← Back to sermon library

with me in your Bibles to Colossians 
chapter 1 for our meditation this evening. Colossians chapter 
1, our focus will be verses 21 to 23. Colossians 1, 21 to 23, but I'll 
begin reading in verse one. 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 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 learn 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 longsuffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has 
qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints 
and 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, this 
is a glorious passage of Holy Scripture, and again we pray 
for the ministry of the Spirit who gave us this living word. We ask that you would fill our 
hearts with encouragement as we ponder afresh the glory of 
Jesus Christ and the redemption of our souls. How we praise you 
for the blessed doctrine of reconciliation, Two warring parties now have 
become friends by Your grace and Your mercy. We pray that 
this would indeed elicit from us worship and love and adoration 
and great thankfulness for such a great God who has engaged in 
such a wonderful way to save His people from their sins. Forgive 
us now for sin and for all unrighteousness and uncleanness, and give us 
help now as we receive with thanksgiving your holy word. And we pray these 
things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, there's 
a lot of similarities between Paul's letters to the Colossians 
and to the Ephesians. And Paul essentially, in verses 
21 to 23, is doing what he does in Ephesians 2, what they were 
and what by God's grace they had become. I do want to give 
you a bit of the structure in Colossians chapter 1. Paul begins 
with prayer for those believers in verses 9 to 12. He then transitions 
to theological instruction in verses 12 to 20. And then he 
calls them to this historical reflection in verses 21 to 23. 
He mentions in verse 20 God's cosmic plan, God's cosmic purpose, 
the reconciliation of the cosmos or the entirety of the created 
order. by our Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the greater. And then 
he focuses on the particular with reference to these Colossian 
believers, what they had been prior to their salvation in Christ 
and what by God's grace they had now become. And the emphasis 
falls upon that blessed word reconciliation. There's a lot 
of words that the Bible uses to sort of demonstrate what the 
relationship with God is that sinners have obtained. We have 
propitiation, where God pours out the wrath of God upon the 
Son of God. We have redemption, which speaks 
of the purchase of sinners out of the slave market of sin by 
the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have, of course, salvation 
and justification. All this terminology associated 
with our great redemption. Well, here's specifically reconciliation. 
Again, the concept or the underlying assumption is that there were 
two warring parties. God was at enmity toward us, 
and we were at enmity toward God. And yet, through the blood 
of Jesus Cross, we now have reconciliation. brought nigh, we have been brought 
together, who was once considered an enemy by us is now our great 
God, worthy of our praise and adoration and worship, and we 
at one time were considered as enemies to God, we are now His 
beloved, we are His children. So I want to look first at their 
former state of alienation in verse 21, and then secondly, 
their blessed state of reconciliation in verses 21b to 23. But notice 
with reference to their former state, Paul tells us the problem 
with man. And the problem with man isn't 
a lack of education. The problem with man isn't a 
lack of money. The problem with man isn't the lack of any sort 
of social economic status. The problem with man is sin. 
And that's what Paul declares and that's what Paul highlights 
in three ways. First, he indicates that they 
were alienated from God. Notice in verse 21, and you who 
once were alienated. That means we were far removed. We were far off. We were not 
in union with God. We were not walking with God. We were not close to God, but 
we were alienated from God. Again, there's a parallel thought 
in Ephesians chapter 2, when Paul identifies those Gentiles 
as having been alienated, or aliens rather, from the commonwealth 
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise. Well, that 
obtains with reference to individual sinners. we were alienated from 
our Lord God Most High. Now if we ask the question, why 
is Paul doing this in this particular place? Why in verses 21 to 23 
is Paul sort of reminding them of what they were and what they 
have become by the grace of God? Well, I think there are two reasons 
why he does this. Again, it's in the context of 
verse 20. God reconciles the cosmos to 
himself through the blood of Jesus Cross. He gives the specific 
application with reference to the Colossians in the first place 
to promote thankfulness on their part. In other words, this whole 
idea of God's grace ought to promote gratitude on the part 
of the recipients of that grace. And Paul wants the believers 
in Colossae to express thankfulness to God. He's already said that 
in Colossians 1 at verse 12. And that's something we always 
need to be reminded of so that we will respond in thankfulness 
to our God. Do we wake up in the morning 
thanking God for His great grace? Do we wake up in the morning 
thanking God for redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ? Do 
we ever consider this reality as we move through our daily 
lives? Perhaps One of the reasons we might be sorrowful or depressed 
or we might be melancholic, and perhaps I'm preaching to myself 
here, is that we don't remind ourselves of the great redemptive 
truths concerning our salvation. Because when we ponder that we 
are at peace through the blood of His cross, it ought to elicit 
praise and worship and adoration and glory given to God Most High. So Paul reminds them of their 
past to provoke from them a thankfulness to God in the present. But as 
well, Paul is coming to warn them about certain persons, heretics, 
that have plagued the churches. Chapter 2, verses 8 to 23 is 
a warning from Paul given to the Colossian believers that 
they be on guard, that they withstand the attacks of these heretical 
men, that they maintain fidelity to the true and living God. So 
he wants to rehearse for them the way of salvation, so that 
when they come to these false teachers, they will not be brought 
in, they will not be led astray, they will not be carried about 
by every wind of doctrine. Much of Colossians 2 is a warning 
and an exhortation by the Apostle Paul to guard their hearts against 
the false teachers and the deceptive theology that has come to Colossae. O'Brien, one commentator, says, 
the gravity of their previous condition, the fact that they 
were wretched and undone, 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. So the reminder is given to them, 
but as that reminder comes, he wants to tell them what they 
were. And when we consider our salvation, it's never a bad thing 
to remember what we were saved from, to consider that rock from 
whence we were hewn, to consider that former state, because again, 
we magnify the grace of God when we consider our lost estate before 
Him. He says that you were alienated, 
which means estranged, it means to be afar off. And then with 
reference to this alienation, with reference to what he'll 
go on to say in a moment, this enemy's in your mind. Does that 
mean that we looked at God as our enemy, or does this mean 
that God looks at us as His enemy? I think that Calvin is right 
when he sees both senses present in this particular context. But 
that God does treat sinners as enemies, the Bible certainly 
speaks to that. You can turn to Romans chapter 
5 for just a moment. Don't think we often ponder that. We go out, or some go out, and 
they say, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. 
Well, if we were candid and honest, we would say that God counts 
you as one of his enemies. And if you don't repent and believe 
the gospel, you will perish under his judgment, under his wrath, 
under his curse, and under everlasting fire. That is a more appropriate 
way to declare the gospel message, or at least the context for the 
gospel message. Notice in Romans 5 at verse 10. He says, 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. 
Most likely, in that context, what we see is that we are God's 
enemies prior to our salvation. John Murray said, when we examine 
the scripture closely, we shall find that it is not our enmity 
against God that comes to the forefront in the reconciliation, 
but God's alienation from us. The alienation on the part of 
God arises indeed from our sin. It is our sin that evokes this 
reaction of His holiness. Now, this according to the manner 
of men. God doesn't react or God doesn't 
have passions and all that sort of thing. But it's written for 
us in the manner of men to see our state before God. But I think 
Calvin, in context, is more on track. He says, while the term 
enemies has a passive as well as active signification, it is 
well suited to us in both respects so long as we are apart from 
Christ. So as he comes to deal with them 
in terms of their former state, it's not only that we looked 
at God as our enemy when we were God-hating rebels, Now, maybe 
not actively. We didn't probably wake up in 
the morning and say, you know, what bad things can I do today to 
reject God? What horrible things can I do 
today to transgress against God? But in our minds and the way 
that we conducted ourselves, that is precisely what happened. 
It was, well, God looks upon sinners undone, apart from the 
Lord Jesus Christ, as his enemy. Now, notice what he goes on to 
say. You who once were alienated and enemies in your mind, Enemies 
in your mind. Think of an aspect of salvation, 
an aspect of evangelism that oftentimes goes unaddressed. 
We deal with the wicked works that are definitely coming, but 
something comes before wicked works, and it's this mind that's 
bent. It's this mind that's dark. It's 
this mind that's distorted. It's this mind that has this 
orientation that is far from God, and Paul emphasizes that. 
You who once were alienated, and enemies in your mind. You 
see, there are persons in the world that may engage in some 
moral deeds. There are persons in the world 
that at times outdo Christians in terms of morality and in terms 
of good works. But it's that mind orientation. Why are they doing it? If you 
announce on Facebook that you've done a good deed, you've already 
tipped your hand. You're not supposed to announce 
on Facebook that you've done a good deed. A genuinely good 
deed, according to the Bible, is for the glory of God and for 
the good of others. It isn't for the approbation 
of your fellows so they can like your status that you did a good 
deed. See, the mind precedes the wicked 
works. It's the seat of the enmity. The works are going to follow, 
to be sure, and Paul will address that, but we need to understand, 
with reference to sinners, the first emphasis is the mind. It's the intellect. It's the 
noetic effect of sin upon the mind of a man. Paul doesn't just 
treat that here, he deals with it in Romans chapter 1. He deals 
with this in Ephesians chapter 4. The mind is alienated, the 
mind is at enmity with God, and it's from that vantage point 
that these wicked works then proceed. So again, the fact that 
somebody engages in morality, the fact that somebody does a 
good deed, if their minds are far from God Most High, it invalidates 
that good deed in terms of God. It doesn't hurt the body politic, 
it doesn't hurt the person that receives the good deed, but if 
we ask the question, what is a good work? A good work is, 
first and foremost, for the glory of God, and then for the good 
of the person that we do the work toward. It isn't so that 
we can get likes. It isn't so that we can pat ourselves 
on the back. It isn't so that others can pat 
us on the back and tell us what great guys and girls we are. 
Now, Paul locates the primary emphasis with reference to sinful 
men's problem, who once were alienated and enemies in your 
mind. In Ecclesiastes 9.3, Solomon 
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. Now, the Greek translation of 
the Old Testament scriptures uses the word here for mine. So when it says heart, think 
mind in Ecclesiastes 9.3. Remember that demoniac that lived 
among the tombs? That poor, wretched man. He was 
a man that was naked. He was a man that lived among 
the tombs. That was strictly prohibited 
in Israel, right? You weren't supposed to have 
truck with dead bodies. Certainly not make your habitation 
among them. And so this man lived among the 
tombs. He was naked, he would gash himself, he would cut himself, 
he would bleed, he would howl. Persons in that region were afraid 
to go near him because he was strong and he would overtake 
them. Well, the Lord Christ comes to him, and the Lord Christ casts 
out the demons from him. And in Luke's gospel, in Luke's 
record of this particular miracle, we read in Luke 8.35, Then they 
went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the 
man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet 
of Jesus, clothed," and I love this next statement, "...and 
in his right mind." What does that mean? Sinners apart from 
the Lord Jesus Christ, those alienated from God, are out of 
their minds. How else do you describe Planned 
Parenthood? How else do you describe going 
after the most vulnerable in society? We have to be collectively 
out of our mind to ever engage in that sort of thing. So when 
Jesus casts out the demons from this demoniac, he's sitting at 
the feet of Jesus, now he's clothed, and now he's in his right mind. 
Something has been restored through God's powerful grace. Something 
has been restored by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is 
intriguing because the persons in that community, Luke goes 
on to say, and they were afraid. Isn't that intriguing? I mean, 
they were afraid of this demoniac when he was able to break sort 
of handcuffs. They were afraid of this demoniac 
when he was cutting himself and bleeding all over himself. They 
were afraid of this demoniac while he lived among the tombs 
and he cried out day and night. But they're even more afraid 
that there is one who has conquered the demoniac. It's like when 
Jesus is able to calm the sea. It's like when Jesus is able 
to stop the winds. What does it say the disciples' 
response was? They were afraid, greatly afraid. Why? Because no man has the authority 
or power to stop the wind and the waves. No man has the authority 
and the power to cast out demons from this possessed man. Well, 
the God-man, the Lord Christ, obviously and certainly does. 
So Paul says they were alienated from God. They were enemies in 
their minds. And then notice thirdly, in terms 
of their former state of alienation, they engaged in wicked works. 
And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked 
works. Now, again, I think that's something 
we can all So to relate to, prior to our conversion to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, that's what identified us, that's what characterized 
us. And unfortunately, even with remaining corruption, there are 
those wicked works that come from the hearts of God's people 
from time to time. Paul speaks to that in Romans 
7 and Galatians 5. We see illustrations in the life 
of David, as we considered this morning, in Surrey, as we consider 
Peter in the gospel narratives denying his Lord. But this idea 
of wicked works is something that characterizes the unbeliever. It is something that is indicative 
of his orientation. And we see the logical procession 
here. The mind at enmity with God inevitably 
leads to wicked works. Again, there are those moralistic 
persons that do some good things from time to time, but if you 
were to put that deed under the microscope of God and ask, is 
it for His glory and is it for the good of the target audience, 
the answer would be no. But the logical procession is 
what we think concerning God affects how we live with reference 
to God. The mind produces practice consistent 
with it. Notice in 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 and all wisdom and 
spiritual understanding. We want your minds to be renewed. We want your minds to be transformed. We want those wicked works and 
that enmity gone. And then notice in verse 10, 
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, that you may be fully pleasing 
to Him, that being fruitful in every good work and increasing 
in the knowledge of God. that you may be strengthened 
with all might according to his glorious power for all patience 
and longsuffering with joy. See, the emphasis in our church 
and hopefully in your own lives is that you learn scripture because 
that is a means by which it's an out with the old and in with 
the new. We are not to be conformed to this world, but we're rather 
to be transformed by the renewing of what? By the mind. Brethren, 
Christian growth comes by receiving the Word of God, internalizing 
the Word of God, and then putting into practice that Word of God. 
All by the power and the grace and the aid of the Holy Spirit, 
to be sure, but it certainly takes the effort of God's people 
to renew their minds. And so Paul says, this is the 
lot of these Colossian believers prior to their salvation. John 
Eady said, 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 had this mindset, and with 
that mindset, you pursued wicked works. With this mindset, you 
did everything that was contrary to God. With this mindset, you 
lived as if there was no God. That is the former state of the 
Colossians. That is the former state of everyone 
in this room that has now been translated into the kingdom of 
the Son of His love. It's a pretty dark and bleak 
and disgusting picture, isn't it? And this is why Paul does 
that, so that when we get to the not bleak and not disgusting 
and glorious picture of gospel grace, we can say, praise God 
almighty. So there's been a bit of a heavy 
sort of trudge through our past. Let's look at our present because 
of the grace of God. Notice there. Blessed state of 
reconciliation. The first thing we ought to appreciate 
is divine initiative. Again, we looked at that theme 
this morning in 2 Samuel chapter 12. God sent Nathan to David. God didn't leave David to do 
what David wanted. God didn't leave David in that 
state of rebellion. God sent Nathan to go fetch him. And we see that divine initiative 
in this area as well. Notice, and you who once were 
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now 
he has reconciled. It's God who sought us. It's 
God who found us. It's God who has reconciled us. It's God who gets the glory for 
our salvation. We didn't move from this place 
of alienation. We didn't move from this enmity 
of mind, this place of wicked works, in and of our own strength 
to come into the saving grace and favor of God. Brethren, we 
are reformed for a reason, because salvation is of the Lord. It ain't of us. It is not dependent 
upon Him who wills or upon Him who runs, but upon God who shows 
mercy. And God has shown mercy in His 
grace, in His kindness, in saving us from our sins. Divine initiative 
is behind this purpose of God in saving sinners. Notice, it 
is God who is the subject of the reconciliation. He says, 
yet now He has reconciled. He, God, not you. When we come 
tonight to eat the bread and drink the cup, it's not sort 
of as an assistant or we praise Jesus for helping us find reconciliation. There's no helping us in finding 
reconciliation. It's either Jesus saves or he 
doesn't. It's not that he needs assistance. It's not that he 
needs a contributor. It's not that we do our part 
and he does the rest. If Christ doesn't save, we are 
not saved. There's no sort of 60-40 or 70-30. There's no contribution on the 
part of the sinner except for the sin in which we need to be 
saved from. That's our contribution, the 
vileness, the putridity, the wickedness, and the wretchedness. 
And then notice, before we move to the means of accomplishment, 
the efficacy of reconciliation. Notice, yet now He has reconciled 
you. He doesn't make men reconcilable. 
It's not a real word. Word didn't acknowledge it. It 
put the red line under it, but I'm making it a word tonight. 
God didn't make us reconcilable. He didn't make us saveable. He didn't make us redeemable. 
He actually reconciled. He actually saves, He actually 
redeems. That's the emphasis of the Scriptures. You shall call His name Jesus, 
for it is He who will save His people from their sin. Brethren, 
that's another thing to encourage our hearts. God hasn't put us 
in this limbo position of savability, but the Lord Most High has saved 
us. If by grace you are trusting 
in the Lord Christ, if by grace you have looked and lived at 
the Son of Man as He's been lifted up on the cross, you are saved, 
you are blessed, you are reconciled, you are redeemed, you understand 
the glory of God Most High and the purpose of His Son, the Lord 
Christ, in terms of the salvation of our souls. Will there be stumbling? Will there be times of doubt? 
Will there be difficulties? Yes, to be sure. That's why you 
come back to Scripture. That's why you come back to the 
Gospel. That's why you come back to the Word. So that you get 
a great big dose of what Christ says there in John chapter 3. Just as Moses lifted the serpent 
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And 
when you read that passage, you go back into Numbers and you 
see the means by which those persons were de-venomized. They looked at that brazen serpent. They looked and they lived. They 
didn't drag themselves over there. They didn't kiss the brazen serpent. 
They didn't suck the poison out of their womb. Rather, they looked 
at that serpent and they lived. Why do you think Jesus tells 
us that? So that we'll look to him and live. so that we'll see 
him as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. When difficulties 
or trials or doubts or a lack of assurance comes, what do you 
do? Do you wallow in pity, or do you go to the scriptures? 
Do you go to Romans chapter 8? Who is it that will bring a charge 
against God's elect? It is Christ who died, Paul said. That's what we go to. If you 
have struggles, if you have doubts, if you have difficulties, you 
above all persons ought to be in Scripture. Not to say if you 
don't have doubts and you don't have problems with assurance 
that you aren't supposed to read Scripture. Your life depends 
upon it. Feed your souls with the word 
of the living God. That's what it's for. Why do 
you think John 3 is there? To point sinners to Christ. Are 
you a sinner needing pointing to Christ? Absolutely. So look 
to Christ. That's the remedy. That's the 
blessing. The reality is, is that he didn't 
come to make men savable. He didn't come to make men redeemable. 
He didn't come to make men reconcilable. But he came to do those things 
and he does it efficiently. Now, notice the means of accomplishment. Notice, he says, yet now he has 
reconciled. And then he emphasizes two things. 
In theology, we call this the person and the work. of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Notice verse 22, in the body 
of his flesh through death. That's the person and the work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the body of his flesh, his 
person, and then through death highlights his work. It doesn't 
stipulate everything about the work. It doesn't highlight the 
life of obedience and then the sacrificial death at Calvary, 
but it's sort of theological shorthand to encompass the doing 
and the dying of our Lord Jesus on our behalf. Paul will detail 
those other facets in other places in Colossians and then in the 
rest of Paul's writings elsewhere. But notice what he says concerning 
the person of our Lord Jesus. He says, in the body of his flesh. 
Now, this language underscores the incarnation. It underscores 
the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fathers were 
absolutely right. Whatever is not assumed is not 
redeemed. If Christ does not assume our 
humanity, then we are not redeemed. We need a fellow. We need a champion, 
to be sure, but we need a fellow to save us from our sins. The 
language distinguishes the physical body of our Lord Jesus from, 
say, the mystical body of our Lord. In Colossians 1.18, Paul 
speaks of the church as being the body of the Lord. Well, here 
in verse 22, that's not the emphasis. It's not the church. It's not 
the body of the Lord in that mystical sense, but it is rather 
the body of his flesh. His incarnation. As well, the 
language distinguishes Orthodox Christianity from the pseudo-Christian 
cults who denigrate the physical. In other words, if you read through 
1 John, John emphasizes over and over again Christ's bodily 
coming into the world. John emphasizes the reality, 
the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why does he do 
that? Because there are antagonists, there are enemies of the church 
that see the physical as bad. It's only the spiritual that's 
really good. No, brethren, the physical isn't 
bad. Our physical happens to be tainted 
with sin. That's what's bad. God isn't 
at war with nature. He's at war with our sin and 
our rebellion. And so this emphasis here, that 
in the body of his flesh, is ultimately summarized, I think, 
beautifully in the Nicene Creed. It's one of those things that 
you can never get that into a sermon enough. You know, this is one 
of those places that it really belongs. Now listen to what the 
Nicene Creed says. I believe in... This is the section 
on Jesus. 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. 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, this second 
person of the Trinity came into this world and he assumed our 
humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities 
thereof, yet without sin. Again, listen to what the father 
said. Whatever is not assumed is not redeemed. If he does not 
assume our humanity, he does not redeem our humanity. And 
that is the emphasis that the scripture upholds with reference 
to the incarnation of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. He does this 
for us. but not only the incarnation. 
Paul highlights the death. Notice in verse 22, "...in the 
body of His flesh through death." Go back to chapter 1 at verse 
20, "...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." Doesn't that sound as paradoxical 
as anything ever? We don't think of blood being 
the means by which peace comes. We think of blood as murder. 
We think of blood as warfare. We think of blood as savagery. 
But here the apostle tells us that peace comes through the 
blood of his cross. Now there was murder, there was 
savagery, there was butchery on the part of wicked men against 
our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the means by which he 
secures the peace of God and that reconciliation between God 
and men. Now, the death of Christ was 
absolutely, positively necessary that he would be a sacrifice 
for sin. Remember that Old Testament system? Remember when they built 
the tabernacle? The end of Exodus ends with the 
tabernacle having been built and the glory of God, that Shekinah, 
came and dwelt in that tabernacle, in that holy place. But Moses 
himself couldn't enter in. What's the emphasis there? Moses, 
the godliest and holiest man in that commonwealth, couldn't 
enter in because of God's burning glory and majesty. That's when 
the book of Leviticus starts. God teaches Israel how they dwell 
in his presence. And the way that they dwell in 
his presence is through a bloody knife and a burning altar. And 
that's what Leviticus is about. Offer the sacrifice, atone for 
the sin, and God and sinners will be reconciled and can dwell 
together. All of that was typical. All 
of that was a shadow. All of that was signposts pointing 
forward to the great redemptive truth that the Lamb of God has 
come to take away the sin of the world. Remember in our studies 
in Genesis, when we're in Genesis chapter 22, Abraham is with Isaac. He's taking up to Mount Moriah 
to sacrifice him. And Isaac says to Abraham, we 
have the wood, we have the fire, but we don't have the sacrifice. 
And Abraham, the theologian, tells him God will provide for 
himself a sacrifice. After Abraham's hand is stayed 
and he doesn't bury the knife into Isaac's chest, they look 
and they see this ram caught in a thicket. That ram is typical. This is why Jesus could say, 
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and he was glad. He 
didn't think, The ram was Jesus, but the ram typified. The ram 
pointed forward. He offered it up in the stead 
of his son, Isaac. We need sacrifice, brethren. 
God is a holy God. And we don't just wander into 
his presence. We don't just treat him as an 
equal. For us to get into the presence of God, there must be 
the shedding of blood. And that's what Christ does. 
And not only is he a sacrifice, but he's a substitute. I think 
the doctrine of substitution always points to Reformed theology. I don't know how in an Arminian 
scheme they could actually have substitution. The moment you 
admit substitution is the moment you admit particularity, the 
moment you admit efficacy, the moment you admit that it's not 
general, it's not hypothetical, but it is specific and particular. And Christ echoes that when he 
says, this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for 
many for the remission of sins. John Calvin says, with reference 
to the sacrifice of Christ, it was necessary that the Son of 
God should become man and be a partaker of our flesh, that 
He might be our brother. It was necessary that He should, 
by dying, become a sacrifice, that He might make His Father 
propitious to us. Matthew Poole says, Christ's 
death was not only for our good, but in our stead. Thereby offering 
himself to God, he satisfied divine justice, and his sacrifice, 
giving himself for us, was a sacrifice of a sweet smell to God. You 
see, the Apostle Paul links our reconciliation not with moral 
reform on our part, not with moralism on our part, not with 
do-goodism on our part, not with a little bit of help from on 
high, but he links that reconciliation to the incarnation and to the 
substitutionary, sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus. That's 
why we eat this bread and we drink this cup. That's why we 
proclaim the Lord's death. We're not proclaiming tonight 
our goodness. We're not proclaiming tonight our reward for the week 
because we've done good. We are proclaiming the Lord's 
death because that is the basis upon which you and I stand. Now in terms of the remainder, 
I just want to quickly move through that. Notice the blessed result 
in verse 22b. To present you holy and blameless 
and above reproach in his sight. I think this refers to our present 
sanctification. This is the goal. This is, you 
know, justification always yields to or goes forward in sanctification. In other words, those justified 
freely by God's grace will seek, by God's grace, to live in a 
manner that is consistent with God's Word. Not in some sort 
of meritorious way, if we do this, we get that. We've already 
been given that. We've already been saved. Now 
we live like saved men and women. That's the emphasis that we find 
in the Bible. But it also points to that future 
glorification. It is in Christ Jesus that we 
will be holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. 
And please do not mistake the order of the text. Look at what 
Paul says, 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. It's not because you were holy and blameless and 
above reproach in his sight that he reconciled you. That's not 
what the text says. It's he reconciled you so that 
he can present you this way. The same thrust as in Ephesians 
1.4. The apostle there says, just as he chose us in him before 
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without 
blame before him in law. It doesn't say he chose us in 
him before the foundation of the world because we were holy 
and without blame. See, there's no merit on our 
part. There's no dessert on our part. There is nothing in us that God 
says, wow, I'm going to reconcile them because they're holy and 
blameless and above without reproach in my sight. That's not the emphasis. 
And then in verse 23, he gives a call to perseverance. Again, 
because this is the supper and our focus is primarily on the 
redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ, we could spend a whole 
nother sermon, perhaps we will next week, looking at verse 23. 
But notice what he says, if indeed you continue in the faith. Now 
that sounds a lot more sort of hypothetical and it almost sounds 
a lot less sure in the English than it does in the Greek. I 
don't think Paul is saying that, you know, as long as this, then 
this. No, you've been reconciled. You have been reconciled, but 
the truth is that somebody who has been reconciled will in fact 
continue in the faith. They will continue in the faith 
grounded and steadfast. They will not be 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. There is an exhortation based 
on the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ that the people 
of God persevere. The people of God go forward. 
Again, the means by which you do this is in scripture, prayer, 
corporate means, come to church, take the supper, eat the bread, 
drink the cup. All these things are calculated 
by God to spur on and encourage weary pilgrims in the world. 
It's a blessing to see a lot of people here tonight. I mean, 
this is almost mega church status for us. We've got just, I mean, 
everywhere I look, there's people. That's encouraging, brethren, 
because the supper is God's gift to us. See, we are weary pilgrims 
in a distant land. We are weary pilgrims in a sin-cursed 
world. And we come in from that world, 
and it's not our service to God. It's how we look at the service. Tonight, it's God's service to 
us. He gives us this bounty. He gives us this bread. He gives 
us this wine. He gives us this symbol, this 
tangible element to recall the great redemptive truth of Calvary's 
cross. Why? To encourage us. to cause 
us to persevere, to cause us to fight, to cause us to go forward, 
to resist the temptations of this world, to resist the devil, 
to resist our own remaining corruption, to put to death the deeds of 
the body by the power of the Holy Spirit. All of this is enjoined 
here. So we've come, by the grace of 
God, into this state of reconciliation. And then the Apostle Paul says, 
if you continue, or if indeed you continue in faith, grounded 
and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel 
which you heard. Why do you think he says that? 
Because there's a lot of persons out there trying to move you 
away from the hope of the gospel which you heard. You've got peer 
group, you've got devil, you've got you trying to move you away 
from the hope of the gospel. You've got the devil whispering 
into your ear, how in the world could you ever think you're a 
believer? You've got friends whispering, well, not even whispering 
in your ear, how in the world could you ever think you're a 
believer? You have your own mermaid flesh saying, how in the world 
could you ever think you're a believer? Paul's antidote, Romans chapter 
8, it's Christ who died. It's Christ who's risen. It is 
Christ who is ascended at the right hand of the Father. Our 
hope, our life, our everything is tied up in the person and 
in the work of our Lord Jesus. Well, brethren, With reference 
to this particular text, I hope it promotes or provokes from 
us thankfulness to God. As we eat this bread and we drink 
this cup, let's not wander in our minds to next week. Let's 
not wander in our minds to tonight. Let's not wander to tomorrow 
or Tuesday. Let's think about the broken body and the shed 
blood of our Lord Jesus, and let's respond with worship, with 
adoration, with glory given to our God. As well, with reference 
to the context, hopefully this promotes watchfulness. There 
are great and alarming things happening. Great not in a good 
way, but great in an alarming way happening within the context 
of the church today. We need to be on guard. We need 
to be watchful. We need to understand the reconciliation 
that God brought out. We need to watch against the 
same sorts of things that Paul tells the Colossians to combat 
in chapter 2. Asceticism at the very end of 
chapter 2. Don't teach, don't touch, don't handle. Somehow 
that's holy. No, that's not holy. Holy is 
belief on the Lord Jesus Christ and walking according to His 
will. as well this sort of mystical legalism that obtained in verses 
16 to 19 in chapter 2. There's these sorts of things 
on our horizon, and if we're not careful, if we don't know 
the great reconciliation of God, we will be led astray, and we 
will be prone to wander and leave the God that we love. As well, 
we ought to be amazed with reference to this scheme. The reality of 
what we were prior to salvation, we were alienated from God, we 
were enemies of God, we were intellectually rebellious against 
God, and we were doers of wicked works against God. That's a pretty 
bad resume, isn't it? This is my religious life before 
I became a Christian. You know, oftentimes in testimony, 
people say, well, how did you become a Christian? They kind 
of think that it was the next step in a good life. You say, 
well, I was an enemy of God. I had wicked works. I engaged 
in lawlessness and rebellion, just abject wickedness. They 
say, well, what? What are you talking about? You 
mean you'd have to sort of earn this? You'd have to work your 
way up the morality ladder? They don't understand that Christianity 
is a redemptive religion. They don't understand that God 
is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. and as well 
the reality that our reconciliation to God was wrought out by God, 
and it was through the blood of the cross of our Lord Jesus. John Eady says it beautifully. 
He 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. And in this, 
we rejoice. And if you are not a believer 
here this evening, I would encourage you to come to believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, to look to him who alone can save to the 
uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him. It is a great 
joy and a privilege and a blessing above all other privileges and 
blessings that a man can have to tell sinners that there is 
a place to go, to tell sinners that there is remedy, to tell 
sinners that there is hope, to tell sinners that there is everlasting 
life, to tell sinners that there is embrace with God. And it comes 
through the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Believe on him and 
you shall be saved. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank 
you for this gospel. It's such a blessing. It's such 
a glorious system. It's such a wonderful expression 
of divine mercy and grace and loving kindness. And God, we 
pray that you would encourage our hearts as we eat this bread, 
as we drink this cup, that you would encourage our hearts as 
we reflect upon the goodness of our blessed Savior on our 
behalf. We pray for others to come to 
know this Christ as Lord and Savior, not only here, but elsewhere. We pray this word would go forth 
throughout the world, that it would not return unto you void, 
but it would accomplish the purpose for which you send it. And we 
pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.