This evening we turn in Paul's epistle to the Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. Reading the Word of God now in Colossians 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which he have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel which is come unto you as it is in all the world and bringeth forth fruit as it does also in you since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that she might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church, whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Before calling attention to our text this evening, I want you to notice verse 18, that in all things He might have the preeminence. Verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, the reference is to Christ. Christ must have the preeminence. That's always something we must bear in mind when we consider the gospel of our salvation. The text to which I call your attention this evening is verses 21 through the first part of verse 23. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, last week Sunday, you considered the Gospel of the Resurrection. Days prior to that, you considered the wonder of Christ's death, what that entailed and what that accomplished for us. And in considering Christ's death and resurrection, We saw the wonder work of what God has done through his Son on the cross, through the blood of his cross, not only for us, his people, but for the world organically considered. The preeminent Christ, God in the flesh, has reconciled all things unto himself, whether they be things in heaven or things in earth. And that amazing truth has tremendous implications in how we view the world. And as we see in the first four verses of Colossians chapter three, and how we bring to expression the thankfulness that God requires of us. The text we consider this evening focuses our attention now on the benefits of that reconciliation for us. It does so by pointing us to God's purpose in our reconciliation. A purpose that He most certainly accomplishes, but not to be overlooked, is the way in which He accomplishes that purpose. Namely, by our perseverance in the great gift that He has given us. So I call your attention to God's purpose in our reconciliation. We notice, first of all, that that purpose rises from our miserable condition. Secondly, it works in us a tremendous change. And finally, it keeps us in the way of our perseverance. God's purpose in our reconciliation rising from our miserable condition, working in us a tremendous change and keeping us in the way of our perseverance. God's purpose in our reconciliation rises in the face of our miserable condition. We have been given to see the exceeding sinfulness of our sin. And that we see and confess our sin and forsake our sin is essential to our understanding of the Christian life and the way of salvation. There is a reason, let us not forget, that the Heidelberg Catechism is structured the way it is. We must first know how great our sins and miseries are in order that we know the need for and the wonder of being saved. And knowing how we are delivered from such misery, from such exceedingly great wickedness, we are then compelled to live in thankfulness to God. And while it's not my purpose in treating this text this evening to focus on our miserable condition, we do need for just a few minutes to consider what the text tells us in that connection. And I refer now particularly to verse 21. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Yet now hath he reconciled." Why do we live in such a confused world? Why is there such turmoil? And what about my own life? Why was it necessary that Christ shed his blood The text answers that question by reminding us that we were alienated from God. Those who were once closest friends have become enemies. Men and women created in the image of God who lived in his fellowship have made themselves strangers. no longer abiding in the shadow of his love and fellowship. And that word alienated is a powerful word indicating a persistent, even permanent condition. It tells us that unless something changes radically, God cannot possibly receive us into his fellowship and grant us his blessing. His perfect holiness shoves us away as despicable. Not only so, but our ongoing alienation from God comes to horrible expression on our part. By nature, we are enemies in our minds by wicked works. It's not that we are sensible about our alienation from God, that it bothers us, that it fills us with disgust because we would so gladly dwell in his presence and cannot. We live our lives apart from God and are quite satisfied to do so. And when I say that is what characterizes us by nature, I speak of our lives apart from Christ's work in us. But even so, we still have our old natures, our sinful flesh, which is infected by this perspective. So I'm not talking merely theoretically to you. We heard the summary of the law this morning. And knowing that God calls us to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, what is it that you have found in yourself? When your sin is exposed by the preaching of God's Word, what What is the consequence? What is the result of that? Do you just shrug that word off? Go your way? Continue to walk in sin? Or are you moved to heartfelt repentance? Sorrow before God. emptying yourself with a heart-rending confession of your sin and setting your mind on forsaking that sin. Has your mind been fixed upon God's will? Or have you remained intent on defending your own will? If the latter, you must know you remain alienated from God. But even with a broken heart, and even with a devoted forsaking of our sins, we still struggle to maintain a Christ-centered focus in our lives, don't we? The preeminence of Christ is more or less excluded in our thinking. His dominion over all things often remains to us but a vague theory, so that our mind is turned inward more than anything else. So the farmer says, if it doesn't rain, I'm not going to get crops. And the builder says, if work doesn't pick up, I don't know how I'm going to keep my business going. And the mother is buried under the worries of a child's lack of pristine behavior and the ongoing increase in grocery prices. Tensions build, tempers flare, sleepless nights continue. Or perhaps God has led you in the way of affliction. Only we don't receive that as being given for our profit. And we easily respond, why does God treat me like this? We become absorbed with ourselves and our problems and that self-centeredness only increases. How often do we stop to think about God and our relationship to Him? How much do we think about Christ and what He has already done for us? Yes, we considered the truth of His death and resurrection. We confessed how blessed we are to have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. But what does that mean to you? For much of the church world today, Jesus is looked at merely as someone to help us get through life's difficulties and challenges. And what is demanded by many church members in doctrine and practice is what might properly be referred to as a moralistic, therapeutic deism. I know there's a God. Tell me how to live. It's all about self. Paul would have us realize that such thinking is just another way of expressing alienation from God. There isn't a conscious awareness of a new relationship with him by virtue of the preeminent Christ. It's about living an autonomous, self-centered life, self-absorbed, thinking that it's all about what I feel, what I want, and what I do. As the psalmist said in Psalm 10, verse 4, the wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Is your life based upon God and the thoughts of God? What's the basis for your planning? What's the basis for the handling of your finances? What's the basis of your relationships? Is it what you determine? What you think, how you feel, that's a sign of alienation from God. And it's only a matter of time, and very little time at that, before that alienation comes to expression in wicked works. We need to live with our minds focused upon Christ. We need constantly to be reminded of His preeminence. We need to remember what it is that He has reconciled us unto God through His death. We need to live with a covenant consciousness, the knowledge of faith that we now stand in a blessed relationship with God that was impossible apart from Christ's work. Through death, Christ accomplished the amazing purpose of God. And God's purpose is revealed by His working a tremendous change in us. That purpose is expressed this way in verse 22. to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." While the scriptures present the darkest picture for those who live apart from Christ, it reveals that God's purpose in reconciling us is one of leading us to the highest, most glorious position conceivable. To be holy is to be separated unto God. And to be separated unto God is not only to be freed from sin, but to be entirely devoted to God in that covenant relationship in which we stand to Him. It is to live in the knowledge of our fellowship with the Holy One. To live with the inexpressible longing to be like Him. Holiness, therefore, is to bring to expression the thankfulness of our hearts for belonging to Christ's Bride. The Apostle Jude characterizes our faith as your most holy faith. Remembering that our faith is that which binds us to the preeminent Christ, and through which we receive His life, we do well to remember that the nature of that faith is holy, its principle is holy, Its actions are holy, its tendencies are holy, its fruits are holy. It works to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5. And when you remember that the holiness of Christ our Head came to expression in perfect obedience, obedience that compelled Him to go to the cross for us, then we may understand that for Christ to present us holy is for Him to present before God as present us before God as obedient children to our Heavenly Father. Obedience, you understand, always presupposes a law. Always has reference to a law that is to be obeyed. And as those redeemed, the law before which we stand is not the law that holds us in bondage. It's the law that's written upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It's the law of love to God. That law of love shapes us. Which is to say, Christ shapes us by that law of love. He shapes us in such a way that out of love for God, we are conformed to God. We approve what He approves. We hate what He hates. We will what He wills. We bow before Him as He reveals Himself to us in Holy Scripture. There God speaks. There He makes known His will. So that as those who are in Christ Jesus, we're not left to do as we please. We long to do what God would have us do. Is that true of you? Now notice something here. The text does not speak in terms of us presenting ourselves holy. Rather, it speaks of Christ presenting us holy in God's sight. Once again, I remind you, the focus of our lives must be upon Christ, not what we do. Christ must have the preeminence. The person who's always crying, tell me how to live, will never bring to expression in his or her life the glory of the most holy faith. It's only when our focus is upon Christ, what He has done and is doing in our lives, that we will overflow with gratitude and bring to expression that life of Christ in us. That's the way God works. If we think that we would live to God's glory by accomplishing this list of rules and regulations, even those set before us in scripture, we would never accomplish it. That's because Christ must have the preeminence. Spiritual growth is not a matter of our growing independence. Spiritual growth is marked by our growing dependence upon Christ. It's realizing more and more how weak and incompetent we are and how full and remarkably strong our Savior is. You boys and girls remember, remember the story of Peter walking on the water? When he walked on the water toward the Lord, he began to sink only when he took his focus off Christ and began to focus on what he was doing. Then he began to go down. The remarkable purpose of God in our reconciliation by Christ is that we might be formed after the image of his own dear son and live in the awareness of what is ours in Christ. We are children of God, joint heirs with Christ. The privileged place that we occupy in the covenant of God, in His family, is entirely of grace, profound grace, that compels us to bring to expression by a holy walk the life of Christ in us. but also belonging to God's purpose in reconciling us unto himself, is that his Son might present us unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. That term unblameable, when compared to its use in other passages, speaks of having a clear conscience in the sight of God. It is to be given the knowledge that there is therefore now no condemnation to us who are in Christ Jesus. It is, according to Hebrews 9 verse 14, to have our conscience purged that we might serve the living God in the freedom of our life in Christ. What a priceless possession. Satan, after all, would constantly accuse us. But Christ clears us. And therefore, we are without blame before God our Father. But Christ also presents us unreprovable before God. And that means that we cannot be called to give account of our sins. We cannot be charged with anything at all. To better understand this idea, we have more than likely known parents who very foolishly defend every action of their children. Such parents can be a teacher's nightmare. Their child can never do wrong. It must be the problem of the other children or of the teacher. Such parents can also be a sorrow to the consistory because the elders become aware of the sins of a young person and get no support of the parents. The parents rather attempt to cover up or make excuses for their wayward son or daughter, and don't call them wayward. Their children are unreprovable. I say that's very foolish on the part of such parents, but it's also very wicked. Even though Proverbs 28, verse 13 speaks of the improper covering up of personal sin, it applies just as well to the improper covering of the sin of others. Those who cover sin shall not prosper. But in the words of our text, Christ presents us unreprovable before God. God looks at us and says, they will not have to give account of their sins. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? But we, knowing our own sinfulness, even the corruption of our natures, realize that we cannot dwell in the presence of the Holy God if we are unclean. We must be pure. The difference between the foolishness of the parents I just described and God's response to us is that while such parents do not address in the right way the sins of their children, God has dealt with our sins with the most severe punishment. The question, who shall lay anything to the sins of God's elect, to the charge of God's elect, is the question that Paul asks in Romans 8, verse 33. But to that question, immediately comes the answer. It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? When God has justified, there is not one who can condemn. But God must justify us then. And if God is to declare us righteous, that declaration must be true. He cannot free one who is guilty. If God is to declare us righteous, there must be a basis. So what is the basis upon which God justified us? Christ's perfect satisfaction. Christ's atonement. This is how Paul puts it in Romans 8, verse 34. It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Here again, we are brought to stand before Christ. God's purpose in reconciling us unto himself is that Christ might present us unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. To use the language of that glorious passage concerning marriage, Ephesians chapter 5, verses 26 and 27, it is God's purpose in Christ that he might sanctify and cleanse his precious bride, the church, with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Why did Christ sacrifice himself in our place on the cross? Why did he bear those hellish agonies, even separation from God, the hell that we deserved? He did so that we might be reconciled unto God in the full joy of what that reconciliation means. He did so in order to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. Fit, therefore, to live in the presence of God and to enjoy His fellowship and love. In other words, to be partakers of His covenant life and to live in that knowledge. In the moment we begin to realize what He has done for us, we begin to thank Him. Doesn't that characterize your life? Having contemplated the death and resurrection of Christ, is the life of joy in the fellowship of God and the thankful expression of a vibrant Christianity seen in you? Do you seek the things above? Do you seek to glorify your Heavenly Father in all things? Finally, we must not overlook the fact that God's purpose in our reconciliation, namely, that of presenting us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight, is a purpose that God accomplishes in the way of our perseverance. That's evident from the first part of verse 23. If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. The idea of that if clause is not to express doubt as to whether or not you will continue in the faith. We have here the same kind of conditional construct that we find in Colossians 3, verse 1. It's what grammarians refer to as a condition of fact. So the idea then is this, if you continue in the faith, and I'm sure you will, don't overlook the fact revealed in verse 21, Paul speaks to those who were enemies, yet now are reconciled. So that any who do not continue in the faith, any who do not live out of the hope of the gospel, demonstrate by that very fact that they have not been reconciled unto God, but are still alienated and enemies of God. Why then does the apostle use this conditional construct? because he would not have us think that the Christian life doesn't require anything of us. God works out his purpose in our reconciliation by Christ working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Our minds and our wills must lay hold on the riches of the Gospel. The application of the Gospel that we hear preached must also come to expression in our lives. Our minds must embrace the amazing wonder of Christ's preeminence. Our hearts are to focus on His love for us. Our wills are to follow Him. We are to do all things to His glory. We must, to use the words of the text, continue in the faith. Now we have often called attention to the importance of knowledge. The knowledge of faith. That knowledge is to lay hold on the teachings of the Word of God, the content of all God's revelation in Jesus Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture. The reference in verse 23 to the faith is a reference to the gospel which you have heard, says Paul. the blessed revelation of the preeminent Christ who has reconciled you unto God with the purpose of presenting you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight is what grounds and settles you. Again, let the focus of your life be upon Christ and you will continue to joy in God's fellowship as you bring to expression the Christian life. To continue is a word that speaks of pressing on. We might picture a young man with a group of friends that has the opportunity to climb a tall mountain. And because I live in Colorado, I'll use Longs Peak as an example. I realize there are many who make it a practice quite regularly to hike the 14,000 plus peaks in the state of Colorado. Such a hike is rare enough that I can use it as an example. Only a tiny percentage of the population ever makes such a climb. And even as there's only a very small remnant that travel, to use the words of Jesus in Matthew 7, verse 14, through that straight way, that narrow gate that leads to heaven, so very few climb those peaks. But let's say a young man from here comes out to Colorado with a group of friends. intent on climbing Longs Peak. And they've studied the hike on paper. They've spent time preparing physically for the hike. And the morning arrives when they begin their climb, very early in the morning. And as the morning light rises, they are several hours into their climb. And they realize what a huge undertaking this is. their muscles begin to ache, and their lungs are crying out for more oxygen, and their pace steadily decreases. And one begins to question whether he can make it. But with the encouragement of his friends, he presses on, motivated by the joy of such an accomplishment and the glorious view from the pinnacle of that mountain. That's a picture of the Christian life. Continuing, enduring, pressing on in the faith, even as Jesus who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross." Hebrews 12, verse 2. For such endurance, we must be settled, grounded, firmly established in the hope of the Gospel. That hope, after all, is certain. It's sure. Because that hope is established upon Christ Himself. Upon His perfect work in reconciling us unto the Father. The Bible uses the term hope because the promises of God which constitute the Gospel, good news to us, are promises the fulfillment of which await us. We don't see it yet with our earthly eyes. We don't experience it yet in this earthly body. It lies beyond the grave. And for that reason, it's put in terms of hope. Paul put it this way in Romans 8, verses 24 and 25, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. When the hope of the gospel is in you, and it is by the life of Christ in you, when you grow in that hope, you live in the consciousness of the preeminent Christ and His glory, of being in Him, then you press on in the Christian life in thankfulness for the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus. Yes, the devil will try to move us off that foundation. The devil will try to knock us off that narrow path of life and joy. And for that reason, we need also to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil. But God's purpose has been accomplished principally and is being accomplished as he leads us on to glory, embraced by his loving arms, all because of the wonder work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, who has reconciled us unto God, to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Do you believe it? Amen. Gracious Father, once again, we give thanks to Thee for the gospel of our salvation, for the wonder of Thy grace revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the perfect work of our Savior, a work which He continues also in us by His Holy Spirit. And we long for the day when we see the completion, the perfection of that glorious work of our reconciliation unto Thee, for Jesus' sake. Amen.