Colossians 1:20-23 Bible Teaching

Welcome
This is week six of the lockdown.

PRAYER

So last week we were introduced, so to speak, to The Son, as in the weeks before Paul spoke mainly of the Father.

And in verse 19 we read:

Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell – and I mentioned that contextually this appears to be speaking of the time after Jesus finished his earthly ministry – and then verse 20

Colossians 1.20-23
Taped 4/28/2020
Aired May 3rd 2020
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

So, having described Jesus in our verses last week, and ending with him saying “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell”

Paul adds at verse 20

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Prior to the shed blood of Christ, there was no peace between God and Man. Among the children of Israel there was temporary propitiation through the constant sacrifice of animals and their attempts at obedience but the reality was God was at odds with the world that was steeped in sin and self-will.

The appeasement, the settlement, the justice for our missing the mark and doing what is reprehensible to God was “made and paid” in full at the death of Jesus on the cross where his blood was shed – from his stripes, to the crown of thorns, to the piercing of His hands and feet, to the stabbing sword into his heart post mortem – that blood, as we spoke to last week – perfect, eternal, and never meriting death – was shed for the sins of the world.

The world. Nearly 2000 years ago, for the world – past present and future.

This produced “peace” that was not formerly there in God. Permanently. Peace with God.

Now, this does not mean peace with the world or peace in individuals. That peace only comes in the hearts of people who have come to faith.

But God is at peace with the world and our sin – by and through the shed blood of His Son, or how Paul describes it –

“having made peace through the blood of his cross.”

We recall studying Ephesians, especially 2:15-18 where Paul wrote, speaking of Jesus

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

That blood, making atonement for sin, was the means of making reconciliation between God and man.

Speaking of Jesus, and of those who are God’s by faith, Romans 3:25 says

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

So here in Colossians 1:20 we read:

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

This “reconciliation” of God and man, of heaven and earth, of all things unto himself, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, is a fantastic word.

The Greek word here translated “reconcile” is AP-OK-ATA-LASKO which means
to reconcile completely
to reconcile back again
bring back to a former state of harmony
Was there a separation between God and Adam and Eve in the garden prior to the Fall? No.
Was there anger from God toward man prior to the Fall? No.

And so Christ, the second Adam, according to this passage, by the blood of His cross,

Reconcile(d) all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

We find support for this victory of the cross throughout the Apostolic Record along with the idea of reconciliation.

Hebrews 2:17, speaking of Christ, says:

“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

2nd Corinthians 5:18 says

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, (meaning) that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

And then Ephesians 1:10 says

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

In my estimation, these passages describe the fact that God through Christ has done his part in the salvation of human-kind – whether those things are in heaven or in earth. How so?

We are talking about the shed blood of Jesus completely reordering everything that was once operating before on a spiritual level.

This does NOT mean that human beings are not the same or that the human race has collectively changed – nor does it mean that there is no longer material unrest and suffering in the minds and hearts of Man.

It simply, but magnificently, means that where once God was at odds with creation God now, through His Son and by the Spirit is at one with us – though our condition remains the same.

Imagine that God is going to walk through the Amazon jungle end to end (and that he is in a human body, etc).

Under the fallen pre-Christ age, he would be swatting every insect, destroying every predator, pulling back rivers so he could cross, and annihilating tribes of headhunters that tried to decapitate him.

That was God before reconciliation.

But God making this journey “after the shed blood of Jesus” was given for the world, would now journey through the jungle peaceably, and with love he redirects His foes, and allows the insects to do what they do, and would calmly deflect the arrows of the natives changing their minds along the way.

Same earthly situation, completely different response from God – all because of the shed blood of His Son – who reconciled the world to himself.

“Whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

I am under the impression that under the terms of the fall, that both heaven and earth and things under the earth, were under a specific administration – how to exactly define or describe it remains a mystery.

But once Jesus had finished the work of reconciliation, everything in heaven and earth changed, or according to Hebrews 12, were shaken so much that nothing that was left could be shaken anymore ever again.

This speaks to the total overhaul of the former economy – again, both in heaven and earth.

So, Paul has described God the Father in the first verses covered a few weeks back.
He then introduced us to Jesus Christ and what He did in reconciling the world to the Father, and at this point he speaks to the church at Colosse, saying

21 And “you,” that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

It seems that the reconciliation, based on scripture, has two applications in the plan of God.

One is general reconciliation and the other is specific or individual reconciliation.

The first being the universal template of the world and/or its administration when it was reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus and the peace of God was with all of humankind.

That reconciliation appears to be one way – that God is reconciled while Man remains alienated by our own freewill and choice.

In other words, the template has changed, and God is fine with walking peaceably through the Amazon, but this does not mean the animals or the tribespeople are fine in receiving him -we have to change one by one from the heart – and this speaks to specific reconciliation.

God calls to all, and His will is that all would be saved, but that must be received by His creations.

Now, this launches us into a discussion about our receiving Him, and scripturally it appears that this is both a product of His will and ours.

I am not against the idea of predestination of the Nation of Israel to do and be what God wanted them to do and be in God’s overall plan to reconcile the world, and I think that there are cases where there are people even today who are used in the same way (on no merit of their own), but I am also convinced that while God calls to all, most reject His message and do not receive Him.

So in the Amazon travels of God in the age of reconciliation it could be, as far as the Bible seems to maintain, it could be that while God is traveling without a care and in total unconditional love, there are some animals that still want to kill him, some tribesmen who are specifically chosen and used by God to serve Him, all the while God is continually calling to all to receive Him.

When they/we do, that is the specific reconciliation, and that is what makes fallen human beings sons and daughters by faith – which seems to be the eternal ultimate purpose God has for our creation – to make us, if we choose, sons and daughters by faith and love.

It is to this group that Paul now speaks, saying:

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

The line “were sometime alienated” means you were “at one time” alientated and enemies.

Enemies of whom? God.
Alienated how?

“In their minds by wicked works.”

Its an important line and its actually an important line for me personally in my own life because I have seen how true it is.

Paul is not talking about mere wicked works or what we would see as an evil life when judged by God – all of us have sin and fall short of the mark.

But his point here is that the alienation from the God was all seated in our minds, which led to our wicked works.

And what this means is that the actions of evil were deliberate and purposed as much as the actions of an enemy against an opponent are purposed and deliberate.

Paul says it here – we were enemies.

Now, when we consider this on the surface our fleshly natural reaction is, “oh, no – I have always loved God. I was never his enemy.”

But remember the phrasing – in our minds we were at odds with Him.

Where is the mind located? We aren’t really sure. It seems to be a word representing our entire soul, though. It’s a combination of all of our facilities that are in operation at birth, right?

Our brains, our hearts, our bodies, our will our emotions – all of it sort of represented by “the mind” – even though we today say that someone has a great mind and we are speaking of their ability to think or use their brain specifically.

And the human mind – the collective representation of ourselves – is not really naturally for the things of God, in fact, we are enemies of it and him at the end of the day. And this speaks to what it at the core of ourselves prior to God moving in.

Titus 1:15 describes this nature saying:

“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

And so in our natural state, somewhere in its presence – with some a large degree and for others what seems to be a lesser degree – we are enemies of God, with minds and hearts and hands that are defiled in contrast to His holiness.

That is the point – our state is always in contrast to His holiness. We tend, with our natural minds to see God like we see ourselves. He is holy, a consuming fire, like look the heck out. Truly.

And in our state we remain, though God may be reconciled to us, we remain alienated, even antagonistic toward Him and his ways – sometimes without even knowing it.

Think about it this way – if we were not enemies or antagonistic to Him and his ways we would readily forgive, we would readily love all, we would be overwhelmingly patient and full of longsuffering – even as children, teens, and young adults. We would simultaneously never ever sin – because we would be in harmony with His mind and heart.

So, the presence of our sin evidences the conditions of our minds or our carnal natural selves.

In my pre-Christ years, my mind was utterly corrupted and I could NOT think or see or relate to the world in any real semblance of normalcy or genuine goodness. At all.

There was always an angle, always a desire to control, always a need to win and get what I wanted over the wants of anyone else – and always carnality.

Scripture tells us that when God moves in via His spirit (by the finished work of Christ) He, through the word and His spirit, begin to renew the mind, which works toward the inner change of the person involved.

I speak from first-hand experience that this is an actual real process and that it actually happens or works in the lives of those who are His.

All by Christ, all from God, all through the Spirit, and His words are spirit and truth. They wash and renew the mind and heart of individuals who were once enemies and aliens from the Living God of true love.

The beautiful thing about this is that it was God who took the first step forward, while we were yet sinners, and began this work in us, as Paul says in Romans 5:6-10:

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

That last verse confirms to us that while we were still God’s enemies he reconciled the world to himself via the death of his Son (General Reconciliation) and then it speaks to specific reconciliation when he adds:

“much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life,” (referring to believers in Him who rise up to new life in Him by and through His resurrection!)

So, the general reconciliation occurs in and through the shed blood and death and burial of Jesus – and the world is a general beneficiary of that as payment in full has been made.

But specific reconciliation occurs for each individual who, by faith, receive Christ and RISE with Him to new life, and following Him in His life, benefit from His victorious work over not only sin and death, but over the grave.

Interestingly, though, the job or gift of specific reconciliation is always on the side of God. In other words, we do not reconcile ourselves to him, he reconciles us to Him – always. That is why Paul wrote at verse 21

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

And in so doing not only is he at peace with the world, but we, the individual that has been reconciled, are at peace with Him and the world around us!!!

No more antagonism. No more enemies with God. Reconciliation in both directions in the lives of believers!

And as a result of this believers, not the world, not all the tribes or animals in the Amazon, but believers are at harmony with the Creator of all things, at peace with Him in their lives, and are thereafter referred to in scripture as friends, children, sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Christ.

This gift of reconciliation from God to us takes a minute to realize and live by. In some ways we are like dogs that have been taken out from under the hands of an abusive owner and moved into the home of loving people – it takes some time for us to settle in a realize we are not at war with anyone anywhere anytime.

At verse 22 Paul explains to us how and where general reconciliation occurs, saying:

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

So here Paul gives us some more detailed information on how God through Christ performed this reconciliation, which we have already touched on in verse 20, but he reiterates and says that it was

“In the body of his flesh through death.”

In other words, it was in and through the death of his body, or in his death for making atonement for the world, that the reconciliation was done.

And Paul tells us why, adding

“. . .to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

To present us “before God Holy God”

The whole object of the death of Christ was to enable him to present “the redeemed to God” utterly freed from sin making us “holy, unblamable and unreprovable” in his sight.

Isn’t that glorious? But to honestly see the value in it, and respond with heartfelt gratitude, a person has to honestly first see themselves as what they were prior to the work of his reconciliation being done – and we start to realized this alienation in the way the God of the Old Testament worked among man, and it is reflected in the animal sacrifices, in the destruction of all things that got in his way, and in the literalness of hell, the separate place where all men went at death.

To believe that we are “born good” or to believe that we are “innately good,” that God was pleased with fallen man is to not only deny biblical reality it steals from the experience of our being able to see ourselves for what we are before Him without Christ – wretched.

But because of Christ’s death we are made

“Holy” – free from sin.
“Unblameable” – not culpable for our failures, sins and rebellion – which equates to being spotless and without blemish.

Interestingly, this term is not used anywhere else except in the following applications –

The word is applied to the precious blood of Jesus like a lamb in (1st Peter 1:19); to the Savior himself in (Hebrews 9:14) to the church in Ephesians 1:4; 5:27 and to believers here in Colossians.

Know what that says? Only the Lord, his bride and believers will exist in the presence of God after this life. No others. Why? Because all the others DO NOT CARE to be unblamable – not because God has no reconciled them, but because they have not cared to receive Him in them, to be at peace.

Revelation 1:15 and 7:14 suggests that when the holy and unblameable enter heaven all their sins will have been taken away and not a single spot of the sin will remain with them.

This makes us, as Paul adds in the last line here:

“unreproveable in his sight.”

Meaning there is no reason for any sort of accusation. Not from the law, not from Jesus, not from God the Father.
None. What an experience that will be – talk about humbling. Right?

(long beat)

But . . . however… amidst all of this great insight, Paul adds something that is almost always added in scripture to passages like these. He says one word at verse 23 that brings all of this into contextual perspective. What is that word?

“If.” “IF?”

23 If you, (Paul adds) IF YOU continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

We have seen and read how God is the one who accomplished all of this and that He did it through His Son.

We have read that what he accomplished is sufficient to make all of us holy and without blame before God.

We have seen that it was God through Christ who accomplished this, not us, not our works, not that anyone should boast.

And we have seen that it is all in place, effectually working on our behalf . . .

“IF.”

(beat)

Is there a condition on the specific reconciliation of individuals? There certainly is – without question and there is no working around it. What is that condition, plain and simple? It is our “continuing in the FAITH.”

We were freely reconciled to God generally in that God is not at unrest with us, we were specifically reconciled to God as His Sons and Daughters by Him and His grace, and we were not saved by our goodness, holiness or works but were saved by His grace through faith.

The reciprocal answer believers have to all that God has done is . . . faith! Continued FAITH.

Now we could walk down that road a little farther if we wanted and talk about how faith is proven true by our love, but that is a subject for another day.

Right now, we are talking about all that God has done remaining effective so long as we “continue in the faith.”

In the belief of the gospel, in the effective work of Christ, in His life, death, resurrection and love.

Faith – grounded and settled, is how he describes it.

“. . . and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard . . .”

Now I know that all over the Christian world that there are conversations about once saved always saved, and the rest of that jibber jabber, but I want to wrap our time up today telling you what the apostles said to the believers in that day, to what even Jesus said to the BELIEVERS . . . in that day.

And it coincides perfectly with what Paul has written to us today which is believers will stand holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight

“IF they continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard,”

That is the requirement of a believer – faith.

We know that the ability to once possess faith and then walk from it (and by the way, that is the key factor to understanding faith lost – its that the person walks from it once and for all and not them having a doubt or a question or a sin, but that the willfully walk from the faith they once received choosing to no longer be grounded in it all all) anyway- we know the ability to do this is possible from Jesus teachings first.

For instance, in the parable of the sower most of the seed receive the word of God rejoicefully, but they fail to take root.

We know in the parable of the Vine and branches that there are branches in Christ, growing out of Him, that produce no fruit and are cut off and cast away.

And then we know from Jesus words to the believers – the believers in the seven churches at Asia minor that they were all in danger of not being received if they didn’t change course.

Bottom line, all of the apostolic epistles are written to believers and in almost every case their words are to encourage them to carry on in faith, to be wary of enemies and sins that would corrupt their faith, and to correct their direction before it was too late.

The specifically, consider the following passages and how clear they are relative to the idea of walking from faith and there not being anything left for them once they have:

Romans 11:20 . . . because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Hebrews 6:4-6
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Hebrews 10:26
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

James 5:19-20
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

2 Peter 2:20-22
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

1 Corinthians 9:27
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

Galatians 5:4
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Romans 11:19-22
Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Philippians 2:12
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Revelation 2:10
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Luke 9:62
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

We will end there, with the reminder that we all have doubts, and wonders, and worries, but “the sin of unbelief, meaning faithlessness chosen once and for all is purposeful, final, and a very different thing from weakness and the ebb and flows that occur in our lives.

Understand that I am speaking to the choir here – those of you who are seeking him, seeking to please Him and remaining in His word.

Let’s have a word of PRAYER.