is not that I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Before we begin the message for
this morning, I want to let you know about a Sovereign Grace
Bible Conference we'll be hosting at the Todd's Road Grace Church
this week. The services will begin this Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday morning at 10, Saturday
evening at 6, and Sunday morning once again at 10 o'clock, and
we'll have two speakers in each service bringing a message on
the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus, and you
are invited to attend. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from Colossians chapter 1, and I've entitled this message
What did Jesus Christ do? If you remember, last week we
considered who is Jesus Christ, and this morning we're going
to consider what did Jesus Christ actually do? Now, in John chapter
21, the last verse of the book of John, John tells us there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they
should be written, everyone, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written.
So obviously when I try to deal with this subject, I can't speak
of everything that he has done, but I want to speak of what he
did on the cross, which really is everything. Now, the passage
I'm going to read from is Colossians chapter one, beginning in verse
20. It says, and having made peace,
this is what he did, having made peace through the blood of his
cross by him to 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 now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight." Now, in those three verses, we read of three
things that the Lord Jesus Christ actually did. He made peace through
the blood of His cross. He reconciled us to Himself. And He made this glorious presentation
presenting those for whom He died, holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable in the very sight of God. Now that is what the
Lord Jesus Christ did. Now, who he is determines what
he does. For a mere man to say he's going
to make peace or make reconciliation or make this glorious presentation
where the people he presents are holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight, if a mere man said they were going to do something
like that, it would be impossible. but the one we're speaking of is
the God-man who is able to do these things. He has been identified
earlier in this chapter, Paul says, who is, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. He's the visible manifestation
of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of every creature.
He's not a creature, He's the Creator, but He's the firstborn.
He has the rights of the firstborn. All things belong to Him. We
read in verse 16 of this same chapter, For by Him were all
things created. He's the Creator. Whether it's
visible things or invisible, He created it. And the scripture
says in verse 17, He's before all things. He's prior to all
things. And by Him, all things consist. They're all held together. And
He is the head of the body, the church. Now, what is the body
without a head? Nothing. But He's the head of
the body, the church. He's the identification of the
church. He's the beginning. He's the cause. He's the firstborn
from the dead. that in all things he might have
the preeminence, for it please the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell." Now, this is the one who's done these things,
and he's able to do it. He's able to make peace. He's able to make reconciliation. And he's able to make this glorious
presentation. Now, before we consider what
he did, let's consider who he did it for. In this passage of
scripture, in verse 21, it says, And you that were sometime or
aforetime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Now, these are the people that
he made peace for. These are the people that he
reconciled to God. These are the people who he makes
them this glorious presentation to his father, those who were
alienated, estranged. That's what happened to Adam
when he fell. He became estranged from God.
There had been a relationship. Now, when Adam was in the garden,
innocent, he wasn't holy. If he was holy, he would have
never fallen in the first place, but he was innocent. He had a
nature that was not evil. God made him upright. But when
he sinned against God, he became estranged from God. He actually
became God's enemy. He no longer had any love for
God. He wanted to get away from God's
presence. estranged enemies in our mind by wicked works. Our works prove it. Now these
are the people that He has made peace for, people who were sinful,
people who were enemies of God. Now, if you don't believe this
about yourself, I'm sorry. If you don't see where you've
been estranged from God, if you don't see where you've actually
been his enemy in your mind by wicked works, if you don't see
this about yourself, I'm sorry. But I also have to say this,
the person that is described like this, alienated and enemies.
These are the only people he reconciles. These are the only
people he makes peace for. These are the only people he
presents before his Father, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable.
So what did this one do? We see he has the power to do
it because of who he is. We see who he did it for, sinners. What did he actually do? In Colossians
1, verse 20, it says, having made peace through the blood
of his cross. Now, this is what this person
actually did, the Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace through
the blood of his cross. Now, I think of the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ being nailed to a cross. That's the most glorious, lovely,
altogether God-honoring thing that has ever taken place. It's the most, and I say this
reverently, it's the most God-like thing God ever did. You see the
cross of the Lord Jesus' cross, the blood of the cross is the
full manifestation of God's character. If you want to know who God is,
if you want to know what God's really like, look to the cross
and you'll find out. His Son nailed to a cross, that
lets us know something about the holiness of God. God is so
holy that if sin is even found on His Son, God's going to kill
Him. because God is so holy. Now that's
a hard thing for us to grasp because we're so sinful and sin
doesn't really bother us as anywhere near as it should, but God is
holy. He hates sin. God is just. He's always going to punish sin,
but God is merciful and gracious. God gave his son for sinners. God is so wise that He made a
way for Him to be just and punish sin and yet justify somebody
like me or you through the death of Christ on the cross. Oh, we
see God's power to put away sin. We see God's purpose being fulfilled. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Oh, all that God is in His glorious
character is manifested through the blood of the cross. And we
read, He made peace through the blood of His cross. Now, what
was going on on the cross? There's so much we just cannot
possibly understand and that's why the sun quit shining. A miracle
took place. It wasn't a solar eclipse. The
sun quit shining and all you, you didn't see anything. All
you could do was hear. And one of the things you heard
from the cross was this cry of our Lord Jesus Christ My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, he never sinned. He's the son of God, yet he's
nailed to a cross and cries out, why have you forsaken me? He
really was forsaken. God forsook him. He didn't think,
well, God still is in favor of me. He didn't think, well, I
know these sins that I'm dying for aren't mine, they belong
to somebody else, and he had the satisfaction of that. No,
the sins of God's elect became his sins so that he was guilty
of it. And he cried out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, why did God forsake him?
One reason, sin. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21,
we read, For he hath made him to be sinned. For us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now, here's what was going on
on the cross. Christ Jesus, as the great substitute, as the
great representative of His people, is made sin. As a matter of fact, in the King
James where it says, For He hath made Him to be sin for us who
knew no sin. If you'll notice, the to be is
in italics. if you have a King James Version, and that's why
I love the King James Version. When something is not there,
it puts it in italics. It's the translator's attempt
to make it more clear, but the 2B is not really in the original.
It reads literally, he hath made him sin. That's why God forsook
him. God's wrath came down upon him
because he was made sin. But just as truly as he was made
sin, everybody he died for is made the very righteousness of
God in him. Now that's how he made peace.
Oh, he accomplished peace. Romans 4.25 says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. He was
delivered. My offenses became his offenses. He became guilty of them. God
punished him. God killed him. But his perfect
righteousness is given to me so that I'm the very righteousness
of God. And I tell you, I get peace from
that. God's at peace with me. God has no reason to be mad at
anyone that Christ died for because He put away their sin. He made
peace. I love what the angels said at
His birth. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth. peace, goodwill toward men. That's talking about God's goodwill
toward men. That's talking about God being
at peace with them through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace. Now, in our text it says, 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 sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death." Now, what does reconciled mean? It means to change. from a state of enmity to a state
of friendship. Now, every one of us have experienced
this. Someone that you were at one
time close to, and you had an intimate relationship with them,
you were true friends, and they've done something that's alienated
you. They've done something that's
offended you. They've done you wrong, and you feel estranged
from that person. You feel like there's a distance,
that there's a barrier, and you no longer feel that closeness
because you've been alienated. Or perhaps you have done something
wrong to one of your friends. You did them wrong and they become
offended and they become estranged from you and there's no longer
that closeness. There's a barrier. There's a
gulf between the two of you. But so isn't it a blessing when
people at odds become reconciled? At one time they were estranged,
and now they are reconciled. And I guess the best way to describe
that is forgiveness. You forgive that person or that
person forgives you. The one who has been offensive
expresses true regret and sorrow. They don't say, well, I'm sorry,
but no, they humble themselves. I'm sorry. Please forgive me
for doing that. And you know, when someone humbles
themselves like that, You're to receive them, receive them,
accept their forgiveness, and put your arms around them. There's
true reconciliation. Or perhaps you have done something
wrong and now you say to that person, would you please forgive
me? I was wrong. Please forgive me. Now, oh, isn't it beautiful when
people who are at odds become truly reconciled and they're
back together and all the alienated affections are gone. They've
left. Now, if someone does you wrong,
you're to forgive them whether they say I'm sorry or not. Understand
that you're to forgive them of all we ought to forgive the Peter
said how many times shall my brother offend me and I forgive
him till seven times and the Lord said till seventy times
seven. That means every single time. But you know it's hard
to really forgive someone when they don't seek when they don't say I'm sorry.
You've experienced that. Now, when the Lord, the Lord
is the one who is offended. We offended him by our sin, but
you know, we never truly said, I'm sorry, when he made this
reconciliation. When Adam sinned against God,
he became estranged from God. He didn't ask God to forgive
him. He didn't ask God for mercy. He ran and hid from God's presence.
And when the Lord comes to him and says, Adam, where are you?
And he confronts him with his sin, Adam didn't say, oh, I'm
sorry. Would you please forgive me?
He said, the woman that you gave me, she gave me of the fruit,
and I did eat. In other words, it's all your
fault. If you hadn't have given me this
woman, this would have never taken place. Now, that kind of
attitude is so reprehensible. God is the one who was offended,
and yet God is the one who also made reconciliation. Adam didn't
seek to be reconciled to God, but God reconciles the sinner
to himself. Now, it's amazing how he does this,
but The Lord God makes it, when He reconciles a sinner, He makes
it to where he has absolutely no reason to be angry. He's completely
reconciled. He doesn't see anything that
would alienate his affections. Now that's reconciliation, and
you know the only way that you're gonna be reconciled to God is
if you see that He is reconciled to you through the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't see that, you will
never be reconciled to Him. But oh, if you and I are ever
enabled to see the gospel, how that Christ made a complete atonement
for sin and put it away, then we're reconciled to Him. Now,
what was the reason for God's reconciliation? Why did he give
his son to reconcile sinners to himself? And the only answer
to that is the love of God. The love of God toward sinners. God commended his love toward
us in the while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. God didn't
send his son to make a way to love. God sent His Son because
He does love. God loves sinners. And that is seen in the gift
of His Son to reconcile sinners to Himself. And this reconciliation
took place in the body of His flesh through death. When Christ
died, Understand this. It wasn't an attempt to win you
over and show you how much he loved and show you his sacrificial
love. His death, his blood was for
God. It wasn't for you. It was for
God. To make a way for God to be just
and yet embrace somebody like me or you. Now, what Christ did
on the cross is He made complete reconciliation for the sins of
everybody He died for. They were all put away, blotted
out. They're gone. They're no more.
And God has no reason to be angry with that one He's reconciled
toward because Christ put away their sin and they're now perfect,
without fault, in God's sight. Now Romans chapter 5 verse 10
says, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son. And did you hear that? When were
we reconciled? When we were enemies. When Christ
died. Christ accomplished complete
reconciliation by what he did and that was without any contribution
from us at all. The reconciliation took place
when Christ died. Now I want you to consider in
our text the results of this reconciliation work that he did
on the cross. This presentation he makes. Verse
21, And you that were sometimes 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 unreprovable in the very sight of God. Now this is what
the Lord Jesus Christ did. He made peace. He took away God's
reason for anger. God's holy. God hates sin. He
took the sin away. He made reconciliation. God is
reconciled. And it wasn't a cooperative effort. God reconciled us to Himself
through the death of His Son. And through the death of His
Son, here's what the Lord Jesus Christ did. And this is true
with regard to everybody He died for, all of the elect, all who
believe, He made them holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in the very sight of God." Now, holy. God is holy. and everybody that Christ died
for is holy. They now have no sin. They're given a holy nature in
the new birth, a nature that cannot fall, a nature that cannot
sin. Now they still have the old nature,
they still have the old man, and it's the new man actually
that owns the sins of the old man. It's the new man that's
enabled to believe. It's the new man that's able
to love God. It's the new man that's able
to repent and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy. Not only is every believer holy,
every believer is unblameable. Without blemish. Perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. No blemish, no spot. You know
when somebody says, I want God to love me unconditionally. He
can't do that. There's no such thing as unconditional love.
If you're loved by God, it's because you're lovely in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why, he didn't just love
you in, no, his love is in Christ, and he sees you as without blemish,
the perfect bride. That's why Christ died, to make
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish, and that describes
every believer. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. There's nothing to be laid to
my charge. I didn't do anything. I'm perfect before the law of
God. Now that's what Christ did. And
notice it says, He did, and you that were sometimes 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 unreprovable in His sight. in the very sight
of God. And understand this, God sees
things as they really are. You and I don't see things as
they really are. that he does. And if in his sight I'm wholly
unblameable and unreprovable, there's only one reason. Because
I am in fact wholly unblameable and unreprovable in the very
sight of God. Now that's what he accomplished
in his body. He accomplished peace for all
that he died for. He accomplished complete reconciliation. God is not at odds. and He made
this glorious presentation. He presents us to the Father
by virtue of what He did as holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. Isn't it wonderful what the Lord
did? Now I want to go back to Romans
chapter 5 for just a moment. I want to close with this thought,
this thing of reconciliation, being holy and unblameable and
unreprovable, being perfect in God's sight. We read in Romans
chapter five, verse 10. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only
so, but we also joy in God. through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received The King James says atonement,
but the word is reconciliation. We've received the reconciliation. And there's only one thing that
makes someone truly joy in God. When they see that God is completely
reconciled to them. There's no reason for estrangement. There's no reason for alienation. Sin has been put away by what
the Lord Jesus Christ did. And whenever I see that, I'm
going to enjoy in God, and I'm going to receive this reconciliation. You know what that means? I'm
going to believe it. I'm going to believe it. I'm going to believe
by the grace of God that God really is reconciled to me. Now, back in our text in Colossians
1, one thing he says regarding this holy and unblameable and
unapprovable in His sight. Let me read the 23rd verse now. We're holy and unblameable and
unapprovable in His sight if you continue in the faith. grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. The hope of the gospel is that
all God requires of me, I have in Christ, and I'm to not be
moved away from that hope. And by the grace of God, as the
Lord enables me, being kept by His power, I'm not going to be
moved away from that hope. I'm going to stay right there.
The only hope that I have is Christ, but what a glorious hope
He is. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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