Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Col. 1. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- What is our human status at birth? Are we good or bad. Are we in line with God or rebellious against God. Are we filled with love and altruism or selfish, greedy, willing even to hurt others?
- Our text and the rest of Scripture is clear – our human nature has been thoroughly infected with sin.
- However, God has not given up. He seeks to restore us to Himself. His redemption reconciles us to God. This is the Good News, the Gospel, at the heart and core of Christian faith. Thanks and praise be to God, for it would have been completely futile in our original condition, to try to make it back to God. We didn’t even want to be “RESTORED TO GOD.”
- But God is merciful and loving. We begin, however, by recognizing that:
I. Our Status At Birth Was Alienation From God, Hostility Toward God, And Embracing Evil
Text: “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death.”
Statement: There is not much room for self-improvement in such a condition! In fact, there is absolutely no desire to improve toward God when the mind is “alienated and hostile” toward God.
Application: So we can place no confidence in ourselves, or in any human being, in regard to self-reform! But fortunately God has given us a way to have realistic confidence – and that is in Him, His gracious mercy and love. For according to our text:
II. God Has Now Reconciled Humanity To Himself – By Christ’s Body Of Flesh And His Deity
A. We Are Now Accounted To Be Righteous and Holy By God Himself
Text: “He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.”
B. This Is All Received By Simple Faith In Christ
Text: “If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard.”
C. This Provides Sure And Certain Hope Of Eternal Life And Salvation
Text: “Not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Statement: It all begins with God – our redemption, our reconciliation to God, our knowledge of His love through faith [which is the gift of God – Eph. 2:8,9], our justification [His declaration that we are holy and blameless and above reproach, in His sight], and our ultimate salvation. And if He didn’t strengthen and keep us in faith – through His Word and Sacrament, then we would quickly fall away. But He loves us in spite of our great sinfulness and weakness!
Application: Therefore we are encouraged to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast.” This we do as we allow God to bless us with faith, and knowledge of His love and His will – “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to God’s saints.” That’s us, the saints of God! And as we said before:
III. We Are Kept Stable And Steadfast By God’s Word
A. We Are Given These Blessing By The Riches Of His Gracious Love
Text: “To them [the saints, us] God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.”
B. This Includes The Greatest But Most Mysterious Reality – Christ In Us
Text: “To them [the saints, us] God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
C. So That God Is Working Powerfully In Us And Through Us
Text: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”
Statement: Again, these are stupendous blessings poured out upon those who by the work of Christ and by faith have been “RESTORED TO GOD.” It is a long way that we have come – and we have still further to go. But God is with us. He has changed our status, what we were at birth. He has reconciled us, forgiven us, and declared us to be holy and blameless and above reproach. He has also given us strength of faith, and the power of His own energy at work within us.
Application: So it is, dear friends, that God sustains us through His Word, even as He reforms us through His Word and Sacrament! We love because He first loved us. We live in His love through His Word and promise, grasped by our God-given faith. And we are able to work because He “works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Conclusion: So, it may seem dismal, our origins and spiritual disabilities. But this does not matter to God’s love. He can do anything, even raise dead bones to life. So He has also given us new life by faith in Jesus.
Our status has changed dramatically. We are no longer “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” Instead, we are reconciled, holy and blameless and above reproach before God. Now our minds are no longer hostile to God and good, but eager to shun the evil and engage in the good! He has indeed transformed our minds; we are indeed “RESTORED TO GOD.” Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.