God Reconciled Us Thru Christ

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you reconciled thru CHRIST?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that GOD reconciled us thru CHRIST is a package deal: faith + refraining from sinful desires.

IV. TEXT:

Colossians 1:21-22 (Amplified Bible)

And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities,

Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence.

V. THESIS:

GOD reconciled us thru CHRIST is a package deal: faith + refraining from sinful desires.

VI. TITLE:

GOD reconciled us thru CHRIST

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Apostle Paul

B. Date written: Between 60 to 64 A.D.

C. Purpose: To exhort and edify believers

D. To whom written: Church in Colosse, a city of Asia Minor

E. Main themes: Church, as body of CHRIST. CHRIST as Head of the Church. Warnings against trusting worldly wisdom

F. Keywords: CHRIST - the Head of all

Colossians 2:10 (Amplified Bible)

And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

G. Key verses:

Colossians 2:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].

And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. We were alienated from GOD

"And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him"

Galatians 5:4 (Amplified Bible)

If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing).

1 Peter 2:11 (Amplified Bible)

Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.

As CHRISTians we're not exempted from troubles, and problems. The only thing that can make us fell from grace are: (1) if we try to be justified through the Law and (2) if we are worldly.

B. We were enemies

"and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities,"

1. In our minds

2. Because of our evil behavior

Romans 5:10 (Amplified Bible)

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.

Philippians 3:18-19 (Amplified Bible)

For there are many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, who walk (live) as enemies of the cross of Christ (the Anointed One).

They are doomed and their fate is eternal misery (perdition); their god is their stomach (their appetites, their sensuality) and they glory in their shame, siding with earthly things and being of their party.

We are enemies of the cross of CHRIST, much worst than an unbeliever if our minds are set on earthly things.

Colossians 3:2 (Amplified Bible)

And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

C. We are reconciled

1. By CHRIST's physical body

2. Through death

3. To present us holy in His sight

4. Without blemish

5. Free from accusation

CHRIST is the end of the Law.

Romans 10:4 (Amplified Bible)

For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified Bible)

But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].