04 Peace With God Colossians 1:21-23

Peace With God Colossians 1:21-23

Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=91637

When you think of the word “peace”, what comes to mind? Do you think of tranquil

settings, that relaxing day in the hammock in the back yard under the shade tree? Do you think of the kids being at a babysitter for a few hours?

Maybe peace for you is being out on the lake fishing?

Definitions of peace are: Freedom from war, mental calm, law and order, state of

harmony

How many of us would love to experience these things in our

lives?There are different places and relationships in which we seek

peace.There is peace between countries; there is peace at home, and peace

on the job, just to name a few.

There is one relationship in which being at peace will determine more

than if we are going to end up sleeping on the couch. There is one

relationship in which it benefits us tremendously to be at peace.

If we are not in a peaceful relationship with our creator, we will struggle with experiencing true peace in other areas

of our lives.

There are a multitude of people who are not experiencing peace in their lives because they are at war

with God. Last week we learned that God deemed that all things

are reconciled to Himself through Jesus. We are told in Colossians

1:20 that God made peace with us through the shed blood of Jesus.

I do not think that many people realize how important it is for us to be at peace with God. Many more

do not realize they are not at peace with God because they

consider themselves to be good people. As we look at Colossians

1:21-23 today, we are going to learn some things about the issue

of being at peace with God.

Colossians 1:21 ESV 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.

Why We Need Peace

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing

evil deeds,The first thing we need to

understand is that we have a definite need for peace with God. It is so easy to take God for granted

because we do not see Him or speak to Him as we do people.

Think how easy it is to take your relationship with your spouse or

children for granted, and you can see and speak with them.

When you are dealing with the invisible God, it makes it easy to

neglect our relationship with Him.In our text we are given three reasons why we need to be at peace with God.

These three reasons are shared universally by all of us.

When we look at these reasons on the surface, some would object saying that they did not apply in their case. As we look at these

three reasons why we need to be brought back into a peace-

relationship with God, I hope we will realize how important being at

peace with God is for us.

We were formerly alienatedBefore we give our lives to Jesus, we are alienated from God. This means

that we are separated from or estranged from Him. It is like being separated from someone we were

married to. We start off with a good relationship, and then something

happens to destroy the relationship. In our relationship with God, our sin is

the one we cheat on God with.

Ephesians 2:1 ESV And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience

— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the

rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great

love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our

trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace

you have been saved—

Until you are immersed into Christ you are still alienated from God. In

verse 20, we are told that the blood of Jesus is where we find

our peace with God. Until you put on Christ, you are alienated from

Him, the relationship is one of being separated from Him.

Galatians 3:27 ESV For as many of you as were baptized into Christ

have put on Christ.

The second reason we NEED to re-establish peace with God is:

Our minds werehostile toward God

When we think of this point, how many of us would readily admit

that before we came to Christ, that our minds were hostile toward

God? What this is saying is that we were strangers to God’s ways of thinking and as a result of that,

we lead a life of sin.

What you think and what you believe is important because thoughts lead

to actions. This hostility can manifest itself in outright rebellion against God to the subtle ways we ignored God in our everyday lives.

Wrong theology leads to wrong living. If you do not believe me, look at the Muslim extremists; look at the

cults that have ruined the lives of many.

Romans 8:7 ESV For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Our minds set us against God.The third reason we need to

re-establish peace with God is:

We were engaged in evil deeds

This sounds harsh doesn’t it? What are evil deeds? What comes to mind when you think of evil deeds? In Romans 1:18-32, there is a pretty good list of some of the

extreme forms of evil.Romans 1:18 ESV For the wrath of God is

revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,

who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God

has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his

eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or

give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man

and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to

impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the

truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature

rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this

reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed

with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves

the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what

ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of

unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are

full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.

They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,

boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to

die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice

them.

There are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of

Satan.Everything that we do that is in

opposition to God is considered an evil deed. It is not just the extreme cases we

tend to ease our minds with. An evil deed is ANYTHING that stands in opposition to

what God has told us.The mind set on the flesh leads to deeds

of the flesh.

James says if you break 1 law you’re guilty of the entire Law.James 2:10 ESV For whoever

keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become

accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, "Do not commit

adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit

adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

There is a great truth here which is both relevant and practical. We may put it much more simply. A

man may be in nearly all respects a good man; and yet he may spoil himself by one fault. He may be moral in his action, pure in his

speech, meticulous in his devotion.

But he may be hard and self-righteous; rigid and

unsympathetic; and, if so, his goodness is spoiled.

We do well to remember that, though we may claim to have done

many a good thing and to have resisted many an evil thing, there may be something in us by which

everything is spoiled. (DSB)

Why We Can Receive Peace

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, Can we just stand before God

when it is all said and done and negotiate our own terms of peace

with Him?

Can we dictate to God what He will and will not accept as far as terms

for being at peace with Him are concerned? Can we pay for our

peace with Him? Can we tell God right now that He is going to be at peace with us now on our terms?

We need to realize a couple of things concerning receiving peace

with God.

It is a gift from God

The peace we can have with God is a gift given to us from God. He is the gift-giver. He is the one who sets the terms and makes the offer

to us.Romans 6:23 ESV For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus

our Lord.

God does not want to be at war with you, He wants to be in a

peaceful relationship with you. Until you have experienced it, you cannot imagine how good life is

when you are right with God, when you are in a peaceful relationship

with Him!We also need to realize:

The gift was paid forby the death of Jesus

Verse 22 tells us that we were reconciled to God through the

death of Jesus. You did not purchase your gift so you cannot dictate the terms of acceptance. Jesus paid it all as the old hymn

reminds us!

How Peace With GodBenefits Us

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,There are many benefits to being at peace with God. Here are just

four of them.

Peace allows usto stand before God

Since we are sinners, we cannot stand before God on our own

accord, we need to be in a right relationship with God so that we

can stand before Him. We can only do this if we are covered by the

blood of Jesus!

To “present” means to “place before, or entrust.” Because of

Jesus, we have been placed before Jesus. We will not get run

off by security. Try to see the President without an appointment

and see what happens. Try to stand before God on your own and

see what happens.

Ephesians 5:27 ESV so that he might present the church to

himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that

she might be holy and without blemish.

Peace with God makes us holy

When you belong to God, you are something special, you have a special purpose. Holy, in this

context means to set aside to be dedicated to God.

1 Peter 1:14 ESV As obedient children, do not be conformed to

the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all

your conduct, 16 since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am

holy."

Peace with Godmakes us blameless

We are perfect in the eyes of God. God’s grace takes up the slack for us. God sees us through the blood

of Jesus. Blameless means that accusations just roll off us.

Through Jesus, in God’s eyes, we are without blemish!

Philippians 2:14 ESV Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked

and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the

world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in

vain or labor in vain.

Peace with Godmakes us above reproach

Above reproach goes beyond blameless. It means not only that we are without blemish, but also that no one can bring a charge

against us. (cf. Rom. 8:33)

Satan, the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), cannot make a charge stick against those whom Christ

has reconciled.

Romans 8:33 ESV Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It

is God who justifies.

How We Are ToMaintain Peace

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.

Most every gift needs to be maintained. Being in a peaceful

relationship with God is no different. Here are three things we

need to do in order to maintain peace with God.

We are to continuein our faith

To “continue” means to abide in. If we want to stay in a peaceful

relationship with God, we cannot forsake our faith. We are never

given vacations from God.John 8:31 ESV So Jesus said to

the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are

truly my disciples,

We are to remain established and steadfast

in our faith

We need to grow in Christ and know why we believe what we

believe. We need to stand firm in our faith, we cannot fall under

pressure all the time.

We are to cling on to the hope of the Gospel

What are you clinging to for the future? We need to believe in the promises of scripture; we need to

place our hope and faith in the Word of God!

Conclusion

When we are at war with God, it will affect every other area in our

life in a bad way.

A right relationship with God is the foundation for everything else we

do in life.

When you accept Jesus, you are telling God that you are

surrendering your life to Him on His terms!

Are you ready to be at peace with God?