Everything seemed normal when British Airways’ flight #2069 left London’s Heathrow Airport. Six hours into the flight things started to go downhill fast, literally! Scuffling was heard near the front and the cockpit became a whirling kaleidoscope of fists, arms and legs. The problem was that a 27-year-old deranged and suicidal man had rushed into the cockpit and momentarily gained control of the plane. When the pilots jumped him, he began to punch and pull and bite them. Somehow he was able to break free and grab the controls sending the 747 into a deep and violent plunge. At this point everything in the cabin was absolutely chaotic. People were yelling and screaming. People were praying. People were writing notes to their loved ones. Most people lost interest in the in-flight movie! Doom and death hung over the passengers as the 747 plunged toward the ground.
Earlier that day a man by the name of Clark Bineham had tried to get a flight from London to Uganda, but he was bumped due to bad weather, so he got on flight 2069 going from London to Kenya instead. British Airways would then fly him the last leg of his journey from Kenya to Uganda.
To make up for the inconvenience, they put him in first class. Clark said it was the first time he had ever flown in first class. They put him two seats back from the cockpit. Clark, a preacher from South Carolina, was on a short-term mission trip. The preacher that God had redirected to this flight also happened to be an athletic, strapping six-foot-seven. Later on, he said in the report that he saw a very short flight attendant going to assist in the cockpit and about that time, he said, he realized it was his calling to get involved.
So he undid his seat belt and jumped into the cockpit confusion where everyone was fighting this madman who determinedly remained firmly attached to the controls. Thankfully six-foot-seven pastor Clark pulled the guy out of the cockpit like a bad weed in a freshly tilled garden. He then literally threw him on the floor and jumped on him. With the help of his preaching partner, he subdued the man and quickly tied him up. Meanwhile, the pilot regained control of the plane and leveled it off literally moments before they would have crashed.
The pilot later revealed that the plane was only 2 or 3 seconds from the point of no return. There would have been nothing he could have done to save them.
Of course, the moral of the story is that it is good to send your pastor on short-term mission trips. Let’s close with a prayer!
(Edited and personalized from "Are You Still Amazed by God’s Grace?" by David Yarbrough http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=56933)
The REAL moral of the story is that the passengers on that plane thought they were doomed, but because of the quick intervention of a preacher from North Carolina, they had a whole new lease on life. These people were helpless, unable to do anything. If it hadn’t been for the actions of one man, everyone would have died, away from friends and family, away from their intended destination. Pastor Clark was a hero, just like all pastors are!
Please turn with me to Colossians 1:21-23
As you are turning there let me remind you of the amazing poem that Paul has just finished reciting in vv. 15-20. We spent three weeks on these verses, and we really just started to scratch the surface. As I have said before, if you want to get the BIG picture of Jesus’ nature, mission and identity, this is the passage to turn to. No other passage says more about the divinity, power and authority of Christ.
Paul’s poem tells us that Jesus created all things and he holds them all together. It tells us that everything was created by him and for him and that he is the head of the Church and the firstborn from among the dead. Finally, as we saw last week, he is also the one that will reconcile all things to him–whether things in heaven or on earth, all things will be reconciled by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.
No one who hears these words can let them pass by without noticing their grandeur and power. You can’t help but be impressed. Paul has just written Jesus’ ultimate uber-resume, but what’s it all mean? You might be thinking, "I am happy for Jesus, but where do I fit in?"
Well today Paul is going to answer that question. Let’s read together beginning at v. 21: "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
I’ve been to Sherway Garden’s a couple of times over the last month or so to visit the Black’s Photo store. One time I was with David and the other time I was with Sheila. One time there was an antique show going on and the place was packed with people. The second time it was on a Friday afternoon and the mall was comfortably busy. On both occasions we were visiting Blacks. On both occasions we got lost several times and had to consult numerous store locator maps conveniently placed throughout the mall. We literally chased the "you are here" tags around the map. I am not sure what it is about Sherway Garden’s that’s so confusing, but confusing it is! I think they designed the mall that way to make you spend more time there so that you’ll keep shopping! Regardless, I was thankful for the "you are here" signs that helped us along the way.
The passage we have before us today is Paul’s "you are here" map for the Colossians. Remember that there had been outside teachers in Colossae who had, through their false teaching, confused many in the Church. Some of the people didn’t know where they were spiritually. They began to question their faith. They started to wonder about their hope of heaven. They thought they were on the right track, but now they weren’t quite so such and they needed someone to point out on their spiritual maps exactly where they were. This is what Paul does with this passage.
First of all, he begins with where they had been. In v. 21 he says: "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior."
Now remember that Paul has a Jewish background and he is talking primarily to a Gentile congregation–who up ’til recently really knew nothing about the One True God. So whatever spiritual ideas they had about God were wrong.
You can look at this verse and think that Paul is talking about evil, nasty people, but he wasn’t. He is talking about people like I once was and many of you once were. He is talking about people like your neighbours and co-workers and friends. He is talking about people who believed in spiritual things, but who didn’t know God. He is speaking about misguided people who either saw God as a big bully trying to ruin their fun. Or they saw God as someone they could never please. Or they saw God as someone who was completely uninvolved. They were full of misconceptions about God. Most of all, they were people who trusted themselves more than they trusted what they thought they knew about God, so they lived for themselves–not God. Their lives were in rebellion to God because they didn’t know or trust Him. Their understanding of God was all wrong and, as a result, so was their behaviour and their lives.
T. W. Wright put it this way in one of his commentaries: "Their lives reflected the gods they worshiped. Their thinking was distorted, getting muddled and into one misunderstanding after another. Their behaviour, in consequence, was out of line with the wonderful, enriching human existence that the living God designed for his image-bearing creatures."
They didn’t know God or His saving-purposes. They were lost, helpless, hopeless. So Paul reminds them of where they once were and, in so doing, he reminds us of where we once were as well.
At one time everyone was in a plummeting plane. At one time doom and death was our only reality. We were under the influence of a madman bent on taking us with him. But, Jesus, our hero, came and wrestled control of our destination from the enemy’s hands. Now, we who have placed our faith in the saving work of Jesus, have been rerouted to a much better place. One man, Jesus, through his actions on the cross, saved us from certain destruction. We were alienated from God. We were confused in our thinking about God. We were all enemies in our minds. Actually the Greek work here means more than mind. It means more than thinking. We were enemies to God in our attitudes and perspectives. Our goals and outlooks were distorted and therefore, so were our lives, but then Jesus saved the day.
Beginning in v. 22 we read: "But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."
"but now" he has reconciled you. When you are reading God’s Word always pay attention to those conjunctions, especially the buts! "But now!" Something has happened. Things are different. A change, a transformation has taken place. It’s already happened. We who were alienated have now been reconciled through Jesus’ body – through His death! That’s Paul’s "you are here" statement. You were there, but now you’re here. You’re already reconciled. It’s a done deal. You’re not lost, you are found. You aren’t dead, you are alive. You aren’t an enemy, your part of the family, with Jesus as our big brother, the firstborn from among the dead.
Paul expands this thought a bit more in Ephesians chapter two when he writes:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. " (Ephesians 2:1-5)
We were dead, but now, right now, we are alive. I love the way the Message version of the Bible paraphrases these verses, Paul says: "It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. 2 You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. 3 We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. 4 Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, 5 he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us!" (Ephesians 2:1-5, MSG)
Paul gives us this amazing "you are here" sign. He says: "Don’t worry about where you were, instead remind yourself about where you are now!" Let it sink in. Let it affect you. Let it shape your faith. Let it shape your thoughts. Don’t forget your change! By the grace of God you are already reconciled. There was nothing you did, or could do, He did it all. But, let me also remind you that He did it all for a reason. "...he has reconciled you ... to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." Jesus died on the cross to present us to God, "holy", "without blemish", "free from accusation". This the outcome of our reconciliation. This is the plan. This is what God has in mind. He wants us "holy." To be holy means, "to be set apart for a specific purpose". I try to keep my tools holy, keeping them specifically for my hands alone, but somehow my children continue to defile them by using them for their own purposes and then leaving them somewhere I can’t find them. Holy means to be set apart for one specific purpose but holy also means, "to be pure". We will be a pure people, set apart from the world’s thinking and perspective, set apart for the singular purpose of serving and adoring our God. We will also be "without blemish". This is a term found in the Old Testament in reference to sacrifices. In order for the sacrifice to be acceptable for spiritual purposes, it had to be without a blemish or defect. It had to be physically perfect. Finally we will be "free from accusation" this is a legal term. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, no one, including God, will be able to find us legally guilty of any wrongdoing. So the result of God’s plan of reconciliation through the blood of Jesus is that we would be set apart for His glory and pure in our affections and attentions to Him alone. We will also be spiritually acceptable to Him and our worship and activities will give Him the proper attention and adoration. Finally, we will be relationally and socially acceptable to God. There will be no guilt. No offense. No wrongdoing towards God or each other. And how will all these results finally and ultimately happen? Simple, through the reconciling work of Jesus. It doesn’t come from our efforts, it comes from God’s.
Paul put it this way in Philippians: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6)
We are already reconciled and the fruit of that reconciliation has already taken root and started to grow and on that day, the day of Christ Jesus, it will be completed. That’s our present position. This is where we are on the map of the eternal mall, (excuse the imagery). He will carry it out.
Well then, what’s left for us? Paul tells us in v. 23 let’s look at both 22-23 together to get the context: "But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." (Colossians 1:22-23)
"If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." Faith is our part. Faith is the necessary addition from our side of the eternal equation. We could never be "holy", or "without blemish" or "free from accusation" on our own. To stand before God with our own righteousness, in our own good works, is like being on a plane that’s about to crash and then preparing for the crash by tightening up our seat belts. Trusting our own good works does nothing more than to just strap us to the wreckage of our lives! But continuing in our faith. Trusting God. Surrendering to God. Giving ourselves to God. Trusting in the sufficiency of Christ, not only for our salvation, but for our lives. Keeping our eyes on the hope that awaits us, a hope of holy, blameless lives in perfect relationship with God and each other forever. Trusting God to keep His word and make all things new and fully reconciled– this is what God desires. To see Him as our answer and our reason for being.
Certainly Paul is referring to our own personal faith in Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross for our sins in this verse, but I also think he is referring to THE FAITH, the Christian Faith, the orthodox doctrine of Christian belief as found in the New Testament and in Paul’s preaching. Paul is saying, "Keep established and firm in what you believe and make sure you hold on to the truth about God, His plan of salvation and His hope for the future." Make sure you don’t start moving from the foundation of faith I preached and the whole world is hearing about. Don’t go chasing after distorted views of God. Don’t let your faith be shaken by the unbelief and criticism of others. You are already changed, don’t forget it. You have been reconciled, believe it. You will be presented holy, without blemish and free from accusation. Jesus guarantees it–all you have to do is keep your trust in his love and plan for your life. Keep placing your life in his hands, daily. Then what has already happened, will fully and complete, come to pass. He who began this work will finish it!
OK, so what does it matter that Jesus is Creator, Sustainer, Head of the Church and Cosmic Reconciler? How does it affect you? What difference does it make in your life? Well, our reality before Christ is that our number was up. We didn’t have a chance. There was nothing we could do to escape our situation. Our lives were on a plane about to crash, but then Jesus ran to the front of the plane and rescued us. But, instead of Clark, who was also able to save himself in the process, Jesus did it by sacrificing Himself on the cross. He died so we could live. The bottom line is that Jesus wants to be our hero. He wants to save us, if we let Him. He also wants us to trust in His transforming work. He wants us to trust and allow His work to take place in our lives so that our reconciliation will become fully and finally complete. If you have given yourself to Christ, that’s where you are. If you haven’t given yourself to Christ, this is where you need to be.
Let me leave you with a few things to help you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moving from the hope.
1. Remember Your Change– You are reconciled. You are saved from God’s wrath. You are saved to become perfect. It has already happened. Don’t let that fact lose its power. Jesus has given you a fresh start. You aren’t the same. And, that fresh start didn’t happen just once. Jesus gives us numerous fresh starts as we continue in the faith. Through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross you have already been reconciled to God.
Are you approaching life as a reconciled believer? Is that your attitude? Does the realty of your restored relationship with God shape all your thinking? Most likely that isn’t the case. Most likely you are like the Colossians, sometimes confused about who you are and where you are going and what God thinks of you. That’s why you need to continually look at the map of eternity and remind yourself of where you really are! Take by faith the fact that you are already reconciled. Work at making that your life’s perspective. If you don’t, you’ll be crippled by your own fears and failures and you won’t be living by faith. Let your day be rule by your present reality in Christ, not your past.
2. Remind yourself of the hope– He died to change you. That is the hope held out in the gospel. He died to fix the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you approach life. He died to fix the way you know, understand and follow Him. He already did it. The Creator-Sustainer of the universe has made a commitment to be with you always and get your job of transformation done. Do you believe that? Do you remind yourself of that when you wake up each morning? Are you continuing in your faith? You have a hope, not based on your looks, or your performance. You have a hope not based on election results or today’s economic factors. You have a hope, not based on your cholesterol count or the results of your physical. You have a hope, an untarnished hope, an inescapable hope, a hope promised by the One who began a good work in you. Continue in the faith. Focus on the hope.
Focus on the fact that one day you will be "holy", "without blemish" and "free from accusation." One day you will be perfect. Loving perfectly. Relating perfectly. Serving perfectly. In perfect relationship with God–knowing Him as He now knows you. One day you will have perfect fulfilment, perfect contentment, perfect peace and joy because you will be completely reconciled. One day there will be no more struggle or pain or doubt because you’ll know, you’ll know perfectly God’s unparalleled love for you and you’ll know perfectly your uncorrupted love for Him. Then all things will be as they were always intended to be. Hold onto that hope. Remind yourself of that hope. Keep that hope in front of you.
Jesus died to give you that hope. Don’t forget it. Don’t ignore it. Let it sustain and feed your faith and life.
