THE GREAT RECONCILIATION

COLOSSIANS 1:1

A. "FOR IT WAS THE GOOD PLEASURE OF THE FATHER...THROUGH HIM TO RECONCILE ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF, HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS; THROUGH HIM, I SAY, WHETHER THINGS UPON THE EARTH, OR THINGS IN HEAVEN" (R.V.)
  1. In this passage the Apostle points to the great reconciliation as it affects:
    1. Not only this material world
    2. But also the world invisible
  2. There is a clear affirmation here:
    1. That God, through Christ, brings order out of chaos, and converts discord into harmony, both in the known world and in that which is not known
    2. It is when our minds dwell upon this wider aspect of God's deed of grace that we begin to feel something of the greatness and the adequacy of the eternal cross B. THE GREAT RECONCILIATION
  3. The meaning of the word "reconciliation":
    1. To reconcile is to make peace - Eph. 2:13-17
    2. To bring harmony out of discord - Eph. 1:9-11
  4. Our text indicates very clearly:
    1. That sin affected the relationship of the invisible world
    2. Heavenly beings could not associate with men because of the barrier of sin
    3. Even at the present time - angels shroud their being so that men are unable to see them as they are because of man's sinful nature
  5. What is so amazing is:
    1. That even the angels which remained loyal to God and His government were not clear about the conflict between Lucifer and Christ
    2. Until the cross of Calvary exposed Satan and brought him in to full view of the unfallen world
    3. Writes Paul, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit seen of angels, believed on in the world, received up into glory" - I Tim. 3:16
    4. When the unfallen angels saw the spectacle of the Cross - God's attitude to Satan was clear C. NOTE A NUMBER OF GLORIOUS TRUTHS ABOUT THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION
  6. Christ's work of reconciliation on the cross:
    1. Reunified the universe - Eph. 1:2-12
    2. This was the one great objective of the plan of redemption
    3. Writes Paul, "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven or on earth" - Eph. 1:9-10
  7. The work of reconciliation included:
    1. The satisfying of the broken law by Christ paying the penalty of transgression, not His own but ours - 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16
    2. The removal of the enmity to God and His law which placed a barrier between the unfallen worlds and ours - Eph. 2:14-16
    3. To create in man a new heart and put within him a new spirit - thus changing man's nature - Ezek. 36:26-27
    4. The work of the cross provides also that death shall be abolished from the universe - I Cor. 15:54-57; Hos. 13:14
  8. It is this glorious truth that gives potency and permanency to the gospel of the cross:
    1. It was this that constrained Paul to say, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross" - Gal. 6:14
    2. That is why the Lord's messenger assures us that the cross of Calvary will be the science of the universe and will remain the study of all the redeemed
  9. And what must amaze the angels is:
    1. That simple childlike faith in the atonement made on the cross is sufficient to bring us into full harmony with God in Christ Jesus; Examples: The reconciliation of the penitent their on the cross - Luke 23:42-44
    2. Your life and my life are an added testimony of the effectiveness of the reconciliation made on the cross of Calvary


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