirdly it says that we were wicked in our works wicked in our works verse twenty-one enemies in your mind by wicked works how sad you know this is what we don't want to believe in our sinful fallen Unruh generated state man is alienated enemy and he is doing wicked works and he doesn't want to accept the fact that he's a sinner you tell a sinner they're Center and they get mad at you sinners don't want to know they're sinners people that are Saints they would they know they're sinners saved by grace story is told of a 17th century Christian woman her name was Lady Huntington and she invited one of her friends the Duchess of Buckingham to hear George Whitefield preach she received this reply from the Duchess of Buckingham it is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl the earth this is highly offensive and insulting i canna but wonder that your ladyship should relish any sentiment so much at variance with high rank and good breeding oh how many times have I met people that say oh I'm not a sinner I'm not wicked that's that's just disgusting to indite humanity as being in rebellion or sinful or separated from God but that's the truth that's what's wrong with this world have you ever looked at the world and go what is going on it's because we're alienated from God or enemies we're practicing our wicked works we don't like that in our natural state but notice this yet now verse 21 so you go from your sinful past to your present saved condition but now hath he reconciled us now the word reconciled is in the eros tense I point that up because that means that it happened in the past and it has effect all the way into eternity future we who were enemies are now Friends of God but why did God reconcile us here's my second main point and I promised you they wouldn't be as long my second main point is the father's reconciling purpose or attaching the question why did he reconcile with what was this purpose in our reconciliation and the answer is in the end of verse 22 want you to see it to present you holy unblameable and Unruh provable in his sight that's what God was doing the purpose of God's reconciling work through the blood of the Cross was to present you some day in heaven holy unblameable and Unruh provable in his sight now true to the passage I believe that Paul has in mind not our present standing which we are righteous and holy before God but our future presentation in heaven you know someday you're going to be presented by the son to the Father and we're going to be welcomed into heaven and when we do get to heaven this is how God's going to present us three things holy secondly unblameable and thirdly Unruh provable now this holiness is the salvations climax it has three tenses past I've been forgiven present I'm being forgiven I'm being made holy and future I will be perfectly holy guess what happens when you get to heaven you're going to be totally free of sin praise God hey what an awesome time sickness sin sorrow and Satan gone forever praise the Lord and you'll be presented with holy and we don't deserve that we didn't merit that we didn't earn that but God reconciled us through the blood of his cross notice secondly that will be presented unblameable unblameable verse 22 that means without spot or blemish it's the total removal of sin and guilt in Ephesians 1 verse 4 Paul said according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame before him in love and then thirdly notice it unruhe provable it means no charge can be brought against us that great this is a can you dig at verse we just went from enemies hostile and estranged from God living in wicked works now we're going to be presented holy and unblameable and Unruh provable when we get to heaven no one's going to accuse us of anything hey I remember John Miller in high school just this week I saw a picture of me in high school and it's just scared me to death it's like oh my gosh thank you Jesus for saving my soul amen you know there made a lot of surprises when you get to heaven you're going to be shocked at the people you see and even more so they're going to be shocked to see you there they go did we go to high school together oh man you are crazy can't believe you're here I mean people are going to look at you head of it what are you doing here what are you doing here it's a grace of God and no one's going to bring any accusation against us Romans 8:1 says there's now therefore what no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus period that's what that verse stops the end of the chapter he says who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect is God who justifies it is God who sanctifies there's God who will glorify us notice it's in his sight verse 22 because we are in Christ our future in heaven will be amazing at the believers death when we go to be with the Lord or the rapture of the church whether we go by death or we get caught up to meet the Lord in the air this is how we are going to be presented to God holy unblameable and Unruh provable we're waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who shall also conform you until the end blameless and day of our Lord Jesus Christ let me give you my third and last point it's in verse 23 it's the father's reconciling proof so we have the father's reconciling pleasure we have the father's reconciling purpose and now we have the father's reconciling proof notice it verse 23 if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which he heard and which was also preached to every creature which is under heaven where of I Paul am made a minister now a very important word in verse 23 it's a first word if if you continue now when you get to that in the English translation without knowing the grammar behind it you might say well I knew that there had to be a catch so this is too good to be true he took us wicked sinners and he's going to present us to heaven unblameable unreviewable but you know what now it's up to me to hang on there's a big if oh it's up to me to hang on it's up to me you know he saves me by His grace but I got it I got to stay saved by my good works that's not what I'm saying a little tiny word if right there in verse 23 is what's called a conditional clause of the first-class a conditional clause of the first-class what that means is Paul is saying if and I believe you will changes the whole thing he's not questioning whether or not they're going to continue saying if and I believe you will some translations have practically render that sense and it would be right to do that since you continue so he's assuming their continuance he's not saying you could lose your salvation he's affirming them and saying since you continue and I believe you will being grounded and settled and not moved a but having said that let me say this continuance in the Christian life involves my mind being educated by the Word of God it involves my heart longing for God and seeking after God and it involves my will being surrendered to God you can't be passive about your Christian life evidence that you're truly saved you're going to you're going to want to read your Bible if I meet some of the claims to be a Christian and they never read their Bible I have to I have one thing and that's all I just I have to question what have you been born-again nature determines appetite how can you be a child of God and you don't want to read God's Word how can you not hunger for God's Word if I mean somebody says I'm a Christian but I don't like Christians I'm a Christian I'm going to church because Christians are creepy I was as we know we pass from death to life that we love the brother do you love other Christians are you committed to other Christians are you involved with other Christians this is the birth mark of a Christian but it's also continuing now let's look at each one of these grounded in verse 23 each one of these by the way come from the world of construction is like building a house or building on a solid foundation this is our Christian life it needs to be grounded I would say that's the area of the mind we get grounded in God's Word remember when Jesus closed his Sermon on the Mount he gave a parable of two builders one wise and one foolish remember the foolish builder what did he build on sand every kid in Sunday school knows that they sing it foolish man built his house upon the sand and went splat the wise man built his house on what the rock which is the word of God and obedience to it Jesus said my word and obedience to it there's not enough to hear the Bible and you're to be commended you're in church this morning and you're hearing God's Word we read the Bible and I've explained the Bible and now I want to apply the Bible and that is you must put it in the shoe leather you must build your marriage and your life and your job and your career your hobbies and your habits everything on the Word of God because the wind is going to blow and the rains are going to come and the storm is going to come and they'll beat upon your house some of you that have been married for many years you know that your marriage would not have survived if it wasn't built on the rock of Scripture amen and the fear of the Lord so be a wise builder be grounded on the Word of God and then the word settled the word settled means to be strengthened from the Holy Spirit and the inner person and it would involve the heart it's a heart that is filled with the Holy Spirit and it has purpose to seek God settled and grounded and then thirdly not moved away I love that figure of speech not moved away in Ephesians 4 verse 14 the Bible says that we know be no more children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine we know what tumbleweeds are right you know what a tumbleweed is tumbleweeds break their root and the wind comes and it just tumbles and it just goes rolling right God doesn't want Christian tumbleweeds God wants Christian oak trees he wants your roots to go deep the soil of God's love and God's Word not be moved away now notice a reference in verse 23 to the gospel the hope of the gospel you heard the gospel gospel was preached to every creature so the next Sunday we're going to be looking at Paul the minister the preacher of the gospel but I want to end with these thoughts number one you know what we are called to do and to be as Christians we're called to do and to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and you note our messages to enemies to strangers of God to people living in wicked works through the blood of the cross god assigned the peace tree you can come back to God the war is over come out of the jungle that's our message to go everywhere we can go to our family and our friends and let them know you can have a relationship with God you can come back to God God dealt with your sin at the cross and now you're free to come back to God you can be reconciled to God we all love the beautiful story of a husband and wife who maybe have been estranged I heard the true story of a husband and wife who had a five-year-old son died and through the death of their son they were estranged they ended up in divorce and years later the husband had to return to that City on a job-related business trip and he went to visit the grave of the son and as he was there weeping over the son's grave he heard steps behind him he turned around and there was his estranged wife and his first impulse was to run away but instead he stopped and she stepped up there and they grasped pants and they were actually reconciled by the death of their son they were reconciled at that cemetery over the death of their son true story in a different way but every bit is important God gave his son to die on the cross so that sinners can be reconciled back to God do you know that God is literally reaching out his hand to you as sinners right now he's saying be reconciled so we take that message and I want to give that message to you that are here right now this morning if you're here maybe visiting for the first time or maybe you've come for many weeks or maybe a friend invited you but you are not saved your sins have not been forgiven if you were to die right now you don't know you'd go to heaven I want you to know that Jesus died on the cross for you I want you to know that Jesus rose again so that you can be forgiven and that you can be reconciled back to God and there's no reason for anyone to leave this service right now without getting right with God you can leave here reconcile to God and you can have the peace of God you can have the forgiveness of God joy of God and you can have the hope of heaven but it's your decision I'm God's ambassador calling you to be reconciled to God but you must make a choice you must surrender in your heart and come to Jesus and say I'm sorry for my sins please forgive me come into my life and be my Savior and if you haven't done that I want to give you that opportunity right now right here to invite Christ to come into your heart and forgive your sins if God has spoken to you through this message today and you're not sure that you're a child of God maybe you don't know for sure that if you died today that you would go to heaven you've never really trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior I would like to lead you in a prayer right now inviting Christ to come into your heart and to be your Savior so as I pray this prayer I want you to repeat it out loud right where you are after me make it from your heart inviting Christ to come in and be your Lord and Savior let's pray dear Lord Jesus I'm sorry for my sin I pray that you'll forgive me and come into my heart and make me your child fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you all the days of my life I believe in you I receive you as my Lord and Savior in Jesus name Amen if you prayed that prayer and you meant it God heard that prayer and I believe that God will and does forgive your sins we'd like to help you get started growing in your walk and relationship with Jesus Christ god bless you if you just prayed with Pastor John to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior we are so excited for you and we'd like to send you a Bible and some resources to get you started in your relationship with the Lord simply click on the contact' link at the top of the page and tell us something like I prayed to accept Christ we'll get your Bible and resources mailed out to you right away god bless you and welcome to the family of God

Channel: Revival Christian Fellowship

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Length: 41min 35sec (2495 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2017