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You may turn in your Bibles to 
Colossians, chapter 1, for a meditation before the Lord's Supper. Colossians, 
chapter 1. This morning, Pastor Porter read 
a portion of a sermon from C. H. Spurgeon, and it was on the 
Lord's Supper. And the way that the great preacher 
in the 1800s ended was by highlighting salvation is by grace alone through 
faith alone in Christ alone. It's not by eating a piece of 
bread or drinking a bit of wine that one comes to know the Lord 
and Savior. We come by God's grace to believe 
on the Lord Jesus. And He saves us. He grants pardon 
for our sin. And He gives us that perfect 
righteousness which avails with God. The Lord's Supper is not 
a converting ordinance. We don't invite sinners to come 
and take the bread and drink the wine so that they may be 
saved. It is for the saved of God. It 
is for the believer in Christ. It is for those who, by God's 
grace alone, have believed in Christ alone for their salvation. That is who the Supper is designed 
for. So, the conversion or the coming 
to Christ is not through those tangible means, but rather it 
is through hearing the Word, listening and responding in faith 
to the preaching of God's holy gospel. Well, I'll just pick 
up reading in Colossians chapter 1 at verse 9. For this reason 
we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for 
you. and to ask that you may be filled 
with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being 
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of 
God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, 
for all patience and longsuffering with joy, giving thanks to the 
Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance 
of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the 
power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son 
of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible 
God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created 
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 
All things were created through him and for him. And he is before 
all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of 
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn 
from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. 
For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should 
dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace 
through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 
in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and 
blameless and above reproach in His sight, if indeed you continue 
in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the 
hope of the gospel which you heard. which was preached to 
every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. 
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh 
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his 
body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according 
to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill 
the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages 
and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints 
To them, God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory 
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope 
of glory. Him we preach, warning every 
man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present 
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving 
according to his working, which works in me mightily. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for the written word and thank you for the Holy Spirit. 
And we pray that he would guide us now as we study Scripture. 
We pray that you would encourage our hearts and that you would 
cause us to reflect upon the doing and the dying of our Lord 
Jesus. Cause us to reflect upon his resurrection, his glorious 
ascension, and his current session at the right hand of God Most 
High. In short, Father, we pray that you would cause us to be 
consumed with the Redeemer, that we would truly give our hearts, 
our minds, our affection, our attention to Him and to Him alone. 
And we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Well, we're going to focus 
this evening primarily on verses 21 and 22. I know it's a large 
portion of Scripture that I read. I do want to kind of set the 
context for you so that we can appreciate what the Apostle Paul 
is doing here, specifically in verses 21 and 22. He's giving 
us a bit of historical reflection. On Wednesday night, we studied 
or we began the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 1, verses 
1 to 18, and we saw there a recounting of history. God's dealings in 
and among his people. And I quoted from Dale Ralph 
Davis. He says that we stand in the present but dwell on the 
past in order that we may be steadfast for the future. We stand in the present, but 
we dwell on the past in order that we may be steadfast for 
the future. It's a beautiful depiction of 
what we do in the Lord's Supper. We stand in the present, but 
we dwell on the past so that we might be steadfast for the 
future. thinking in terms of what Christ 
has done on our behalf, and that is precisely how verses 21 and 
22 function in the context. But just to broaden for just 
a moment, the structure of the passage is marvelous. Paul begins 
with prayer for the Colossians in chapter 1, verses 9 to 12a. He then transitions to theological 
instruction, verses 12b to 20. He sets forth that glorious picture 
of Christ. as Creator, Christ as Governor 
or Sovereign in Providence, and Christ as the Redeemer and Head 
of the Church. And now he calls them to historical 
reflection, verses 21 to 23, and then he highlights his purpose 
in ministry in verses 24 to 29. That then sets the stage for 
what follows in chapter 2. Paul is going to call the Colossians 
to beware, to be on guard, to be alert for some heresy that 
is plaguing the churches. And so having given them that 
solid foundation, he's able then to attack the heretical position 
and seek to inoculate the people of God so that they may stand 
fast in the midst of the attacks of the enemy. Well, as we consider 
primarily these two short verses, I want to look at it into three 
considerations. First, we'll notice their previous 
state, verse 21. Secondly, their present status 
in verse 21 and 22, and then their future blessedness. And 
if we were to continue, verse 23 would be their present duty. In other words, Paul sets forth 
this history of what God has done in their lives to call them 
to steadfastness in verse 23, to call them to perseverance 
based on the reality that He has saved them, that He has brought 
them from the state of alienation unto reconciliation. But, because 
of time, we won't get to verse 23 tonight. So, their previous 
state, their present status, and their future blessedness. 
Notice, first of all, their previous state. He says three things here. First, they were alienated from 
God. They were alienated from God. He uses a convention that he 
uses also in the book of Ephesians. We've already seen that. He says 
what they once were and what they now have become. And it's 
very important for us to realize it's not that we once were this 
and we've become this by our own efforts. He's highlighting 
the gospel of grace. He is highlighting the redemptive 
work of Christ. He is shining the light upon 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is not applauding 
them. He is not saying, wow, you've 
done a great job in calling yourselves out of darkness into marvelous 
light. No, this is what you once were. Now you have been brought 
into the state of reconciliation, and it is God the Lord who gets 
the credit. It is God the Lord who gets the 
glory. When we participate in the Lord's 
supper, it isn't a pat on our backs. It is the acknowledgement 
of God's gracious provision in the work or the person and work 
of the Lord Jesus. We eat the bread and we drink 
the wine, not so in terms of a reward for our behavior or 
our due diligence, but because of what God in Christ has accomplished 
on behalf of his people. So he says they were alienated 
from God. You who once were alienated. The word used here means to estrange 
or alienate, and it's a passive form of the verb. So the idea 
isn't that you alienated God, though the Bible teaches us that. 
But here and in Romans chapter 5 and elsewhere in Ephesians, 
the idea is that God alienated you. Because of your sin, because 
of your vileness, because of your defection, because of your 
apostasy, because of your rebellion, God has treated you as enemies 
of the cross of Christ. That's the thrust. That's the 
idea. That's what's going on here. 
You once were alienated from God, the Lord. So as we participate 
in the supper, we ought to praise the Lord that we've moved from 
alienation to reconciliation, that we're no longer a far off, 
but we've been brought night through the blood of Jesus Christ, 
the Lord. Alienation is not a good thing. Alienation is never a blessing. Being separate from God, treating 
Him as our enemy, is the worst possible thing a man or woman 
can ever engage in. Romans chapter 5, I already alluded 
to this, Romans chapter 5, the Apostle highlights the same reality. 
He says in verse six, for when we were still without strength 
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for 
a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone 
would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own 
love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ 
died for us. You see the flow of thought that. 
You see what he's saying that. He said the glory of the gospel 
includes or involves. Seriously, would a man die, or 
perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die? The glory 
of the gospel is not that Jesus died for good men. The glory 
of the gospel is that while we were yet dead, while we were 
alienated, while we were enemies, while we were far off, Christ 
died for us. Verse nine, much more than having 
now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath 
through him. For if, when we were enemies, 
we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more 
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. We were 
helpless. We were sinners. We were enemies 
of the triune God, and Christ died for us. In Ephesians 2, 
we read a vivid description of what this alienation looks like 
in verses 1 to 3. While we are alienated from God, 
this is what we look like. This is the before picture. You 
ever see those diet ads? You see the person before and 
then after. Before, they don't look so good. 
After, they're all ripped and toned and tanned. It's an amazing 
thing. When you lose weight, you get 
tanned. There's a before and an after, right? That's what 
Paul does in Ephesians 2, 1-3. This is the before. The after comes in verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
He raised us up. But notice the before picture 
in verses 1-3. And you He made alive who were 
dead in trespasses and sins. You need to understand that. 
We weren't a little affected by sin. We weren't a little maimed 
by sin. We weren't a little lame because 
of our sin. We were dead in our trespasses 
and sin. If you are here tonight and you 
are not a Christian, your problem is a thousand times more severe 
than you ever began to estimate. You are dead. You are absolutely 
dependent upon the life-giving power of God Most High. This is why Jesus says you must 
be born again, because you're dead in your trespasses and sins. He goes on in verse 2, in which 
you once walked according to the course of this world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works 
in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted 
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires 
of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children 
of wrath, just as the others." So here he says, we were lifeless, 
we were helpless, and we were hopeless. The idea is contained 
in Colossians 121, and you who once were alienated. It's a horrible, 
horrible place to be. And if by God's grace we have 
been brought nigh through the blood of Jesus Christ, feast 
on the bread. Feast on the wine, delight in 
the Lord who has saved you from your sins. Notice, secondly, 
with reference to their previous state, he says they were enemies 
in their minds. And you who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind. This phrase describes the seat 
of the enmity that exists toward God, our minds. I realize oftentimes 
Christians make this huge distinction between the heart and the head. 
The Bible doesn't make that huge distinction. The Bible oftentimes 
uses heart and mind synonymously, and it locates this as the seat 
of our enmity toward the living and true God. We are alienated. We are enemies in our mind. Paul says that the thought process 
of the unbeliever is wrong. It is defective. It is marred. 
It is destructive. It is contrary to God and holds 
God Himself in contempt. It's a rough place to be. The 
book of Ecclesiastes says this is an evil that is done under 
the sun. That one thing happens to all. 
Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil. Madness 
is in their hearts while they live. The Greek translation uses 
the same word that Paul uses here. Mind again and heart used 
synonymously in the scripture. Remember when Jesus healed that 
demoniac. Remember that wretched picture 
that we've seen. I believe Pastor Porter preached on Mark 5 one 
time. The gospel in the graveyard. Remember that wretched picture 
of a man. No one could bind him. No one 
could hold him. He would snap the shackles that 
were put on him. He dwelt among the tombs. That's 
the last place anybody in Israel wanted to think that somebody 
lived. He dwelt among the tombs. He would cry out all night long. He would take stones and he would 
gash himself and he would bleed. He would hurt himself. Self-destruction. He was a cutter. He was a horrible 
specimen of a human being. And what happens? The Lord Jesus 
comes to this man. This man comes and bows before 
Christ. Christ exercises saving power 
in this man's life. And it's very intriguing what 
Luke especially says concerning his conversion. It says, Then 
they went out to see what had happened, the men of the surrounding 
area. And they came to Jesus and found 
the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the 
feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. You see, he was 
out of his mind. That's what sin does. You ever 
seen something in the news or you see something that is reported 
or you see conduct that you engage in or somebody that is near and 
dear to you? People are out of their minds. 
It's legit. It is a reality. It is because 
of sin and folly and madness that is bound up in the heart. 
But Jesus heals this man. He's sitting clothed now and 
he is in his right mind. And then it says, and they were 
afraid. In other words, if this Christ 
has the power over this man, what manner of man is he? And 
then thirdly, Paul says they engaged in wicked works. See, 
it's not just the enmity that we have in our minds, but it 
flushes itself out in our particular bent. And you who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind, buy wicked works. You see, the mind 
is at enmity with God. It is opposed, it is bent, it 
is deranged, it is twisted, it is against the Lord. And as a 
result, all the conduct, all the things that we engage in 
are termed here as wicked work. The commentator John Eady says, 
the apostle charges them, not merely with spiritual and latent 
hostility to God, but with the manifestation of that hostility 
in open acts of unnatural rebellion. You see the progression. You're 
alienated from God. Your mind holds God as its enemy. And as a result, the works that 
you engage in are characterized as being wicked. Edie says, it 
is not a neutral alienation, but one characterized by positive 
enmity. Turn back for just a moment to 
Romans chapter 1, where you see some of the particular devices 
that flow out of a mind at enmity with God. We've already seen 
that characterization in chapter 2 of Ephesians, verses 1 to 3. 
Well, here's some specific sins that flow from a mind that is 
at enmity with God Most High. Romans chapter 1, beginning in 
verse 21. Because although they knew God, 
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became 
futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. professing to be wise, they became 
fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an 
image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals 
and creeping things. You see, Paul begins with the 
mind. He begins with that opposition. He begins what we are internally. Now he traces out God's judgment 
and our response to that. Verse 24, Therefore, God also 
gave them up to uncleanness in the last of their hearts to dishonor 
their bodies among themselves who exchange the truth of God 
for the lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the 
Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave 
them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged 
the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, 
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for 
one another. Men with men committing what 
is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their 
error which was due. And even as they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge, remember, the mind is at enmity 
with God. God gave them over to a debased 
mind to do those things which are not fitting. Being filled 
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, 
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents. Undiscerning, untrustworthy, 
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. It's a terrible picture, isn't 
it? Isn't it? It's horrible. That's man apart 
from God. I mean, that looks like CNN right 
there, doesn't it? Looks like the headlines. That 
looks like what we witness. And before you say, well, I'm 
not homosexual. I'm not doing that which is against nature. 
Are you a dishonor of parents? Notice how the apostle puts these 
vices together. Sometimes as Christians, we pride 
ourselves that we're not like other men. We sound awfully much 
like that Pharisee. I thank you, Lord, that I'm not 
like other men. You know, we have what Jerry 
Bridges calls our respectable sin. We don't engage in murder, 
we don't engage in adultery, we don't engage in homosexuality. But look at what the apostle 
says that flows from a mind that's at enmity with God. Strife, deceit, 
evil-mindedness, whisperers, back-biters. Haters of God, violent, 
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, 
who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice 
such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, 
but also approve of those who practice them. It's a bleak picture. You see what Paul's doing? He's 
calling us to reflect upon what we once were. and what God has 
done. You see, when the champion goes 
and rescues the people, the opposition, the aggression that the champion 
faces just highlights his glory in performing his deed of valor. 
And that's what Paul is saying. You who once were alienated and 
enemies in your mind by wicked works, that's their previous 
state. Now, notice their present status. He says, yet now he has reconciled. The he here, I think, is God 
the Father. He's the subject of the verb 
reconcile in this particular place. Jesus is the agent of 
reconciliation to be sure, but I think the focus is upon the 
Father's will, the Father's decree, the Father as the fountain from 
which this gracious plan of salvation flows. God has not only decreed 
the reconciliation of the cosmos, according to chapter 1, verse 
20, but He comes for sinners. real sinners in history, as Watts 
says, no more let sins and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings 
flow far as the curse is found far as the curse is found. He has reconciled you. Notice 
the divine initiative in this. It is not you. You didn't reconcile 
yourself. You didn't make a good decision. 
You didn't walk the altar or walk up to the altar. You didn't 
sign a card. You didn't log in. You know, 
email this number and you'll be saved. That's not it. Put 
your name and data here. We'll baptize you. That's not 
it. God has reconciled you. You have 
to see the priority in the text. You couldn't reconcile yourself. 
Your mind had enmity toward God. Your words were wicked. You were 
alienated. You were out there. You were 
gone. You were deranged. You were like 
that man living among the tombs, cutting himself and crying out 
day and night, seeking to break the fetters that were around 
you. It's Christ who comes. It is God who reconciles. It 
is the Lord who saves to the uttermost. We were helpless sinners 
and enemies of God, but He has reconciled us. Hopefully you 
want to do a holy jig at this point. Hopefully as you eat this 
bread and drink this cup, you rejoice. You delight. You praise the Savior. You exult 
in Him. The supper, unfortunately, is 
treated as a reward for good behavior on the part of God's 
people. Sometimes God's people look back 
over the month and they say, well, I read my Bible and I prayed, 
I should go ahead and take that. I didn't go do any dastardly 
deeds. I've sought to be faithful. As 
a result of that, I'll eat and drink because I'm getting this 
reward. That's not what the supper's 
about. The supper is not about our accomplishment. The supper 
is not about our Bible reading. The supper is not about our faithfulness 
in the prayer closet. The supper is about Jesus faithfulness. It's about Jesus life. It's about 
Jesus death. It's about Jesus resurrection. That's why we come to the supper 
to refresh our minds about Christ. You know, we talk about worship 
service. And we oftentimes associate that 
with our service to God. But do you realize that a worship 
service is God serving us? God provides the bath to wash 
us from our sin. God provides the supper to feed 
our souls. God provides the meat of his 
word to satisfy his hungry people. When we come to the Lord's house 
for worship, yes, we are meeting Him and He is meeting us. He 
is visiting us with encouragement and with blessing and with great 
things. You see, when we look at it like 
that, brethren, the table is set by God Himself. provide for 
you a time of reflection, a time of historical reflection in terms 
of the cross of Calvary and that empty tomb that Jesus departed 
from. The divine initiative is seen 
in reconciliation. And then notice, with reference 
to their present status, the means of accomplishment. Verse 
21 says, Yet now he has reconciled. Verse 22 tells us how. In the 
body of his flesh through death. That's how we've been reconciled. 
You see, it's not our performance. It's not our doing. It's not 
our obeying. It's not our abiding. Now, lest 
you think that I don't think there's a place for that. Verse 
23 tells us there's a place for that. Paul is rehearsing gospel 
truth, though. The commands to be faithful are 
always grounded in the indicative of what God has done in the person 
and work of Jesus Christ. Every other religion out there 
commands you to perform in order to get. God says you've been 
given freely based on gospel truth. This then is how you ought 
to live. But in verse 22, he says in the 
body of his flesh through death. The specific mention of Christ's 
physical body underscores the truth of the incarnation. As well, I think it differentiates 
it from what we might call the mystical body referred to in 
verse 18, where it says, and he is the head of the body, the 
church. Some have called that the mystical 
body, the people of God in all ages who make up the body of 
Christ. Well, in verse 22, that's not 
what's in view in the body of his flesh refers to the Jesus 
of the Gospels, the Jesus of time, space, and history, to 
the Jesus who took on the likeness of sinful flesh, to the Jesus 
who said, the foxes have their holes and the birds have their 
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, the 
Jesus who hungered, the Jesus who thirsted, the Jesus who suffered 
in Golgotha. He was sorrowful, even unto death. 
The Jesus who ultimately carried His cross to Calvary. The Jesus 
who was nailed to that cross. That's what Paul is underscoring. 
He, God, has reconciled you in the body of His Son. It is through 
the Gospel, and specifically in the body of His flesh, through 
death. The blood of the cross was mentioned 
in verse 20 as the means by which the cosmos, the entire created 
order, is reconciled. That same bloodshed in His death 
was effectual for the Christians in Colossae. You see, He's going 
from that cosmic reconciliation of verse 20 to John in Colossae, 
to Martha in Colossae, to Peter in Colossae. To Henry in Colossae. To individual redeemed sinners 
in Colossae. The movement's glorious. The 
movement is beautiful. John Eady again says, man does 
not win his way back to the divine favor by either costly offering 
or profound penitence. God reunites him to himself. He is not only provided for such 
an alliance, but actually forms and cements it through the body 
of his death. Praise God for our Lord Jesus, 
the agent of reconciliation. Now, notice thirdly and finally, 
the future blessedness. Why did God do this? in the body 
of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless 
and above reproach in his sight. Again, verse 23 continues with 
imperative, continues with the place of good works in the Christian 
life, continues with those who, by God's grace, have believed 
the gospel. But notice in verse 22, this 
is God's plan through Christ. It is to present you. While some 
would heretically teach that we are reconciled based on our 
holiness, blamelessness, and our being above reproach, Paul 
says just the opposite. He reconciled you who were alienated. You who were at enmity in your 
mind. You who engaged in wicked works. He reconciled you in order 
to present you. You see the flow. Big difference. You can't ever say, he reconciled 
me because I was holy. He reconciled me because I was 
blameless. He reconciled me because I was 
above reproach. No, you were just the opposite. 
Alienated, enmity in your mind, wicked words. He reconciled you 
in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach. You see, in the gospel, God gets 
the glory. In the gospel, Christ is the 
champion. In the gospel, Jesus is the victor. In the gospel, salvation is of 
the Lord. That's what we celebrate when 
we eat this bread and we drink this cup. This is what we celebrate 
and call to mind when we approach these holy elements. It is not 
our performance, it is not our doing, it is not our dying, it 
is not our victories that we engage in on a daily basis if 
we do. No, what we are by nature is 
set forth for us very plainly and very clearly in verse 21. 
God reaches down, God reconciles us. in the body of His flesh 
through death in order to present us holy in His sight, in order 
to present us blameless and above reproach. This is the grand purpose 
that God has in view. Same thing in Ephesians chapter 
1. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the 
world, that we should be holy and blameless. Not just as he 
chose us in him before the foundation of the world, because we were 
holy and blameless. Some people heretically teach 
that God looks down the tunnel of time and whoever throws themselves 
into his favor, it's those whom he chooses. That is not what 
the Bible teaches. That is folly. That is an escape 
from predestination, an attempt to run from the doctrine of election. 
that God looked down the tunnel of time and foresaw the particular 
response of men. And based on that particular 
response, God then chose them. Please. Please, that is not what 
the scripture says, just as he chose us in him before the foundation 
of the world, people turn to Romans chapter eight. Well, whom 
he foreknew. Yeah. Whom he foreknew. Not what 
he foresaw. The whom he foreknew there refers 
to his loving affection set upon them in eternity past. Not to 
their faith and their repentance that they would exercise. Therefore, 
God predestinated that. Don't play games. Embrace the 
glorious truth of God's sovereignty. Apart from God's sovereignty, 
we're all hellbound. Apart from God's predestinating 
grace, apart from election, we are all dead in our trespasses 
and sins. Well, brethren, in these two 
short verses, you see the movement from alienation to reconciliation, 
and it is based on God, the sovereign Lord of the universe. It is affected 
by the crosswork of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let's just 
look back for just a moment at verse 19. It says it pleased 
the father that in him all the fullness should dwell. And by 
him, this is by Jesus to reconcile all things to himself by him, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace 
through the blood of his cross. What an interesting way to speak 
of peacemaking. You see, in the first century, 
the last thing you thought in terms of crucifixion was peace. 
You like saying peace through the electric chair, peace through 
the gas chamber, peace through lethal injection, peace through 
the gallows, peace through the firing squad. Last thing you're 
thinking in that place is peace. This is precisely what Paul is 
illustrating here. It is through the blood of his 
cross that Christ makes And remember the movement up to this point, 
beginning in verse 15. Christ made everything, didn't 
he? Christ sustains everything. Verse 17 says, In him all things 
consist. That means he is sovereign. Our 
Christ is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 
So he is the creator. He is the governor. He is the 
Redeemer. This caused Gordon Clark to write 
this in his commentary, and I believe he's right on. He says now when 
we pause to consider this is staggering. The preceding verses 
have described Christ in transcendent terms. That means he's wholly 
removed from us. He was the creator in whom all 
the fullness dwells, the heir of the universe for whom it was 
created. Now, when the creator of heaven 
and earth, the creator himself, voluntarily suffered on the cross 
for our sins, we can only stand in awe and worship. What's your application? I'm not going to tell you right 
now. Go out and be holy. Go out and do good things. Stand in awe and worship. Feast at the table presented 
by God the Lord through the redemptive work of his son and stand in 
awe and worship. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for your holy gospel. 
Thank you for the table that you've set before us. And I pray 
that as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, that we collectively, 
as the church corporately, would proclaim his death until he comes. 
We thank you for his work on our behalf How we thank you for 
sovereign grace, how we thank you for predestination and election 
and all these things that highlight the Godhood of God. Thank you 
for particular redemption and the fact that Christ was not 
frustrated in his work, but that he indeed secured the salvation 
of all those whom the Father had given him. And Lord, help 
us to just be encouraged and strengthened and help us to stand 
in awe and to worship. And we pray through Christ Jesus, 
our Lord. Amen.