Are you Reconciled? - Colossians 1: 21- 23

Well, good morning, everyone. Glad you're all here this morning. And we have a few folks, families, that are away. Our pianists are away, and Lauren has been gracious, and she's going to be leading us on the music side of it this morning, and David.

But we're looking forward to it. I was preparing for this morning, and the word of worship in spirit and in truth, that our music, our worship, comes from the inside out. It's not us to be influenced by the music outwardly in.

We can be edified and blessed by it. But it starts at the heart. And so I just pray today is this is the best day of the week as far as I'm concerned. And to be here together, we say hello to those that are tuning in on YouTube and on video.

And we'd like you to join us sometime. It's much better being here than being away. So you can't replace it. But we know there's other reasons and health issues that why you're not here. But greetings to you.

So just a couple announcements. We're going to begin our evening prayer meeting next Sunday evening on the 1st at 6 o 'clock. That may change to 530. But for now, we're going to call it 6 o 'clock. It's easier for me to remember.

I don't know about you. So put that on your calendar. And that'll be every Sunday. And then August 8, we're going to begin Sunday school on 930. I don't know if there's any preparation for that. Just bring your Bible.

You're going to Psalms. Is that OK? It's going through Psalms. Should be a wonderful. That's such a rich book in the Bible. And there's, I mean, I don't know. Charles Spurgeon, I've got this many books on the Psalms alone from him.

So it's very rich, very rich in many ways. I wanted to personally share that I was encouraged and I'm excited by what I'm seeing here at Faith Bible Church. I'm seeing relationships building and growing.

I'm seeing some new faces and more opportunities to be involved in the church. And with that process, God is probably going to begin to draw us to places we haven't been before, that we're going to have to grow, we're going to have to learn, and coming outside of our comfort zone.

Christians really shouldn't have a comfort zone, but we do in our own little ways. But I wanted to, this week, my wife and I go through a devotional together. And I wouldn't normally read, of course, this, but this one struck me.

And it's very relevant to where we're at right now. The heading was, God will call you to do what you cannot do, but will provide everything you need to do it. You and I have no natural abilities to rise and do what God calls us to do, but he refuses to leave us to our own resources.

He is not so unwise, unkind, or unfaithful as to ever call us to a task without enabling us to do it. I'm not able to love my wife the way Jesus loves the church, but I'm not left by God to my own character and strength.

I am not able to keep my heart pure, so God gives me his empowering spirit. What 2 Peter 1 .3 says is really true. We have been given everything we need for life and godliness. The God who calls us to a radical new way of living meets us with radical and empowering grace.

Have courage, be active, your savior really is your strength. And indeed he is. So would you join with me as we pray to our Lord? Lord God, we thank you for gathering us together this morning. The Father, we come with different needs and different experiences and different struggles and trials and challenges, Father, but as we stand before a holy and mighty God, Lord, we can worship you freely and be strengthened and encouraged by that process, Father.

Thank you that we have your word to open the truth of the gospel message, Father, that is being so clearly preached by Pastor Ilgen and that we look forward to what you have placed on his heart today, Father.

Lord, we ask that we might honor you, that you would be glorified in everything that we do. We pray for those that aren't here today that are struggling and are ill or just away on vacationing. Father, may your hand be upon them, Father, and watch over them and may they pause today and reflect on your goodness and your grace in their lives because, Father, it's so evident in what you're doing here at Faith Bible Church.

So thank you, Lord, that we have this time and may you go before us, Father, as we worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

Colossians 1:21-23 and the Need for Reconciliation

Good morning. I would like to first introduce Pastor Dan Graves who's visiting us today. I met him at the IFCA luncheon and he's a dear brother to this church. He has preached here before and I'm sure many of you might have met him before.

So please welcome him and talk to him afterward. Today, I would like to preach from the Book of Colossians, chapter one, verses 21 through 23. Colossians, chapter one, verses 21 through 23. 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, which I, Paul, became a minister.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we thank you so much that you loved us so much that you would send your son to reconcile us, that he would die for our sin on our behalf so that we may one day be presented as holy, blameless, and above reproach.

Not because that we were good or even close to being good, but because your son is so holy and loving. God, we pray that your word would speak through me and that your spirit would work in all of our hearts and all of our thoughts and meditation of our heart would be pleasing to you, oh Lord, our Redeemer.

In Jesus' name, amen. After Paul describes how Christ is God of creation and redemption and how he supremely rules over all, he shifts the focus to humans, us. At the core of the cosmic reconciliation is Christ's reconciliation with his people.

Contrary to what the world tells us, humanity is in a huge need of reconciliation with God. Contrary to what the world tells us, there is no goodness in humanity. There is no faith in humanity restored.

The world claims, oh yeah, babies are born good, but they're raised by bad people. Or bad people are bad because they lack education. And how true is that? That means we would see more goodness in the world with the increase in education.

And does that claim stand historically? Consider the 20th century, the last century. During this time, the world was more educated than it has ever been. In fact, after World War I, some of the most educated elites, politicians, and leaders naively believed that it was the war to end all wars.

They were hopelessly wrong. Not only was such a war the biggest war that the world has ever seen, but the most gruesome one. People were gassed and the casualties included even civilians. The total death toll is estimated to be 37 million people from World War I.

This was followed by World War II. With the similar death toll and more intricate ways of torturing and killing people, different ethnic groups, both wars were instigated by one of the most educated and technologically advanced humans the world has ever seen so far.

And then one might say, oh, it's the wealth distribution. The rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. If there's equality in wealth, people would not try to kill each other. This also was proven false.

In communist China, under Mao Zedong, the government killed 78 million of their own people. The figure is greater than both of the world wars combined. A government that was seeking economic and social equality wiped out more of its own people than the enemies did in both of the world wars.

Astounding. Today, we're not any different. When we see tragedies in school shootings and foreign military dictators, our best experts spew out different government reforms and controls. If we only pass this, there won't be any of that.

If we send our military here, there won't be any more genocides. Whether for this century or last, Paul tells us that we're missing the root of the problem. Our problem is not the lack of social reforms nor the lack of education, but it's alienation.

Our problem here is alienation from God because of our sin. Here, Paul starts the passage by describing our deep need for reconciliation with God. Now, how does Christ's reconciling work affect the church?

That's the main question today. How does Christ's reconciling work affect the church? And the main point here is Christ totally reconciles us for the second coming as we continue to trust in the gospel.

Christ totally reconciles us for the second coming as we continue to trust in the gospel. First, what was our state before the reconciliation? Before Christ, we were God's enemies. Before Christ, we were enemies of God.

After describing Christ and his supreme work over creation and cosmic reconciliation, Paul zooms in on the Colossian church. And we see this by the first two words, and you. Last week was about Christ's work and the whole universe, both creation and redemption.

This passage focuses on Christ's reconciling work, reconciling work in the church, a subset of creation. Here, Paul does not pull back any punches. Right after he addresses the church, he begins to describe who they were before Christ.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. There are three characteristics to describe the unbelieving status before the church was saved. Alienated, enemies in our minds, and wicked works.

First, the unbelieving state before Christ was relationally different. Paul says, who once were alienated. Here, alienation signifies our relational status with God. And his people. So it was that of an estrangement, separation from God.

What does this mean? Ephesians 2 .12 tells us what it means to be alienated. That at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Alienation is first and foremost without Christ. There is not an ounce of Christ's blessing when we're alienated from God. You have nothing to do with Christ. Second, it means being separated from God's people.

In the ancient times, excommunication could easily mean death because the community no longer cared for you as its own. And you had to fend for yourself from diseases, wild animals, and even outsiders, enemies.

Third, you had nothing to do with God's covenants of promise. This means there was no relationship between you and God. You were left out of the great hope which God has promised his people. And fourth, it sums up clearly that the alienation means having no hope and without God in the world.

Alienation signifies a hopeless isolation from God, his people, and his promises. We had nothing to do with God. Second, the unbelieving state before Christ was of a conscious hostility toward God. Paul calls this enemies in your minds.

This means our will, our intent, our desire oppose God. It is not that we were accidentally isolated from God as a child would be in a crowded mall and it's a summer day, his palm gets sweaty, and oops, where's God?

Where's God's hand? No, Paul tells us that there's an intentional hostility from our minds against God. Our minds desire to rebel against God rather than to serve him. Our minds desire to, our mind desire to disobey rather than to obey.

Our minds gravitated towards worshiping ourselves and something else rather than worshiping the one true God. Our minds had no business pleasing God but they opposed him at full force. And with such minds, the actions were no different.

Paul tells us by wicked works, when our minds are harboring evil thoughts and treasuring sin, it is no wonder our works would come out to be wicked. My friend and mentor Warren would consistently remind me this one thing, we do what we believe the most.

And he would say, even if on a summer day, if you believe that there's black ice on the parking lot, how you would walk would be so much different than if you believe there was no black ice. Black ice for many people who haven't experienced snow is very hard to see a frozen ground where you would easily slip.

The reason why people choose to sin over obeying God is because in that moment, they believe sinning is the best option. It may be for a temporary pleasure or relief, but in the end, sinful actions come from hostile minds that prefer disobedience over obedience.

Sinful actions come from rebellious minds that desire worship from others rather than to worship the one holy God. And those who belong to the kingdom of darkness live in such a way. By wicked words. To illustrate this totally depraved state, I will tell you about Augustine's childhood story, a theologian from long ago.

As a teenager, Augustine hung out with the wrong crowd. And one night after playing sports, the gang saw a pear tree that belonged to Augustine's neighbor. However, the tree was abounding with fruits, but none of them actually wanted pears.

However, they desired to steal them. Not because they were hungry, nor because the fruit looked delicious, but for the sake of stealing itself. For the sake of doing something wrong, they approached the tree and started shaking it and then the pears fell.

After tasting some, they gave the rest to the pigs, effectively wasting them. And this is how he describes his twisted desire. It was foul and I loved it. I loved my own undoing. I loved my heir, not that for which I erred, but the heir itself, a depraved soul, falling away from security in God to destruction in itself, seeking nothing from the shameful deed, but shame itself.

You see, he loved doing what was evil, seeking nothing from the shameful deed, but shame itself. This is more disgusting than if he had stolen the pears out of sheer hunger. At least the pear tree owner may have even understood because there was a good reason for getting the pear, for committing the crime.

However, as he said, he loved his own undoing. He loved the sin itself. He desired it because it was forbidden, not for any other reason. That is the depravity of the human soul. We gravitate towards evil as sharks do to blood.

Before Christ, our minds had no chance of resisting sin. Is this true for you today? If the answer is yes, there is hope for you. It is not about putting in more effort. It is not about reading more books about resisting sin, but it is about seeing that you desperately need a savior and believe that Jesus died for your sin so that you could be forgiven and live in him.

Every sin you have committed and will commit have been placed upon Jesus. And he faced the wrath of God and the judgment of God that you deserved so you may be forgiven and adopted into his family. Turn away from your sin and trust in Jesus' work on the cross, which saved you from the bondage of sin.

For Christians, this means Christians no longer live in the past. After all, Paul does not think so. Notice he does not start with, as you are currently alienated, but rather with, and you, who once were alienated.

For Christians, there was a time when these things were true. There was a time when we were separated from God. There was a time when our minds were against God and we desired to live in the wicked ways.

Now, this does not mean we ought to be perfect right now, but the direction of the trajectory has to be 180 degrees changed. It has to be turned. As we're growing in Christ, we no longer make a hobby of sinning.

We no longer feed it as our pets. As we are maturing in Christ, our minds meditate more on the truths of the scriptures than the lies of the world and the desires of our flesh. As we grow in the spirit, it becomes easier to resist doing wicked works and to turn to doing good works.

This also means we're no longer affiliated with our sins. We do not return to it as frequently. We do not make it our lifestyle. Our minds are not passively accepting that evil desire, but our minds continue to battle against them.

Christ's Death Reconciles Us to Present Us Complete

Next, what does Christ do to his enemies? Through his death, Christ reconciles us to present us complete. Through his death, Christ reconciles us to present us complete. Thank God that the passage did not end there.

Instead, by God's grace, it continues with yet now. This is a turning point. The hopeless description of our past, our wicked past, no longer applies to us. The two words yet now completely change our destiny.

Yet now he has reconciled. This means Jesus brings us back from our alienation. Jesus mends our shattered relationship with God. Jesus turns treasonous rebels into his loyal subjects. Jesus turns his enemies into his friends.

Jesus turns sinners into saints. How does he reconcile such evil people? Verse 22 says, in the body of his flesh through death. The first prepositional phrase here, in the body of his flesh, tells us that Jesus physically walked among his people as a human being.

He was not some hologram, nor is an almost human. But he was fully human. This is important because certain false teachers such as the Gnostics will claim that Jesus was spiritual only, but only appeared physical.

But Paul tells us Jesus was fully human and it was through his death that reconciliation was possible. Humans could be redeemed only through a human substitute. Blood of the sheep and goats was not sufficient in the long term.

How does his death accomplish reconciliation? In order for true reconciliation to happen, the holy God has to deal with our sin. Now, because he is holy and just, he cannot just ignore our sin. His standard, in fact, is perfect righteousness.

No sin at all. How can the judge of the world be just if he declares unrighteous people righteous? We have no chance of standing before this holy God because the punishment for the guilty has to be served.

Forgiving our sin is much more complicated than people think. You might have heard people say, oh, I believe in the God of love, so he does not judge. This is impossible. You cannot have a God of love who does not judge.

How is God loving if he allows evil to go free? How is God loving if he does not judge the wicked people? How is it loving to the victims of murder and victims of rape if God turns a blind eye? The world goes berserk over a criminal sentencing that they deem too short for a serious criminal.

Yet they do not see that God's love requires him to judge the wicked world. And what must be done to anyone who sins against God? Death. The wages of sin is death. This is both spiritual and physical.

Eternal separation and wrath of God. But also the physical death entered because sin entered the world. We were all required to die for our sin. But God, being rich in mercy and grace, sent his son as a substitute.

Instead of you dying for your sin, Jesus, the perfect man and God, died in your place. This is why Paul emphasizes that Jesus died in the body of his flesh. This was not some figurative death, but a real physical death.

A real execution in your place. The only way for Jesus to reconcile us to God was to suffer the judgment that we deserved. The perfect God-man faced the wrath of God himself that we earned. What is the purpose of this reconciliation?

To present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. Christ's reconciling work does not leave you as a blank slate, and you're left on your own to live correctly the second time. Best of luck to you.

No, it is to prepare you for eternal life with God. Christ reconciles us to present us holy, set apart from the world, and reflect the characteristic of the holy God that whom we love. Then blameless.

And it can also be read as unblemished. Without blemish is a sacrificial language. In the Old Testament, when a priest sacrificed an animal, he had to choose an animal that was unblemished. It had to be completely intact and without physical flaws.

Because God required the cream of the crop. The best of the best. Now, it is not because of what you did or how you have lived your life, but it is because of what Christ has done for you that you are unblemished.

Totally presentable before the God of the universe. It is not what you look like now, but what Christ has made you to be. Unblemished. While unblemished signifies an outward purity, above reproach signifies an inward purity.

Moral purity. Because Christ has taken away your sin, you no longer stand before God with any guilt or shame. Not only that, you stand before him above reproach because you stand in Christ's righteousness.

When you stand before God, you don't stand on what you have done or who you are, but you stand on what Christ has accomplished and his righteous acts alone. His righteousness. Christ is not just the entryway to your relationship with God, but Christ prepares you in every way for eternal life.

No matter what kind of sins you've committed in the past, through Christ's death, you're made holy, blameless, and above reproach. There is no guilt hanging over you anymore. What an honor. This is the ultimate Cinderella story.

It is not because you had the right dress or the right ornaments to go to the ball that you ended up in the palace before the king, but you didn't even have the invitation. In fact, you once were criminals outside the walls of the kingdom, but when the prince found you, he did a complete makeover.

First, he chose you. Then he set you apart from all others outside the walls of the kingdom. He then replaced your stained, tattered rags so that he could clothe you in his flawless garment. Then all of your criminal records, he expunged.

They no longer stand against you. It's gone. And now the prince himself is escorting you to the palace. Unlike the fairy tale, it was not an easy wave of the wand that prepared you. It was the painful death on the cross.

In order for this prince to prepare you for his palace, his blood had to be shed. Has this truth hit your heart yet? Do you believe in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross? If not, repent. Turn away.

Believe in what Jesus had done for you. Turn away from your sinful lifestyle and fall on your knees before Christ, the true prince who shed his blood to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach.

The true prince who gave himself up to escort you to his throne room. This is truly the best happily ever after. It was not that we were originally near to God that he chose to save us. God did not go for the low-hanging fruits because we were completely distant.

We were not desirable at all. But by God's grace alone, he reconciled us to present us holy, without blemish, and above reproach. Jesus prepares us acceptable before the holy God because he died for our sins.

Jesus does a complete makeover on the ground of the blood that he shed for us. And what is the condition of Christ's reconciliation? We are reconciled based upon our steadfast faith in the gospel. We're reconciled based upon our steadfast faith in the gospel.

Steadfast Faith in the Gospel and the Hope of Christ's Return

Lastly, Paul unpacks the results of the reconciliation. Have you ever wondered if we are truly reconciled to God? What should that look like? How are Christians any different from non-Christians? This is what Paul says.

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.

First, if we are truly reconciled to God, we would continue in the faith. Because verse 22 is true, the natural reaction would be to continue in the faith. You are made new in Christ, so you don't go back to your old ways.

It is crucial to know that these are the results of the reconciliation, not a work that you have to put in. It's as natural as a rock falling because it's been dropped from a great height. In the same way, the rock did not do anything to fall or keep falling, continue falling, but it's the result of being dropped.

In the same way, we continue in the faith because we are saved by Christ and it is God who sustains our faith. Paul describes the steadfast faith with architectural metaphors, grounded and steadfast. Note, Jesus' words on firm foundation in Matthew 7, 24 through 25, illustrate this concept of being grounded.

Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock.

The house was not affected despite the catastrophes outside because it was founded on the solid foundation. That's the same word here, grounded and founded. We continue in the faith, which is established firmly on a sure foundation, like a nicely built house on a solid rock, unshakable despite what is going on outside.

There is a saying that God preserves those who are saved, right, the perseverance of the saints. Here we see it in another angle. Those who are saved need to persevere. Those who are saved must continue in the faith.

And you can be assured that you are saved, you can be assured of your salvation when you do continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast. Then Paul describes the reality of such faith in the negative term.

The faith, when we are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, it is such a faith that does not shift. It does not sneak away. It does not creep away from the hope of the gospel. Positively, it is completely fixed upon the hope of the gospel.

The gospel that I explained to you that Jesus and his work on the cross, that is our only hope. That is what we look forward to. That's what we longingly desire to see. It is the same gospel that the Colossian church heard and it was preached to every creature under heaven.

And it is the same gospel that the Paul is a minister of. This means the object of our faith is the message of Christ and his work on the cross so that we may be forgiven. This message was preached to the Colossian church and globally.

Paul did not change up the message to suit the church in Rome. Paul did not omit certain parts that could be offensive to Ephesus. The same message that the Colossian church heard is the same saving message that the whole world is hearing even to this day.

Not only that, Paul the apostle is himself under the message. He is a minister for that message. He serves for the growth of the gospel. The gospel is the highlight here, not the teacher. The gospel is the center, not the apostle.

Churches, Christian schools, and pastors exist for the spreading of the gospel, not the other way around. The gospel does not exist for the fame of the pastor. The gospel does not exist to make seminaries great.

This means no one has the right to add or delete parts of the gospel for their own sake. It does not matter how many degrees a pastor has from a renowned seminary. It does not matter how many decades a faithful preaching a pastor has done.

If any person preaches or teaches a message that is contrary to the gospel, he must be removed immediately. Does not matter what kind of record he has. That's how important the gospel is. Nowadays, there is a trend in the evangelical church or conservative churches, and they're trying to fight for social justice.

In fact, the passion is so great that I've heard many say that social justice is part of the gospel or social injustice is a gospel issue. This is heavily problematic because the church has believed in one gospel, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is the good news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross so that we may be forgiven of our sins and be found righteous in him. The gospel has nothing to do with what we do or what we accomplish, such as fighting for social justice.

The gospel does not depend on the work that we do. It has nothing to do with our efforts, but it has everything to do with Christ's complete work on the cross. Even if the gospel, if they argue that it's 1 social justice and 99 Christ's work on the cross, we would all be condemned for failing that 1%.

Hence, our faith must be rooted completely on Christ, not on our own. To add social justice to the gospel of Jesus Christ is saying that Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sin is not sufficient. What a blasphemous thought that Christ's perfect, precious blood was not enough to save us completely.

What a perverse idea that we sinful beings can actually improve the gospel of Jesus Christ in any way. Christians, we hold firmly to the only reconciler whom God has provided for us. Because Christ perfectly reconciles us while even when we're his enemies, we must continue to trust him.

In the gospel. Let us pray. Father, we thank you so much for your mercy and grace to save us. People who did not earn to be saved. People who could not have saved themselves in any way. God, we pray that in this church that the gospel will always be preached, that we would not desire to be relevant, that we would desire to represent Christ well always, to represent the gospel well, that we would never even think, even dream of adding or deleting parts of the gospel that is perfect and complete for our sake.

We pray that we would treasure the gospel until you come back. In Jesus' name, amen.