God views you differently now that the reconciliation has taken place. This is called in another portion of scripture, justification.
Remember that word justification? It means God declares you are righteous even though you're not all that. He declares you are. And based on the declaration, treats you that way. That's justification. So He presents you faultless.
He presents you blameless. This is reconciliation. This is peace. The fact that we can have peace with God and have His peace inside us is monumental. Connect with Skip Heitzig today to find out more about that peace and how you can keep living in it. Before we begin, we want to invite you to take a life-changing journey.
That's just a quick look at the trip. Find out more about the trip at inspirationcruises.com This is the first book of its kind that takes you inside the Oval Office, inside the palaces of the kings and crown princes, the presidents and the prime ministers, in Israel and in the Arab world as we ask them, what do you think about religious freedom, about making peace with Israel, about the threat from Iran, about U.S.-Arab relations, U.S.-Israel relations? Enemies and Allies from multiple New York Times bestselling author Joel Rosenberg takes you on an unforgettable journey inside the turbulent Middle East. You'll go behind closed doors to hear from the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the charge. Enemies and Allies includes exclusive, never-before-published quotes, insights and analysis from the author's conversations with some of the world's most controversial leaders. Your hardcover copy of Enemies and Allies is our thanks for your generous gift of $35 or more today.
To give, call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com. Okay, let's get into today's teaching. We're in Colossians chapter 1 as we begin our study with Skip Heitzig. In the Scriptures, God is never said to be reconciled to man. Man is always said to be reconciled to God.
You know why that is? It's because we left God. We ran from Him. Somebody once said, if you feel far from God, guess who moved? Or in the words of Isaiah, all we like sheep have gone astray. We like sheep have turned our own way.
In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve had sinned, the Bible says God came into the garden in some form and He called out. Remember what He said? He said, anybody know? Yeah, you got it. You got it. Adam, where are you?
You know what that is? That's God looking for man. There's no record of Adam going, God, where are you? Adam wasn't looking for God. He was running from God. He was fleeing from God. God was looking and searching for him. Adam isn't looking for God. People aren't looking for God any more than a thief is looking for a policeman. They don't want to get caught. They want to run.
They want to hide. So man needs to be reconciled to God. That's the first truth here. The second truth here is that we need to be reconciled but it's only done by blood. It's done by blood. For it says here, verse 20, by Him reconciled all things to Himself, things on earth, things in heaven, having made peace through, here's the method, here's the means, through the blood of His cross.
Hebrews 9 says without the shedding of blood there is no remission. His blood brings my peace. His blood brings my peace.
Say that. His blood brings my peace. So several years ago I had the opportunity to be in a movie called The Last Flight Out and they called me and they wanted me to play a medical doctor and I said, look, I'm a pastor, I'm not an actor. They said, no, but you believe the message of the gospel and we want a doctor who at the end of the movie says the gospel but we don't want it to be acted, we want somebody who really believes it.
I go, well, you got the guy then because I really believe it. So in the film, one of the lead actors he had played in Black Hawk Down, he was not a believer but he had to act like a guy who gets converted, right, in this film. So he's looking through the script, we're on the set, we're filming and this guy finally is reading the script and there's a lot of things about the blood, the blood of Christ, the blood shed for us because it's a bloody battle scene that had been taken place in the movie. So he has to talk about the blood of Jesus. And I just remember this look of frustration over his face and he just slammed the script down on the desk and he goes, what's the big deal about the blood?
Could have heard a pin drop. He goes, the Christians always talk about blood, blood, Jesus' blood, why is that a big deal? So I just remember because all the actors and producer and him all shifted their heads and looked directly at me when he asked that question. It's like, okay preacher, the actor has spoken. Deal with that.
So it was a very lively theological discussion. As I explained, no blood, no power. No blood, no message. You try to take the blood out, you've got no gospel at all.
You are emptying it completely of its power without blood and I explained why. Here's what I've discovered. People hate Christianity because they resent seeing themselves as sinners. They resent that. So they would prefer a God helps those who help themselves kind of approach to God.
They want their own works involved. I've earned this. I have a little bit of entitlement.
I've done something on my part. And so they will steer clear of the cross and build a bloodless religion of their own good works. I'm going to throw up what John Stott wrote because it's a great, great quote.
Look at what he said. Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated ideas of ourselves until we have visited a place called Calvary. There at the foot of the cross, we shrink to our true size.
Oh, that's good. Yeah, we shrink to our true size because the cross tells me some very unpleasant truth. It tells me that I'm an unreconciled sinner. It tells me that I am in the stream of God's righteous wrath. And it tells me that I can't save myself.
And when I see Jesus dying on a cross, He seems to be saying, I'm here because of you. It's your sin that I am bearing. It's your death that I am dying. It's your curse that I am suffering. It's your death that I am paying.
But I want you to know something. He did it gladly. See, I don't want you to think of Jesus sort of standing here with His arms folded going, yep, what He just said. I did that for you because you're really crummy.
No. I want you to know He did it willingly and gladly. He said, nobody takes my life from me.
I lay it down of myself. That's willingness. And the Bible says, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.
He did it willingly. Now, listen, if peace with God could be made any other way than that, you know what that would mean eventually? It would mean that heaven would be the most boring place ever. If we could get to heaven by good works, you would have to listen to people every day in heaven brag about how they got there. Let me tell you what I did to get here. And they'd say and everybody would go, yeah, you're so awesome.
Give it up for Him. And then she'd stand up and go, well, let me tell you what I did to get here. And it would be a bragimony. In heaven there will be no bragomonies, only testimonies. We're going to be in heaven saying, I don't deserve to be here.
The only reason I'm here is because of Him, what He did for me. Here's the third aspect to this peace treaty, the magnitude of peace. Now, this is interesting and I'm only going to touch on it and really expand on it in our last study together, but there are two reconciliations I want you to notice that are in this chapter. The first one is mentioned in verse 20. Notice it says, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, things on earth or things in heaven. Well, what does that mean? Well, hold that thought because that's just one reconciliation.
Here's the second one, verse 21. And you, He has reconciled. Notice that's past tense. It's already done. He has done it. You, He has reconciled. So you have one reconciliation that is yet future, all things in heaven and earth. You have one reconciliation that is past. One, the first, that is eschatological in the future is going to happen. The second is historical and personal.
I've been reconciled to Him. So what does this mean? Here's what it means. When sin entered the world, it did not just affect people. It infected and affected everything in the universe, everything in the universe. Did you know that the animal kingdom was affected?
In Romans 8, verse 20, we are told, the creation was subjected to futility that is placed under the curse. So it's not just people, but animals also suffer pain. Animals also get sick.
Animals also die. That is part of the curse. Romans 8, 22, all of creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. So the animal kingdom was also infected because sin entered. Not only that, but the very ground itself, the very earth itself was cursed, was affected. Genesis 3, 17, God said, Cursed is the ground.
In toil you shall eat the fruit thereof. The ground is cursed. The earth is cursed. That's evidenced by things like thorns and briars and nettles and thistles and weeds and the labor that is required to get produce out of the ground, especially around these parts where you have to really prepare the soil to get something to grow. So not only that, but it would seem the solar system was even affected. In Job 25, Bildad indicated, and I'm quoting, the stars are not pure in God's sight.
It seems to have affected the entire physical world. Things in the heavens and things on earth. Oh, and there's one more thing. Heaven itself. Heaven itself. In Hebrews 9, 23, we are told that things in heaven need to be purified. It's a very interesting phrase. Things in heaven that have needed to be purified.
I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I can venture a guess. That perhaps heaven has in a very real sense been defiled because Satan has had, the Bible tells us, access still into the presence of God. Job chapter 1, Job chapter 2, Revelation chapter 12, verse 10.
Satan's called the accuser of the brethren who accuses them before God day and night. And it could be that just that alone defiles heaven enough that it affected heaven. And by the way, did you notice that in the end times, we already studied this, that when God recreates everything, He's not going to just make a new earth. The Bible says He's going to make a new what? Heaven and earth. Do you ever wonder why? Why would He need to make a new heaven?
I think He's probably got a good one. Can He be happy with the heaven He's got? Because heaven has been defiled, friends. And so He will create a new heavens, and it's used in the plural, and a new earth. I'm going to talk more about that in our last study when we talk about Jesus as the Prince of Peace. But let me take it back down now. Let's go back to the personal level.
Notice in our verse, verse 22, it says, In the body of His flesh through death, look at this. Talk about the magnitude of peace. To present you, put your name there.
I'll do it. To present Skip. Holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight. It's not that you are that way. Holy, are you blameless? Even on your best day, come on.
Holy, blameless, and above reproach, without reproach. It's not that you are that way. It's not that I am that way. It's that He sees you that way.
Notice how it's put. That He might present you holy, blameless, above reproach in His sight. God views you differently now that the reconciliation has taken place. This is called, in another portion of scripture, justification.
Remember that word, justification? It means God declares you are righteous, even though you're not all that. He declares you are, and based on the declaration, treats you that way.
That's justification. So, He presents you faultless. He presents you blameless. This is reconciliation. This is peace.
This is the great exchange. You see, God treated Jesus Christ like you and I deserve to be treated. On the cross. Death on the cross.
Suffering on the cross. That's how you and I deserve to be treated. Jesus was treated like you and I deserve to be treated, so that God could treat you like Jesus deserves to be treated. He can treat you now as holy, blameless, above reproach, because of this great exchange. Oh, and by the way, it doesn't just stop with that justification. One day you will actually be in God's presence, in a glorified body, a new body.
So there's not just justification, there's glorification, where you will stand perfected in His presence. Every time I bring up the idea of a new body, people get all stoked about that, excited about that, and usually people say, really? What will I look like? And here's my short answer, better. I'll just leave it at that. You might look really good now, but you will look much better than that.
That's when reconciliation will be complete. I'll add a little color to that. No failing eyesight. No diminished hearing. No wrinkles. Do I get an amen? No sags.
Another amen? No gray hair. Of course you can fix that with a bottle. No stiffness. No sun spots.
No skin tags. I'm going to stop right there. That's graphic enough. So three aspects to this peace treaty, the mediator, the method, and the magnitude of peace. I'm going to close with this, the last one, the maintenance of peace. Okay, that's verse 23. Now, so far, so great. Here's Jesus, fully God, became a man, stand in front of the stream of God's spray can so that we can escape and we can be treated like royalty when we don't deserve to be treated.
One day He's going to give us a glorified body. Wow, awesome, awesome, awesome! Until we get to verse 23, because what's the first word in verse 23? Yeah, go ahead. This is church.
Say it out loud. If, that doesn't sound too promising. It sounds like a condition. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Ah, that makes me nervous. That sounds a little threatening. It almost sounds like the salvation is on me a little bit. Right, okay, you know, this is what Jesus did for you, but you better continue or it's off. Like, you have to keep yourself saved, it sort of sounds like. So, this is why people every few years make new translations of the Bible because language is fluid and they want to help you understand the intent of the original language.
Here's the best way to see this. This is the proof of your salvation, not the production of your salvation. That is, continuing is what proves the reality.
In other words, if you really believe, if Jesus is real to you, if salvation has really taken place, you know what's going to happen? You're going to continue. You're going to continue in it. You're not going to fall away.
Oh, you might fall down, you might backslide. You're going to come back, you're going to stand up again, and you're going to keep moving forward in the faith. That happens to be a position widely held in the New Testament. Here's a summary verse of that.
1 John 2, verse 19. John said, They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their going out showed that none of them belonged to us. So, they were in fellowship together, they left the church, they walked away from God. John said they really never were of us, because if they were, they would continue. So the idea here is that it proves the validity by the continuation. Oh, by the way, notice the language here in these verses. He says, grounded, in verse 23, grounded, steadfast, and not moved away from the hope.
Here's what you wouldn't pick up on in just reading that. Paul is using architectural language. You see, the city of Colossae was built on earthquake land. It moved a lot, the ground shook a lot, and it was known for earthquakes. So the words moved away can mean earthquake stricken or prone to earthquakes. So you could even translate that, if you are grounded, steadfast, and not prone to earthquakes.
Now here's the truth behind that. If you're truly saved, if you are building your life and resting fully on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, nothing will shake you. You will not be moved away. He'll keep you, you will be kept by Him. So, we're not saved by continuing in the faith, we continue in the faith to show that we're saved.
That's the idea behind this. Now having said that, if this verse still makes you a little bit nervous, don't let that go. Because it could be that you have just made a profession of faith, and that's all it is, a profession of faith, but you haven't really built your life on Jesus authentically yet. You haven't really surrendered your life to Him.
You want to sing all the peace songs, but you don't want to really make peace with God and surrender your life. So, if you're still a little bit nervous, let me just put it this way. This is the one answer on the test you want to get right. How do I get to heaven? Question, how do I get to heaven? I hope I got the answer right.
No, you get it right. And if there's any kind of doubt about it, make a decision today, like now, to surrender, to come to terms and conditions in the instrument of surrender. It was French philosopher Blaise Pascal who said, he's the one who came up with this, there's a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator made known through Jesus Christ. I love that quote. God put a hole in your soul, and nothing can fill it but Christ. So, are you ready to accept the instrument of surrender? Are you willing to say, I'm coming to you, Jesus, on your terms and your conditions, because only you can mediate this peace agreement between heaven and earth. It can't be my good works, my background, my parents, my grandparents, my religion.
It has to be only by you. You know, I made an interesting read the other day in the War of 1812, one of the famous battles in our country. There was a battle in the War of 1812 called the Battle of New Orleans, which historians say was a needless battle. And that's because a peace treaty between Britain and America had already been signed 15 days before the battle took place. But they didn't hear news of the peace agreement being signed until it was too late.
Fifteen days went by. They fought. Every day about a hundred people died. Fifteen hundred people died needlessly when there was a peace agreement already intact and in place.
Here's what God wants you to know. The war is over. You best surrender. You put up your arms. You put up the white flag. You quit fighting the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
And you say, I surrender to your terms and conditions. That wraps up Skip Heitzig's message from the series Give Peace a Chance. Now, here's Skip to share how you can keep these teachings coming to you while connecting others to God's word. As Christians, we all have to deal with life in a fallen world. But that's why it's important to equip listeners like you with God's word so you can soar through life.
You can thrive and not just survive. When you give a generous gift, you help share important lessons from the Bible with so many others. I'd like to ask you to consider taking action today to help reach even more lives with God's truth. Here's how you can do that. Visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give a gift. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Or call 800-922-1888.
800-922-1888. Thank you for your generosity. And come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzig explores some of the things that can steal your peace and how you can guard against them. We have three wars that steal a person's peace. Three wars that are going on right now all over the world. All three of them are peace stealers. All three of them will make your life miserable. And all three of them need to be ended.
And when they are ended, the result will be a lasting peace. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-08-12 11:35:37 / 2023-08-12 11:45:05 / 9