Our reconcilliation

Colossians 1:1-23
Sometimes there is a general focus in the Bible and we can use this to hide from its implications. Sometimes it is very personal and the words ‘you’ and ‘yours’ are used. In verses 15 to 20 the focus is general, how Christians are reconciled to God. Verses 21 to 23 focus this in a very personal way to the individual so it could not be avoided. No one in Colosse could avoid it and no here today can either. Everyone is covered in these 3 verses.
People have a personal problem – verse 21. No punches are pulled, it is not soft pedalled. It is bold and forthright. Every single one of us began here – alienated from God. Everyone of us was it that state as unbelievers – young or old. It is a total breakdown, there is no effective relationship. In Ephesians 2: 12 he expands upon this. We were excluded from Heaven, without hope in the world. God excluded you from a proper relationship with Him. We are excluded from God’s house until we are in a fit state to go into it. In our natural state we do not deserve God’s blessing, we are not worthy to go in because of the state we are in, it is a very serious state to be, it is the most serious state to be in. we are without hope and without God in the world. This is not a wish, this hope in the Bible is the certainty of Heaven. We know when we have Heaven. We may enjoy what the world has to offer – entertainment and pleasures, but it does not last or ultimately satisfy. In this state we do not understand what we are missing. They know nothing of the joys of Heaven, they are barred from these blessings as they are for God’s people only.
They are enemies in their minds of God. They are hostile to God and their desire is to do evil. People do not do the most evil deeds such as we see in the press, but everyone who is not a Christian is a state of hostility towards God. People do not want to obey God. People’s judgement and standards and not ours. We are naturally disposed to reject God. We enjoy doing what God says is wrong. It may seem harsh, but as non-Christians we are not just sinners but we wilfully reject his standards. It is not apathy, but it is wilful.
We are not just hostile to God but God is hostile and angry with us. He has every right to be angry with us. This describes God as actively hostile. It is not just bad news, we do not have to stay this way, we can (verse 22) be personally reconciled to God by the death of Christ. in Colosse false teachers had said that believers needed more but they did not. Paul explained the fullness of the personal reconciliation enjoyed by every Christian. It is true of Christians now. Relationships break down in human society and we can move so far apart that we can see how we can’t see how we can be reconciled. The problem with God is far more extreme. It is all the more amazing that we have been reconciled to God. When we try to restore a broken human relationship we may use a human mediator, this does not work with God.
a) He has reconciled you – God brings it about. On our own we could not do it. God has the desire. It is due to his great love, he will not leave us in that state.
b) It is achieved by Christ’s physical body in death. He acquired a human body as a man. It could not be achieved by a sinless angel, they are perfect, but he could not be a representative as if he had been just God. It had to be God and man – see verse 20. In verse 22 it is done for you, individually and personally, not mankind in general. If we are a Christian.
c) What is the outcome? We are presented without blemish and free from accusation. We are pure, holy and blameless. We have been transformed. We may sin but we will be perfected in Heaven. There will be no lingering trace of sin when we enter glory. We will not smell of sin or corruption. This is wonderful. We will be utterly pure, holy and blameless. No one will be able to accuse us ever again. This reconciliation is far beyond anything than any human being can ever do. It can never be broken. All traces of sin will be removed and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ – it belongs to us forever.
What of the present? Jesus does not have to do anything else. We do not have to come before Christ again. We must not be careless about how we live, we should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We must battle to overcome sin as we anticipate our future lives. We have a personal responsibility .
a) We must continue in our faith and not throw it back in God’s face. God will not let us reject what he has given us – see John 6:39, Jesus will lose not of those God has given him. John 10: 28-9, no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hands. Jesus had borne the punishment for our sin, God will not allow this to be wasted. No true believer will be lost. No true believer will reject it because they wouldn’t want to give it up. We will do all we can to persevere to the end. We had God’s preservation and our perseverance – they are two sides of the same coin. We need to continue in our faith. A response is needed from us, we need to cling to it. In verses 3 to 5 Paul expresses confidence in the faith they had. Faith is a not a one off event, it is a continuous activity, it needed to be established, built on solid ground. Jesus Christ, our rock. Without Jesus we are on sand which crumbles and fails. We must remain founded in Christ and rooted in the Gospel.
b) We can be taken deeper into the mysteries of what Christ has done but if it adds to what the gospel has said we need to reject it and anything that adds to it. Hebrews 10:12 – the sacrifice is complete, Christ sat down. It is a personal gospel but it is not unique, every true Christian comes to faith the same way. It is not a different gospel for each person or country, it is the same gospel for each and every country. We can only know this reconciliation if we come to this gospel which is for all mankind to hear.
Paul is a servant to it. As every true Christian is. Not all of us are called to be a preacher but we are to be obedient to it and share it with others. We have an obligation to use opportunities to share it as they arise.
Conclusions. It needs to be personal because we will be judged personally as to how we have responded to it and how we live our lives here on earth right now. We have our certain hope that cannot be taken away. We will give priority to our spiritual life. If we are not Christians we still have this personal problem that we began with. We must repent now. It can happen, that is the wonder of what Christ did. The Bible speaks to us right now.