Charles Hodge lived between 1797 and 1878. He was a Presbyterian minister and head of Princeton Theological Seminary from 1851-1878. Concerning the Gospel, Hodge said this: “The Gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.” - Charles Hodge
As we said in a previous message, “Christians will never outgrow the Gospel.” In our passage today, Paul returns us to the Gospel message as He speaks of how Christ, our Great Savior, came to reconciled us to Himself. (READ TEXT) This effort to reconcile us unto Himself, is something that was brought about at . . .
1. God’s pleasure - v. 19
Paul asserts here that Christ was fully God come fully in the form of man. Keep in mind that Paul was seeking to address the heretical teaching concerning the deity of Christ being propagated in Colossae by false teachers, specifically, the Gnostics (from Greek word, “gnosis,” which means “to know.”) They thought they had a corner on the truth, that they were the ones “in the know.”
The Gnostics taught that God was purely spiritual and could not remain holy if He were to come into contact with that which was material. Therefore, they denied the deity of Jesus by asserting that He was one of many emanations from the one true, spiritual, holy, God. In their minds, Jesus was one of many lesser gods.
No, Jesus was not a lesser God, He was fully God! As Paul later says:
“For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ.” - Colossians 2:9 (CSB)
This means we need look no further than to Jesus to learn what God is like. God came in His fullness to rescue us and make it possible for us to be reconciled to Himself; and it pleased God to do this.
God’s provision - v. 20
Why did God take on human form? Because of what was required in order to make reconciliation possible. And what was needed in order to make reconciliation possible? Forgiveness.
When two persons are estranged in their relationship, if reconciliation is to be possible, each must first choose to forgive the other of their offenses which caused the breach in the first place. When it comes to the reconciliation of two human beings, each has the responsibility to choose to forgive if reconciliation is to happen, because each will share some responsibility for the estrangement. It is rarely 100% one person’s fault. Often the fault line is 30% - 70% or 60% - 40%.
But in the estrangement between God and man, there is only one offended party - God. So god had to take the initiative to forgive, which was made possible by Him taking on human form to pay the penalty for our sin on our behalf. The cross was the only way for this to happen.
Man is sinful. Consequently, man is under the condemnation of a holy God, who can have nothing to do with sin; and, since God is perfectly just, it is required that the penalty for sin be fully paid.
But in order for the penalty for sin had to be fully paid, there needed to be found One uniquely qualified to represent the human race - a sinless man. But no such human being could be found.
That’s why God took on flesh in Christ. He came to do for us what we couldn’t do on our own. As a sinless, perfect, human being, He took on our guilt and our penalty to make possible God’s forgiveness for all; and He did this on the cross. And through His sacrifice, forgiveness has been provided so we might be reconciled to God.
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” - 1 John 2:2 (ESV)
Literally, the word, “propitiation” means “covering.” Jesus’ death fully covers the penalty for our sin. Jesus took God’s wrath against our sin in our place. And because God’s justice is now satisfied, He can now freely offer forgiveness. God has provided for the forgiveness, John says, of the whole world so that reconciliation might be possible.
“It would be hard to exaggerate the differences between the pagan and the Christian views of propitiation. In the pagan perspective, human beings try to placate their bad-tempered deities with their own paltry offerings. According to the Christian revelation, God’s own great love propitiated His own holy wrath through the gift of His own dear Son, who took our place, bore our sin and died our death. Thus God Himself gave Himself to save us from Himself.” - John Stott
That was God’s purpose in taking on flesh in Jesus. The cross was the only solution to what was a great and awful problem. And because of the forgiveness provided at God’s initiative by the cross Paul speaks of:
3. Our possibility - vs. 21-23
The word in the original Greek that is translated “alienated” indicates a persistent and permanent condition. This condition of alienation results in our being enemies of God in our minds and actions. God had to come in the person of Christ because we can’t save ourselves.
Through Christ’s death on the cross, God’s justice was satisfied so He might provide forgiveness for the entire world. But though forgiveness has been provided, reconciliation cannot occur with our repentance.
As we’ve said, if reconciliation is to be possible between two people who are estranged, each must first choose to forgive the other of their offenses that caused the breach in the first place. That’s the first step.
But that must be matched with the response of repentance. Each must turn around and quit moving away from each other and move toward one another. They must decide they want the relationship forgiveness has made possible. When each person does this, they are reconciled.
Now, in Christ and through the provision of the cross, God has taken the first step toward our being reconciled to Him. He has provided forgiveness. Now, we need only repent and believe.
“God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.” - Acts 17:30b (NASB)
This is what the Colossians had done. Consequently, Paul says they were reconciled to God (v. 22).
Because of the forgiveness provided through the cross and their response of repentance, they were accepted by God because He now saw them as being holy, without blemish, and free from accusation. In verse 23, Paul says they had been reconciled to God because of their response of faith. True saving faith is a faith combined with repentance.
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” - Acts 20:21 (NIV)
Saving faith is Forsaking All I Trust Him. And what was the evidence that the Colossians had truly repented and believed? Paul said they were “continuing in their faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” At first, this verse reads like Paul is telling them they need to remain faithful in order to make sure of their salvation. But the word “if” here is in the first class condition in the original, which might better be translated, “since” because, as famous Greek expert, A.T. Robertson puts it, the first class condition means that something is “determined as fulfilled.” Paul was saying that he was sure of their salvation because they were remaining faithful.
“Words matter. But a change in behavior matters more. I recently had someone tell me, “I forgive you”, and then proceed to behave in unforgiving ways. They offered the appropriate words, but not the accurate feelings. Their behavior showed what were their accurate feelings and how inappropriate their words were. Words without change aren’t worth the air used to speak them. That’s what repentance is all about. It’s a conscious decision that starts in our heart, shows up in our behavior and results in our moving in a completely different direction. Today make your words matter. They matter most when your behavior proves their accuracy.” - Mark Johnson, Oak Hills Church
“An apology without change is just manipulation.” - Toby McKeehan
When one says he has placed his faith in Christ, but there’s no apparent change in their toward the things of God, that’s a big red flag!
“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.” - 2 Corinthians 13:5a (NLT)
Conclusion: C.S. Lewis once said, “God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us.” How do we give ourselves to God?
Forsaking All I Trust Him
