He Did It All By Himself

“HE DID IT ALL BY HIMSELF”

Colossians 1.20-23

Religion is a huge business here in Southern California. Some of the most profitable enterprises one can get into in Southern California is the religion game.

Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, who had formerly been a science fiction writer, once said that religion is where the real money is. Interesting.

One of the reasons so many people are interested in religion is because the religion presented to them most often is a false religion. You can offer the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ to a man on the street, and he will most likely reject such a notion because it just can’t be that simple.

People like to work for their salvation. They like to earn the favor of God as a means by which eternal life is granted. It gratifies their ego. Folks imagine that nothing is worth anything if it is free to them, ignoring the reality that the cost of offering salvation freely was the death on the cross of the eternal Son of the living God.

I heard a man say once that if you broadcast over television, the way to get to heaven was by crawling up a tree feet first, there wouldn’t be bark on a single tree in the state. That statement is almost true. It appeals to the sinful pride of people to think that they can earn God’ s salvation. Others moderate this position by saying you can’t earn salvation, but you have to help God keep you saved. Both parties are wrong.

Our Church needs to renew our effort to cry out to a lost world that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to earn salvation. This is true for two reasons; #1, The human race is incapable of doing anything pleasing to God in their lost condition, and #2, All that is necessary to provide for the salvation of sinners has already been accomplished.

This second reason will be the subject of this message from God’s Word, entitled “He did it all by Himself.” Jesus Christ performed all the necessary work to provide for the salvation of those who will be saved. The apostle makes two disclosures that show this to be true in the passage we will consider, Colossians 1.20-23:

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.

Two disclosures showing that Jesus performed all the necessary work for the salvation of a sinner:

First, IN THE FORM OF A GENERAL DISCLOSURE

Verse 20:

“And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Let me share with you my breakdown of this verse. We will look at what was done, why it was done, when it was done, how was it done, for who was it done, and by whom was it done?

The first question we will answer is What Was Done? The first phrase describes exactly what was done. Peace was made.

“And, having made peace”

What does it mean the phrase “having made peace?” The single Greek word is eἰrhnopoiέw, from the word for peace and the word for do. Reflect with me about this matter of making peace. Doesn’t the absence of peace suggest the presence of uneasiness, if not hostility? We know that before a person is saved there is no peace between that individual and Almighty God, Romans 5.10. The unsaved person is subject to the wrath of God unless he is saved. To make peace is to provide the conditions whereby a state of war no longer exists.

The second question we will answer is Why Was It Done?

“to reconcile all things unto Himself.”

What does it mean to reconcile all things unto Himself? The word reconcile translates ἀpokatallάssw, meaning to change from one condition to another to remove all enmity and leave no impediment to unity and peace, to exchange hostility for friendship.[1] Jesus then accomplished the task of reuniting the sinner who was formerly estranged from God to a relationship of fellowship with God. Jesus did this thing!

The third question is, When Was This Done? I might have already given my answer away to you simply by asking When Was This Done? But a theological question exists in the Christian community with respect to the proper answer to this question. Was this done in the past? Or is this to be done in the future? Notice the phrase in verse 20, “having made peace.” This appears to be past tense, but such a tense does not exist in Greek. Eἰrhnopoiέw is a form of a Greek verb called a participle, specifically an aorist participle. An aorist participle refers to a completed action before the action of the main verb it is used to modify.[2] Meaning? Whatever was done to enable God to reconcile lost sinners to Himself was accomplished in the past. I think John 19.30 gives us a clue as to the when:

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, ‘IT IS FINISHED’ and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.”

Hebrews 7.27 describes what Jesus did as our Great High Priest to provide for our salvation:

“Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”

Salvation was provided, beloved, as a result of the work of Christ accomplished almost 2000 years ago. There is nothing that yet remains for us to do except to believe by faith, with the faith the Spirit of God (Second Corinthians 4.13) gives (Ephesians 2.8) through the preaching of God’s Word (Romans 10.17).

I know what was done (peace was made), why it was done (to effect reconciliation), and I know when it was done (on the cross, 2000 years ago). Now I want to know How It Was Done. Did Jesus provide for my salvation by living a perfect, sinless life? No, though He did live a perfect, sinless life. By suffering the death of a martyr for a just cause? No, though He did suffer death for a just cause. The question How Was It Done? is answered by the phrase “through the blood of His cross.” God was offended by humanity’s fall, and His holiness is offended by our rebellious and depraved condition. For Jesus to accomplish the peace-making from the reconciliation described in response to How Was It Done? Jesus suffered the punishment for those crimes. The crimes deserved death, and death was the verdict. The execution took place, except that there was a stand-in. Jesus took sinners’ places on the cross for us. He shed His blood so that we might not have to.

The fifth question is, For Whom Was It Done? You and I might find our way to answer this question by asking for whom peace was established? Who was reconciled to God? The answer provided by the apostle in verse 20 reads

“to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Does this mean that everyone is saved, or will everyone be saved? Certainly not. The Bible reveals that many will not trust Christ. And many more will claim to know the Savior, but have a false hope, Matthew 7.22-23:

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Then, what does this mean? Romans 5.1:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Salvation is procured for the elect, and the elect will be saved because they will be given faith in Jesus Christ, Ephesians 2.8:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

What is the practical outworking of all this to benefit you in a personal way? Coming to grips with the fact that you are dead in trespasses and sins, condemned in the sight of God for your sins, there is a state of war between you and God, and you are estranged from Him. For peace to break out between you and God, for reconciliation to be realized, you must come to faith in Christ and receive Him as your personal Savior. Though all are provided the opportunity to be saved, most will reject the only provision for salvation, Jesus Christ.

The last question is straightforward, but many people give little thought to the question, By Whom Was It Done?

“And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Who did all this saving work? Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. He did not and could not get any help from me. I wasn’t born yet. He did not and could not get help from His mother, Mary. She wasn’t on the cross. She watched from the ground and shed not one drop of her blood for me. The Savior did not get any help from any priest offering an unbloody sacrifice.[3] We’ve already established that this work of Jesus was done and finished long before the unbloody sacrifice was even dreamed up. He didn’t get any help from even His Father. He cried out,

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

If God the Father did not need to help Him or could not help Him, why on earth should I believe He needed anyone’s help? Jesus paid it all! All to Him I owe.

Then, IN THE FORM OF A SPECIFIC DISCLOSURE

Paul related Jesus Christ’s work to the Colossian Church member’s experience.

Verses 21-23:

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

First, there was a period of alienation. This is true in the life of every human being who has ever lived. We are born aliens toward God, a fact the late Billy Graham’s wife did not recognize when she insisted that she had always been a Christian in response to someone asking her when she became a believer in Christ. This alienation is not merely neutral strangers to God. It consists of being enemies of God in our minds. But it doesn’t stop there. As a man thinketh so is he. Someone can only behave in a manner that reflects his mind and heart. This alienation was caused by the fall of Adam. It means that all are born lost and bound for Hell unless they experience the salvation that is found only in Jesus Christ.

Next comes the reconciliation. The work was performed on the cross. That was Jesus reconciling. When an individual is saved, that work is applied to him. He is then reconciled. Notice that even when it regards the salvation of each person, reconciliation is always past tense. Jesus did it. Nothing remains to be done. Notice also in the first part of verse 22 that Paul once again reemphasized the death of Christ as the necessary event in his requirement for reconciliation. Plus nothing, minus nothing.

After reconciliation comes expectation. This is a description of me. Not that I’m holy, unblameable, or irreprovable, but that I’m waiting to be presented to my Father by the Lord Jesus Christ. That will happen following the Rapture. The words holy, unblameable, and irreprovable are descriptions of the believer who has been saved. This doesn’t mean the believer acts or thinks he is these three things, but that is the Father’s view of us when He looks at us through the precious blood of Jesus.

Expectation is followed by continuation, even though both things occur simultaneously in our lives. The if in verse 23 is not a word of doubt or uncertainty but a word of reason which means since or because. Paul is describing the behavior of a real Christian. Notice his similarity to James. Those who claim to be believers will act like believers over the long haul, is what Paul is saying. Grounded refers to our foundation, which can only be Jesus Christ. Settled means that we are sitting down. No longer running around looking for man’s way to heaven, which is doomed to failure, but resting in the salvation provided by God. Be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. The hope is the soon return of Christ. This is the blessed hope. Paul doesn’t want these Colossians to give up that hope for something less.

Last but not least is evangelization. This is the way God extends the offer of eternal life to a lost mankind. This is the way the Colossians were saved. This should be a description of activities. Which ye heard describes what the Colossians experienced. The way they were saved was by Paul going and preaching to every creature which is under heaven. Even though Paul did not win them to Christ, he stated they were saved as a result of his preaching? How? A man Paul reached had in turn reached the Colossians. Folks, this is what it’s all about.

Paul has taught us many things in this short passage of Scripture.

He pointed out how the Colossians were aliens from God.

He pointed out how the Colossians were reconciled to God.

How the Colossians were expectant of the soon return of Christ.

Continuing in their Christian life proved their salvation.

Finally, how they were saved, Paul’s preaching.

But the most important thing Paul taught was the first thing we covered. Our salvation was wrought by the death of Christ and the shedding of His precious blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.

Have you taken this salvation to be your own? Or are you trying to help God save you?

__________

[1] Rogers, Jr., Cleon L. and Rogers III, Cleon L., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1998), page 461.

[2] Ray Summers, Essentials of New Testament Greek, (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1950), page 94.

[3] An allusion to the Roman Catholic Church’s sacrifice of the Mass conduct by a priest.

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