AM Bible Study Group; February 13, 2013
Colossians 1:21-23
Theme: In this passage, we’re shown what is involved in a sinner becoming “reconciled” to God.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
“Reconciliation”—the act of making peace between two people or groups that were at odds with one another; bringing the hostility between them to an end; removing the wall of division; taking whatever stood between them out of the way. That’s the great theme of this morning’s passage—God’s ministry of “reconciling” us to Himself through Jesus Christ.
We all need to be reconciled to God, because He is holy and we have sinned against Him. But as the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) teaches us, the heart of our heavenly Father is inclined toward ‘reconciliation’ with those who are alienated from Him. He Himself has done everything necessary for full reconciliation to happen between Him and us.
The apostle Paul spoke of this ministry of reconciliation in an all-encompassing way in Colossians 1:20. But in the verses before us, Paul makes this ministry of reconciliation personal, applying it specifically to his readers; “And you . . . He has now reconciled . . .”
I. THE NEED FOR RECONCILIATION (V. 21).
A. Paul writes to the Colossian believers and tells them, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled . . .” The people that Paul wrote to were “saints and faithful brethren” (1:2)—but they hadn’t always been. He points back to the fact that they were “once” or “formerly” alienated from God (see Ephesians 2:12; 4:17-19). They had been “enemies” in their “mind”; that is, enemies toward God right down to the very attitudes of their hearts (see Romans 8:5-8). They even once gave visible demonstration to a hostile mind-set toward God “by wicked works”. They were, at one time, in the same condition Paul described the Ephesian believers to be in; that is “dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:2-3).
B. Why does Paul bring up such sad memories? It’s because he wants to highlight how much God has done in reconciling them to Himself. They were once alienated from Him, enemies in their mind toward Him, proving their condition by the wicked nature of their deeds. But how wonderful that Paul could apply the phrase “now reconciled” to them! Paul attributes it all to the work of God’s grace.
II. THE MEANS OF RECONCILIATION (V. 22).
A. Paul goes on to say that God reconciled them through Christ, “in the body of His flesh through death . . .” Those specific words are important. A heretical teaching has occasionally risen, referred to by theologians as “docetism” (from the Greek word dokeõ; which means “to seem to be”). It held that Jesus’ humanity wasn’t real—that He merely “seemed” to be human. If Jesus wasn’t fully human, then His death on the cross wasn’t real, and that His resurrection wasn’t real. But here, the Holy Spirit puts it plainly—God reconciled us to Himself through the literal body of Christ’s flesh through death.
B. Paul emphasize the full humanity of Jesus to us for a specific reason. Jesus is forever the eternal Son of God (see vv. 15-20); but He is the God who also became fully human. This is important because, in order for a holy God to be reconciled to sinful humans, those humans must be made “righteous”. And in order to credit perfect righteousness to our account, the Son of God had to do for us what we cannot do—that is, live the righteous human life for us that pleases God and satisfies His requirements (see Romans 8:3-4). And because we’ve also actively sinned against a holy God, the justice of God demands that our sins must also be paid for by death (see Romans 6:23). Jesus became fully human and lived a sinless life before God, so that He could then bear our sins on Himself on the cross, and pay the death penalty for those sins (see 1 Peter 3:18). And so, with Jesus righteousness imputed to us by His life, and our sins atoned for by His death, the Father has made full reconciliation possible by genuinely and completely removing all the barriers of sin through the sacrifice of His own Son Jesus!
III. THE RESULTS OF RECONCILIATION (V. 22).
A. As Paul goes on to say, God reconciled sinners to Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight . . .” The holy heavenly Father didn’t change Himself in order to be reconciled to these sinners. Instead, He completely changed them!
B. Notice that this new condition of holiness and blamelessness is utterly a work of God. The Person who does the work of reconciling us is said to be the one who “presents” us to Himself. No one could ever present sinners to a holy God but God Himself—who alone is holy. And that’s what God does with us in Christ. And this new condition—because it is a work that He alone performs—meets with His own approval. It satisfies His holy standards. Paul said that we’re presented holy, blameless and above reproach “in His sight”. It wouldn’t do us any good if we were to be presented holy, blameless and above reproach in each other’s sight. The only thing that matters is that God looks upon us and finds us to be holy, blameless and above reproach “in His sight.” And that’s how we stand before Him in His Son.
IV. THE CONDITION OF RECONCILIATION (V. 23).
A. But it’s not as if we have no involvement. Our responsibility in the work of reconciliation is introduced by the word “if”. These believers were now reconciled to God, Paul wrote, “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard . . .” This reminds us of the main purpose behind Paul’s letter. He wrote it because he wanted to protect his readers from a false teaching that sought to tempt them away from a settled confidence in the full sufficiency of Jesus Christ alone. Paul urged his readers to beware, lest anyone take them away from that confidence (see 2:6-10). They needed to stay true to it.
B. Paul used a fascinating combination of words to express this idea. He says, first, that we are reconciled to God only “if indeed you continue in the faith”; and the word he uses for “continue” is a combination of two Greek words: epi which means “upon”, and menõ which means “remain”. Thus, this word means to “continue upon” something—“to keep continuing for as long as it takes”; or as the New Testament scholar A.T. Robertson translated it, “continue and then some”. Paul then adds emphasis to this by using words that might have been used by builders in those days. He urges them to be “grounded” upon Christ, or “established” upon Him. Then, he urges them to be “steadfast” or made “firm” in Him. Finally, he urges them not to be “moved away” from the hope of the Gospel. The point is that only those who remain in the faith for the long-haul that can make the claim to be reconciled to God. As Jesus Himself said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4).
V. THE PROCLAMATION OF RECONCILIATION (V. 23).
A. Paul said that this is the gospel “which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” And this reminds us that this great message of “reconciliation” through Jesus Christ is a message that has been entrusted to us to share with others. It’s a message which is proclaimed and made available to all. Paul says that it’s “preached to every creature under heaven”. Everywhere that there are people, God has commissioned that this message be preached (see Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8). In Colossians 1:6, we’re told that this message had come to the Colossian believers, “as it has in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you . . .” Truly, it is a message that is being preached to every creature under heaven.
B. But notice that it’s also a message that must be “heard”—which is why it is essential that it be “ministered” through human instruments. Paul said that its the gospel which is “preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” Paul used a word that basically means “a servant”—very much like the idea of a table-waiter. Paul didn’t invent the message. He simply “serves it out” to others. This reminds us that God has made no other arrangement for the proclamation of the gospel of “reconciliation” than that it be “heard” by those to whom it was “preached” through the lips of those commissioned to “minister” it.
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What a privilege we have! We get to announce the greatest and most relevant message there is! We get to share with poor, lost, hurting people—alienated from Him, and enemies in their minds and actions, and messed up in every way—that God Himself has done everything that is necessary for them to have real peace with Him. We’re commissioned to deliver the message of “reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ” to the whole world!
And no wonder we’d be motivated to proclaim it! It’s a message by which we ourselves have been reconciled to God! As Paul wrote elsewhere;
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 you 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 (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).