Would you turn in your Bibles to Colossians Chapter 1? We're continuing our course through Colossians and I am loving it. I really am loving this. Every week, I realize with greater admiration at the extensiveness of what God has said here, and I hope that you can see that these things all come together and are comprised in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the sum of all of the revelation of scripture. And that's what these words here are saying to us.

And I wanna cover today in Colossians chapter one, primarily verse 20. So let's read that verse together. It says, having made peace, this is talking about the Lord Jesus, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself. Let me restate that. It's God the Father performing this by Christ, having made peace through the blood of His cross, Christ's cross, by Him, by Christ, to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

Alright, so this verse is stating in unambiguous terms that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who made peace. God the Father made peace through him and this peace was made by the blood of his cross. Christ dying on the cross made the peace and by him by the Lord Jesus, God is reconciling all things to himself, or actually the Lord Jesus is reconciling all things to himself, and by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. So whether things in earth or things in heaven.

Now it would seem we would probably just read this verse and just assume that we, yeah, God has reconciled everything to himself. And it did it by the Lord Jesus Christ, by his precious blood. And we would read that with some understanding of what reconciliation is. It's to restore a broken relationship back into peace. And we would assume that we have grasped the meaning of this text of scripture with just a cursory reading.

But as we think about it a little bit and we read here that by him, by Christ, God has reconciled things in earth and things in heaven, then we begin to wonder because it seems as if everything in heaven needs to be reconciled. And that brings up the question, how are things in heaven out of reconciliation? And the second thing is, what about things on earth? Because we know in our experience that most people remain unreconciled to God. And in fact, scripture reveals We don't experience this now, but scripture reveals that there's a coming day of judgment, and on the day of judgment, many will be told to depart. And then there will be, at the final judgment, there will be a casting out of many into eternal punishment. So how can it be that God has reconciled those people who perish to the Lord Jesus Christ?

So you can see then that as you think about this verse, it raises many questions, doesn't it? Now it turns out that most people in religion explain these questions in a number of ways. And let me state this right at the forefront. And I think this is true because we're humans and we have this nature within us. When I read something, at first I read it to get the message of what it's saying, but I can't help it. I always have this preconceived notion of the way things are. And when I read that, whatever I'm reading, especially scripture, I try to fit it into my preconceived notion. Or if it's very plain, I might assume that, oh yeah, I understand that, and just move on. But the problem with that is that scripture declares to us, there is none that understandeth. And it also declares to us that the gospel is a mystery hidden in God, and it's not known until God makes it known. And furthermore, God says that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness to him.

So we realize then that as we ourselves read Scripture, the revelation of the spiritual things of God, about God, about heaven, about things the way they are, that we cannot come to Scripture with a preconceived notion that Scripture itself has to form the truth such that God enlightens us to the way things are from Scripture. We don't know until God reveals it, and even having written it, we can't know it until He enlightens us to the truth of it.

And you can see this in many ways. For example, let me just take an example that you would say obviously. If you go to college, people will try to assume that the earth evolved. And that seems stupid to someone who believes the Bible, but it's true. People will think that things got here because there was some kind of a big bang. This wasn't even decided until somewhere in the 70s, I think. A couple of people got renowned for saying, oh, well, we hear something in outer space with these microwave and RF instruments, we see this noise, so we're gonna assume that there was a big bang and boom, everything was exploded and everything moved about the universe until it got to where it is and then on those different planets, things morphed into what we have today.

It's ridiculous. Requires more faith, I think, than just to believe. God, in the beginning, spoke. He commanded all things into existence. But scripture reveals that God created all things out of nothing by his word. And so we now have got God's word on it. He was there and nobody else was. And then we also learned that he did it on purpose. And we learn he had a big purpose for it. And that purpose was to glorify himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is what we've been reading.

So I use that as an example of how we come to scripture with these preconceived notions and unless God disabuses us, unless he changes our mind to forsake which is what repentance means, by the way, to have a change of mind, until we are turned from what we formerly thought was true, which was actually false, to understand and believe the truth that we haven't really believed, have we?

And the problem with not believing the truth is that we have these notions about God himself and about ourselves. And our attitudes are formulated by what we think God is, who he is, and how he responds or doesn't respond to us, and how we can be at favor with God. All those things are formulated by what we think of God and think of ourselves.

So that it's so essential then that we understand the truth, because if we don't understand the truth then, then we're going to think of God a certain way. And if it's not the truth, then we're imagining a God that's not there. You can imagine that he's like this, but if he's not, then you have an idol, don't you? It's a false god. And if you worship that false truth, which is not false truth, it's just a lie. If you worship a god that's not there based on something you believe that's not true, then you are not believing the truth and you can't be saved.

And furthermore, to state two more things on this line. Furthermore, when you begin to tell other people of what you think God is and how he saves, if it's wrong, then you're deceiving others, aren't you? And here's the worst part of it, besides all those things that are horrible, is that God's truth is intended by God and will be used by God to save his people. And therefore, if we distort the truth, then God's people who need that truth to save them, it's the only way they can be saved, have no hope. And so then they will go on in their lives in despair and never come unless, of course, God does bring the truth, which he will do, but they will not have the peace that comes from knowing how God has reconciled them to himself in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you can see then that it's essential that we understand what God is saying in his word. And the problem here is that with this particular verse, it says that Christ is going to or has reconciled, whether they be things in earth or heaven, all things to himself. And so we say, well, then this seems like a universal statement, doesn't it? All things, everything in heaven or earth. And so we cast the net as broadly as we understand the words, all things to mean, don't we? And yet we have these other statements of scripture that say, many are called, few are chosen, for example. Or you don't believe because you're not my sheep,

And so we say, okay, there's a distinction God is making, a distinction in scripture, isn't he? There are some who are called sheep, and there are some who are not sheep, for example. There is the church, for example, and there are those who are not in the church. And I talk about the church, I don't mean the four walls of a building or the four walls of many buildings, but I mean those who are in their hearts, believers. They have the spirit of God dwelling in them.

Okay, so we can see then that in order to understand this verse that talks about all things, we have to understand what God is saying in His Word. And what God says in His Word is consistent. And it's not contradictory. It's consistent and it is not contradictory. And I have read and listened to Men try to resolve apparent contradictions because they have a misunderstanding of what's being said, and then they come up with this whole system that is intended to resolve these contradictions that they have. And so they go on to promote those explanations that resolve those contradictions, and they build theologies through their commentaries. And these withhold the time and they're adopted. And what happens is that not just many, but a larger proportion of people believe a lie.

And that's confusing, because it seems like if God is God and he told the truth, why doesn't everybody believe it? That's a fundamental question, isn't it? If God is God and he can do whatever he wants to, and does do all that he wants to, and he has revealed the truth in his word, why is it that not everyone believes the truth? Is their unbelief part of God's will? Wouldn't that seem to follow? That's exactly what Scripture says.

Let me look with you at a couple of texts of Scripture to set up our problem so we can see God's answer. He says in Mark chapter 4, He says these words, the Lord Jesus, now this is Christ. He's saying these words, which all of scripture is his word, but I'm pointing this out so you can see that this is not somebody's misunderstanding. He says in Mark chapter 4, in verse 9, telling his disciples, he that has ears to hear, let him hear. That seems like a funny way of saying it. What He's saying is that some do have the ears necessary to hear what Christ is saying. And He's saying to them, you who have ears to hear, hear. Hear His Word. And how do they come by these ears? Did they produce them? No. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. These ears have to be given. And how are they given? Well, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So the Lord himself has to give us these ears to hear.

He goes on in verse 10. And when he was alone, they that were with him, with the 12, asked of him the parable. And he said to them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. That's a blessing, isn't it? It's clear it's not because of what you've done, but it's given to you. It's grace. But unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive. They can tell you what he said, but they don't perceive. They don't understand the truth of it. And hearing they may hear, I hear the words. They can tell you what He said, A, B, C. But not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Wow! That seems like the Lord is making a distinction, doesn't it? Why does it seem that way? Why does it seem that God is making a distinction here? because that is exactly what he's doing. He is making a distinction. And so what you see in scripture is that God makes these distinctions in many ways. And what he does by these distinction terms, for example, here, ears to hear, and those to whom the mystery of the kingdom of God is revealed, but those who are without. That's a distinction. Some have ears, some don't. Some are in the kingdom, some are outside. And according to whatever that means, there's a distinction, right? But what you find in Scripture is that the same words that make these distinctions throughout Scripture consistently identify a small portion out of a large group.

And let me give you some examples. Jesus said, other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Remember John chapter 10 verse 16 and following? And he also said there in that same section that this is the commandment my father has given me to lay down my life for the sheep. And he goes on in Mark 10 verse 26, to those who didn't believe he says, In fact, let me just read it to you so you can see it too. In John 10. This is a distinction. John chapter 10. He says in John chapter 10, I'll read back the ones that I just referred to. He says, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now that's the distinctive term, isn't it? There are people, God says, are sheep, they're His, they belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on in verse 14, he says, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine, so the sheep know Christ. In verse 15, as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Now that's an explicit, clear, unambiguous statement, isn't it? If we understand sheep and we know who's talking here and what he means by laying his life down. Jesus is saying he died for those called his sheep.

All right, but we're going to see that this is a distinctive term. In verse 16, other sheep I have which are not of this fold. In other words, he's speaking and in the present, discourse of the people who were hearing him being his disciples, and then he casts the net wider for our consolation, who hear him now, that the sheep he's referring to are not limited to those sheep there then, but include other people called sheep and belonging to Christ throughout all time. He says, I lay down my life for the sheep, verse 15, and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, this smaller group, them also, these other sheep, which are not here out present now, but will be, them also I must bring.

Now, if Jesus says he must do something, then you can be certain, because he is God, he will perform that. He will do it. He will do all his will. In other words, and then it goes on, and they shall hear my voice. So he's gonna bring them, and the result of him bringing them is they'll hear, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So now he's talking about the sheep as all belonging to him, and as a group, they're called one fold.

Now, do we see that? He goes on, verse 17, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

And now look at verse 22. It was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, it was winter. Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him and said to him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

Jesus answered them, I told you. And you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you are not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.

All right, so do you see the distinction here? The sheep from those who are not his sheep. The sheep hear, the sheep believe. It was for the sheep Christ died. Those who are not his sheep do not hear, do not believe. They're distinct. He makes the distinction. His father made the distinction. He gave him the sheep. He said, lay down your life for the sheep. Christ said, I will. And he also said, and I must bring them. They shall hear my voice.

If we just look at that and we apply it to the rest of Scripture, we see that God, as I read in Mark 4, where some have ears, some don't, there are those who are here in the kingdom, those are those without, and Christ makes a distinction. If you have ears, hear. If you're outside, these things are spoken in parables so that you can't see, even though you see, you won't perceive, even though you hear, you won't really understand, because if you did, you would be converted and the Lord would forgive you. That's strong, isn't it? Strong distinction.

But it turns out that the same distinction is made throughout scripture. So that this distinction that God is making here applies using different terms, but it is talking about the same thing.

So that for example, he calls his people the church. Or let's just take his people. There are people called his people. Matthew 1.21, he says, his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Certain, absolute, take it to the bank, undisputable, unfailing, Christ shall save his people from their sins. Otherwise his name, Jesus, is a dishonorable name. He didn't fulfill the work God gave him to do.

But the term his people is a distinction term, isn't it? A term referring to a portion out of a larger group, a subset, a remnant, if you will. In fact, the word remnant is used throughout scripture to refer to a smaller portion. In fact, scripture says that God's people are his portion, his inheritance.

Now, we can continue to say this in Isaiah 53 verse 8, it says, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. All right, so we immediately see there's that distinction again. And we see that Christ is going to do something for that distinct people, don't we?

Or in Ephesians 5, 25, Christ loved the church. and gave himself for it. And the church means congregation, the Lord's people, those the Lord has chosen. He's chosen the church. He's the head of the church. Remember Colossians 1?

So I can go on and on because there are lots of these things that are made distinctions.

Look at another one, for example. Look at Hebrews chapter 2. When we see the distinctions, And we understand what the Lord has promised to do for those identified by these terms, then we can understand the truth of God. And understanding the truth of God, then we'll see ourselves. We'll see ourselves, won't we?

Hebrews chapter 2, verse 5, it says, Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, wherever we speak. God did not, from the beginning, subject either the present world or the world to come to angels. We're speaking about a world to come. The subjection of that world will not be put under angels. Remember how it says in Galatians, the law was given by Moses through the ministration of angels. Remember that? So that the people of Israel were inclined to worship angels. He's correcting that. The law came through the ministration of angels. How did the gospel come? Through Christ. Through Christ. Who is Christ? He's the man to whom all things are put in subjection.

What does this teach us? Why would we worship angels? The law came through them. But through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, All things are put in subjection and the gospel and our salvation comes through him. So he says in verse 6, but one in a certain place testified saying, and this is Psalm 8, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and has set him over the works of thy hands. That's from Psalm 8. And the question is, who is he talking about here? It's true from that verse, from that text, that He's going to put all things in subjection, not to angels, but to the Son of Man, right? Thou visitest Him, Thou madest Him a little lower, Thou crownest Him with glory and honor, Thou didst set Him over the works of Thy hands. That's a prophecy. We don't see it.

Verse 8, but Thou hast put... that has put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But what do we see? We see Jesus, who was made a little lower, this is the fulfillment, than the angels for the suffering of death. crowned with glory and honor according to the psalm, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. As it says here in the King James Version, man is not there in the original. It was added. And we understand the every from the context. Because he says in the next verse, speaking of God the Father, for it became him, It seemed good to him, therefore it became necessary because of him. He says, it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing what? Every man? No. In bringing many sons. There's that distinction, right? These are the children of God. How did they become children? They were chosen in Christ and predestinated by Christ, by God the Father, through Christ Jesus, to the adoption of sons.

So it became God the Father, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain, the Son of Man, the one crowned with glory and honor, perfect, the captain of their salvation, perfect through sufferings. That's why everything is put in subjection to Him. for this distinct people. You see that?

Now, of course, many or most would say, well, see, Christ died for everyone from verse nine because he says that he might taste death for every man. But it's a misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding. In fact, it does violence to the context, doesn't it? It casts the net because of the words every man and our preconceived notions that the words must be taken literally in our understanding of what every man means rather than that God defined what he means by that in the context here and throughout scripture to mean the distinct people of the Lord. Israel shall be saved in the Lord. from Isaiah 45.

Okay, so we're beginning to see now what I'm trying to get to here is that the Lord in describing what he does in Colossians chapter 1, we have to understand scripture. We can't take a single word, or two words, or three, or a single verse, or even our understanding of the entire book that we're reading. We have to take Scripture collectively. And God has to enlighten us to the meaning of it in order for us to understand it.

So you find people They'll say, you know, you'll hear this often. God loves everyone. Christ died for everyone. And because that's their preconceived notion of what words like world and all and every and all things and so on mean, they have this, well, it just means it says world. I mean, who's gonna deny it? It means world. It's just a word. It's a world. We know what world means. We do? Well, yeah, it means everybody. Whoa. Well, suddenly now you've imposed your notions on what God has said without letting God speak from his word. You see, we have a problem. We're dependent on God. We can't figure it out. And we start out not knowing. We start out not understanding.

Let me take you to another text of Scripture. We may spend more than one week on this verse. Look at John 16. John, the Gospel of John, chapter 16. I want you to see how God works in the lives of his people. How God works. Because the Lord Jesus here in John 16 is telling us how the Spirit of God works. He says in verse 7 of John 16, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send him to you."

Let me point out something else here. There's something in scripture that you have to understand, and it's helpful for us because we see God's work in a wonderful way. Often in scripture, you'll see this principle, because of this, therefore that. For example, because Christ is going to go away, therefore the Spirit of God will be sent. Because Christ died for our sins, God justified us. Because God justified us, He raised us from the dead. Because He raised us from the dead, He gave us life and gave us His Spirit. And because He gave us His Spirit, He gave us faith in Christ. the one who died for us, through whom God justified us, because of whom, whose justification God gave His life. And because of that life, that life is by His Spirit, by which we believe. You see that because of this, that principle, the Spirit of God could not be sent unless Christ died. Christ would not have died unless the Father sent Him. And the father wouldn't have sent him unless he had a purpose in view. And God's purpose is eternal. And since God purposed it, it has to be done. And in everlasting ages, everything God purposed from the beginning will be done without fail, without any fault, without any diminishing of any of His glory, but fully displaying all of His glory perfectly according to His Word, according to His mind.

So He says here, I'll send Him to you. Verse 8, John 16. When He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. So, the operations of the Spirit of God, because Christ came, and lived, and died, and rose, and ascended, and now sits in glory, His work is to perform this in the world. He says, He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment."

Of sin. Because they believe not on me. Now, this is referring to everybody. Romans 11 verse 32 says, God has concluded, He has shut up as in a prison all men in unbelief. He didn't cause them to not believe. He didn't influence them to not believe. Their own sin is their fault and their unbelief is their fault. Sin brings condemnation, but the fault is with us. The condemnation is a just payment. And this is our condition here of sin because they believe not on me. Whatever is not of faith is sin. But unbelief lies at the root of all of our sin because unbelief is a mistrust, an accusation in our minds, a hostile attempt to take over the rule of God and the worship of God by our own. Lust that we carry in the cart of our own pride. Serving ourselves in higher esteem and in preference over even the glory of God. That's unbelief. That's what unbelief does. It produces these false notions about the true God and creates an idol with those notions. And so sin, that's sin. Because they don't believe Christ. That's the essence of sin here.

And he says, this is the other thing, righteousness. He's going to convince the world of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more. Christ is the righteous one. Christ performed all righteousness. That's the reason he went to the father. And the Spirit of God is going to convince those who are in themselves unbelievers. He's going to convince them of the righteousness of God. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. See? He's ascended. And of judgment. Because the Prince of this world is judged. Christ has accomplished a judgment. And that judgment includes Satan. and all who are in that world under which he has dominion. the darkness of this world. But you can see here through this, the Spirit of God works on us. We're naturally unbelievers. He convinces us of Christ's righteousness and that Christ in his glory now rules over Satan and his kingdom. And he's going to, he has judged and he's going to bring to consummate end that judgment upon Satan and his kingdom.

And when God tells us this, he doesn't say this, Jesus didn't say the Spirit of God is going to do these things and then He's going to ask you, what do you think? Are you going to decide? Are you going to accept this? Is that what He says here? No! Because that's not the way the gospel is preached. The gospel is preached as a declaration of what God has said and what Christ has done. and how he saves and his character and all these things. It's a proclamation of good news. It's not a proposition for you to make good on by your act. It is not that.

But if we have that belief, then what are we going to do? We're going to go out and tell people that the gospel is really this and you need to accept it because that's what it all comes down to. God is loving everybody. Christ has died for everybody. The decision is up to you. What do you think? You're going to allow God to accomplish this desire he has? I mean, if you don't, just think of what you're going to do to him. He's going to be weeping and wringing his hands because you didn't do your part.

Now, if you think that way, you show that you believe in idol. You believe in idol. If we believe that God has done everything, and now it's up to us to make what God did work for us, then we're going to attribute our salvation to who? To ourselves. It's because I accept it. It's because I prayed that prayer. It's because I did something. God brought it to the point and he left me with the outcome. You see how these false notions have to be resolved?

But because people assume that every man, in Hebrews 2.9, means every individual without exception throughout all time and across the globe, then they have to say, well, let's see, if Christ did die for everybody and he put away their sins, then why do they go to hell and pay for their sins? Ah, well, I know. They come up with these man-made inventions. They say, well, his death was certainly sufficient for everybody. I mean, it's the son of God who died. It had to be sufficient for everybody. But it's only efficient for the elect. And they write pages and pages in these arguments that try to establish that. But where do you read that in Scripture? Show me one place where Christ's death was sufficient for everyone, but only efficient for the elect. It's not there, because it's an invention of man.

What God does say is that God laid upon Christ the iniquities of us all, and he goes on to say, for the transgressions of my people. So God does use all-inclusive terms when he's speaking about his people. It's all-inclusive, isn't it? Every man refers to every son God determined to bring to glory by the death of his son.

Now let's go back to Colossians chapter one. And I want to go through, actually I want to go through these texts of scripture that are, they're using these universal terms and we want to look at those, but I'm not going to have time to do that today. So we'll take that on as a follow-up.

But in Colossians one, because this is glorious now, the truth is always more glorious than the air, a thousand million times more glorious. Because how glorious is it, let me go back to the reasons why preaching a false doctrine leaves men, which is dishonoring to God. It builds up these idols in men's imaginations. It bolsters and undergirds their own boasting in what they can do or not do. Their thoughts of themselves become elevated in contrast to scripture. But most critically, it leaves God's poor, helpless, sinful, wretched sheep without hope because they cannot do what men say they must do in order to be saved. And so they have no hope. They're left without a Savior who can save them. Because God only goes so far.

But Colossians 1.20 says, ".

..having made peace through the blood of His cross." And it means here, by Him to reconcile, it means here an actual reconciliation. This reconciliation came by the Lord Jesus Christ. We were sinful. Our sin offended God, and rightly so. It assaulted His throne. It tried to overthrow His sovereign rule. It tried to displace Him as the only object of worship and put ourselves there in the place of worship. It made us the one we should serve and not God. It was wrong, wasn't it? And God was rightly offended because God is just. He cannot look upon sin. In His kingdom, He is not going to tolerate sin. All sin will be punished.

And so, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in eternity, before all of creation was made, facing the results of creation, the fall, and all that would follow that. Satan's rebellion, man's fall. What is the Lord's disposition at that point? What will he do? Will he just exercise his justice? It was right when he did it to Pharaoh. It was right when he did it to Sodom. It was right when he did it in the flood. It will be right in the end of time. But is that all? No, because there's something even more glorious, something that even more greatly amplifies the justice of God. and His grace. And what is that? When God delivered up and did not spare His Son for us all.

And those for whom God delivered up and did not spare His Son, as Brad was reading from Romans 8.32, He shall without doubt and without fail freely give them all things with Christ. That's what that text is saying. How shall he not also with him freely give us all things? He that spared not his son delivered him up for us all. How shall he not also with him freely give us all things? It connects the two, doesn't it? Because as Brad also read in verses 29 and following, there was this This chain, an unbroken chain between God's foreknowledge and predestination and calling and justification and glorification that it applies to all those without exception. Without exception for whom God delivered up and did not spare his son. And there's nothing that can separate them from the love of God because that love is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here when he speaks of making peace, it shows us that God himself in eternity By his own nature, his goodness, and his will, he purposed to make peace with rebels who had offended him and made themselves his enemies. And he determined not to just bring justice upon them, but to initiate peace with them. And he made that peace the way that he knew in his justice would have to be made. only by one who was able to satisfy his law and fulfill his obedience unto righteousness, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. Only his Son could do this, but he had to come in our nature. He had to reconcile us through the death of his cross.

And then he goes on, and this reconciliation was made. That's what propitiation means. Propitiation means a satisfaction to God is made to appease His justice, to appease His wrath and to satisfy His justice in that blood. And Christ is the propitiation in His blood. And so God determined to do that and chose his son to be the one, the peacemaker, the one who would reconcile us by his blood and sent his son to bring it to pass. And Christ fulfilled his father's will perfectly and completely. And then he said, it is finished. And the reconciliation was made. God removed his wrath from us. I've taken it away. He says in Isaiah 12. in Psalm 85 and so many places, in the death of his son, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God in the death or through the death of his son. All right, so here that's what this means. God has made peace with enemies in the death of his son. What grace is that? What grace is that? How great thou art.

But then he goes on. By Him, I say, whether they be thing... Oh, he says, to reconcile all things to himself. By Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

Now, when this was written to the Colossians, at this point in history, and even today at this point in history, there are saints who have died and gone to glory. Lazarus, for example, Abraham, Isaac, Abel, all these saints, Enoch, and so on. Those saints lived before the cross, didn't they? But they died before the cross. And their spirits are in glory today. So you can see how they are in heaven. But the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ reconciled them to God. Because his blood was shed before the foundation of the world, then the Lord took their spirits to glory. They were reconciled to the death of his son, things in heaven.

And there are things on earth. There are men here in the gospel today, men yet unborn, people who are God's people. They also are reconciled to God only by and fully by the death of God's own son. This is the message we're sent, this is the ministry of reconciliation to proclaim. In Christ, God reconciled his people to himself, whether in heaven, whether on earth.

But even more than that, notice what he said back in verse of Colossians 1 verse 18. He is the head of the body, the church. So that the ones God reconciled in the blood of his son, Christ is over them. And what is God's purpose for the church? Well, everything that he purposed for his son. They're joined. They're one. Everything he gives to his son, he gives to his people. They're one. Remember last week, we looked at Ephesians 1. Christ, this is fantastic, isn't it? I'll just reiterate this here. He says in the end of Ephesians 1, he's exalted Christ to his own right hand, far above all principality and power and might and dominion in every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. and has put all things, notice, under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.

So in reconciling all things to himself, not only is he primarily talking about reconciling God's elect, the church, over whom Christ is the head, but everything given by God to Christ is going to be put under Christ's feet. Everything he created was by him and for him. So when the Lord here says that he gave all this to him to be the head over for the church, he's saying, he's underscoring this truth, which is revealed in the gospel, that the Lord is putting everything under Christ with his church.

Romans 16.20, it says this, for example. In Romans 16.20, the apostle Paul says, And the God of peace, who made our peace in the reconciling blood of Christ, shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. That's telling us that the Lord is reconciling Satan to his eternal purpose by Christ Jesus. And that reconciliation of Satan to that purpose is to subject Satan and all of his kingdom under the church.

In 1 Corinthians 15, he says this, in verse 20, now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept, not of every person, but those who slept in Christ. He's talking about, again, that distinction in Christ, the church, the sheep, his brethren, the many sons, the elect, the nation, the Israel of God. And he says, the first fruits of them that slept, those who have died in their bodies, but are with the Lord, since by man came death, Adam, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his glory, conquering our sin and death.

For as in Adam all die, even so, notice those next two words, the most important words, in Christ. shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming." Our resurrection occurs when Christ comes, our bodily resurrection.

Then, notice that word, then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. That's a reconciliation, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ, as He said in John 16 verse 11, He has judged the prince of this world. Righteousness fully fulfilled, everlastingly established for God's people who were in their own unbelief. He convinces them of what he has done, and he also has judged the prince of this world.

And in the consummation of this world, Christ will not only have brought all of his sheep and his body will be complete, not one for whom he died will be missing. They must be brought. But also everything in heaven and earth given to Christ and put under Christ will be put under the church. That's the purpose. Christ, unbelievably, the Son of God, in our nature, joined to his people as his bride, whom he loved and gave himself for, brought to him in perfection, made holy and blameless, the sons and daughters of God, and everything given to them by God through their head, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Now, when you read scripture in this light, you see that the Lord can use all-inclusive statements because he's referring to those who are in the Lord, who is the head of the church. They'll all appear in glory, won't they? And we'll look at this a little bit more next time.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for your glory and your purpose and all that you've done in the Lord Jesus. Thank you for this salvation that reaches even to us who have no strength, who are condemned rightly for our sins, and yet you've rescued, you've plucked, you've snatched, you've brought us to yourself in love through the Lord Jesus Christ by his redeeming blood and by his own spirit given to us to know him and live to him. Give us this grace today, Lord, not only to look to him, but in all things to be obedient, to love one another as you've given us this great grace by your spirit. In his name we pray, amen.