Colossians 1:19-23. “Reconciled”
Colossians 1:19-23
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behaviour.
22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation –
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
Jack and I first met many years ago when he had been admitted under my care into Ward 8A of the Lister hospital. Sometime later I operated on him but we then lost touch until something happened.
His son developed a serious illness and needed a major operation. Jack had experienced many separations in his life but his worry of what might happen to his son really got to him. His life was turned upside down.
At this time a lady was walking past the house Jack was renovating. She wanted some work done on her own house so she asked Jack if he could help her. He replied,
“Normally I would, but at present my life is in such a mess that I can’t take anything on.”
Jack told this lady about his worries concerning his son.
“Can I pray for you both?” the lady asked.
“I don’t believe in all that stuff,” Jack replied.
“Oh that doesn’t matter - because I do.”
Jack invited her to see what he was doing and during the conversation she suggested he might like to talk to someone in her church who was a cancer surgeon.
Jack phoned me up, came for a meal, and that’s how our friendship started. He began to see that life could make sense and that there were answers for all our fears and weaknesses.
Jack’s background was certainly not religious in any way, “I don’t believe in all that stuff!” described his life up to that stage. However gradually he understood that there was more to life than living ‘My way,’ the song popularised by Frank Sinatra in 1969. Do you remember the words?
“I’ve lived a life to the full,
I travelled each and every highway,
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.”
Jack came to understand that the answer to life’s problems lay in the person of Jesus Christ. Do understand this, the answer lies in the person of Jesus.
Jack came to realise that verse 21 described his old life.
“Once you were alienated from God, and enemies in your minds”
Before Jack died we had many talks about what happens when we die, when we come face to face with God. He asked me to explain at his funeral what he had discovered because he did long that all his family and friends could discover what he had found. I do hope that what I say will both fulfil Jack’s wishes but also help some here come to know the Lord for themselves.
Alienation or separation are all too common an experience in life. Stupid words and wrong behaviour can so easily result in friends deserting us, jobs being lost, family separations and divorces. On top of that, we also have to face the problem of illness and death. Alienation or separation are rife and so hurtful.
There is a Spanish story of a son who ran away from home, having stolen some money from his parents. His father tried to find him, searching for months without success. Finally, in desperation, he put an advertisement in a Madrid newspaper,
“Dear Pedro, We love you. Meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. We do love you. Your father.”
That Saturday 800 Pedro’s turned up looking for forgiveness and love from their Fathers.
Alienation from family and friends is a well recognised problem but Jack came to realise that this was a symptom that too often is the result of our alienation from God. This is my first point,
The problem - all of us are naturally alienated from God
Look at verse 21 again.
“Once you were alienated from God”
It is sin that separates us from God and often from each other. Sin is a state of mind. We know we have it when we say in our minds,
“Shove off God, I’m in charge, No to what you want.”
Note what the first letters spell,
S, I, N.
Jack acknowledged that was his old life. Look at verse 21 again,
“Once you were alienated from God, enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.”
Enemies in our minds, yes, but we are not that evil - are we? Evil is a term in the Bible for all who leave God out of their lives. Don’t misunderstand what God means.
We tend to grade other people in terms of grey. Some are very dark grey, nasty times like Hitler, Stalin, Sadam Hussein or the Kray wins. Others appear to be very light grey, like Mother Theresa. We probably put ourselves just above the centre, and see others around us as slightly darker than ourselves!
But that is not how God sees us. He sees us as either black or white, either unforgiven or forgiven, either we live in his family or we are outside.
Spell ‘evil’ backwards and you give ‘live’ They are opposites. God offers us all the opportunity to live.
Jack had a problem. There were many things in his life that he regretted and he longed for both forgiveness and a new power to start living the sort of life God wanted to see in him. Sin had separated him from God.
It is as if my outstretched left hand represents me and up there in the sky is God. If I put a book on my hand this can represent my sin that separates me from God. Nothing I can do will remove the alienation from God that my sin has caused.
2. The solution - God himself has provided this
Look at verse 22,
“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body, through death.”
It was remarkable that it was fear that he might lose his son that brought Jack to his senses. And it was Jack’s wish that his death would also help his family and friends come to see them themselves as God sees them and then get their lives sorted out.
Death can cause us to think. Whenever we face death, it does make us ask questions. Is this all there is. Are there answers to why we are here? How can my feelings of guilt be relieved.
But when we face the death of Jesus, something different is occurring - something much bigger. Look at verse 19,
“For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him.”
Jesus claimed to be God and that all of God dwelt in him.
Jesus didn’t just come to give a perfect example as to how God wants us to live, he came to die, to pay the price for our sin, our rebellion against God. Jesus had come to reconcile us to God. The good news is that through him, and only through him we can be given eternal life. Look at verse 20,
“. . . and through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
The teaching is that Christ died as our substitute and took responsibility for our sin on that cross. By his death he bought us eternal life. This idea is repeated again in verse 22,
“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body, through death.”
In World War 1, a severely injured man who knew he had only minutes to live was talking in a trench to his friend
“Listen Dominic, you’ve lived a bad life, everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry your crimes away in death.”
That is what Christ offers each of us - he is willing to take our place.
Back to the hand illustration. There I am, alienated from God because of my sin, ‘Shove of God, I’m in charge, No to what you want”.
Christ who alone had no sin. came and died for Jack, you and me. Christ took the sins of all who have turned back to God and asked for his forgiveness. The book representing my sin is taken by Christ on that cross. That is why we can say,, how God sees Jack, in spite of his imperfections. Look at verse 22,
‘ . . . holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
Wow, that is good news. The Bible teaches that when we die we will all face God in judgment, but if we belong to Christ we will be safe and secure. No wonder Jack could say that he wasn’t worried about dying. His concern was for those who are still living the life described in verse 21.
One experience that Jack received when he turned to Christ was an overwhelming feeling of peace, mixed with great joy. He rightly attributed this to the Holy Spirit of God entering his life. He was forgiven and had a new purpose in life.
So we needn’t worry for dear Jack as he faces God’s judgment. He is forgiven because he is in Christ.
3. The condition - we must keep going
The great Christian preacher, Billy Graham, was walking one evening through Chicago and came across a drunkard who was propping up a lamppost. The drunkard recognised Billy and cried out,
“I’m one of your converts.”
Billy replied,
“You may be one of my converts but you are not one of Jesus Christ.”
When we’ve been forgiven by turning to Christ, our Lord demands that we keep going on his path, saying no to old habits that displease him and starting new ways of living. If we wilfully hold onto old habits that displease the Lord, we must question whether we really belong to him.
Jack started coming to the weekly Friday Group, where we read and discuss the meaning of the Bible. He started coming to church to hear the Bible well taught and gradually he came to understand what Christ had done for him and what God wanted him to do for Christ.
Jack did change. He wasn’t perfect, none of us are, but he was progressing, he was changing.
There will undoubtedly be some here who are saying to themselves,
“I’m not interested in all this stuff. I couldn’t care less if Jesus is God. I’m not bothered what God thinks of me. I want to live my way.”
If that is you, don’t forget that God is still very interested in you and wants to be reconciled with you.
There was a head teacher who said to a final school assembly,
“Don’t forget, each of you must work out what is the most important thing in life. but then you must make that the most important thing in your life.”
Let’s give Jack the last word. What do you think Jack would want to say to us. Surely he would want us to learn something from his life. As you know Jack loved motor-bikes. You know that road sign at cross roads with a junction box,
“Do not enter the box until the exit is clear.”
This can have another meaning as we look at Jack’s coffin, as we face cross roads of life,
“Do not enter the box until the exit is clear.”
It is foolish not to sort out our relationship with God before we die and enter the box.
Prayer
“Lord we do thank you for the life and character of our friend Jack. Thank you for all he meant to so many of us. Please will you help us all to sort out what is really important in life and then make you the most important person in our lives. Thank you that Jack did find the ‘Cure for Life’ and we commit him to your loving care.”
BVP
October 2017. This was the talk given at Jack Miller’s funeral. At the end of the service Jack had paid for a large number of the book ‘Cure for Life’ that were given freely to those who came to his cremation service
