Alienation and Reconciliation Colossians 1:21-23 By Pastor Dan Kennedy © February 5, 2017 www.pastorkennedy.com Have you ever felt alienated? What causes alienation?  What do you do when you feel alienated from someone?  Humans seem to regard peer acceptance greater than most anything else. If our desired “group” alienates us from their acceptance, it can be very demoralizing to our pride.  If we and our friends love a carnal lifestyle, where does God fit into our lives?  If we are happy with a compulsively corrupt lifestyle, from whom do we automatically alienate ourselves?   If we alienate God, do we feel God has also alienated us?  Can you remember a situation where you felt the most alienated?   Put yourself in God’s place, as One whom we have alienated.   o God created us. He created the universe! He gave us life. o God loves us and sent His Son to die for us. o God sent His Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and transform those who believe in Him, to give them strength to live as they should and serve Him. o Those, instead, who want to do their own thing, have become rebels against His Kingdom. God keeps giving us opportunities again and again to make things right with Him. We know it, but we somehow constantly avoid it.   What happens when we don’t Acknowledge God, or respond honorably to God’s promptings, conviction, or rebuke, because of our sin? o We eventually become calloused against God and do not acknowledge that God is even there, when we keep doing things we know are diametrically opposed to His desires for us. We may not even realize it, but by belligerently continuing in our sin, God can give us over to a “depraved” or “debased” mind (Rom. 1:28). o After a while, doing our own “thing”, we shut Him out, and He lets us perceive we have succeeded in our own devices and understanding. o We become God’s enemy deep inside our minds. o Ironically, we blame Him for anything we don’t like in the world, even though we cannot even acknowledge His presence! o We do things that God despises…things that really hurt Him and we become so calloused and in love with our own sin, we really don’t care what He thinks. We even encourage others to join us in our “Godless” activities. o We keep going deeper into sin even though we know it is blatantly against God. o We continually lie to God – and to others, and believe we can get by with it and will never be held accountable. o We sneak around and try to hide things from others who assume we are good “Christian” people. o With our friends, we act like God never existed, isn’t there and doesn’t care. o We lie to those who believe in God, about our belief in God. o We shove God into the background and deny Him any kind of a decent place in our life. o We use God’s Name in vain more and more. o When we are really upset, we use Jesus’ Name as our most satisfying curse word. o We might have a ping in our conscience about God occasionally, but we force it out of our minds. o If pressed, we might begrudgingly give God something – the dregs, but not the cream. o We accuse God of not loving us if anything comes into our lives that we don’t like…or is not in our own personal best interest. o We seldom realize that trials or “bad things” come into our lives so God can get our attention…for us to change our hearts and our ways; instead, we often criticize God when they come. o We “call out” God if something seriously bad happens to us. We make it totally His fault, but seldom, if ever, give God credit for any blessing from His Hand. o We alienate God and we don’t care. We turn it around on God and say that God alienated us. How Does God React to Carnal People’s Alienation of Him? o How do you think God feels about us when we treat Him so despicably? o What is He supposed to do with us? o Who is alienating whom? Colossians 1:21–23 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. EB = EGM = AG Evil Behavior = Enemies of God in our Minds = Alienation from God. Ephesians 4:18 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. HHG = IGL = DU&SG Hardening of the Heart toward God = Ignorance about God in our Life = Darkened Understanding and Separation from God Evil behavior leads to a hardened Heart toward God. This leads to further ignorance about who God IS and what He is doing, causing animosity and alienation. What means does God often bring those who are alienated from Himself, to bring them back to Himself?  o Conviction by the Holy Spirit because of our sin. o Issues that rise that we are helpless to overcome. o Trials, sickness, and suffering. What is the ultimate threshold that God can bring us to, which sometimes causes us to see reality?   o The verge of Death…the reality of seeing God face to Face…of going to “the other side” and being judged for everything we have done – and being there for eternity. Colossians 1:21–23 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Alienated ἀπαλλοτριόω [apallotrioo /ap·al·lot·ree·o·o/] 1 to alienate, estrange. 2 to be shut out from one’s fellowship and intimacy.[1] Reconciliation The only wise counter to Alienation from God is Reconciliation with God. Reconciliation with God must be on His Terms You cannot be reconciled to God if you do not understand yourself to be a sinner in need of reconciliation with Him. You must seek reconciliation on His terms by accepting the only payment for your sin that He will recognize as legitimate – acknowledging and seeking, by faith, the sinless and Sacrificial death of His Son and His shed blood of atonement as covering for your sin. Colossians 1:21–23 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— Holy in his sight!  Without blemish! and   Free from accusation! AMAZING!  23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Do you think you are unworthy to become “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation?” “But you don’t know what I have done,” you may moan. “I am not worthy!” You are correct. The absolute fact is that No One is worthy. Satan knows that everyone has indefensible guilt before God. The devil and his rebellious hoard can deceitfully “throw the book” at any of God’s Children time and time again, to make them wallow in the emotional despair of their complete unworthiness to be holy before God…unless they see that their righteousness is never based on their own worthiness, in the first place. Satan has been successful gazillions of times, since the beginning of time, of making those seeking God feel overwhelmingly guilty. Can you imagine how guilty Adam and Eve felt for plunging us all into the “superior knowledge of good and evil” and the horrible despair of sin and death? How thankful we are that reconciliation with God, through Christ’s Imputed Righteousness, presents us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation! Let’s understand God’s reconciliation through the direct promises of His Word. “Imputed Righteousness” and “Imputed Negligence” Righteousness is never earned, but only “Imputed” through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is also another legal term called “Imputed Negligence” which makes the person so identified as legally accountable for the negligence of another.[2] Both terms “Imputed Negligence” and “Imputed Righteousness” are legally applied to Jesus Christ, regarding each person who is redeemed by the Sacrificial Redemption of His Shed Blood on the Cross. Christ’s cleansing judicially Justifies us before a Holy God. A caveat with a term like “Imputed Negligence” is that we are not to do wrong in order to have “God’s Grace” extended to us. God’s Hand of blessing can be removed and discipline applied, if we are His Children continuing to do the wrong things – there is always accountability at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 6; Heb. 12:4-11). Romans 3:20–26 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Righteousness Through Faith 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 5:6–11 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Colossians 1:19–20 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Reconciliation of one who is Alienated from God Here is succinct documentation of the preceding verses of the only way a sinful human being can be reconciled to a holy God Colossians 1:22 …He (God) has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…. Romans 3:23-25 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. Romans 5:9-10 …We have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son… Colossians 1:20 20 and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:18–21 18who reconciled us to himself through Christ... Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Is there any other way a sinful person can be eternally Reconciled to a Holy God, other than through accepting God’s provision of the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Alienation and Reconciliation Let’s look again at the main considerations of the Gospel as seen in Colossians 1:21-23. Colossians 1:21–23 Alienation 21 Once you were alienated from God Enemies and were enemies in your minds Evil Behavior because of your evil behavior. Reconciled 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death Holy in His Sight: “Imputed Righteousness” and “Imputed Negligence” to present you holy in his sight, · without blemish and · free from accusation— Personal Accountability (see James 1:6-7; Matt. 7:15-20; Matt. 13:18-23) 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. The Gospel of Reconciliation Proclaimed throughout the World This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Conclusion These passages are amazing when we realize again the profound truths of the Gospel, which brings us from the depth of human depravity and alienation from God, to reconciliation and intimate spiritual fellowship with God! God has provided a way for sinful humankind to believe and to be reconciled to Him, through the shed blood and Sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Those who are reconciled with God have the promise of a transformed life, by the Holy Spirit, and the hope of Eternal Life because of the Imputed Righteousness of His Son! John 3:36 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” 2 Corinthians 5:20b-21 We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [1] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship. [2] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/imputed

Alienation and Reconciliation

Colossians 1:21-23

By Pastor Dan Kennedy

www.pastorkennedy.com

Have you ever felt alienated?

•What causes alienation?
•What do you do when you feel alienated from someone?
•Humans seem to regard peer acceptance greater than most anything else. If our desired “group” alienates us from their acceptance, it can be very demoralizing to our pride.
•If we and our friends love a carnal lifestyle, where does God fit into our lives?
•If we are happy with a compulsively corrupt lifestyle, from whom do we automatically alienate ourselves?
•If we alienate God, do we feel God has also alienated us?
•Can you remember a situation where you felt the most alienated?
•Put yourself in God’s place, as One whom we have alienated.

o God created us. He created the universe! He gave us life.

o God loves us and sent His Son to die for us.

o God sent His Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and transform those who believe in Him, to give them strength to live as they should and serve Him.

o Those, instead, who want to do their own thing, have become rebels against His Kingdom.

•
•God keeps giving us opportunities again and again to make things right with Him. We know it, but we somehow constantly avoid it.

What happens when we don’t Acknowledge God, or respond honorably to God’s promptings, conviction, or rebuke, because of our sin?

o We eventually become calloused against God and do not acknowledge that God is even there, when we keep doing things we know are diametrically opposed to His desires for us.

We may not even realize it, but by belligerently continuing in our sin, God can give us over to a “depraved” or “debased” mind (Rom. 1:28).

o After a while, doing our own “thing”, we shut Him out, and He lets us perceive we have succeeded in our own devices and understanding.

o We become God’s enemy deep inside our minds.

o Ironically, we blame Him for anything we don’t like in the world, even though we cannot even acknowledge His presence!

o We do things that God despises…things that really hurt Him and we become so calloused and in love with our own sin, we really don’t care what He thinks. We even encourage others to join us in our “Godless” activities.

o We keep going deeper into sin even though we know it is blatantly against God.

o We continually lie to God – and to others, and believe we can get by with it and will never be held accountable.

o We sneak around and try to hide things from others who assume we are good “Christian” people.

o With our friends, we act like God never existed, isn’t there and doesn’t care.

o We lie to those who believe in God, about our belief in God.

o We shove God into the background and deny Him any kind of a decent place in our life.

o We use God’s Name in vain more and more.

o When we are really upset, we use Jesus’ Name as our most satisfying curse word.

o We might have a ping in our conscience about God occasionally, but we force it out of our minds.

o If pressed, we might begrudgingly give God something – the dregs, but not the cream.

o We accuse God of not loving us if anything comes into our lives that we don’t like…or is not in our own personal best interest.

o We seldom realize that trials or “bad things” come into our lives so God can get our attention…for us to change our hearts and our ways; instead, we often criticize God when they come.

o We “call out” God if something seriously bad happens to us. We make it totally His fault, but seldom, if ever, give God credit for any blessing from His Hand.

o We alienate God and we don’t care. We turn it around on God and say that God alienated us.

How Does God React to Carnal People’s Alienation of Him?

o How do you think God feels about us when we treat Him so despicably?

o What is He supposed to do with us?

o Who is alienating whom?

Colossians 1:21–23

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

EB = EGM = AG

Evil Behavior = Enemies of God in our Minds = Alienation from God.

Ephesians 4:18

18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

HHG = IGL = DU&SG

Hardening of the Heart toward God =

Ignorance about God in our Life =

Darkened Understanding and Separation from God

Evil behavior leads to a hardened Heart toward God.

This leads to further ignorance about who God IS and what He is doing, causing animosity and alienation.

•What means does God often bring those who are alienated from Himself, to bring them back to Himself?

o Conviction by the Holy Spirit because of our sin.

o Issues that rise that we are helpless to overcome.

o Trials, sickness, and suffering.

•What is the ultimate threshold that God can bring us to, which sometimes causes us to see reality?

o The verge of Death…the reality of seeing God face to Face…of going to “the other side” and being judged for everything we have done – and being there for eternity.

Colossians 1:21–23

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

Alienated

ἀπαλλοτριόω [apallotrioo /ap·al·lot·ree·o·o/]

1 to alienate, estrange. 2 to be shut out from one’s fellowship and intimacy.[1]

Reconciliation

The only wise counter to Alienation from God is Reconciliation with God.

Reconciliation with God must be on His Terms

You cannot be reconciled to God if you do not understand yourself to be a sinner in need of reconciliation with Him. You must seek reconciliation on His terms by accepting the only payment for your sin that He will recognize as legitimate – acknowledging and seeking, by faith, the sinless and Sacrificial death of His Son and His shed blood of atonement as covering for your sin.

Colossians 1:21–23

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

•Holy in his sight!
•Without blemish! and
•Free from accusation!

AMAZING!

23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Do you think you are unworthy to become “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation?”

“But you don’t know what I have done,” you may moan. “I am not worthy!”

You are correct. The absolute fact is that No One is worthy.

Satan knows that everyone has indefensible guilt before God. The devil and his rebellious hoard can deceitfully “throw the book” at any of God’s Children time and time again, to make them wallow in the emotional despair of their complete unworthiness to be holy before God…unless they see that their righteousness is never based on their own worthiness, in the first place. Satan has been successful gazillions of times, since the beginning of time, of making those seeking God feel overwhelmingly guilty. Can you imagine how guilty Adam and Eve felt for plunging us all into the “superior knowledge of good and evil” and the horrible despair of sin and death? How thankful we are that reconciliation with God, through Christ’s Imputed Righteousness, presents us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation!

Let’s understand God’s reconciliation through the direct promises of His Word.

“Imputed Righteousness” and “Imputed Negligence”

Righteousness is never earned, but only “Imputed” through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ.

There is also another legal term called “Imputed Negligence” which makes the person so identified as legally accountable for the negligence of another.[2]

Both terms “Imputed Negligence” and “Imputed Righteousness” are legally applied to Jesus Christ, regarding each person who is redeemed by the Sacrificial Redemption of His Shed Blood on the Cross. Christ’s cleansing judicially Justifies us before a Holy God. A caveat with a term like “Imputed Negligence” is that we are not to do wrong in order to have “God’s Grace” extended to us. God’s Hand of blessing can be removed and discipline applied, if we are His Children continuing to do the wrong things – there is always accountability at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 6; Heb. 12:4-11).

Romans 3:20–26

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 5:6–11

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Colossians 1:19–20

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Reconciliation of one who is Alienated from God

Here is succinct documentation of the preceding verses of the only way a sinful human being can be reconciled to a holy God

Colossians 1:22 …He (God) has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation….

Romans 3:23-25

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Romans 5:9-10

…We have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…

Colossians 1:20

20 and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:18–21

18who reconciled us to himself through Christ...

Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Is there any other way a sinful person can be eternally Reconciled to a Holy God, other than through accepting God’s provision of the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

Alienation and Reconciliation

Let’s look again at the main considerations of the Gospel as seen in Colossians 1:21-23.

Colossians 1:21–23

Alienation

21 Once you were

alienated from God

Enemies

and were enemies in your minds

Evil Behavior

because of your evil behavior.

Reconciled

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death

Holy in His Sight: “Imputed Righteousness” and “Imputed Negligence”

to present you holy in his sight,

· without blemish and

· free from accusation—

Personal Accountability (see James 1:6-7; Matt. 7:15-20; Matt. 13:18-23)

23 if you

continue in your faith,

established and firm,

not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

The Gospel of Reconciliation Proclaimed throughout the World

This is the gospel that you heard and

that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and

of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Conclusion

These passages are amazing when we realize again the profound truths of the Gospel, which brings us from the depth of human depravity and alienation from God, to reconciliation and intimate spiritual fellowship with God!

God has provided a way for sinful humankind to believe and to be reconciled to Him, through the shed blood and Sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Those who are reconciled with God have the promise of a transformed life, by the Holy Spirit, and the hope of Eternal Life because of the Imputed Righteousness of His Son!

John 3:36

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

2 Corinthians 5:20b-21

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

[1] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

[2] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/imputed