Bible Study on Colossians – Part 7

Paul has established Christ’s supremacy in heaven and then on earth and now in verse 21 and 22 he expands on why and how God did it. Read Colossians 1:21-23:

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

In verse 21 Paul is telling the Colossians that they too had sinned and had fallen short of God’s glory but that now they had accepted what he did for them and they were now holy in God’s sight.

Blameless; Without Blemish
When Paul wrote to the Ephesians he told them also in 1:4:

“He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

It says without blemish. Blemish was a sacrificial term used of animals that were without flaws and therefore worthy of being offered to God. Why should they be without blemish? It is a foreshadow of what is necessary for us.

Do you think Paul was thinking of our personal conduct when he said we would be presented without blemish? When he says, “without blemish” he wasn’t talking about our personal conduct but about our position in Christ. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a life that is without blemish in actual conduct.

God didn’t die for us to make us happy; He died to make us holy. What we do is not as important as why we do it. Why do we go to church? Why do we do good works? Are we God concerned or are we self concerned?

So Paul goes on in verse 23, after saying that they are presented holy in his sight:

“…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.”

Since God was willing to do all of this in love, they should be so grateful that they should respond to that love. They should stand fast in the faith and never abandon the hope of the gospel. The prospect of someday being presented holy shouldn’t lull them into complacency or slackness. Paul assumes that they will continue in the course in which they have begun. What is this saying to us?

In a Nutshell
Here is a condensed version of Colossians 1:21-23: In the beginning man was created to have fellowship with God. He was created without sin. There is no sin unless there is a choice. Adam chose to be disobedient to God. Adam’s disobedience brought sin upon all mankind. Even the earth was cursed because of his sin. Because of Adam’s fall, all are born with a tendency to sin. This separates God and man. This sinful nature makes us enemies of God because we want our own way, to do our own thing, to live our life as we choose. God still wanted fellowship with man so verse 20 it says He decided to bring the whole universe back to himself.

Here is the heart of the Good News or Gospel message: Christ, by offering Himself through death, accepted the curse that was due to us. His death was the basis for the return of sinful men to a position of fellowship with God.

Taking a Closer Look
Verse 21:

“At one time you…” – means us too – were God’s enemies because of things we did and thought. As we think, so do we do. Our thoughts – thinking we are in charge of our lives and wanting to do our own thing – this is rebellion against God.”

Granted, sometimes this “wanting to do our own thing” leads to horrible things in some peoples lives. Gross things like murder and child abuse are just a manifestation of that rebellion that we all have. This is hard to see and accept, isn’t it? But, because of rebellion, we all deserved death – as the sign boards tell us, “The wages of sin is death.”

Verse 22:

But by means of the physical death of His Son, we are now God’s friends. The ultimate aim of this reconciliation is that we will be presented before Him in holiness. This is the final purpose – not the present attainment. This is the beginning, but the perfecting lies ahead. Because of our accepting what Christ did for us, we will be able to stand in the holy presence of God.

Verse 23:

God has also provided the means for this perfecting; it is continued faithfulness. This firm and sure foundation is, of course, Christ the rock. This can and has been twisted to “If God loves me, I can do what I want and He will still love me.”

Suffering for the Gospel
The fact that we are loved, God wants fellowship with us, and has provided a way, does not give us the freedom to do as we like – it gives us the obligation to be worthy of that love. That can be hard too and leads to guilt. With God, what we do is not as important as why we do it. Time, thoughts, talents and treasure – are we God concerned or self centered?

Have you ever had a goal in your life, besides losing weight, which has been compelling enough to make you willing to suffer to reach it? Now we will learn about Paul’s struggle for a goal that had been put before him.

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:24-29).

Remember back in verse 11 when Paul prayed that the Colossians might endure all things with joyfulness? He is now saying that this is his own experience.

Paul was suffering because he was preaching Christ. In verses 21-23 he said they were once far away from God but they heard the gospel and, because of Christ’s death, they were now holy and pure in the sight of God. Paul became a servant of this gospel and he was being persecuted for it.

Paul didn’t rejoice in suffering for suffering’s sake. This wasn’t a self-inflicted penance or pain to gain acceptance with God. This was the suffering that came because of his stand for Christ. He was suffering so that others might be saved. Paul’s sufferings are the reason for his joy. The sufferings Paul endured for the gospel never seem to have been a problem or a sorrow to him.