Introduction

1. Check – written but not yet deposited!

2. Gift – received but not yet opened!

3. Son – kicked out of house, told "never come back," then finally forgiven & welcome home again, but hasn't heard this news yet!

   1. Many people live in this relational limbo with one of their parents or siblings.

   2. Before God, all people for whom Christ died stand in this same state of unresolved tension. They have been reconciled to God in Christ's death, but do not yet experience that reconciliation in the here and now. They don't yet know it, and feel it, and live it. And even after a person is saved, when your sin separates you from the joy of communion with God, and you experience the guilt and shame of having offended Him, you find that you still need to be reconciled with God. It's not that Christ has to die on the cross again, but you need to be restored to communion with God, to the beautiful purity of holy living in friendship with Him, in service to Him. Our reconciliation IS accomplished, but it must be applied. Reconciliation accomplished must be applied.

4. This passage defines reconciliation

   1. Uses in scripture:

      1. Reconciliation between husband & wife: 1 Cor. 7:11

      2. Reconciliation between God & man: Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-20

   2. Definitions:

      1. bring back to a former state of harmony

      2. from broken interpersonal relations

      3. reestablish proper friendly interpersonal relations after these have been disrupted or broken

   3. By contrast:

      1. Justification: guilty declared righteous

      2. Redemption: slave set free

      3. Forgiveness: debt paid & forgotten

      4. Reconciliation: enemy becomes a friend

      5. Adoption: stranger becomes a son

   4. Illustrations: husbands & wives communicates well

Body

1. Reconciliation Accomplished 21-22

   1. You once were alienated 21

      1. Paul speaks first of the reconciliation that God has accomplished in vv. 21-22.

      2. It has two stages: v. 21 says you once were alienated. V. 22 says but now you have been reconciled.

      3. In order to understand reconciliation properly, you need to know that before you were saved, you were in fact alienated from God. Paul says in v. 21,

         • Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

      4. Alienated

         • What does it mean to be alienated? It means to be cut off from a normal and healthy relationship. It means you are estranged from someone else. Most of us know very well what alienation is like; fear of alienation was probably one of your deepest fears in Jr. High, High School, even college. We were made to be in relational harmony with one another, and oh how we suffer when we lose that harmony.

         • When you're estranged from someone, it means there's no talking between you. You don't look at the other person. The other person doesn't recognize your presence, doesn't welcome you anymore. They don't want you around.

         • Do you know what that's like? I know you do. I know you do, because what brings about this feeling of alienation, of estrangement, is sin. I hurt you, you pull away. You hurt me, I want to stay away from you. And we all sin!

         • Not only does sin separate us from one another, but it separates us from God.

           • Adam: When Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden, he stopped listening to God, he rejected God's word, he took Satan's lie and questioned God's authority, God's goodness, and God's way of life, and then he ate the fruit—he did the "evil deed" God told him not to do. And so God cast Adam out of His presence, and put a flaming sword at the gate of the Garden to prevent Adam from coming back.

         • • Us:

         • • • You and I do the same thing with God. When we stop listening to God's word, He withholds from us the joy and great benefit of reading it. We turn our minds to believe the lies our culture presents, we turn our hearts to glorying in selfish desires, and He withholds His truth, His wisdom, His peace, and in creep guilt, and shame, and anguish of soul.¹ We stop seeking His presence in prayer, and He withholds from us the delight we used to have in Him. We turn our hands, our feet, our eyes & hearts to doing evil deeds, and He gives us over to greater and darker evil than we thought we would ever do.²

         • • • This is the way we were before we were saved. This is also the alienation we experience when we sin against God today.

         • • But this doesn't have to be! God has written the check that has paid for your sin. Take it to the bank! God has written the prescription that will heal your every hurt. He has mixed your medicine in His pharmacy on the cross and given it to you in a bag by the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart. Take this medicine! You need it! It will heal your soul.

   2. But now have been reconciled 22

   3. 1. • What is this medicine that can restore you to fellowship with God? It is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, broken and shed for you. Romans 5:10 says "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." And so now we can "rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (5:11) And so Paul says here, you once were alienated, but now have been reconciled.

           • Colossians 1:22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

         • The Time of Reconciliation

           • You need to notice that this word "reconciled" is in the past tense. It has already been accomplished. God has already reconciled you to Himself. V. 22 specifies the means by which God did this for you, and thereby specifies the time at which God did this for you—He did it in Christ's body, by His death. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) This is the decisive turning point which restored us to fellowship with God.

         • The Means of Reconciliation: Christ's Bodily Death

           • The false teachers in Colosse were teaching that the physical world was inferior to their false spirituality, and was to be rejected, to be restrained. We see that in 2:20-23:

             • Colossians 2:20-23 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- 21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" 22 ( referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

           • Paul goes on in ch. 3 to say that it is not the body, but sin, that needs to be restrained, even to be killed.

           • In their rejection of the physical body the false teachers in Colosse implicitly denied that our bodies would one day be raised up in glory, and that Christ's body itself was a fit instrument for bearing our sins on the cross. And so Paul speaks very clearly here that Christ's body, even the flesh of His body, was necessary for Him to bear the penalty for our sin and accomplish our reconciliation with God. The means of reconciliation is Christ's bodily death, and no other.

         • The Goal of Reconciliation: To present you to God, perfected

      2. Having reminded us of the beginning of our reconciliation, Paul also points us to its goal—to present us to God, perfected in holiness.

      3. Now tell me, when you want to stay away from a person because of what they've done to you, how can you ever want to have them in your presence again unless they change their ways and stop doing what offended you? Do you want a liar for a friend? A thief? A murderer? Do you want a rebel in your house? No. You might want to love that sinner, but you don't love their sin and you don't want it anywhere near you.

      4. Neither does God. God doesn't want your sin in His presence. He wants you in His presence, but he wants you in a different form than you used to be—and even in a different form than you are now. He wants you to be holy, and blameless, and above reproach. Not just partially holy. Not just partly blameless, not just partly above reproach. But completely. Perfectly. And let me tell you, you're not there yet.

      5. But that was God's goal in sending Christ to die for you. He intends to bring you one day into His presence perfectly spotless inside and out, no longer with any evil thought or intent in your heart, no longer with any blameworthiness inside you, so that in fact no one will accuse you anymore of any wrongdoing. That's the kind of person He wants in His presence—a person who is perfectly morally pure. That's who He is making you to be today.³ "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:25-27)

2. Must Be Applied 23

   1. This is a great and glorious goal. But you aren't there yet. Neither am I. I am not blameless; I am not above reproach every moment of every day. Not perfectly so. We still offend God by our sins, and in fact, that is why Christ died! Because our sins today, not just our sins before we were saved, but our sins today are detestable to God, and He will not tolerate them in His presence. The New Heavens and New Earth are a place "in which righteousness dwells," according to 2 Peter 3:13, and part of the reason we don't dwell there yet is that God has not yet made our lives perfectly righteous.

   2. And so Paul tells us here, we have to change. You may not be complacent in your relationship with God. You may not excuse your sins by saying you are forgiven for them, so it doesn't matter that you go on sinning. It does matter. It matters to God, because He is making you holy today so that you will be perfectly holy on that day when He raises you up in glory. And it matters to you, because your sins are evil, and you need to turn away from them. It's not enough for your salvation to remain outside of you. But it has to get inside you, and change you. Christ died for you, but if you don't have the experience of faith, of perseverance and growth in holiness, and the hope of final perfected holiness which these things bring, what good are you to Christ, and what good is Christ to you? You might be reconciled to God in Christ, but you aren't reconciled to God in your experience. You might as well be His worst enemy, and He might as well be yours. Reconciliation accomplished must be applied. This is Paul's point in v. 23:

      1. Colossians 1:23 "if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,"

   3. In the Endurance of Faith

      1. Paul says our reconciliation must be applied to us in two areas—first, we need the endurance of faith. And second, we need the hope of the gospel.

      2. Continue. Paul says first this reconciliation is yours to experience "IF...you continue in the faith." The word "continue" here means to remain, to stay in one place or to stay one course. Its root is the same word Jesus used when He said,

         • John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

      3. The faith. Paul tells us to abide in "the faith," using the definite article. This faith is not our subjective act of believing on Christ for salvation, but it is the whole scope of Christian doctrine as it is bound up in the whole of the Christian life. It is "the Christian faith;" it is the Christian religion. Paul is not saying we need to have endurance in one small aspect of Christianity, but in the whole of Christianity.

      4. Stable. We need to be stable in the faith. This word comes from the Greek word for a foundation, and is the quality a house has when it sits on a firm foundation. It's solid. It stands straight. It supports the weight it's made to bear. It can't be destroyed.

         • You need stability as a Christian. You need to stay with the Lord, and as Christ said, abide in Him. Don't be tempted to turn away from Him and follow some other way of life for a time. Be wholly devoted to God, and to your Savior, Jesus Christ. Stay grounded on Him. And you will delight in fellowship with Him, and in your growth in holiness before Him.

      5. Steadfast. We also need to be steadfast in the faith. This word comes from the Greek word for a seat, a place to sit. Have you ever tried to drag someone your size who is sitting on the ground? It's not easy. Or to pick them up? You can't move them!

         • We need to be like that when it comes to our Christianity. Your TV, your coworker, even your own heart may tell you that you should worship another god, idolize something, disrespect God's name, work on Sunday instead of worship, dishonor your parents, think killing is cool, steal, commit adultery, lie, or covet. You need to just say "No." "I serve God, I worship Him, that's my life. This is where I stand." This response might not satisfy a man of the world, but in God's eyes, it is blameless.

      6. Not shifting. We also need to be "not shifting from the hope of the gospel." You are built on the foundation of Christ, and His salvation, and you abide in Him, you sit at His feet, in His presence, reconciled to God. Why would you depart from Him? Don't do it. Why drop out of a race when you're on the final stretch and you can see the finish line? That's the way our salvation is—we have the hope of the gospel. God is sovereignly sanctifying us in our experience today, giving us true repentance and faith to turn to Him again and again, to forsake our sinful ways and grow in holiness. We can see this in our experience, and we can see that He is bringing us closer and closer to final perfection with Him in glory. Don't give up now! You're almost there.

      7. Summary: Your endurance today is God's means of keeping you close to Him in worship and fellowship and service. He sovereignly works in you, and simultaneously by the strength and even the work that He works in us we must work out our salvations with fear and trembling. Your endurance today is a life-or-death issue for you—it's not that you can lose your salvation, but it is that reconciliation is no real reconciliation unless you experience real growth in holiness. You aren't really experiencing God's forgiveness, if you won't offer it to others. And you aren't experiencing fellowship with God, if you're not seeking to remain in that fellowship.

   4. In the Hope of the Gospel

      1. But you have the hope of the gospel—the hope of growing fellowship with God, of increasing holiness, of perfection in glory. And this is the second way in which the reconciliation God has accomplished needs to be applied in your experience. First, you need the endurance of faith. And now second, you need the hope of the gospel. In the endurance of faith you are grounded in Christianity, you remain in God's presence and experience the spiritual growth that results. In the hope of the gospel you more and more experience the fact that you are drawing closer to the final day of perfection in glory. Paul says in v. 23,

         • Colossians 1:23 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

      2. You need this hope in 3 ways.

         • "Which you heard." God reconciles through conversion. First, Paul says, "you heard" the hope of the gospel.

           • Here Paul means that over against the false teachers who taught false teachings, the Colossians heard the true gospel through their Christian teacher, Epaphras.

           • And I tell you this, when you first heard the gospel, God brought you closer to Himself. He gave you the true good news of salvation, in order to reconcile you to Himself. And that should give you hope that He will continue to draw you closer to Himself, and give you growth in holiness.

         • "Which has been proclaimed." God reconciles through missions. Second, Paul says the gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. Christ is Lord over all creation, and He died to bring men from every tongue and tribe and nation into His presence. It was for this reason He said,

1. 1. 1. • • Great Commission

             • Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

             • Perhaps some connection with Jesus' words in Mark 16:15 - "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

             • Acts 1:8 "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

           • The gospel is intended for every kind of person in the world; there are no ethnic or social or geographical limitations to the reconciliation God offers through Jesus Christ. We see in Acts that the gospel went from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the Mediterranean world.

             • Compared to the greatness of the gospel, the Colossian false teachers' doctrine is an insignificant local heresy. The gospel truly is spreading throughout the world.

         • • Ancient & Medieval: Asia Minor, Mediterranean, Southeastern Europe, whole of Europe, (Africa & Asia – China 635)

         • • • Calvin on this verse: "It is...a ridiculous boasting of the Papists, in respect of their impugning our doctrine by this argument, that it is not preached everywhere with approbation and applause, inasmuch as we have few that assent to it."

           • Reformation: Germany, Switzerland/France, Netherlands, England, up to Scotland. Persecution of Reformed in England & Scotland spread Reformation to America, spread across the frontier

           • Modern Protestant missions: 3^rd World/Non Western countries: coastlands, inland, people groups

           • The fact that the gospel spreads like this is a great encouragement to us. God is reconciling the world to Himself, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

           • Don't tell me that Paul spoke too grandly! That he was engaging in hyperbole. Don't think that this gospel is news that doesn't need to be told to others, that it needs to be kept under a bushel, swept under the carpet in your conversations with those who are committed to the life-philosophies of this world.

           • We are now Christ's ambassadors, and we need to continue spreading the gospel. Personally, congregationally, presbyterially, denominationally, in partnership with other Reformed denominations.

           • 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

           • 2 Corinthians 6:1-11 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open.

         "I, Paul, became a minister." God reconciles through ministry. Lastly, Paul says you must have hope because "I, Paul, became a minister." Paul tells us how He sought to pass this reconciliation on to others in his ministry in 2 Cor. 5 & 6.

Conclusion

1. You see then that God reconciles His people to Himself through conversion and the missions and ministry of the church.

2. He has done this for you. He sent Christ to reconcile you to Himself. You need to abide in Christ, to endure in living the Christian life, and in the hope that God will carry on His work of reconciliation today to completion in the new heavens and the new earth. In doing so you will experience the reality of a life of restored fellowship and communion with God. You will know the truth of Christ's words to the church:

   1. Matthew 24:12-13 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

   2. Revelation 2:10-11 Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

3. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.