Colossians 1:19-21
by Dr. Grant C. Richison
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Colossians 1:19
"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should
dwell."
From seven strokes of an exalted lyric about the person of Christ (1:15-18),
the Holy Spirit moves to a discussion about the work of Christ (1:19-2:3).
The treatment of his work parallels the handling of his person.
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"For it pleased the Father"
Whenever we read in the Bible that something pleases God, we ought to take
note of it and do it. We want to bask in the sunshine of his smile. Our
well being depends on whether God is pleased with our lives.
The word "for" introduces a reason why the Son is "preeminent"
(v.18). The Son of God is supreme by distinction of his work of "reconciliation."
God freely resolved that it is a good thing that all God's fullness dwells
in Christ's work of reconciliation (v.20). What gives pleasure to God?
Is it our righteousness and goodness? No, his pleasure is found in his
Son. God is pleased with us because of his Son. Our orientation to life
depends upon God's pleasure with his Son.
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"that in Him all the fullness should dwell"
First, God's pleasure is in the work of Christ. God is pleased that "all
the fullness" of God resides in Christ's work of reconciliation (v.20).
A key word to the argument of the book of Colossians is the word "fullness."
(The verb "fullness" is used in 1:9, 25; 2:10; and 4:17). "Fullness"
was a word used by the Gnostics who infiltrated the Lychus Valley where
the city of Colossians lay. "Fullness" was their word for heaven.
The Holy Spirit here hits the Colossians with a principle. Jesus Christ
is the true fullness. He is not heaven itself; he is more than that. He
is fullness for the believer's life. Jesus Christ is substance, not shadow;
fullness, not foretaste. He is the fullness of God's saving plan.
The key word in Colossians is the world "all." This is an all
inclusive word. When combined with "fullness," which is another
comprehensive word, we have a very powerful statement about Christ. The
half has never been told about Christ. It is not enough that the Lord Jesus
Christ be eminent; he must be pre-eminent. This is a message we need in
this generation if Christians are going to live the quality of life God
gives.
The word "dwell" means to reside permanently in a place. It was
used in the sense of the permanent residence of a town or village. "All
the fullness" of God's work settles in Christ permanently. All saving
power dwells in him (Acts 5:31; 17:31).
The effects of the "fullness" is available to the believer. There
is no reason why a believer should not orient to any circumstance of life.
Circumstances will ebb and flow in the life of a Christian. At times we
may have a measure of success at other times we may fail. Under these varying
circumstances of life we draw upon the fullness of Christ. Our orientation
to life does not depend upon the usual status symbols. Our joy depends
upon the work of Jesus Christ.
Positionally, we can draw upon the fullness of Christ. Experientially,
it depends upon our application of the principle to life. Regardless whatever
may happen to us, God has provided a person who will meet us in our need.
The circumstances of life will not be easy. Life will not go on in bliss.
On a date a girl says, "I wish this moment could go on forever."
But this life does not sustain uninterrupted happiness. Life never remains
the same. All of us, before we depart from this life, will have our share
of pain and pleasure. However, our lives do not dependent upon the flow
of life; they depend upon Jesus Christ. This frees us from the chains of
life.
PRINCIPLE: The person and work of Christ is preeminent in every aspect
of our lives.
APPLICATION: This is a message that broken-hearted parents need. "What
ever happened? Where did I make a mistake? We took them to church but
our children no longer walk with the Lord. They are no longer interested
in the Word." This is a bitterness parents face. It is good to know
that Christ is in control. He will do for the parent what the parent cannot
do for himself.
In us, there is an absence of power and other qualities. In the flesh there
"dwells no good thing." The human nature is a desert, empty and
a waste, inhabited by the dragon of sin. God never asks us to make up the
difference between us and himself. All is laid upon Christ. He makes up
all that God requires of man.
Colossians 1:20
"And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood
of His cross."
Colossians one presents the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ. First
the Holy Spirit presents his preeminence (1:15-18). Now he sets forth Jesus'
unique work. The Lord Jesus reconciles "all things" to himself.
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"and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself"
"Reconcile" means to bring back to a former state of harmony.
Reconciliation forms a unity that has its goal in Christ. A friendship
has been restored between God and man. All enmity has been removed so as
to leave no impediment to unity and peace.
God reconciles all things to himself. God does not need reconciliation
(II Cor 5:19). The Bible never says that God is reconciled. The enmity
alone is ours. It is we who need to be reconciled.
God's requirement is that his perfect righteousness must be satisfied (propitiation).
Christ's death satisfied God's holy demands. The whole world is savable
by Christ's death (II Cor 5. 18-20). Therefore, God IS reconciled already.
It is man who needs to respond to God.
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"by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven"
Jesus brought the whole universe into reconciliation, except rebellious
angels and unbelieving man, into full accord with the mind of God (Eph.
1:10). Things under the earth are subdued, not reconciled (Phil. 2:10).
All nature is under the curse of Genesis 3. Nature sings in the minor key.
All of that will be removed when he comes back (Rom 8:19-22). This world
is handicapped by the curse of God. That is why weeds grow faster than
flowers. One day God will lift the curse. That is one of the effects of
the death of Jesus upon the cross. In that day we will no longer need dentures,
glasses or artificial limbs. In that day there will be no crop failure.
PRINCIPLE: God is already reconciled; we do not have to plead with him
to reconcile with us.
APPLICATION: We have all heard the phrase "Make your peace with God."
Some people say, "I can remember when I made my peace with God."
We all understand what people mean by these expressions but they are not
biblically accurate. We cannot make peace with God because we have nothing
with which to make peace. We cannot barter with God. We have nothing God
wants or needs. We have nothing to trade God for our salvation. Our personal
relative morality is not good enough for an absolute God.
Jesus is the only person who has the wherewithal to meet God's demands.
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For
you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God's" (I Cor. 6:19,20). The commodity that Jesus
used to pay for our sins in the last phrase "having made peace through
he blood of his cross." Jesus is the only way to acceptance with God
(Acts 4:12).
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"having made peace through the blood of His cross"
"Made peace" means to establish harmony. Jesus put an end to
the disturbed relations between God and man. He restored due relations
between man and God. Before we came to trust Christ we were God's enemies
because of sin. Jesus destroyed the enmity between God and man by his work
on the cross.
It is the work of Christ on the cross that "pleases God" (v.19).
At the payment for sin, resurrection and ascension "all the fullness"
(v.19) dwelt in him.
God's enemies will become God's friends by faith in Christ. Jesus is the
mediator of reconciliation. He brings the believer into the peace of God
and into his favor. All creatures, whether men or angels, will be brought
into subjection under his rule. They will be placed in subjection to Christ.
He will bring them under one head. When we place our faith in Christ we
enter into his "fullness." His life becomes our life. We enter
into union with him. He is the heir of God; we become joint-heir with him.
We enter into his priesthood, destiny and kingdom. We share with him all
these things.
The precious blood of Christ was of sufficient magnitude and of such eternal
value to God that he could forgive sin for all eternity. This was done
in a manner consistent with his holiness. "He then would have had
to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the
end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,"
(Heb. 9:26). God does not hurl us into a Christless eternity because we
sin but because we reject the one who paid for sin, "He who believes
in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,"
(John 3:18).
The "blood" means the cross. The cross means the death of Christ.
He did not make peace through the Golden Rule or the greatest truths concocted
by man. The blood-death of Christ is the only sufficient payment for our
sins (Eph. 2:13; Heb. 10:19; I Pet. 1:2; Rev. 7:14).
PRINCIPLE: The person and work of Jesus Christ as the God-man reconciling
the world to God flies in the face of pluralism.
APPLICATION: The Lord Jesus Christ differs from all other members of the
human race. He is true man and undiminished deity. He is the Creator of
the universe and he in his humanity gave his life for the sins of the world.
His primary work is to reconcile man to God. Jesus made it possible for
man to fellowship with God.
The cross eliminates human merit, personal worth, morality, character and
religion as the hope of salvation. If we depend on our merit, works or
religion we will be bitterly disappointed when we face God one day. Peace
is made through the blood of Christ. The state of hostility between man
and God cannot break down by the relative righteousness of man. Man is
naturally estranged from God, "The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies" (Ps. 58:3).
Man does not have the inclination or bent to find God.
God is very narrow-minded about the way to himself. It is only through
salvation in Christ (Acts 4:12). He will not accept us if we try another
way. The armistice was signed in blood by the cross. No longer is there
a barrier between a person who wants a relationship with God. All we need
to do is trust Christ's death on the cross as sufficient payment for our
sin. Any one, no matter the color of their skin , can come to God through
the death of Christ.
Colossians 1:21
"And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now He has reconciled."
Having dealt with reconciliation in the previous verse, Paul here shows
how reconciliation impacts the Colossians themselves. He turns from "pure"
theology to "applied" theology. In verse 20 creation was reconciled
to God; in this verse individuals are reconciled to God. Both the universe
and people need reconciliation.
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"And you, who once were alienated "
"Alienated" means estranged. At one time we were shut out from
fellowship and intimacy with God. In the secular world in biblical times
this term was used of those who lost their citizenship. The Colossians were
without the citizenship of heaven.
The reason there is a need for reconciliation is that people are alienated
(enemies) from the life of God (Eph 2:12; 4:18). An automobile can knock
out the physical life we received from our mother or father. However, the
"life of God" is eternal.
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"and enemies in your mind by wicked works "
They were enemies in their "mind." This is an attitude of rebellion
and persistent enmity. They were in a state of enmity against God. Man
hates God because God hates man's sin (Rom. 1:28; 8:7,8).
People are at odds with God both in their minds and behavior. They are
enemies to God both from within and from without. Sin begins in the mind
and works its way into deeds.
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"yet now He has reconcile"
The word "reconcile" in verse 20 extends to the curse, the reconciliation
of things, here it means the reconciliation of people. The word here is
more intense in the Greek; it means to reconcile thoroughly. A total, radical,
revolutionary change takes place in the heart of the person who trusts Christ's
death to forgive sin.
The word "reconcile" here is more intense than the word "reconcile"
in verse 20. Here it means to reconcile absolutely, altogether. God through
Christ absolutely reconciled us to God.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus' cross put away all enmity so that amity can exist between
man and God. No impediment remains to block intimacy with God except our
acceptance by faith of the work of Christ.
APPLICATION: Reconciliation is an act of God. He provided for our reconciliation
by Jesus' death upon the cross. It was an act of love and grace. That
is sure different than trying to measure up to an absolutely holy God.
That is different from trying to live by the Golden Rule.
Are you personally reconciled to God? Do you know that your reconciliation
to God is not based on your morality? God gives reconciliation to us because
Christ paid for our sin (II Cor. 5:17-21). Will you at this moment trust
Christ's death to reconcile you to God? If you do, at this moment you have
become a Christian.
Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved.
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