SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2017
11:18 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to “Reconciled
to God”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
1:20-23
Message of the
verses: “20 and through Him to reconcile all things to
Himself, having
made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether
things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly
alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now
reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you
before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach- 23 if indeed you continue in
the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of
the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under
heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”
Before I begin this introduction for our Spiritual Diary
I have to say that 43 years ago this very day that I was reconciled to God and
God was reconciled to me through the blood of the cross and that is the most
wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.
We begin to look a bit at the introduction to what is the
fifth chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on Colossians which he entitled “Reconciled
to God.” And the first thing we must do
is to talk about the word “reconcile.”
Reconcile is one of the most significant and descriptive terms that we
will find in all of Scripture and now we must look at five key words that are
used in the New Testament to describe the richness of our salvation which is in
Jesus Christ alone. Those five key words
are Justification, Redemption, Forgiveness and Adoption and of course Reconciliation.
John MacArthur writes the following: “In justification, the sinner stands before
God guilty and condemned, but is declared righteous (Rom. 8:33). In redemption, the sinner stands before God
as a slave, but is granted his freedom (Rom. 6:18-22). In forgiveness, the sinner stands before God
as a debtor, but the debt is paid and forgotten (Eph. 1:7). In reconciliation, the sinner stands before
God as an enemy, but becomes His friend (2 Cor. 5:18-20). In adoption, the sinner stands before God as
a stranger, but is made a son (Eph. 1:5).
A complete understanding of the doctrine of salvation would involve a
detailed study of each of those terms.
In Colossians 1:20-23, Paul gives a concise look at reconciliation.
“The verb katallasso
(‘to reconcile’) means ‘to change’ or ‘exchange.’ Its New testament usage speaks of a change in
relationship. In 1 Corinthians 7:11 it
refers to a woman being reconciled to her husband. In its other two New Testament usages, Romans
5:10, and 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, it speaks of God and man being
reconciled. When people change from
being at enmity with each other to being at peace, they are said to be
reconciled. When the Bible speaks of
reconciliation, then, it refers to the restoration of a right relationship
between God and man.”
In this letter to the Colossians Paul uses another term
for reconcile – apokatallasso. Now this is a compound word that has a preposition
which is added that intensifies the meaning of the word. This word means thoroughly, completely, or
totally reconciled. What do you think
that Paul would use this stronger word in his letter to the Colossian
church? It was because this church, at
least part of the liberal part of it, were holding to something that was wrong,
and that was that Christ was merely another spirit that was being emanating
from God. That word “emanating” means to come out or
from something, and that is what the false teacher in the Colossian church were
saying about Jesus which of course was wrong for Jesus Christ has always
existed and always will. As Paul refutes
this denial, he emphasizes that there is total and complete and also full
reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ for He possesses all of the
fullness of deity which is seen in Colossians 1:19-2:9, as Jesus is able to
fully reconcile sinful men and women to God as seen in 1:20 “and through Him to reconcile all things to
Himself, having
made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether
things on earth or things in heaven.”
MacArthur concludes “Paul defends Christ’s sufficiency to
reconcile men to God by discussing four aspects of reconciliation: the plan of reconciliation, the means of
reconciliation, the aim of reconciliation, and the evidence of reconciliation.” We will begin looking at these in our next
SD.
1/26/2017 11:48 PM
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