Slides: Your Past, Present, and Future

Your Past, Present, and Future
Colossians 1:21-23

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

 

Before and After

Before: alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

After: holy and blameless and above reproach before him

 

Why continue as Christians?

• Cosmic Christ is worthy (1:15-20).

• Personal benefits of relationship with Jesus: “AND YOU” (1:21-23)

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily [cosmic Christ], and you have been filled in him [personal] (2:9).

Personal taste test: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8)

 

Your Past, Present, and Future

• Past: And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

• Present: he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,

• Future: in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

• A big IF: if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard

PAST: And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

alienated: distant, far from God

hostile in mind: hating God as enemy; thoughts and attitudes opposed to God

doing evil deeds: defying God and doing what God hates; disgusting and destructive decisions and deeds 

domain of darkness (1:13): ruled by Satan

 

PRESENT: he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death

Pictures of being reconciled

• Spouse:  Stop hatred and fighting by a peaceful divorce? Reconciled  means coming together and loving each other.

• Judge: Declare “not guilty” and release? Reconciled means embrace and friendship.

• Nation: End attack and sign non-agression pact? Reconciled means welcomed to live in God’s nation as citizens of His kingdom.

 

A blessed nation

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! (Psalm 33:12) That’s not about any country in today’s world. It’s about us whom God chose in Christ: “you are a chosen race… a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). In the past we were aliens and enemies of God, but now we are reconciled and made citizens of the chosen and blessed nation in Christ.

 

PRESENT: he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself… in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them… For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:6-10)

Barcode salvation?

A store scanner doesn’t deal with the actual content of a package; it just reads the bar code. You’re leaving a store, and the scanner reads a bar code for roses, it can’t tell whether that bar code is pasted on a sack of manure. Is that how salvation works? If we have a “Jesus’ barcode, does the scanner at the gate of heaven reads “roses” even if we’re just a sack of manure? Yes and no. Yes, God declares us right by crediting Jesus’ goodness to us. But no, he won’t let anyone into heaven who remains sinful and unchanged. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” He changes us and fits us for heaven.

Salvation is more than justification.

FUTURE: in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

• Jesus died not only to forgive your sin but to put you on the path to perfect holiness.

• God accepts, justifies and reconciles you now, as soon as you trust Christ crucified, even though you still have sins to fight.

• Your final future is to stand beside Jesus in the Father’s presence with nothing to be ashamed of, with character as pure as Jesus.

 

A Big IF

•Past: And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

•Present: he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,

•Future: in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

•A big IF: if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.

Just show up at start and finish?

Rosie Ruiz was the first woman across the finish line in the 1980 Boston Marathon, breaking the old 26-mile record. However, she wasn’t coated with sweat or panting hard, like all the others who had run the 26 grueling miles. None of the women running in the front group of women could remember seeing her at all during the race. The women who had been first and second in the latter stages of the race didn’t remember being passed by her. Then two men who had been watching the race said they had seen Rosie Ruiz burst out of a group of spectators half a mile from the finish line. She was disqualified and her medal was taken away. She had not actually run the 26 miles; she had taken the subway from a place near the starting line to a place near the finish line.

Can Christians just get a subway ticket from the starting line to the finish line, without running the race? 

If indeed you continue in the faith

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are cut down, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15:5-6)

Stable and steadfast

stable: well grounded, firmly established on solid foundations

steadfast:  Not blown around by winds of doctrine. Not blown away by troubles.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard

Jesus is the path and the prize. If you leave the path, you lose the prize. Don’t let go of your confidence in the gospel of Jesus.

God appoints the way as well as the end result. God told Paul that everyone aboard would survive a shipwreck. (Acts 27:24) Later Paul said, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 27:31)

 

Shifting: Misguided Appetite

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” (Numbers 11:4-6)

Rejecting God’s daily provision for journey

 

Shifting: Misguided Fear

“Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:2-4)

Rejecting God’s promised inheritance

 

which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven

• Jesus’ ongoing mission of reconciling all things to himself is being carried out in the worldwide proclamation of the gospel.

• A key mark of the true gospel is that it is catholic (small ‘c’). It’s not just a local flavor or a wacky sideshow, but the same message preached in all ages and in all places among all peoples.

 

and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

• Every preacher is a servant (diakonos) of God’s gospel, not an inventor of a new product or a boss with his own authority.

• Accepting Paul’s ministry is accepting Jesus’ gospel.

 

A Big IF

God protects believers from falling away. One way he protects us is by warning us what would happen if we fell away. He is not saying we will fall away. He is keeping us from falling away by stating the result.

“If you walk off the cliff, you will die.”

“If you drink poison, it will kill you.”

He is keeping you in salvation by warning that if you don’t continue to believe the gospel and abide in Christ, you will perish.

 

Your Past, Present, and Future

• Past: And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

• Present: he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,

• Future: in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

• A big IF: if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.