all things unto himself. By him
I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven,
and you that were before time alienated, and the enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the
body of his flesh through death to present you holy. unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now that is what he did. Now, who is this one who did
this? He's stated so clearly in the
previous verses, we considered these last week, but let's read
them again and we'll see the ability of this one to do what
is said that he did. who is verse 15, who is the image
of the invisible God. He's the visible representation
of the invisible God. He is God. He's all you and I
are ever going to see of God. I, I would, I love to say this
so much. He's not like God. He is God.
He's not like God at all. He is God, the image of the invisible
God. And then next it says that he's
the firstborn. of every creature. That doesn't
mean he's a creature or the first in creation. He's not a creation.
He's the creator. He has the rights of the firstborn. Remember, everything goes to
the firstborn and he had the rights of the firstborn. We read
in verse 16, for by him were all things created. He's the
creator that are in heaven and earth that are Visible and invisible. What you see, He created it.
What you don't see, He created it. Whether they be thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by Him and for Him, for His glory, for His pleasure. And He is before
all things. He's prior. He's the beginning. And by Him, all things consist
or are held together. The very reason you took that
last breath you took is because He willed it. You and I are utterly
and completely in his hands and he is the head of the body, the
church. And the church is the body of
Christ. That's mysterious. And Christ is the head of the
body. He's the identification of the body. What's the body
without a head? You can't even identify the body. You don't
know who he is. You don't know who the body is by the head.
He's the head of the body, the firstborn from the dead. He died. He accomplished what he intended
and died. And he's the firstborn from the
dead that in all things, he might have the preeminence. Paul goes
on to say in Colossians chapter three, verse 11, Christ is all. In all, in all things, he has
the preeminence for it pleased the father that in him should
all fullness dwell. Now what he did is dependent
on who he is, isn't it? And what a glorious description
we have of the redeemer. Now it pleased the father. It pleased the Father. The ineffably sublime, it pleased
Him who is the Lord Jesus, the blessed and only potentate, the
King of kings and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, who no
man hath seen nor can see, to whom be glory forever. It pleased
God that in him should all fullness dwell. Now, who is it he made
peace for? We see this one who made peace. Who is it he made peace for?
Now look in verse 21. And you that were before time
alienated. And enemies in your mind, not
friends, but enemies. And what proved it was wicked
works. Alienated, estranged in your
affections. I think of how estranged Adam
became after the fall. He used to walk in fellowship
with God and he loved God. But all of a sudden he was estranged
in his affections. After the fall, he didn't come
up and say, Oh, Lord, I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? No, he ran
and he hid from his presence. And when he does confess his
sin, it's in such a horrible manner, you can tell he didn't
even mean it. He said, the woman you gave me, she gave me of the
fruit, and I did eat. It's really not my fault. He
was estranged in his affections. The scripture says enemies, people
who actually hated this altogether lovely one. Now, there is a Jesus
that nobody's mad at. but the enthroned Christ, the
one who has the eternal destiny of all men in his hand. That means it's totally up to
him as to whether or not you and I'll be saved. It's totally
in his control and you have no control in this. Now that's the
Christ men hate because they can't control it. They can't
tame it. And the cross is proof of that.
When men were left to themselves, when they were left to do what
they wanted to do, what did they do? They nailed Christ to a cross. Enemies in your mind. And what
proves it is your wicked works. Now those are the people who
he reconciled. Now if you don't believe this
about yourself, I'm sorry. I'm just sorry for you. But I
have to say this, the person I've just described is the only
person he reconciles. people who were alienated, estranged,
enemies in their mind by wicked works. Now, what did this person
do? He reconciled to himself those
people who hated and despised him. He made peace through the
blood of his cross. Having made peace through the
blood of his cross. You know, Paul said the preaching
of the cross, the doctrine of the cross, what the cross actually
says is to them that perish foolishness. Now, may I be enabled by the
spirit of God to speak somewhat about Christ being nailed to
the cross and the blood of his cross. This is the most glorious
event that ever took place. Christ being nailed to a cross. He accomplished the full glory
of God in being nailed to that cross. The blood, the blood of
his cross, his death, his bloody death. Oh, there's so much we
see in the cross. We see the revelation of who
man is. That's the only way you're gonna know the truth about yourself.
It's not gonna be by looking within or thinking about the
things you've done, but by looking at the cross, that's what you
would do if God left you to yourself. You nailed his son to a cross. That's bad, isn't it? That's
bad. That's the reality of you and I. That's the reality of
our character, the true character of man. But oh, how we see the
full revelation of the true character of God in the cross. I see his
holiness, his hatred of sin. I see his justice. He will not
let sin go unpunished. I see his wisdom that he's made
a way to be just and justify the ungodly. I see his power
in putting away sin, every attribute that God, all that God is, is
seen in the cross. And we see salvation in the cross. Look over in Romans chapter five.
Matter of fact, we're going to go to this passage of scripture
several times, so you might want to mark it. Verse 10. For if when we were enemies,
We were reconciled to God by the death of his son. When we
were enemies, we didn't do anything in this. We were just enemies.
And we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much
more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. His life
is my salvation. His life is my righteousness.
Now, what was going on on the cross? We read of the blood of
his cross, his death. There's so much we can't understand
and that's why the sun quit shining. And I think that is so significant
that there wasn't a solar eclipse. There was a thick darkness over
all the land while the Lord was hanging there on the cross. Now,
what was he doing there? Why did God turn the lights out?
He turned the lights out to let us know that there's so much
that we cannot possibly understand. This was a transaction between
Him and His Father, and you and I can never really enter into
what was going on. We're thankful, but as far as
understanding it... I know this. He was suffering as a substitute
for His people. That's what was going on. He
wasn't just giving an example. He wasn't showing everybody how
much he loved him. He was suffering as a substitute. for his people and to talk about
the sufferings of Christ. I feel so altogether unqualified
to talk about his suffering. But you think of his sufferings,
there were physical sufferings. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
was a real man. He had a nervous system just like you and I do.
I mean, he had the same kind of nerve, felt the pain when
they drove the nails in his hands and his feet when they ripped
his beard out. Oh, what physical sufferings
he endured. He's a man. He had soul sufferings. He had emotional sufferings.
You know, the Lord Jesus Christ, while they were not fallen emotions,
he had emotions like you and I do. And how hard he was suffered
emotionally on the cross. He had, you think of this, we're
so, God made us not to be alone. God made us social creatures. God made us to where we want
to have fellowship with one another. We want friends and we want husbands.
We want wives. We want children. We want community.
We want to have this sense of, but on the cross, the Lord Jesus
Christ was completely isolated. He was all alone. He had, he had no one there to
support him. Everybody had forsaken him. He
was, He was suffering the wrath of God. His soul sufferings. He didn't feel the presence of
his father. He didn't feel the mercy of his
father. He didn't feel the smile of his
father. He had nothing but his awful
frown as the substitute for sinners. Turn with me for a moment to
second Corinthians chapter five. Here's some more words about
reconciliation. Verse 18, and all things are
of God. I love that all things are of
God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have
given to us the ministry of reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, and this is how he did it, not
imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto
us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's name, be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made him
And notice that word to be is in italics. Have you ever noticed
that? It was placed there by the translators, supposedly making
it easier to understand, but I believe it reads a whole lot
better. Just leave those italics out. They weren't in the original.
He hath made him sin. Who knew no sin? we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Now don't try to soften
this. Don't try to explain it away.
See in this gruesome reality what God thinks of sin as Christ
is nailed to a cross. He made him sin. Now there's no way, there's no
way that I could describe what all that means or even know what
it means. But there it says, he made him sin who knew no sin. That's what was going on on the
cross, that we might be made the very righteousness of God
in him. Turn back to Romans chapter four
for a moment. Verses 24 and 25 in Romans chapter five, verse
one. verse 25 of Romans chapter 4,
He was delivered for our offenses. You know, God's an offended God
and our sin has offended God, but He was delivered for our
offenses and was raised again for or because of our justification. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have Peace with God. Now that's not talking about
the subjective feeling of peace. That's talking about the fact
of peace. We have peace with God. God doesn't have any reason
to be mad. He made peace. God has no reason for anger. Every believer is justified being
nothing less than the very righteousness of God. And doing this, he reconciled
us back to our text in Colossians chapter one. Paul talked about
the ministry of reconciliation. Now, what is this thing of reconciliation?
What does it mean? He reconciled us in the body
of his flesh through death. What does reconciliation mean?
Well, it means to change from a state of enmity to a state
of friendship. That's reconciliation. The best way to understand it,
I guess, in some respects, is to think of it in human terms.
Someone that you were close to does something that alienates
your affections. Everybody's experienced that,
and it's no longer a state of friendship. You're estranged.
You're estranged. Or you've done something that
someone has been offended by and hurt by and they're estranged
toward you. And isn't it such a blessing
when people at odds become reconciled? Truly reconciled. It has something to do with forgiveness.
Forgiveness. The one who has been offensive
expresses true sorrow for what they've done. to the one they
have offended. And they don't do it simply because
they've been made to, but they're truly sorry. And that person
who has been offended accepts their apology, and there's true
reconciliation and embracing, a bringing together. But you
know, this reconciliation we're reading about in Colossians 1
and Romans chapter 5 and 2 Corinthians chapter 5 is actually quite different. than that kind of reconciliation. And here's why. When Adam offended
God by his sin, did he seek forgiveness? Did he seek reconciliation? Not
at all. He ran away and hid from the
presence of God. And when he's, when God comes
to him, He heard the voice of the Lord God walking into the
cool of the evening and said, Adam, what have you done? Look
at the way he confesses his sin. I've seen the horridness of this. The woman that you gave me, she
gave me of the fruit. And I did it. I confess, I did
it, I'm sorry, but ultimately, it's your fault. I'm not taking
responsibility for this. If you wouldn't have given me
this woman, this wouldn't have happened. There's no true confession
of sin there. There's nothing but blaming God.
Now, can you see where the Lord would have said, I'm done with
you. I'm done with you. It's over
for you. If that's the way you're going
to be, he didn't come seeking for forgiveness, seeking mercy.
came blaming God, but God reconciled him. God is the one who is offended,
and he's the one who makes reconciliation. He doesn't wait for us to apologize.
He doesn't wait for us to say, I'm sorry and seek mercy and
have mercy upon me and forgive me and blot that out. He doesn't
do anything. When we were enemies, the scripture says, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Who did he reconcile? You know,
I could say those who believe and it would be true. I could
say the elect and that would be true, but it would hide the
glory of what he did. He reconciled those who were
willfully alienated in their minds and enemies by wicked works. That's who he reconciled. What's the reason for reconciliation? Why would God do this? Romans
5,8 says, For God commendeth his love toward us. There's the
reason. And that while we were yet, what? Sinners. Christ died for us. It was not to make Jehovah's
love towards the sinner flame that Jesus left his throne above,
a suffering man became. was not the death which he endured
or all the pains he bore that God's eternal love procured,
for God was love before. Whom he foreknew. Now you think of these people
that he loved, people who were enemies, alienated, estranged,
sinful, wicked works, whatever the works you want to call, wicked
works. That's the way Paul describes it. These people, He reconciled. He loved. That's why he came,
because he loved. God commended his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, this reconciliation took
place in the body of his flesh through death. Now think about
this. Talks about the body of his flesh through death, and
that's when this reconciliation actually took place. Now, understand
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, was not given as an example
to you to win you over by his sacrificial love. It wasn't given
for you. It wasn't given to show you how
much he loved you. That was not the reason for the
blood of Christ. We see his great love in that
without question. But that blood was shed for God. That blood was shed for God.
You see, for God to do anything for me or you, He first had to
do something for Himself. And that's what He did. That's
what He achieved by the blood of the cross. He did something
for His Father. He made a way for God to love
me, to justify me, to be just and justify the ungodly. You see, there's something His
blood actually accomplished. Go back to Romans chapter 5. But God, verse 8, commendeth
his love toward us in the while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath
through him. Now, the reason for God's anger
Being removed is the blood of Christ. He took the sin away. First John 3, 5 says he was manifested
to take away our sin. Now, did he do it? Did he do
it? Yes, he did. And in him is no
sin. He took them away and they are
no more. And so Romans 5, 10 says, if
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death
of his son. Now I want you to think about
that statement. Reconciled to God by the death of his son.
That says two things. It says one, it says we didn't have anything
to do with it. We were just enemies. Just enemies. We didn't do anything
to achieve this reconciliation. We didn't do anything to facilitate
this reconciliation. We didn't do anything that caused
God to want to be reconciled to us. We were dead in sins. When we were enemies, enemies
to God, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
Now go back to Colossians one. I want us to look at the results
of this reconciliation. Verse 20, once again. And having made peace, that's
what he did. He made my peace with God 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 before
time 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, unblameable, and unapprovable in his sight. That's what took place in his
bloody death on the cross. He said, this is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it again at that last day. And I love
these three words, holy, unblameable, and unapprovable. You're holy. Just think of this thing of holy.
You know, if you're holy, holiness cannot become unholy. Holiness
is immutable. It's the very nature of God.
Adam, before he fell, was not holy. He had an innocent nature.
He was created upright, but he didn't have a holy nature because
a holy nature doesn't even have the potential to fall. It's immutable. It's without sin. Holy, a holy
nature. That's what's given in the new
birth. Partakers of the divine nature. That which is born of
the spirit is spirit. The spirit can't give birth to
anything but that which is like himself. Holy. Unblameable. Without blemish. That takes faith to believe that
you're that way, doesn't it? without blemish before God, without spot,
without wrinkle, or any such thing. When God sees you, there
is no blemish. He says, behold, thou art all
fair, my love, thou art all fair. There's no spot in me. And then, un-reprovable. There's nothing
un-blameable. There's nothing that you can
accuse me of. You know, people talk about,
people talk about on Judgment Day, will believers have to give
an account for their sins? There's no sins to give an account
for. There's nothing to accuse them of. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that can condemn? Christ
died, yea rather than treason again, who's even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now that's
how complete this reconciliation is. And you know, this presentation,
it's a presentation he made before the Father. He'll present to
the Father. He's going to present us, I and
the children which thou hast given me. And there's a past
tense to this presentation. When he ascended to the Father,
all the elect did too. And this presentation was made
even then. There's a past tense to it. And
there's a present tense to it right now. I stand before the
Father, holy and unblameable and unapprovable. Therefore now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And it's
future. This presentation is going to
take place when we're actually brought before the father by
the son at the last day. When we see him as he is, we'll
be like him. And this presentation will be
made in our own experience, wholly unblameable and unreprovable. And don't miss this in his sight. In his sight. Now, let me remind
you how God sees things. That's the way they are. You
and I don't really see things very clearly. We see through
a glass darkly and we don't know how things are, but in God's
sight. in God's sight and God sees things
as they really are. If he sees you as holy and unblameable
and unreprovable, there's only one reason for that. You are
in fact holy and unblameable and unreprovable. Now that is what the Lord Jesus
Christ did. Turn back to Romans 5 for just
a moment. You know, only he can do something
like this. Isn't that so? Only he can do it. But look what
it says here in Romans chapter 5 verse 11. Let's read 10 and 11 together.
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, made to be holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight, much more being reconciled, completely reconciled. God has no reason to be mad. We should be saved by his life.
Now, some would think, well, that means his intercession.
Well, I'm sure that's included in it, but what it means more
than anything else is his life is my life before God. You want
to know the skinny on me? His life is my life. That's how holy I am. That's
how unblameable I am. That's how unrebukable I am.
Just as truly as he was made sin for me, his life has made
my life. You know, his life is his righteousness.
His perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience before God
is the believers. But look what it says in verse
11. Not only so, but we also joy in God. We joy in the reconciler. Now, let me ask you a question.
If you're holy and unblameable and unapprovable and God side
gives you joy, doesn't it? It gives you happiness. It gives
you, we joy in God. We joy in the reconciler, not
just the reconciliation, but the one who did it. That's what
makes it surreal. We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement. And I'm not real
sure why the translators translated that word atonement. If you have
a marginal reference, it says by whom we've received the reconciliation. We've received it. Now, what
does it mean to receive something? Well, as many as received him,
to them gave you the power to be sons of God even to them which
believe on his name. That's what it means to receive.
It means to believe. It means to believe that because
of who he is and what he did and his reconciling, redeeming
work where he made peace on the cross, I really am. I'm receiving this. I'm receiving
this. I'm receiving it to myself. I'm taking this as mine. I'm
holding on to it. I'm holy. I'm unblameable. I am unreprovable in his sight. That's the way it really is through
the blood of the lamb. I receive, well I receive the
reconciliation. It's mine. God has reconciled,
receive it. Don't think of what you need
to do. Quit thinking that way. It's done. And it's who you are. Romans chapter 6 verse 11, Paul
says, Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Sin has nothing to say to you.
It has no power. It's been put away. Reckon yourselves,
count yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the only reason God would say, reckon yourselves to be
dead indeed to sin, there's only one reason He'd say that, because
you're dead to sin. And you're alive to God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this is what only He can
do. You agree with that, don't you?
He's the only one who can do this. He made peace through the blood
of His cross. And through the blood of his
cross, he reconciled all things to himself. By him, I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
before times 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. Let's pray. Lord, those things that we've just
considered, we cannot really believe them
unless you give us the grace to believe. And Lord, we do believe, by your grace, that this glorious one, the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature, the one who made all things visible
and invisible, the one who is before all things and who by
him all things consist, the one who is our head, the head of
the body, the church, the firstborn from the dead, the beginning,
the cause of all things, the one who has the preeminence,
the one who has all thy fullness dwelling in his body, Lord, we
believe he made our peace and that he reconciled us to
you through his own body on the tree and made us holy and unblameable
and unapprovable. Lord, how we thank you for his
reconciling work. Lord, bless this message. for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.