Colossians 1:20-22 - We Stand Before Him Unblemished!

Good morning. What a service already. Beautiful music. Thanks to Glenda and Maddie and Matt and everybody. This is music. All of you did well too today. I could hear all of you singing. It's great. So glad to have you with us.

We're glad that you are dodging the illnesses going around and it's so great to have Raymond and Sharon back after about three weeks of illness. Sharon was ill as well. Raymond had double pneumonia and God raised you up again and you got you need to write a book about answered prayer and it would be something else.

And Carlo and Melina great to have you with us today. Thank you so much. You once again get the prize for the longest distance to come to church all the way from California. So love having you with us always.

And Russell and Ann Brown are with us today. I could say lifelong friends if you just want to talk about from our early like 20s all the way till now. It's pretty much lifelong friends. So great to have you with us and a lot of you know them.

They live in Richland, Texas which is kind of halfway between my house and here. And thank you so much for being with us today. We're excited to know you shot me a text earlier this week and said you would be here.

I've been excited ever since. So great to have you. All right well let's get into the Word. We've got very little time and a whole lots to cover. So we're in Colossians chapter 1 verse 20. If you want to go there we we're going verse by verse through the book of Colossians and so that's where we are.

I will while you're turning there I will review what we've covered so far starting with about verse 13 is the section where it starts to talk about the deity of Jesus Christ or you could just say the person of Jesus Christ who he is.

Before that it talked about the Father and we have to kind of understand the Father before we can understand the Son and and the paradox there is that we can't understand the Father without the Son. And so the book of Colossians talks about both but since about verse 13 we've been talking particularly about the Son of God Jesus Christ and who the scripture says that he is.

And so first thing we saw was that he is the king of God's kingdom that we know do we not the king of kings and it calls him God's the dear the son and the word for dear in the Greek is actually agape which is interesting so it's it's calling him the loved the son and I like the way the Greek puts the article the in front of it it doesn't say he's a loved son he is the loved son and so then we saw that he is the express image of God and it's interesting we learned some new things this year studying that word that I never knew before and I know Russell and I've talked about this in years past about the dye that put it on maybe a piece of leather and hit it and it puts the imprint and my whole life I've looked at it that way and I decided to get a little bit bigger Greek dictionary and look it up and I mean it had like 10 pages just on this one word it really did and I came to find that it has a a much better biblical meaning for that the if you look at just profane Greek then yes it's it's like an imprint or the dye that makes an imprint or it's an image of something but if you look at how the word the same Greek word is used biblically in the biblical usage of it it's a little different and really a better definition might be the embodiment he is the precise embodiment of the Godhead so he is as the book of Colossians tells us that we're in here today that he is the fullness of the Godhead in a body that's who Jesus was and so we see that he that's what it means when it says he is the image of the invisible God.

And then we spent some time talking about what it meant invisible and if you weren't here what that means is God is invisible so pretty good Greek on that don't you think. And then the third thing we saw is he is the firstborn of every creature.

Well we had to spend some time on that too because cult groups like Jehovah's Witnesses Mormons try to make us think that Jesus was created but really what that phrase is referring to and many other scriptures in the New Testament prove it such as 1st Corinthians 1523 it really means that Christ is the firstborn of every original formation and it is a reference to his resurrection.

He is the first born from the dead of all of God's creation and that's what it's talking about that is what it means. It cannot be interpreted mean anything but that. So we talked about that a little bit.

Then we talked about in about verse 16 and somewhere in that area 16 17 that Jesus is the creator of all things right all things in heaven and in earth. That doesn't leave anything out so he can't any interesting thing is that is the verse right after the verse that these cults used to try to prove he was created.

The very next verse says he created everything so he cannot be both the creator of everything in heaven and earth and also have been created. But they just take everything out of context. They don't even read the very next verse.

So we talked about that last time in number 17 Jesus is before all things. That sounds like bad grammar but it's not because if you go back before anything was Jesus is because he has always been so Ben you can turn this down just one notch.

I'm getting a little ring just just a little bitty bit. And then we saw in the second part of verse 17 that of him all things consist and literally as you look into the Greek language and what that literally means it means he holds everything together.

So he is not a God who just flung everything out and then folded his arm and says well let's see how this will turn out which is how most people think he is. And certainly Armenians think he's that way.

Well let's just see let's see what will happen. And that puts all all of the impetus in what man will do. And the Bible never puts it there. The Bible always puts it on what's God doing with history. Because that's why we call it history.

It's his story. It's not our story it's his story. But he made us to be part of his story because he loves us and he's known us since before the foundation of the world. And he doesn't like to do anything without us.

It's the first family business that ever existed and we're part of it. And there's only one plan and we're in it and it's fabulous. So he holds all things together. And then we see that verse 18 says he is the head of the church and has all preeminence in the church.

That is not so much true in the modern American Church. Is it not so much preeminence of Christ in the modern American Church. And then it says in verse 18 and 19 that he is all of the fullness of God.

And so that brings us to where we are today. In verse 20 let's read it together Colossians 120 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 are things in heaven.

You know if people would read John 316 in conjunction with Colossians 120 they could understand a lot more about John 316. Because when it says for God so loved the world the Greek is the cosmos which means God's orderly creation.

That's what Jesus died for. It does not mean that he died for every individual person. It means he died for all of his creation that was put asunder with the fall of man when man sinned and Jesus died to put it back in order.

And it includes the elect that small remnant of the fallen human race that he chose to save and give as a love gift to his son Jesus. It includes us. But it's not just about us. But man always wants to make it be about man.

Doesn't he. So John 316 to the predominant churches in this city is it's all about man. And God is a genie in the bottle. We'll rub it he'll come out. He'll give us what we want even with regard to salvation.

But God gives what he wants because he's the only wise one the only truly one who is love and the only truly good one. And therefore it is right that he decide on every issue of his perfect plan. So this says that Jesus Christ made peace through the blood of his cross by him.

And that little Greek word there's a couple words for by in English. But this one is the word dia which means through the channel of so God the Father accomplished all this through the channel of his son.

Or you can think of it as a pipeline with stuff going through it like oil. I like thinking about oil going through a pipeline because I'm in the oil business right. So I like to picture that. But I mean the pipe is the channel through which that goes.

Jesus Christ is the channel that's what dia means through which God accomplishes all of this as far as bringing peace between God's elect and God himself who is holy. And Matt that thing you read was amazing about the depravity of man written in the 1600s by John Owen.

And there is no way that that human being that you described that you read so well this morning could be in the presence of a perfect holy God without the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no way and there's nothing by the way that that man that you read about could contribute to his own salvation in the presence of a holy God.

And the Bible says that while we were in that sin that you read about hath he quickened us brought us to life. We didn't do anything. We just awakened and there we are now. We had some effects of that and the first effect was we received him as our Lord and Savior.

The second effect was we repented and changed our mind about who God was. And all of this happened at the same time. It's not a sequence. It's boom. It's like a birth. The baby's not there. And boom that baby is there.

Jesus said it was just like that and all of these things happen and the baby wakes up and he's benefited by being in the family. But he did not cause his own birth. I don't understand how people 150 years ago almost every Christian understood these things.

Now almost nobody does. I won't say nobody but very few people do. So look at this. Jesus having made peace through the blood of his cross now that means peace with God by the way a peace between fallen men and women and boys and girls and a holy perfect God.

Jesus his blood brought that peace when because of the cross and his death on that cross and by him he reconciled all things. Now this is what ties in with John 316 with the idea of the cosmos. This is not talking about people.

It does include the elect people but it's talking about all things. It's more clear than John 316. Actually it sheds light on John 316 the cosmos but it means all things by him. I say whether they be things of the earth or things in heaven.

There's nothing left out of that list and Jesus died to put all things back in order all the way out to the third heaven. And this idea for reconcile it's a beautiful word where it says because of the blood of his cross he reconciled put the cosmos back in order.

Listen that is a strong Greek word. I can't even pronounce it because it's several small words put together into one. But I know the first part of the word is oppo which means fully and the second part of the word is the word for reconciliation.

So it's not just that he reconciled. If you put this more properly in English you would say he fully reconciled all things. It means completely that little Greek prefix oppo means fully and completely.

So he didn't just reconcile all things. He fully and completely reconciled all things by the blood of his cross. That's what that verse says. Now what I see next and I'm going to take one little part of verse 20 but most of this is going to come from probably verse 21 and following here.

But I want to spend the rest of morning talking about what this talks about. Because listen there is an amazing doctrine that so many denominations don't even believe. I grew up Southern Baptist. They believed it.

We called it eternal security. Sometimes they call it once saved always saved. Some people mock that. Hmm I've had parts of my life when I didn't want to use that phrase so much. I prefer eternal security.

But you know what. Once saved always saved. I'll use it because if you just added one word you'd make it really accurate. Once really saved always saved. Okay once actually saved always saved. Or how about this once called by the Holy Ghost and quickened you're always saved.

How about that we get more and more clear. But we're talking about eternal security. Now in this little passage just one or two verses it tells us about the five-fold principle of eternal security five aspects of it all because of what Jesus did.

I want to say this the root or I should say the foundation of this great doctrine is twofold and only twofold. And many of the people around us in this city today who will say they believe in once saved always saved it.

Sometimes you look at how people live and you wonder really. But anyway that's why I say once actually saved always saved. But people will go around saying they believe that but they do not believe the two things that undergird and are the foundation of that doctrine.

And without those two things that doctrine falls and those people become totally inconsistent in their belief. And I don't respect them. I respect the Church of Christ brother or sister better it believes you can lose your salvation.

And and there are minions right. They believe man does everything. And they don't understand the finished work of Christ. Because they think they got to do some stuff. But at least they're consistent in their logic.

Because if those things were true that you got to do some stuff and that man is in control then yes you don't have eternal security. Okay you don't have it if those things are true. But the two things but I will say it is true.

And the two things that undergird it or number one the sovereignty of God that God is in complete control of all things that he knew every single one of his sheep before he made anything and he called them in time.

And the ones he called he justified and the ones he justified he he brings them to the place where they're just totally just as if they had never sinned. And the ones that are justified or glorified someday they are in heaven same group all the way down through there.

That's the sovereignty of God. And that's why you have eternal security. And the other the second pillar upon it rest is the finished work of Christ but not just his finished work his continuing work what he did on the cross which is what verse 20 talks about when he bled on that cross it brought reconciliation to the cosmos.

But also later in this passage we're going to get to verses and I'm going to bring in parallel passages from the book of Hebrews which is I often think it's my favorite book the book of Hebrews. We won't have time to get into that a lot this morning but next Sunday Lord willing we will get into that.

But when you look at that part you start to see the fact that it's not just the finished work it is his continuing work as our intercessor before the throne of God that every time Satan steps up to accuse us because we do mess up.

Right. Matt was talking about that this morning we mess up and Satan comes and accuses us said it must not be saved. Look at what your servant your so-called servants just did and Jesus steps up and hits the thing with the gavel and says but they're innocent because I paid the price that debts been paid for they are innocent every time every single time throughout the whole time you're on this earth.

That's going on. So it's not just the finished work of Christ but the continuing work of Christ that keeps us saved. That's what the two things eternal security based on sovereignty of God that he always knew you.

And that Jesus said no man comes to me unless the father draws him and he says of them I lose nothing. That's the sovereignty of God. And secondly the finished and continuing work of Jesus. Without that you might as well say it doesn't exist this doctrine.

But I'll give you five reasons exist right here in two or three verses right here this morning. So let's look at the first one. The first one we already read. It's up in verse 20 there Colossians 120 where it says having made peace so we have peace with holy God.

And this this concept of peace here speaks of the idea of propitiation. Y 'all be careful. They had to go to an event of some kind. They didn't disagree with the message. If I thought that I'd have done like Jack Holland said I'll pluck your tail feathers on the way out.

Right. You know I would do that. Right. Paul just in case anybody else is thinking about leaving. Okay all. Right. Anyway so we have peace with holy God. We the very people that the Holy Spirit led Matt to read about this morning a depraved total.

I've never read anything that good on eternal on depravity man ever. And I've read a book about him. But I didn't read that in it must have been a different book. But man not like you. You you don't focus on any particular lust because you have so many others you have to mess with.

Wow. That was astounding. If people listen I've often said the reason people cannot understand John 316 is they don't understand. God started there. He started in Genesis chapter 1 2 3 where it talks about the fall of man.

It talks God has to get us to understand the depravity before we ever understand salvation and how it works. But here that holy God who is totally separate from sin God the Father who cannot and will not even dwell in time and space he is so pure and perfect.

He only intercedes here through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God with us Jesus Christ God with us or the Holy Spirit. And he is so separate from sin and so perfect that any sin that came into his presence or sinner would be totally flashed out of existence in a nanosecond.

That my favorite word again. Right. So that's what would happen. And yet we who still have an old man do we not anybody in here sinless yet. If so you in the wrong church because we don't believe in that we believe in sinning.

No we believe. We believe that we still sin. We believe that God put this treasure of the new man in earth and vessels on purpose so that he'd get the glory when we do get it. Right. Right. That's what we believe.

But my goodness you think about even us in this body that the Holy Spirit lives in us and Jesus walks with us and the Father sees us as perfect already. He already sees it. If you look at Roman chapter 8 it says those that were foreknown though he also predestinated.

Those who predestinated he justified call I should say he called. And those he called that means awakened. Then he justified and then he justified. The same group glorified. It puts it in the past tense like it's already happened.

That's how the Father sees you right now. So if you have had a sin problem this week you know it's one thing you need to deal with that let the Holy Spirit help you deal with that. But you don't need to.

You don't need to feel dirty because the bloods already removed it and the Father never saw you do it and he won't believe you if you told him you did it. I'm talking about God the Father. Now Jesus lives with us in time.

He'll give us a whooping for it because he sees it and understands it knows it. Because he's been tempted in all points as we have and yet without sin. And therefore he can secure us or suck or us. The Bible says he can he can help us through those times of temptation because he went through them.

But here we see that we have peace with a holy perfect God who can't be around sin. How can that even be. Ladies and gentlemen it's a miracle. The only way that it can be is through the blood of his cross.

He made peace through the blood of his cross. That is not something you did. That's not something some little prayer formula did. That's not something the church gave you. That's something God dealt with you in private somewhere somehow in a totally different way than he did with me everybody in a different way individually.

And he let you know that I'm here he awakened you that Jesus is there. He's your shepherd. He's got the food and your sheep and you're hungry. And because of that you wanted him for the first time because yesterday you didn't the day two seconds before that you didn't a minute before that you didn't your whole life before that you were happy being God in control of your life.

And all of a sudden you weren't. How come because the Holy Spirit awakened you period while we were yet in our sin hath he quickened us. Everything else is in effect. That was the cause. There's only one cause and that's why we're not saved by works or any deeds of any kind whether it's a mental work or a physical work.

We're saved by grace through the faith of Christ that's given to us as a gift at the moment that he called us. So we see the first thing about eternal security is God made peace between himself and us.

Now I think the best New Testament doctrinal word to use for that is called propitiation because that is something that Jesus did for God when he died on the cross not for us. Oh we benefit from it. But he didn't do it for us.

He did it for the father and for himself. And what it means is that when he died on the cross he died and paid the sin debt fully for us so that the father's justice and righteousness could be totally fulfilled and at peace with the fact that we were sinners.

But we have had our sins removed by the blood of Jesus. So when Jesus died as the perfect sacrificial lamb and he paid the sin debt for all of God's people God the father was satisfied as Isaiah 53 talks about it in the Old Testament he was satisfied that the sin debt was paid.

Therefore we have peace with him. The only reason we have peace with him is what Jesus did on that cross. It has that doesn't have anything to do with the future. And like the ongoing work of Jesus at all it has only to do with his finished work.

He doesn't have to deal with that anymore. You don't have to recrucify Jesus. If you sin all you need is first. John 1 9. All you do is you just speak to the rock. You don't. You don't smite it again.

You can't recrucify Jesus. You speak to the son of God and say I'm sorry I just sinned. And mainly it doesn't even say you say you're sorry. It's okay too but what it says is you agree with him that what you just did was sinful and you tell him you agree with that thing I just did and you name it to him only.

You don't want to tell other people about it. You tell him what I just did was sinful either because you said right here in this book don't do it or I couldn't do it in faith but I did it. So it's a sin for me and I'm sorry.

And and and I agree. And then he says he's cleansed you from all unrighteousness which means not only that thing you just confessed but in stuff. You forgot to confess all of it. You're totally clean.

So you get up and you walk again. Listen. If you don't know how to do that you'll quit. You will quit. Satan would talk you into quitting because you're not perfect yet. You're in earthen vessels. So am I.

We all are so the first thing that we have that's a part of our eternal security that we can never lose our salvation is we already have peace with holy god the father. We have peace with him. It had nothing to do with what you did.

Jesus provided it with his finished work on that cross 2 ,000 years ago long before you were born. That's why it's called the operation of god salvation. It's not your thing it's his thing. He operated on you.

You cannot give yourselves a heart transplant. You have to have the surgeon. And that's jesus. So that peace is a great thing. Uh by the way it's in the aorist tense which means without regard to time.

You know why I like that see english doesn't have that we have past present future. Greek has those but also has aorist. The aorist tense when it refers to this peace of god it means god before the foundation of the world jesus christ was slain and god already knew you were his child.

And god already god the father already knew he would have peace with you because he had already made the means of it. And it was going to be his son dying on the cross. At that focal point in all of history everything looked forward to it.

And the old testament looks back to it from here in all eternity. And that focal point brought that peace and god already knew it. And it's without regard to time it just is. It's just like god is this peace.

It just is. And uh it's active which means god did it because it's speaking god is the subject here. Jesus is the one who did this. So there we have it. Now let's look at verse 21. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.

There's everything matt talked about this morning. That's the depravity of man. Right there in that verse god seldom discusses salvation without giving us depravity which is the need for salvation. So you that were sometime.

Now you gotta think about who was colossians written to. By the way you should always ask what's the book or the letter written about. And who is it written to. Who's this written to. You go up to the first verse or two.

It'll tell you the elect born again people. You born again people sitting right here in this room. And this is a small enough church where i know most of you i even know most of you guys out there uh but i can say this about you and me is that you were once upon a time alienated and enemies in your own mind by wicked works.

You were enemies and alienated from god and without hope in the world. Isn't that something. That's where we were the second before god saved us one second before the holy spirit called us. That's where we were.

That's where we would have remained for all eternity if it weren't for god's great plan and the fact that he already knew you and you were his and he was not going to lose even one of us. If he did by the way whose fault would it be yours that you lost it.

Or would it be the shepherd's fault that he lost. You think on that one for a while. Russell you're a shepherd of cows. But like i was growing up and you had a similar situation. At first they were my grandfather's cows that i took.

And at first they were your dad's cows. So what would happen if one of your dad's bulls got out to go visit the other cows. And you went and told him hey of his own free will. He just decided to leave son.

Did you go get him. No it's his free will i let him go. What. Whose fault would that be the bulls or your fault. You'd be your fault. Right. And people don't think about that. But it's jesus's fault if you lose your salvation now.

That sounds weird but it's absolutely the truth. So you're not going to lose it because that's not going to happen. He is not going to be a fault. He first brought peace with god. But look at this. You were depraved.

And yet in the second part of that verse it says. Yet now i love that fact because it changes directions. You were this. But now you're something else. And look what it is. And yet now you have been reconciled to god.

Now that word in in the greek already told you what it means. It's a it's a big word like you're fully reconciled to god. But in in english it simply means to restore a friendship or to restore harmony between two individuals.

Or to gain goodwill by pleasing acts or to make two people compatible. And the pleasing act that took place was not something that we could do. So jesus did it for us. So when he he died on that cross to pay your sin debt and mine.

That was the pleasing act that he did to bring us into good favor with the father. And that's sort of what reconciled means. So not only has he brought us into peace because he propitiated god's wrath and satisfied god's wrath and justice and paid the price that the soul that sinneth it shall die.

Jesus died in our place. Therefore his justice was satisfied. Not only did he bring propitiation but now he has brought reconciliation. He brought us into a good relationship with god where we literally can come before the throne boldly and talk straight to god the father.

Now you do realize that before jesus died on the cross only one man a year and once a year could do that. And that was the high priest of israel. And he had to go in with blood not without blood. It says he had to take the blood of the perfect sacrificial lamb spring kill one for himself first.

And then he had two others. He would kill one. He would take the sins of the people. He raises hands above the people and symbolizing taking their sins and then put it on the head of the goat. Interesting that goats were used for that.

And then they would slay that goat. And then he would take his hands above the people and put it on the hands of the second goat and send that goat out into the wilderness alive with their sins on his body.

And that wilderness symbolizes hell. So that both of those or all three of those goats represent jesus christ. He did all of that for us. Now what that says about what he experienced on the cross. We'll never even understand the hell that he went through.

We will never understand what it's like for an eternal being to to be in that position. For who cares how long many minutes it was. We can deduce about how long it was. But you got to multiply it by infinity.

So anything multiplied by infinity is infinitely big. So that that is the the pains of death that he felt in our place. And that brought the propitiation the peace with god but it also brought reconciliation.

So we see here that he also has now reconciled us even though we were totally depraved and lost. And now we have been found. So we are reconciled to holy god. It's interesting that that word reconciled is in the arist which means without regard to time which means this was in god's mind before there was time.

You were in god's mind before there was time. Jesus died on the cross in god's mind before there was time. And so therefore you were never going to not be saved. That's a double negative in bad grammar.

But it's excellent preaching. You were never not going to be saved. You didn't know that. I didn't know that until i started studying the bible for years. Really. But i knew i was saved once i got saved that i knew i just didn't know how.

But also it's in the passive and you guys know what that means when it says that you've been reconciled it's not active. It's passive and that means someone bigger and stronger than you did that to you.

You did not save yourselves. You did not reconcile yourself to god. God reconciled yourself to him. It's in the passive which proves it. You can have arguments with people all day long but half the time the greek it's like math it just proves it.

And they can't win if you know the greek. So then verse 22 it says in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. You want to talk about eternal security.

Well we've already talked about two of five points. The other three are right there. I mean you have peace with god who is holy and you ain't except he makes you holy because the new man he created inside of each of us.

And then he reconciled us to holy god. And it's something that he did to us. And now it says in the body of his flesh through death when he died and gave his blood for us. This only has to do with his pat his his finished work.

And you do know that the last words he said on the cross in john 1930 was it is finished. That's what he's talking about. Is this all of this these things that he has accomplished was finished two thousand years ago or more on the cross for you and for me.

So in the body of his flesh through death he died to present us holy unblameable and unreprovable. So that adds three more reasons you can't lose your salvation. But let's take a look at him. First of all we're made holy all right.

So that was in the heiress tense. By the way i'll do also without regard to time this was always in god's mind. It was always real to god even before we were created. But we are made holy is the word high gaos.

And uh it's an interesting word because the word literally means awful. That would sound like depravity but a more better modern word would be awesome because it calls god this. And so it doesn't mean he's awful.

It means he's awesome. But what it really means is he is awe-inspiring. And he's fearful if god the father in any form whether the father jesus holy spirit was just came in this room or jesus let's say jesus in his glorified body and walked through there.