This first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Christians in Colosse is huge. It is at the deep end of the pool. Preachers from 300 years ago might have said that it is one of the most “pregnant” chapters in God’s Word. It is full of important doctrine and instruction – briefly touching on some of them and emphasizing others. What was first laid on my heart for this message today was the statement of verse 20 – “Having made peace through the blood of his cross.” But surrounding those words are a variety of eminently important thoughts. In order to understand the blessing of that peace, we must understand its context. That gave me the title to this message: “A Comparison of Cataclysmic Concepts.” The cataclysmic concepts are war and peace or friend and foe.
Rather than simply dividing our text into sermon points as we usually do, I need to explain it before moving on. After introducing himself and saying “hello” to his Christian friends, Paul tells them that he has been praying for them. In verse 12 he thanks God who has made us “meet” – “fit” or “qualified” – to receive the inheritance the Lord has set aside for His saints. Of course, as an inheritance, it is not earned – it is “received” as a special kind of gift. And it is God who has made anyone of worthy of that inheritance. Furthermore, He has delivered us from the POWER of darkness – not from darkness or a dark place, but from the power of darkness – the kingdom of darkness. Christians, as delivered people still “wrestle… against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. At the same time those Christians have become naturalized citizens of the Kingdom of Christ – we have been “translated” from one kingdom into another. As Christians and saints, we have been redeemed from judgment and forgiven of our sins through Jesus’ blood. And for Jesus it required His death to deliver that delivering blood.
Skipping over some extremely important information about Christ Jesus, verse 19 tells us that every aspect of deity rests in the Son of God – it pleased the triune God that “all fulness” should dwell in Christ. And through the blood which Christ Jesus shed on the cross, we have been RECONCILED to God. Christians are people who have been restored to fellowship with the infinitely holy God. It was Jesus who enabled this restoration. It was not something which we have done. It was not we ourselves who orchestrated this reconciliation, because remember who were we at the time. We were God’s enemies. We were aliens, separated from the Lord by our wicked works. As Ephesians 2 says, “we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and therefore were by nature the children of (God’s) WRATH.” But Christ, verse 22, in “the body of His flesh through death,” has made us to be – “holy, and unblameable and unreproveable” in God’s sight. As forgiven people, citizens of the eternal kingdom, redeemed and reconciled, we are at PEACE with God. We now have peace with the God against whom we were rebels and mortal enemies, because Christ Jesus has created that peace through His shed blood. Peace with God is one of the highest possible gifts of divine grace.
Focusing on this peace, we need to remind ourselves what it is.
In the Bible, “peace” is a common word, being used exactly 400 times. But it is not always used as Paul is using it here. Sometimes it has the idea of “hold your peace,” or “be quiet, don’t say anything.” Another way in it is used is in Jesus’ words to His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He was talking about a way in which to face the problems the world throws at us. Relax and let the Lord handle the situation. Related to that, someone might speak about “peace of mind” – perhaps because we have given the Lord complete control. So there is a peace of tranquility, a peaceful calm. The word is also used differently as Paul closed his letters saying something like, “Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
So peace can be a state or condition – something in which to bask and enjoy, like a warm pool of water. But more often in the Bible it is not something internal, emotional or personal. More often in the Bible it involves two parties – it involves a harmonious relationship between two. For example, Christians should strive to be at peace with non-Christians as much as possible without compromising the Truth. And it is even more important that we be at peace with fellow Christians, as brethren in Christ.
But as Paul is using the word in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 2, he is speaking about another connection. He is talking about the relationship between God and the sinner – God and you and me. This peace is not feeling good in ourselves and about ourselves – because we think we have successfully minimized sin. It is not a result of yoga, or inhaling enough of the right kind of incense or marijuana. It is not a peaceful relaxation of our guilty muscles. This is not a peace we have with God – thinking WE have fixed things between us. This peace is not about forgetting those scriptures which declare that we are aliens and enemies of God. That was what we used to do before verse 21 and before the reconciliation which is received in Christ. “Ye were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.” By nature we are blind – we have blinded our minds – to the reality of our alienation from God. This is one of the reasons we must repent in order to have God’s peace. We must have a change of mind as well as the eradication of wicked works.
The peace to which Paul refers in this scripture is all about GOD’S satisfaction with us, because we have been brought to Him covered in the blood of the Lamb of God.
The peace about which Paul was writing is a harmonious relationship with God.
But there are words in this scripture which bring out and emphasize that by nature this peace does NOT exist. Verse 21 – we “were sometime (in the past) alienated and enemies.” Rather than being citizens of Christ’s Kingdom, we were living under the power of darkness – verse 13. This is why there is no peace and why we need the peace that comes through the blood of Christ’s cross.
We all come into this world under the flag of another king, another father, a rebel prince. As Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Jesus mentions “abiding not in the truth.” Why do our children grow up lying to us? Because they are of their spiritual father, just as you have been. Jesus speaks of murder, the forerunner of which is hatred. Why are we so prone to hate our distant neighbors, people of other races and our political opponents? It is because sin is born into us when we are born. In the sight of God hatred and anger are viewed as murder, just as lust is considered to be adultery. And verse 13 doesn’t just say that we are prone to dark thoughts. It says before we were translated into the kingdom of God’s Son we were under the power of darkness. Jesus said in John 3:19 – “And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Verse 21 describes our natural condition, before salvation, using two words – “alienated” and “enemies.” Both are accurate, but the second word is infinitely heavier than the first. “Alienated” speaks of a separation – an estrangement, which could be nothing more than straying away. How can that alienation be repaired? Usually, all we have to do is return, apologize if necessary, and hug or shake hands. This is the kind of salvation many evangelists preach – it is so easy. They say, “Tell God you’re sorry, and He will not only take your hand; he’ll give you a divine bear hug.” He might even apologize to YOU for being so slow to give you the heavenly citizenship you so richly deserve. My friend, whatever “alienated” means – in reality it is not something you can easily remedy.
As I say, the second word is indescribably heavier. You, “were sometimes alienated and ENEMIES…” Until the day we completely surrender to God – in the light of His wrath against us there can be no peace. The God who said, “Be ye holy, as I am holy,” is not going to accept our apologies for our imperfections. We are NOT failures in His sight. We are enemies, terrorists, revolutionists and wanna-be anarchists. The Lord is not going to pat us on the back, telling us He understands and that He’s willing to accept us “as we are.” He will never accept us “as we are.” Unless we are translated, reconciled and made holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight we nothing more than fuel for the flames of Hell.
But what if we never become aware that we are God’s enemies? For nearly three years now, I have been sharing with you the salvation testimonies of various Christians. There has been great variety in those testimonies, and for that I am thankful, because we are all different. I am hoping that some day there will be a testimony that strikes a chord with you. “That person was just like I am, and he/she became a child of God. I should join him.”
For years I’ve been sharing those testimonies. But there is something which comes up from time to time, I wish I might see more often today. O, how I pray that we might hear of people today, being broken, crushed and reduced to ashes by God’s conviction of their sin. How much better it would be if we were stripped of any hope for peace, so that we might turn to the only place where true peace can be found.
Some time ago I shared the three hundred year old testimony of a young girl named Catherine Anderson. Paraphrasing her words, she said, “I heard Mr. McCulloch preach from John 3:18, “He that believeth NOT is condemned already.” He repeated these words over and over again during his sermon. My sleeping conscience awoke, and it set before me some of my sins. I was convicted of being an unbeliever, and I saw myself condemned already, truly in a lost state. Soon, other sins stood up to condemn me. There were so many witnesses against me, I was brought into great distress. I saw that if I were to die, there would be nothing for me but hell fire. And I saw that my death and condemnation were perfectly as they should be. I continued until August in darkness and distress, unable to find anything to comfort me. Eventually, when sitting on a bank of the river, on a Thursday at the beginning of August, that word came home to me with special power, “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God” – Isaiah 50:10. The Lord showed me that I was being described there. And I was enabled to take this exhortation to myself. I put my trust in Lord, and particularly in the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.”
When Jacob Brouner was eleven-years-old, the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon him as he simply walked past a New York city church building. Out of nowhere came the consciousness of his mortality and condemnation. God’s conviction of sin forced him to see that his good behavior was not sufficient to please God. This burden soon began to make him physically ill, and he became bedridden with worry about his soul. When questioned about his inner turmoil, he was too ashamed to talk about it. He spent hours laying in bed reading the Word of God in search of peace. Finally, Matthew 5:4 was used by the Spirit to break through to his soul: “Blessed are they that mourn.” Before there can be a translation into the kingdom of God’s dear son, there must be a mourning of our citizenship in the Kingdom of darkness and sin. Jacob Brouner was mourning, but it was a grief, not about death, but about death’s cause – sin. Eventually, while meditating on Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross a spiritual peace overcame him. Before the peace there was a period of excruciating pain.
Luther Rice was sprinkled as a baby in the Northborough Congregational Church. As a 19-year-old, he began reading the biography of John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace.” That initiated a long spiritual journey. He recognized that his wicked heart and mind rebelled against the things of God. He was an enemy. He knew that he was a hell-bound lost sinner. For days, weeks and months he spent much of his time literally weeping over his spiritual condition. For about two years, spiritual conflict disturbed his sleep, broke his health and terrified his friends. Then came a day when he felt so tired at fighting with God, he decided to give up and let God do His worst. He said, “I was absolutely at the disposal of God.” He surrendered in “absolute unreserved submission to the will of God.” And when he did “a sweet and blessed tranquility” came over him. He said, “From that moment, I seemed to be on the Lord’s side – was no longer at variance and in quarrel with my Maker. And from that day to this, I have entertained a hope, that through the abundant mercy of the Lord, and the rich grace of the precious Redeemer, and the power of the Holy Ghost, on the ground of the great atonement, I have become reconciled to God! And I may say, too, to a very happy extent, this hope has remained… unshaken.”
When William Staughton was a teenager, the Lord began to work on his heart. It started with a sermon from the text. “Prepare to meet thy God” – Amos 4:12. Coming to realize his personal sinfulness and the absolute holiness of God, he knew that he was not prepared to die. He became depressed, and as his spiritual misery continued he broke down mentally and physically. The family called for a physician who declared that William’s anguish was “religious frenzy,” recommending that the young man divert his attention by reading novels and romances to relieve his mind of his self-destructive wrestlings. Immediately, Staughton told his parents he never wanted to see that doctor again, because he knew that rather than avoiding the spiritual warfare, he needed to find a solution in the Lord or he would die under the curse of God. One day, feeling deeply depressed, he remembered a scripture and message from Isaiah 1:18, “Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” As he thought about God’s gracious words, a change came over him, and he found himself rejoicing, trusting the perfect forgiveness of God through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Trusting Christ, the warfare He had with God became a millennial peace, where there remained not a single evil thought in his soul against God.
These people and thousands of others were given peace, replacing their previous warfare. Without that peace they had no happiness – just the opposite, they were miserable. Without that peace, the preaching of the Bible was another battle won by God and felt by the sinner.
The question is: How may we obtain peace with God?
There are several key words scattered throughout this scripture, each displaying a different aspect of salvation. Coming together they unite in that one singular point – “peace.” As enemies and aliens residing in the kingdom of darkness and sin, we must be DELIVERED. Before peace, we must surrender to Christ, the Deliverer, “Who can deliver us from the power of darkness.” Only those who are willing, by whatever means, to be delivered from their sins will ever be delivered. We cannot serve two masters – Christ cannot be our king, while we still wear the crown, or while we bow to the god of this world, or where sin still rules in us. And there is no article in the plan of God whereby God’s enemy can of his own accord create peace treaty. We are terrorists, we are the spiritual arsonists, we are God’s enemy, and if there is any change in that condition it must be through the grace of the God whom we have offended.
As enemies and aliens, we must be TRANSLATED into the kingdom of God’s Son. “Translation,” there is a word which we already know to some degree. It speaks of going from one thing to another, like translating from one language into another. I don’t care how intuitive your phone might be, it takes a computer program of some sort to take your English word and automatically translate it into French, German or Spanish. And translation into the Kingdom of Heaven, is the work of the King of Heaven. We cannot tunnel under the border fence, carrying forged citizenship papers which are acceptable to the holy omniscient eye of the Lord.
Only in Christ Jesus do “we have REDEMPTION through his blood, even the FORGIVENESS of sins.” Before we can be translated into Christ’s kingdom we must be forgiven of all our past rebellion – and even of our rebellious hearts. And a part of that forgiveness is the necessity of redemption. There must be a price paid to facilitate the release of the rebel from his judgment. In this case, that price is so great – so astronomically high – that no sinner on earth can pay it. The price of our redemption was the life and specifically, the blood, of the incarnate Son of God.
In verse 22, we see three impossibilities made possible through the blood of Christ. You who were once “alienated and enemies, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in God’s sight.” Holy, unblameable and unreproveable. “Holy” speaks of absolute sinless perfection – something farther from us as the farthest galaxy in the universe. “Unblameable” means that the spiritual dermatologist has taken his magnifying glass and looked at your face, your back and every inch of your soul, and said, “I can’t find even the smallest spot or blemish.” Peter, in speaking of salvation, says that it was accomplished “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb WITHOUT BLEMISH and without spot.” Our Saviour is unblameable, without blemish. And then Jude adds, “Now unto him that is able to keep YOU from falling, and to present YOU FAULTLESS before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” We who are riddled with sin, shall be presented to God unblameable – without a single blemish. And we shall also be made “unreproveable” which says not even the angels of God or the demons of hell will find anything with which to charge, rebuke or reprove us. Through the blood of Christ the enemy of God is seen as pure and perfect as the Son of God Himself.
With absolutely nothing between the sinner and God, because of the death of Christ – there is the grounds for perfect peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed is the God who has created this superlative peace.
Conclusion:
This morning, I have the authority of God, through the Word which He has put into our hands… I have the authority to tell you that you too may have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. But here is the thing – if you don’t have it in this world, you won’t have it in the next. If you don’t have it today, you may not have it tomorrow either. This reconciliation, redemption, translation and the rest – are part of a personal PRESENT possession. Forgiveness and heavenly citizenship will not be dumped on you the moment you die or at any time thereafter. The blessings of this scripture are given to those rebels and enemies who willingly surrender to the King. As long and we want to retain in our own hands some degree of freedom to pick and choose what to believe and what to do to serve the Lord, we will never be free from the wrath of God.
Repent before God – you need to have a thorough change of heart and mind, giving to Him your heart. Trust His Son, who gave His life a ransom for many. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we may have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Won’t you surrender to God this morning, and put your trust in the Saviour? Come to the Lord and enjoy the peace which passes all understanding.