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Colossians chapter 1. Our focus 
this evening will be on verses 21 and 22. But I do want to read 
the chapter. It's helpful to see the verses 
in their context. So beginning in Colossians chapter 
1 at verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ 
by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and 
faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae, grace to you 
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We 
give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying 
always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus 
and of your love for all the saints. Because of the hope which 
is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in 
the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, 
as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, 
as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the 
grace of God in truth, as you also learned from Epaphras, our 
dear fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 
who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 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 long-suffering 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. Our Father, 
we thank You for this book of Colossians. We thank You for 
the wonderful doctrine set forth in this first chapter. We pray 
that You would just give us thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
the reconciliation that we have now because of your grace and 
because of the death of the Son of God. We ask, Lord, that you 
would just draw out our worship, our praise, our adoration, and 
our love to Christ. That you would draw us near, 
Father, that we would know your closeness in our fellowship here 
together tonight. Certainly, as we gather for communion, 
it is with you first and foremost. It is to spend time in the presence 
of our gracious God and Father. Bless our study in the scriptures 
now, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, 
this first chapter of Colossians is structured in a marvelous 
way. Paul begins with prayer for the Colossians in chapter 
1, verses 9 to 12a. At that particular point, he 
transitions to theological instruction, beginning around the second part 
of verse 12. He then continues on to verse 
20, teaching the people of God in Colossae concerning the great 
redemptive truths. Specifically, God created through 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ upholds all things, 
in Him all things consist, as the Apostle says in verse 17, 
and it's Christ who has saved sinners. And then the Apostle 
here highlights what was done in a cosmic sense in verse 20 
to a very particular or very specific sense in verses 21 and 
22. He moves from the cosmic reconciliation 
of all things, that means the big picture, verse 20, to the 
very specific outworking of that reconciliation with reference 
to the saints in Colossae. It is at this particular point 
that he then transitions with reference to his own ministry 
on behalf of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a 
wonderfully structured passage I hope that tonight, as we consider 
verses 21 and 22, it will be an encouragement to our souls 
as we consider our Lord's work on our behalf. Specifically, 
we're going to take up verses 21 and 22 under three considerations. First, their previous state. Notice he says, "...and you who 
once were alienated and enemies in your mind." Why does Paul 
remind his audience what they were at one time? It is to display 
in their lives the grace of God. It is to serve as a foil or as 
a backdrop to how magnificent God is. When we consider what 
we once were and what we now by the grace of God we are, We 
really ought to praise. We ought to stand in awe and 
in wonder that we rebel sinners, God-hating wretches, those who 
are running from Him, now have been brought nigh through the 
blood of Christ. What should that promote but 
gratitude for our Lord and love and adoration for Him? So the 
Apostle deals with their previous state, secondly their present, 
status in verses 21B and 22. Their present status in what 
they have in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then their future blessedness 
at the end of verse 22. And then you see that ought to 
promote godly living. That's what verse 23 says. There's 
movement here. The guilt that we have is met 
by the grace of God that results then in gratitude toward God 
and faithful living and a godly pursuit of those things which 
are pleasing in His sight. We only have time tonight for 
verses 21. and 22, specifically tailored to our meditation concerning 
the Lord in His death on behalf of sinners. Note first, their 
previous state. Paul highlights three particulars 
here. The first thing he says is they 
were alienated from God. They were alienated from God 
and you who once were alienated. That's a bad thing. That means 
we were separated from God. The concept of reconciliation 
presupposes that reality. There's been a breach. Why do 
you reconcile with somebody that you had a problem with? Because 
you had a problem with them and it's caused a chasm, it's caused 
a breach or separation in the relationship that demands reconciliation 
in order to be brought nigh together. The Apostle says, in you who 
once were alienated, the idea here is to be estranged from 
God. Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 
2.12 and in 4.18. 4.18 in Ephesians is probably a more 
parallel passage that you can turn to. Notice in Ephesians 
4 verse 17, This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that 
you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk 
in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, 
being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance 
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. So 
you see the idea here is that prior to their reconciliation 
by Christ, they were alienated. God kept them away. God kept 
them at an arm's distance. It's not that we alienated God, 
certainly the Bible teaches that, but in this particular instance, 
because of the passive verb, what we are to appreciate is 
because of our sin, because of our rebellion, because of our 
godlessness, the Lord kept us away. We were alienated because 
we offended Him. We were alienated because we 
repulsed Him. We were alienated because we 
violated His law. And that is the reality that 
sin brings. It is a breach between God and 
the sinner. The nature, the role of these 
reminders I've already indicated is for them to appreciate what 
they once were. And you ought to do this. And 
I think this supper affords a blessed opportunity for such reflection. What were we prior to the time 
when we got to eat the bread and the wine that signify for 
us the very blood and body of our Lord Jesus Christ? He brought 
us not. He effected this reconciliation. 
He's the one that orchestrated this on our behalf. You see this 
motif throughout the prophets. You see this motif throughout 
the New Testament documents. The Apostle Paul specifically 
wants to remind the people of God what they once were. Romans chapter 5, you can turn 
there. Romans chapter 5, the apostle 
does this so that we can appreciate the great depths that we have 
been brought out of by the grace and the mercy of our God in and 
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in Romans chapter 5, The 
Apostle highlights for us that we were helpless, we were sinners, 
and we were enemies of God. Verse 6, 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. 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. And not only that, but we also 
rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we 
have now received the reconciliation. This is a helpful exercise in 
our Christian life. It's important for us to remember 
the rock from whence we were hewn. It's important for us to 
remember, not some wicked, horrible way of thinking, man, before 
I became a Christian, I used to do this, and I used to do 
this, and I used to do that, with some sort of a sick, demented 
fascination with going back. as if that was really legit for 
the Christian person, but this idea of appreciating where we've 
come from. This is Paul's point in Colossians 
1, 21-22. He's moving from cosmic reconciliation 
in verse 20 to show these Colossian believers, you were alienated. You were gone. You were dead. You had issues. You had problems. 
Turn over to Ephesians 2, another very popular or very famous portion 
where the Apostle does this. In Ephesians chapter 2, he highlights 
the reality that the sinners in Ephesus were lifeless, helpless, 
and hopeless, and they've been brought nigh. And you He made 
alive to one, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 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 were by nature children of 
wrath, just as the others. You see, why does He do that? 
Why does He give us this snapshot of their previous condition? 
Why tell us the depths of depravity that they found themselves in? 
So that verse 4 will be that much more glorious. So that verse 
4 will be that much more sweet. that a contemplation of the magnificent 
grace of God, set in the context of this depth of depravity, shines 
that much brighter. Verse 4, he says, But God, who 
is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He 
loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive 
together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. That's why 
Newton wrote, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved 
what? saved a wretch like me. You see, the supper brings us 
face to face with this reality. We don't eat this bread and drink 
this cup because we're good. We don't eat this bread and drink 
this cup because we're being rewarded. We eat this bread and 
we drink this cup to be consciously reminded of our Savior's dying 
love on our behalf. It brings us into contact with 
these eternal truths that we need to be reminded of over and 
over again. O'Brien says it this way, the 
gravity of their previous condition serves to magnify the wonder 
of God's mercy. The past is recalled not because 
the emphasis falls upon it, but to draw attention to God's mighty 
action here in the reconciling death of his son on the reader's 
behalf. And may I suggest that a contemplation 
of these truths, what we were, what we have become, does issue 
forth, or should issue forth, in a robust pursuit of the things 
that the Apostle says here, in verse 23, "...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." 
Notice in verse 6 of chapter 2, "...as you therefore have 
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." You see, that's 
the motif, guilt, grace, gratitude. That's what Hercules Collins 
writes about, or that's the framework for the Heidelberg Catechism, 
or the Orthodox Catechism. Isn't that the trajectory in 
the Christian life? We are guilty, helpless, vile, 
undone sinners. God lavishes His grace upon us 
in and through His dear Son. And what is the result of that? 
We gather on the Sabbath to praise. We look to the Lord God each 
and every day, we respond in gratitude to Him, and we pursue 
those things which are pleasing in His sight. There is a movement, 
there is a trajectory, there is a course that the Christian 
is to pursue. He says they were alienated from 
God, secondly, they were enemies in their minds. He says, "...and 
you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind." As I've 
said, the Bible tells us that God treats us as enemies. Romans 
5.10. Here, because of the connection, 
I think He is envisioning this reality. We are enemies in our 
minds. Romans 8.7. The carnal mind is 
enmity against God. The emphasis here is not that 
God looked at you as an enemy, but you looked at Him as an enemy. 
You raised your fist at Him. You Colossian saints, prior to 
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, prior to God effecting reconciliation 
in your lives, you were alienated from Him. That means He kept 
you at a distance, and while you were at that distance, you 
raised your fist. You scoffed, you mocked, you 
disobeyed, you rejected his commandments, you disobeyed his law. Everything 
you could do, you typified an enemy. Or you typified a person 
at alienation, because you looked at that person as an enemy. And it's interesting because 
he says, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind. He 
does the same thing in Ephesians 4. I already read it in verse 
17. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you 
should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in 
the futility of their mind. having their understanding darkened, 
being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance 
that is in them. The Apostle here highlights the 
reality that man in his mind, man in his heart, man in the 
seat of his affections, the seat of everything, holds God in contempt. That's what the Colossians were. 
That's what we were, and now we've been brought nigh to feast 
on the bread and on the wine. It really does show us the grace 
and the mercy and the kindness of God. The seat of the enmity 
is in the mind. But notice, thirdly, they engaged 
in wicked works. Verse 21, you who once were alienated 
and enemies in your mind by wicked works. You see, it doesn't just 
stay in the mind. It flushes itself out. It doesn't 
just stay up here, I hate you God, but it flushes itself out 
in the way that we live. When you see man given over to 
wicked works, you can conclude this much. He has enmity in his 
heart. He looks at God as an enemy. 
This is precisely the focus. Edy 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. It is not a neutral alienation, 
but one characterized by positive enmity. You see the construction, 
or you see the flow, rather. We're alienated, we're enemies 
in our mind, and we flesh it out by wicked works. You cannot divorce the two. Again, 
the Apostle in Ephesians 2, he says the same thing. You, he 
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 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 were by nature children of 
wrath, just as the others." You see, what we deserved, apart 
from Christ, was wrath. What we deserve, apart from Christ, 
is judgment. What we deserve, apart from Christ, 
is alienation. What we deserve, apart from Christ, 
is having been given over. What we deserve, apart from Christ, 
is what we saw in the parable of the tares this morning. Gather 
them up with the other tares, bundle them up, and burn them 
in the furnace of fire. That is what is fit. That is 
what is fitting for the people who rebel against and reject 
God. If we stopped here, it would 
be absolutely consistent with everything we know about the 
moral government of a glorious God. It is righteous for Him 
to judge sinners. It is righteous for Him to punish 
sinners. And it's in that context that 
Paul now moves to their present status. This is what you once 
were. You were alienated, you were 
enemies, and you engaged in wicked works. You were justly liable 
to the wrath and punishment and fury of God, but that's not what 
He did. He reconciled you. He brought 
you near. He's rescued you. He's delivered 
you. He has brought you into a state 
of blessedness. He has conveyed upon you every 
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus the Lord. I believe the subject of reconciliation, 
still in verse 21, is God the Father. The agency is through 
His Son and the blood of His cross, but I think the subject 
here is the Father. Go back for just a moment to 
verses 19 and 20. For it pleased the Father that 
in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him, 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. Now some will say it sounds as if Paul believes in universalism. I mean, if Paul says that he 
reconciles the entirety of the cosmos, then we must conclude 
that the entirety of the cosmos is reconciled unto God. The rest 
of the Bible does not flesh that out. The Bible does not teach 
universalism. It does not teach all men, without 
exception, are going to enter into heaven. I take it this way, 
the creation itself, because of man's sin, is under the curse 
of God Most High. Genesis chapter 3, when Adam 
sins, what does God do? He curses the ground. In Romans 
chapter 8, the Apostle says the creation itself groans, it yearns, 
it longs for redemption. That doesn't mean trees are crying 
out to God or the mountains. It means the cosmos as a system 
is yearning for the redemptive power of God Most High to order 
things aright. Because sin has brought chaos 
and what God is doing in Jesus is bringing cosmos once again. I think this is the emphasis 
in the passage. It is akin to what Watts taught 
us to sing. During the month, we remember 
the incarnation. 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. The idea in verse 20 is not a 
universalism. The idea in verse 20 is that 
under Christ, God is making all things new. When we get to 21 
and 22, He's saying, and you play a part in that, or you are 
an exhibit of that, because God took you, who were alienated, 
who were enemies, and who engaged in wicked works, and He's reconciled 
you. He has brought you together. 
You know, I often say that one of the chief boons of gospel 
blessing, at least in my mind, is forgiveness. Reconciliation 
is right up there, isn't it? Again, the presupposition is 
alienation. It's estrangement. You know, 
sometimes we speak of a man and a woman, they get into a bit 
of an argument, and the man has to sleep in the doghouse. Right? I hope that doesn't happen here. 
If any of you ladies make your husband sleep in the doghouse, 
shame on you. Repent. Forsake your sins. That 
is not Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 Christianity. And if any of 
you husbands drive your wives to the point where they want 
you to sleep in the doghouse, shame on you. Repent, because 
that's not Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, husbanding. But what does that presuppose? 
Alienation. What has to happen? The man wakes 
up in the morning, he brushes his teeth next to his dog, and 
he wanders into the house and he says, honey, honey, please 
let me come back. Honey, please let me have my 
spot in the bed. Honey, please don't make me sleep 
with the dog again. He initiates it, he seeks after 
it, he wants that reparation. It's just the opposite of what 
we find in this text. We're alienated, we're enemies, 
and we engage in wicked works. We do not seek reconciliation 
with our Creator. We did not initiate this process. We did not run back to Him. We 
didn't hear a gospel sermon and raise our hand. We didn't listen 
and sign a card. If reconciliation is affected, 
it's because of divine sovereignty and His initiation. And that's 
what the tax stipulates. Here's what you were. This is 
your previous state. Here's what is true of you now. 
Yet now He has reconciled you. That's glorious Christianity. That's the stuff of encouragement 
at the supper. That is what ought to promote 
in us a Colossians 2, 6 attitude. As you therefore have received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Because He saved you, 
because He's reconciled you, because He's redeemed you, because 
He's forgiven you, because He's declared you not guilty, walk 
in Him! In fact, run in Him. Pursue Him. Love Him. Honor Him. Glorify 
Him. You've moved from guilt by the 
grace of God to gratitude. Flesh it out in your lives. Be 
holy as God is holy. He's called you for this very 
purpose. Notice the means by which He 
brings reconciliation, the means of accomplishment. Verse 22, 
in the body... I'm sorry, the end of verse 21, 
"...in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in 
the body of His flesh through death." How did reconciliation 
occur? Because we wanted it, because 
we initiated it, because we reformed our lives, because we said, you 
know, Lord, I'm not going to sin anymore, because I don't 
want to be in the doghouse anymore. I want to draw nigh unto You. 
No, that's not it at all. In the fullness of the times, 
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. 
You read from Genesis to Revelation, and you'll see this conspicuously. Salvation is of the Lord. It 
is not of man, it is not wrought by man, it is not initiated by 
man. Truly, it is monergistic. God 
seeks and saves His people. When Adam and Eve sin, they go 
and they hide behind the trees. Look at the folly of sin. You 
think you're going to hide from your Creator? You think you're 
going to hide from the God that made the trees? You think He 
can't see you? When God says, where are you? Is that really depicting God's 
lack of information? The question is for them. It's 
like when you see your kid with chocolate dripping down his face, 
and you say, did you get into the cookies? Well, you know he 
got into the cookies. You are pressing his conscience 
with the reality of his sin. So God does. He initiates. He makes covenant. He clothes 
Adam and Eve with the garments of skin. He calls Abram out of 
Ur of the Chaldeans. Why? Because He is reversing 
the effects of Babel. In chapter 11 of Genesis, they 
want to build this tower. They want to make a name for 
themselves. God confuses their lip. He confounds their tongue. And then He calls Abram. And 
what does He say? I'm going to make a great nation 
out of you. I'm going to make your name great. And that then 
unfolds into the great redemptive purposes and plan of God Most 
High to send His Son on this ministry of reconciliation. It's 
not we that sought to come out of the doghouse, it's God who 
fetched us. He says, in the body of His flesh 
through death. What is highlighted here is the 
incarnation. The specific mention of Christ's 
physical body underscores the truth of the Incarnation. It 
differentiates it from His mystical body mentioned in 1.18, which 
is the Church, and it sets forth the substitutionary atoning death 
of our Lord Christ on our behalf. How was reconciliation affected? It was through Christ's death. 
Isn't this one of the grand purposes of the incarnation? I love the 
Nicene Creed and the way it specifies this. I believe, speaks of God 
the Father, the Almighty. And then it speaks of Jesus Christ. 
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, 
begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light 
of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of 
one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. 
And then note this next clause, who, for us men and for our salvation, 
came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit 
of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for 
us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and 
the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures. and ascended 
into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and 
He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, 
whose kingdom shall have no end." You see what these divines specified. You see what they say. Who for 
us men, and for our salvation. not for our example, not just 
to promote some warm, glowing feelings in the month of December, 
not so we could rally around the tree and give each other 
gifts, but He came down for us men and for our salvation. Paul ascribes reconciliation 
not to the will of man, not to the overtures of the sinner, 
but to the grace and the power of God manifested through the 
death of His Son. It is through His flesh, or the 
body of His flesh, through death. Edi says, man does not win his 
way back to the divine favor by either costly offering or 
profound penitence. Again, you see the man coming 
out of the doghouse. He goes to the back door. He 
says, Baby, lover, I'm so sorry. I brought you these big thing 
of flowers. I got you a gift card for the 
cake. I'll rub your feet. I'll do whatever. Just bring 
me back into your favor. That's not Bible. God sought 
us. God hung His Son upon the cross 
and was pleased to bruise Him, putting Him to grief according 
to Isaiah 53. It was the Lord's chastisement 
that fell upon His own dear Son. It's all of Him. He is the agent 
of reconciliation. Edi says this perceptively. 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. And it's through 
this body, or through the body of his flesh, of his death. 2 
Corinthians 5.18. Another passage that speaks of 
this great act of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5.18. Now, all things are, well, let's 
look at verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 
he is a new creation. All things have passed away. 
Behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God 
who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has 
given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, 
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses 
to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were 
pleading through us. We implore on Christ's behalf, 
be reconciled to God, for he made him who knew no sin to be 
sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That is their present status. Now notice their future blessedness 
in verse 22b. Note the thrust of the text. 
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, not because you were holy, not because you were blameless 
and not because you were above reproach. In other words, reconciliation 
doesn't find its causation in the ability, the holiness, or 
the blamelessness of the sinner. God initiates, God affects it 
in order to produce a particular result. Paul does the same thing 
in Ephesians 1. Just as he chose us in him, before 
the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless. He doesn't choose us in Him before 
the foundation of the world because we were holy and blameless, but 
rather He chooses us in order to be holy and blameless. It 
is a consequence and not a cause. Holiness, righteousness, fruit 
bearing, godliness are consequences of God's reconciling work in 
our lives. They're not conditions. In other 
words, we don't stand up here and say, look, you really need 
to labor so that you can be holy, blameless, and above reproach, 
so that God will set his affection on you. You need to be that poor, 
pathetic guy at the back door with a big thing of flowers. 
all kinds of repentance and all kinds of good works, presenting 
to his wife, so that perhaps, if she's feeling specially noble, 
she'll let you back in and not make you sleep in the doghouse. 
That's not the emphasis of the text. God reconciles in order 
to produce this and make this happen in your life. to present 
you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight." These 
are the particulars, these are the realities, these are the 
things that reconciled sinners, by the grace of God, through 
the power of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, now pursue, 
now seek after, now seek to exhibit and seek to display before not 
only God, but before a watching world as well. So that is verses 
21 and 22. So I've already mentioned there 
is movement from alienation to reconciliation. That's the emphasis 
in the passage. Here's what you were, here's 
what you are. Brethren, as we eat this bread 
and we drink this cup, we need to remember this. We need to 
understand that we don't just do this as some sort of a religious 
rite once a month because that's what Christians do. We do this 
to refresh our minds, to encourage our hearts, as our confession 
says, to confirm and strengthen our faith in the realities of 
gospel blessing. In other words, this is a visible, 
tangible representation of the blessed realities that are specified 
in verses 21 and 22. Yet, now, He has reconciled. It hinges upon the body of His 
flesh through death. That's amplified in verse 20. 
Notice the way the Apostle speaks of it there. 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. Now those who have been with 
us for any time will probably expect me to read this quote 
from Gordon Clark. You're not going to be put off 
because I'm going to do this." I love this statement from Clark's 
commentary here. Now, when we pause to consider, 
this is staggering. Notice what he says, having made 
peace through the blood of his cross. Again, we need to divorce 
our minds and our thoughts and our hearts of this sort of romantic 
idea. You know, we wear crosses, we 
have crosses, we look at crosses, and they speak of something beautiful 
and special. And it should. The reality of 
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to promote in us a great 
deal of appreciation. Do you realize what a cross was 
for? It was for punishment. It was for execution. It was 
for crucifixion. No one in the first century walked 
around with crosses adorning their bodies. You just wouldn't 
do that. You wouldn't put a picture of 
Auschwitz or Dachau in your living room. You wouldn't invite people 
in and say, I want you to see this wonderful picture of this 
death camp. You just wouldn't do that. That's 
offensive. You certainly wouldn't have pictures of electric chairs 
hanging up in your house, unless you're really sick and demented. 
I realize there's probably somebody out there that does defy the 
generality, but for the most of us, we don't have hangman's 
nooses. We don't have pictures of people 
in firing squads. We don't celebrate those sorts 
of things. Well, in the first century context, 
you didn't celebrate the cross. I mean, again, we celebrate it 
as Christians because we understand the significance, but we ought 
to not miss the reality of the blood of the cross. I remember 
this great statement by Dr. Davis in his comments on the 
atonement at Gibeah. Something to the effect that 
people, readers of the Bible, oftentimes forget that atonement 
is a smelly, drippy, bloody mess. It's not this polished romantic 
thing where the effeminate Jesus just sort of wanders up there 
and does his thing. It was the wrath and fury of 
the Father inflicted upon the Son, such that the Son cries 
out in dereliction, Why hast thou forsaken me? It was horrendous 
and horrific and the concept of the blood of the cross being 
the means by which peace is effected. You just wouldn't think that 
way. Peace through the cross. So back to Clark. Now when we 
pause to consider, this is staggering. The preceding verses, 15 to 20, 
the preceding verses have described Christ in transcendent terms. The Saturday morning guys know 
that means, and girls, that that means He's above. He's apart. Transcendent means way out there. God as Creator, God as Governor, 
that's transcendence. The reality that Christ is the 
agent of creation, the reality of verse 17, that in Him all 
things consist, this world, the galaxies, everything that is, 
depends upon the Word of His power. Hebrews 1.3 says, "...he 
upholds all things by the word of his power." That's transcendence. 
That's what Clark is saying. The preceding verses have described 
Christ in transcendent terms. 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. Right there. We can only stand 
in awe and worship that our God who made this world, our God 
in whom it consists, our God stooped and came into this lower 
world, took on the likeness of sinful flesh, lived 33 years 
among us, effected and perfected righteousness, and was ultimately 
delivered up by an angry mob May I say, even more severe, 
delivered up by His Holy Father. And He died for our sins, and 
He rose again, so that we might have reconciliation. What's the 
response? Adoration and awe. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the 
glory of Christ revealed in Colossians. We thank you for the glory of 
Christ revealed from Genesis to Revelation. We thank you that 
you've made us partakers of these truths and you have saved us, 
God. We know we didn't seek you. We 
know it was not our initiative. It was not our good works. It 
was not our sacrifice. It was not our pleading, our 
repentance, or anything of the sort. But you reconciled us according 
to your grace and according to your plan. how we thank you, 
how we praise you, and God, how we ought to, as Clark suggests, 
respond with adoration and with awe. We thank you for this opportunity 
to remember our Lord's death on our behalf. I pray that you 
would continue with us now, and we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.