Good morning. It's good to see everyone here this morning and thankful for the opportunity to worship God and to proclaim his word. I pray that God will bless our time in his word right now. I want to spend our time in God's Word in the first chapter of Colossians. If you've heard me preach at other times in recent months, you know that I've been there for a while now, working through Paul's letter to the Colossians, verse by verse, and we are now at verses 21 and 22, and those are the two verses that I want to read to you and then open up to you this morning. So let's begin by reading those two verses from Colossians chapter one, verses 21 and 22. Paul says there, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. So let's provide a little bit of context here as we try to engage with these verses. We've already considered the opening portion of this letter earlier in the chapter where Paul introduces himself and recounts how the Colossians came to hear and believe the word of the truth of the gospel, as he puts it through the faithful ministry of Epaphras. That's what Paul writes about in verses one through eight. He also, we also heard from Paul in this letter, as he describes his goal, his vision for the believers at Colossae, that they might know and embrace God's will and thereby lead lives that are pleasing to God in verses nine through 11. And such a life, a life that has lived to please God, Paul indicates that such a life is energized by, it's fueled by the recognition of and Thanksgiving for the redemption and the forgiveness that we found in Christ by God's grace. We read about that in verses 12 through 14. And this life that is pleasing to God is also fueled and energized by the realization that Christ, our Redeemer, the one in whom we have found forgiveness of our sins. This Christ reigns over all the universe with transcendent power. Paul wrote about that in verses 15 through 20. And so that brings us to verses 21 and 22, in which, as we just heard, Paul vividly describes our reconciliation to God through the sacrificial death of Christ. Now, we're not gonna finish the chapter this morning, but to give you the context on the other side of the verses, in the concluding verses of this chapter, as we hope to explore in the future, Paul will proceed to remind the Colossians that they must persevere in the faith that they have professed. And Paul will describe how intensely he's been laboring to disciple these professing believers and others as well. Not just those at Colossi, but all those with whom he has had interaction. He's been laboring to disciple, professing believers that they might persevere in the faith. That is Paul's vision and goal for these people, that they remain faithful. And so, uh, this morning though, now that we've considered both sides of these verses, let me read again. These two verses 21 and 22. Paul says again, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now have he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you wholly and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. So in the verse right before this, to kind of ramp up to verse 21, perhaps I'll just read that to you. Paul wrote there as he's describing the transcendent power of Christ, his role, his unique role in the universe that he has made. It talks about how in verse 19, it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross, the blood of Christ's 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, Paul then turns that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now have you reconciled? So there's a, there's a broader context for this reconciliation that Paul speaks of in verse 21, because in verse 20, Paul has told us that it pleased the father to reconcile all things to himself by way of the cross of Christ. Now, what does that mean? Well, what Paul seems to be saying here is that because of God's purpose to redeem sinners, through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ. God has also purposed to tolerate the brokenness of creation now and redeem all of creation in the future. I mean, what would be the alternative for God to look down at the brokenness and the rebellion that characterizes his creation and reject it utterly to destroy it completely? He would be perfectly just in doing so. but he has chosen to proceed differently. And Paul indicates that the reason God has not utterly cast off all that he has made is the cross of Christ. It's his purpose to redeem. He will make all things new rather than utterly destroying all things in light of their corruption. This is the, this is part of the good news of the gospel. God will purge by fire. I mean, it's not going to be a an easy thing when Christ returns and all things come to their consummation. We read about this in second Peter that things are held in store for the fire that shall come upon creation to purge it. But God will purge all the evil of this world and usher in a new world in which there is no active opposition to God. In which dwells righteousness as Peter puts it. He will completely purify his servants under a state of eternally glorious life and liberty. While on the other hand, completely subduing his foes unto a state of eternal death and imprisonment, there will be no more active opposition towards God in the world to come. So clearly, Now there remains opposition to God. I mean, we don't live in a fully, in a full realization of this reconciliation yet. It's a reconciliation that has yet to be fully realized. But even now it is sure Paul is saying, because even now Christ sits at his father's right hand, the one who died to redeem sinners. He now sits at his father's right hand ruling in power. And as the prophet puts it in someone 10, He's at his father's right hand ruling in power until his enemies are made his footstool. So even now Christ reigns, even now Christ has all power and in due time, his power over this world and throughout this world will be fully manifest. It is in Christ that God has purpose to reconcile all things to himself, whether they be things in heaven or things in earth. So this is the, the broader truth of reconciliation that encompasses what Paul is talking about in verses 21 and 22. But before we dive in, I mean, I, I don't want to unnecessarily postpone our engagement with verse 21, but I do want to re-engage us with what Paul has already said, because it's so important. I mean, before we proceed to consider verses 21 and 22, We need to ask ourselves, do we conceive of Christ in the way Paul is describing him in this chapter? Do we understand that Christ is truly at the center of all things? Do we recognize and rely upon his transcendent power? He is not a mere character in a broader story. He is the author of the story. He is the center. He is the hub. The power of Christ defines and sustains reality. We must see Christ this way. We cannot just add him to the story of our lives as, as you know, to give him his part to play. No, he is the source of our life. He is the Lord of all. He is the reason this universe continues to exist and has a hopeful future. we must live in light of the fact that all things were created by him and for him, that he is before all things, and by him all things consist, as Paul says in verse 16 and 17. And why do we need to realize that? Well, for one thing, it's true, and it's good to be in touch with reality, but also, as believers in Christ, We want to come to grips with this because this provides hope that transcends the worst of current circumstances, right? If we are hoping in the transcendent Christ, then that hope transcends our circumstances. Seeing Christ as the preeminent one, as Paul says in verse 18, the one in whom all fullness dwells from verse 19 will keep us on the road that leads to life. No matter how narrow or difficult that road may be at times. The realization that we serve the Lord of all can help us strive to serve him well in a manner that's pleasing to him as Paul encourages us to do in verse 10. So that's the, that's the Christ that is under consideration here. And that's how we must view him. That's how we must submit to him. That's how we must worship him. And in light of the truth that God has reconciled all things to himself through the cross of this Christ that we've just described, Paul then turns to you as a professing believer in Christ and drives home the reality of how Christ's general work of reconciliation has in particular changed your life in relation to your creator. And Paul begins by reminding us of our former state. prior to being reconciled. And it's, I mean, it's, let's be honest, it's not a pretty picture, but I, I hope that by thinking about verse 20, before we think about verse 21, I hope that helps us feel the weight of what Paul is saying. He's taking a cosmic truth about the work of Christ, the transcendent one, in reconciling all things to God. He takes this cosmic truth that is really something we cannot fully comprehend and then takes it and brings it to a needle point in your life. The power of God is at work in you to bring about your reconciliation to him. I want us to feel the weight of this reality. Paul wants us to feel the weight of this reality. And one of the ways in which Paul helps us feel the significance of this reconciliation is by describing what we were before this work of Christ in our lives. He wants us to understand what we've been saved from. We were alienated from God. We were aliens. We were estranged from God. We were enemies in our minds towards God. Paul says, and this inward enmity towards God manifested itself through wicked works. He says, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. That's the description of every person prior to the work of Christ, apart from the work of Christ in their life. So clearly Paul does not hold a high view of man in his natural state and neither should we. We're not basically good people. that have been pushed towards evil by unfortunate circumstances. How often we try to argue this, even to ourselves, don't we? We try to make excuses for our behavior and for our thoughts and for our desires. We blame it on our circumstances around others, but that is not how God sees us. He does not see us as victims of unfortunate circumstances, but as centers by nature, corrupt. Apart from the work of Christ in our lives, we are, as Paul puts it in his letter to the Ephesians, dead in trespasses and sins in Ephesians two one. And in that same chapter, he says that we are by nature, the children of wrath in verse three of Ephesians two. That is our nature. That's what we are on a basic and fundamental level. We are children of wrath. We are subjects of God's wrath. We are objects of his anger because of our sin against him. That's what we are by nature. We're not basically good people. We're basically bad people, all of us. And this may not be how we prefer to think about ourselves, but I want us to pause and try to process what Paul is saying here. Because if this is how God sees us, then this is how we ought to see ourselves. It's how we must see ourselves if we're going to be in touch with reality. And I also want us to understand that I'm not singling out some of you or just me or the worst people. No, Paul doesn't make any sort of qualification like that. This is a description of all of us by nature. And Paul teaches that in particular, let's return to his words that prior to this work of Christ in lives, we are alienated from God. We are utterly estranged from him. We are as those in Ephesus who, prior to knowing Christ, were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, as Paul writes in Ephesians 2.12. We did not know God, nor did we desire the true knowledge of God. And such a condition is rightly described as without hope. That's a hopeless place to be. I mean, now we may have directed our affection towards a God of our own imagination or even thought of ourselves as a generally spiritually minded person. We may have sought out a sense of hope and purpose in one thing or another, but we did not seek a right relationship with the true and living God. I mean, Jesus could have looked at us just like he did the Jewish leaders who opposed his ministry and said, you will not come to me that you might have life in John five 40. Jesus could have said that to us left to ourselves. We would not have come to Christ to have life. We would have continued living according to our own desires, having our understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God. There's that concept of alienation again, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in us because of the blindness of our heart in Ephesians four 18. And furthermore, it's not just that we would not come, but as I've heard brother Bradley preach many times, we also could not come. We could not come to Christ in our own strength or upon the basis of our own merits. It is as Jesus said in John six 44, no man can come to me. except the father which has sent me draw him. This is what it looks like to be alienated from God and from the life that is found only in Christ. Apart from the reconciling work of Christ, we would have remained, we would have been alienated. We would have remained alienated from God in this state of estrangement. And what is the end of such a state? Like where does one end up if one persists in this condition of alienation from God? Well, the scriptures teach clearly that this ends in final and utter banishment from the presence of God at the return of Jesus Christ. Just like Paul describes the judgment of those who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, or in other words, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power in second Thessalonians one nine. That is the end of those who remain in a state of alienation from God. It's a terrible place to be, but why does scripture emphasize such things? You might ask, I mean, is it really necessary? I would argue, yes, and clearly it is. Otherwise it wouldn't be emphasized in scripture. I mean, are we not prone to think of ourselves better than we ought to? It seems quite common, uh, for people who have no real interest in following Christ as savior and Lord to think of themselves as being right with God in some sense, some sense of their own defining usually. I mean, there's a lot of people that are not submitting to Christ as Lord, are not looking to him as Savior, and yet feel themselves to be right with God in whatever they, in whatever the sense they may feel themselves in need of being right with God. But Paul and other writers of scripture Seek to awaken us out of this delusional thinking. It's a, it's a delusion. It's a lie that we tell ourselves because apart from Christ, none of us are right with God, not a one apart from Christ. We are alienated from God and we are without hope. Now, Paul will shortly point us to the hope we do have in Christ. If we have come to him, but I want Paul's description of our state apart from Christ to register in our hearts and minds. Because perhaps you this morning think yourself to be at peace with God apart from Christ. I mean, if that's you, you need more than anything else that you need right now to realize that you are not at peace with God apart from Christ. And at the road you are on leads to final and utter destruction. In fact, Paul indicates that your mindset is one of enmity towards God. If you do not look to God through faith in Jesus Christ, And look what Paul goes on to say. He says, apart from Christ, we were enemies in our minds towards God. And this aligns with other things that he has written. Like in Romans eight, seven through eight, Paul teaches that the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The carnal mind, the flesh, this is referring to our natural condition, our condition apart from the work of God's grace in our lives. And Paul is saying that even if we are striving to please God, if we do not strive through faith in Christ, then our striving is in vain. To be in the flesh is to be in our sinful state of nature. To live in the flesh is the opposite of living by faith. And as we learn in Hebrews 11, six, without faith, it is impossible to please God. It is impossible. So you see, we need to understand. that to live apart from faith in Christ is not to live in a way that is neutral towards God or somehow at peace with God. Because there is no position of neutrality when it comes to our relationship with God. Apart from the reconciling work of Christ, Paul asserts that we are enemies in our minds towards God. So do you see that in this way, our relationship with God is distinct from almost any other relationship? We're not really almost, it is just, it is distinct from every other relationship. I mean, I can live in a state of genuine neutrality towards a fellow human, right? I mean, I, maybe we just barely know each other. I'll let you be you and you let me be me and we'll be fine with that, right? We'll just be neutral towards each other. But Paul teaches in Romans one, for example, that all human beings have a basic knowledge of God as our eternally powerful creator. This is a fact of reality that we can see just by living in God's created world. It's clearly seen Paul says to all men, but Paul also teaches that our natural response to this knowledge of God is to suppress it in favor of our own desires and ideas. And so because of this, none of us can live a life that is neutral towards God because we all have a basic knowledge of God. And apart from Christ, our response to this knowledge is to rebel against it in one way or another, right? None of us live a life that is neutral towards God. We are either reconciled to God in Christ or our mindset is one of enmity towards him, no matter what we may claim. It doesn't matter what we think of ourselves or how we describe ourselves. What matters is how God sees us, how God describes us. Apart from the reconciling work of Christ, we are enemies in our minds toward God. We may claim otherwise, but if we're not relying upon the death and resurrection of Christ to bring about our peace with God, we remain as enemies. Now, this natural inclination to rebel against God that I've just mentioned that Paul has taught in places like Romans one. It can express itself in a variety of ways, but apart from Christ, we are all given to wicked works. Paul says back in Colossians, right? He says, we, we were sometimes alienated and enemies in our mind by wicked works. So this alienation, this, this enmity at work within us produces wicked works in our lives. But I, we need to understand that this can happen in different ways. For some, it's obvious. I mean, we may clearly fit the description given in places like Titus 3.3, where Paul says that before we knew Christ, we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. We may be like those who did not like to retain God in their knowledge, and so God gave him over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate or strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, as Paul describes in Romans 1, 28 through 31. It may be that we just clearly fit these descriptions that our life of rebellion against God is on display for all to see in light of his word. And truly, when God responds to our rejection of his truth by allowing us to pursue without restraint, the objects of our sinful desires, the results are horrific. Our, our wicked works are plainly apparent. And, and, you know, we need to realize that all of us fit this description in one way or another, all of us, we haven't all given ourselves or been given over to sin to the same degree or in the same ways. Some of us have been some of, as I'm saying here, some of us have been given to sin in such a way that it's just plainly obvious. It's, it's just undeniable. It's right there on display. We need to recognize that we need to own up to that. In other words, these lists are not always just about other people. They're also about us. And Paul wants us to know that apart from Christ, We do engage in wicked works, and some of those wicked works are plainly apparent. However, Paul also wants us to know, in other places that he has written about this topic, that we may express our inward rebellion against God in more subtle ways that may be harder to see from an exterior perspective. This also happens. I mean, you might say, well, those lists really actually aren't about me because I actually don't do those things. Okay, maybe you don't. If you haven't, but there are other ways of engaging in wicked works. We might be like the Pharisees of Jesus day who considered themselves and were considered by many others to be the epitome of morally upright individuals. I mean, these were good people, at least they looked good, but Jesus saw past their outward appearance and condemned their self-righteous hypocrisy. He acknowledged that they engaged in many religious works that were at least outwardly good. Jesus, Jesus conceded that he acknowledged it, but he warned that all their works they do for to be seen of men in Matthew 23, five, they didn't actually do it for God. They did it. So the other people would see them do it. They wanted other people to think they were good. They didn't actually do it so that God would receive them. But I mean, surely you might say their religious zeal had some merit. I mean, maybe. Maybe we fall in the camp of feeling ourselves to be pretty good people apart from the salvation of Christ. And, you know, you might look on others, even if you don't feel that way, you might look at others who are pretty good people. Right. And you might think, surely there there's zeal for what is good has some merit, but that is not how Jesus saw it. Jesus exclaimed to the Pharisees, to the scribes and Pharisees, as he puts it, he said, woe unto you, you are accursed, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. In Matthew 23, 13, and again, Jesus says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, For ye compass land and sea, or sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. So far, far from making them fit for heaven, the religious zeal of the Pharisees was making them more fit for hell. I mean, yes, they exercise great restraint in their outward behavior. But Jesus knew that their hearts were unrestrained in their enmity against the true God, and that their hearts were devoid of true love for their fellow men. Jesus cried out, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. in Matthew 23 again, and well one to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites free are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. So if you have not sought reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ, Paul indicates that your behavior before God is primary care, primarily characterized by wicked works. And we need to ask ourselves, how has this happened in our lives? Or if we are yet apart from Christ, how is this happening in our lives? I mean, thankfully, if we are looking back on these things, having come to Christ, we can praise God that he has delivered us from these things. We are all guilty of these things in one way or the other. And let me, at least for a moment here, address anyone who has yet to come to Christ, who has not seen a need of being reconciled to God through faith in him. Well, how, how are these wicked works manifesting themselves in your life? Because they are, God says. Have you cast off restraint and given yourselves to rebellion against God's authority? Perhaps you've declared yourself to be the Lord of your own life and you've decided to define your own moral standards and live according to your own desires. I mean, for you, what comes first and foremost is to be true to yourself. Do you think this will work out well for you in the end, despite your lack of regard for God? Well, listen to what God has to say in Psalm 50. In this passage, God asserts leading up to the verse, I'll read. He asserts that he knows all the things in which you've been engaging. He knows your wicked works and he knows how you try to ignore the reality of impending judgment. And he says to you in Psalm 50, verse 21, these things has thou done. And I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself. You thought I was just like you because I didn't say anything right away in response to all your rebellion. But I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes. God has been watching you. He does see what you've been doing and there will come a day on which God will set all those things in order before your eyes and reprove you for them. You will be judged and condemned for them if they have not been atoned for. Or perhaps you're on the other side of the spectrum, considering yourself a good person. Maybe many people think of you as a pretty good person. Perhaps you even pride yourself on the way you've calibrated your moral compass. There's a lot of talk about that sort of thing in society. You strive to be honest and kind and generous and humble. You would call yourself a loving person. You serve your community. You're a loyal friend. And yet you do all of this without any sense of need for Christ. You think you're at peace with God apart from any help from Christ. God sees through your exterior appearance. He sees the secret places of your heart and he knows the corruption that resides therein. He, he sees how that corruption seeps through the cracks that inevitably form in our veneer of outward goodness. And he sees the way that you have suppressed the knowledge of his truth in favor of your exalted opinion of yourself. And so in these ways, you're a modern day Pharisee. And so what Christ has said to the Pharisee, he says to you, you vipers, you serpents, you generation of vipers. How can you escape the damnation of hell? Do we hear Christ when he speaks? There is no merit to religious zeal apart from faith in Christ. It makes one more fit for hell. It is a basis of our condemnation, not of our justification. Apart from the reconciling work of Christ, whether we are attempting to be morally upright or giving ourselves over to indulgence, we are alienated from God. We are enemies in our minds against God. And this entity is manifesting itself in wicked works. And if we continue on this road, as we've seen, we need to know that it leads to destruction. We must recognize that the wages of sin is death and thus death is what we all deserve. But what does Christ deserve? What does Christ deserve? Is Christ at peace with God, his father? What is his mindset towards his father's will? What sort of works characterized his life? Paul draws a contrast for us here between what we were and what we are. Let's draw a contrast between what we were and what Christ is. I mean, regarding Christ's peace with his father here, how the apostle John describes Christ as the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father in John one 18. That language describes one who is held to his father's breast, residing in his father's loving embrace. Christ is at peace with his father. Regarding Christ's mindset towards his father's will, the psalmist prophetically writes, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God. Yay. Thy law is within my heart in some 40 verse eight, which is then quoted in reference to Christ in Hebrews 10 regarding the works that characterize the life of Christ. Christ says of himself in John eight 29, he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone for I do always those things that please him. In these ways, Christ could not be more different than we are. And so Christ deserves something better than what we deserve, doesn't he? What does Christ deserve? The Christ who resides in his father's embrace, who delights to do his father's will, and who is always doing that which pleases his father. What does he deserve? What has he earned for himself? Well, Paul answers this question in Philippians chapter two. There he describes Christ who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. So in other words, Christ did not sit or equality with God is something not rightfully his. Indeed, scripture teaches that, that Christ is God, the son who is one with God, the father and God, the Holy spirit. There is perfect unity and peace between these persons of the Trinity. And so Paul goes on to remind us that despite Christ's glorious equality with God, he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So Paul, Paul, speaking of Christ's life of perfect obedience to please his father, Paul holds forth the death of Christ is the foremost display of his obedience, of his submission to his father's will, of his embrace of his father's will. Christ delighted to do his father's will, even when it meant the death of the death on, even when it meant death on the cross. And so what does Christ deserve for his life that he lived in his death that he died? Well, Paul says, wherefore God also have highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name. What does Christ deserve? He deserves glory at his father's right hand. And that is exactly what he has received and will receive forever. So again, there could not be a greater contrast between what we deserve for our lives of sin against God and what Christ deserves for his life of perfect obedience to God. We deserve death, but he deserves life. We deserve condemnation. He deserves glory. And, you know, at first, this contrast may seem to offer very little hope. It may only make it worse in a way. We already discussed how bad we are. How does it help anything to talk about how good Christ is? Doesn't that just emphasize our badness by comparing it with his goodness? Well, yes, in itself, it does. I mean, it's true that if God were only a God of justice, this contrast would bring zero comfort to sinners. But the wonderful reality is that God is a God of both justice and mercy. He's a God of wrath, but also a God of love. Paul describes how the mercy and love of God moved God to act in mercy and love for sinners, even though we deserve death. In Ephesians 2, Paul acknowledges that apart from God's mercy and grace, we were dead in trespasses and sins, as we've already read. But he goes on to say, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, have quickened us together with Christ. He's made us alive together with Christ by grace you're saved and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Paul said that God has highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name. Well, Paul also says that we've been exalted with him. So to speak, we've been raised with him to sit with him in God's presence. And this is all because of God's mercy and God's love. It's because of God's mercy and love that the perfections of the incarnate Christ did not serve as a grounds of our reduction rejection, but rather as a means of our redemption. Because God's mercy, because of God's mercy and love, the stark contrast between what we deserve and what Christ deserves does not constitute a basis of our condemnation, but the basis of our salvation. I mean, look back at what Paul has written to the Colossians. Let's read those two verses again. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, we've tried to process that and take that to heart. But Paul goes on and says, yet now have he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. So Paul is saying that despite our alienation from God, despite our enmity towards God, despite our wicked works, God has reconciled us to himself in the body of Christ's flesh through death to present us holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. So do you see what's happened here? Do you see how this has come to pass? Christ received what we deserve. And we have received what Christ deserves. Our sins deserve death. So Christ died in our place. We really do deserve it. And Christ really received it. He died for us. Christ's righteousness, on the other hand, deserves glorious life in the presence of his father. And so those for whom Christ died, are presented holy, unblameable and unapprovable. They receive the glorious life in the presence of the father that Christ earned. This is the reconciling work of Christ. He took upon himself the reward of our sin that we might receive in ourselves the reward of his righteousness. It's upon this basis and upon this basis alone that we can obtain peace with God. This is what Paul was referring to back in verses 12 through 14, where in Colossians one, where he expresses his prayer that we should always be giving thanks unto the father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who have delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. And who we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. We are made fit to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light, How has this happened? How has he made us fit for this? Well, he's done it both negatively and positively. Negatively, our sins have been removed. Our guilt has been purged and dying on the cross is a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. The blood of Christ made atonement for our guilt and satisfied the just wrath of God. God was right to be angry with us. But Christ absorbed that wrath of God in our place and positively. So negatively, he took away our guilt and and freed us from the wrath of God. But positively, the righteousness of Christ is reckoned to our account before God because Christ's holy, because Christ is unblameable and unapprovable in God's sight. This is exactly how we appear in God's sight as Christ stands before God as our representative and advocate. So can we appreciate the implications of this contrast? We spent some time meditating, trying to process the description of what we were apart from Christ, but let's try to at least a little bit process what we are in Christ, what this means to be reconciled to God. We were alienated from God and enemies of God, but in the death of Christ, we are reconciled to God. So this means in particular that all causes of alienation and estrangement have been removed. So even though our sin incurred God's wrath, Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, Paul says in Romans 5, 9. We're saved from wrath. No more wrath coming between us and God. And even though our sin violated God's law and brought his curse upon us, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree in Galatians 3, 13. So yes, we brought God's curse upon us. Christ became a curse for us. He removed the curse. It is not coming between us and God anymore. If we are in Christ, even though our natural mindset and old way of life was at odds with God. Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin in Romans 6, 6. And again, Christ bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Peter writes in first Peter 2, 24, So our old way of sin has been abolished. We are no longer slaves to sin, but rather servants of God. And it all happened because of the cross of Christ. So there is no more. alienation, no more enmity between us and God. Furthermore, we were wicked in God's sight, right? Our works were wicked before him, but now we are wholly unblameable and unreprovable in his sight through our relationship with Christ. So what does that mean? Let's process that. It means that even though we have offended God through our wicked works, Christ was delivered for our offenses, for our wicked works, and was raised again for our justification. He is our righteousness before God. He was delivered to death for our offenses, but now he lives as the one who justifies us before God in Romans 4 25. So our wickedness has been done away with. He's, he was delivered over for it to become our justifier. And even though we have violated God's will, through our wicked works. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.19. There is much God could impute to us. Our guilt is real, but because of the reconciling work of Christ on the cross, he is not imputing our trespasses unto us. And truly, as David exclaims in Psalm 32, verses one through two, as you read at the opening of services today, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. The iniquity is real. The sin is real, but it will not be accounted to you if you are in Christ. Is that not good news? That God will not impute our sins to us. The very real and heinous sins that we have committed, you know, yours, I know mine, at least in part, we're not even fully aware of it the way God is, but they will not be imputed to us because Christ has borne them himself. They've been imputed to Christ and he has paid for them. And this forgiveness, this, this freedom from the imputation of guilt is, is everywhere in the new Testament rooted in the work of Christ on the cross. As Paul again emphasizes later in Colossians chapter two, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses. Right? So it's the same language. You've been made alive together with Christ. We've been forgiven our trespasses. But how did this happen? Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So it's like we had a rap sheet full of crimes, a scroll filled with writing, listing all of our offenses against God. But with every nail that went into the hand of Christ, it was as if a nail was being driven into that scroll. And as his blood was spilled, it was washing that writing away. It's blotted out. It was contrary to us, and we could not have escaped it by means of the law. But God has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross of Christ. Yes, we were wicked. but Christ has taken it, taken our wickedness away. He has purged us of our guilt through his work on the cross for us. Even though we are sinners, God hath made Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin that we may be, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Second Corinthians five 21. So then do you have peace with God through faith in Christ? The one whose death and resurrection has brought about your reconciliation to God. If so, praise God. Praise God. Give thanks to the father who has made you meet or fit to be among the partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who has delivered you from the power of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of his of his dear son. And as you praise God for what he has done for you in Christ, as Paul will go on to explain to us, strive to persevere in the faith and grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. On the other hand, if have you come to see your need for reconciliation to God, maybe you haven't come to Christ as yet, or perhaps you've come to see that apart from Christ, you are estranged from God at entity with him. Well, if so, the scriptures make it plain that there is yet hope for you. There is yet hope for you because Christ came here to reconcile sinners to God. That's why Christ came. Paul understood Paul. That's been writing these letters that we've been reading. Paul understood that God had committed this message of reconciliation into his hand as a minister of the gospel. And he sought to proclaim it everywhere he went. So here, the words of Paul in this regard, as he writes in 2 Corinthians 5.20, he says, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead. Paul stands in the place of Christ, speaking the words of Christ to you. And he says, Be ye reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So if you see your need for reconciliation with God, then turn from your sin, turn towards Christ and be reconciled, be reconciled to God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the reconciliation that we have found in Christ and only in Christ. Help us to exalt in this, to be thankful as we, as we are reminded of what we were in ourselves and even of those sins that still cling to us, that are still at work in us, that we still have to fight against every day. We thank you, Lord, that you did not leave us to ourselves, but that you reached down, found us where we are, and pulled us up to yourself through the work of Christ, through the redeeming, reconciling work of Christ on the cross for sinners like us. We thank you for this, Father. We praise you for it. Help us to live new lives in Christ. lives that exhibit the fact, the reality that we are reconciled to you in him. And I pray that if there's any here who have yet to be reconciled to you through Christ, that they would come to Christ as Paul exhorts them to do and be reconciled. We thank you that you're a God whose heart is open to us. We thank you that you are a God who, who would even countenance the idea of being reconciled to us. We praise you father for your love and we praise you in Christ's name. Amen.