The Aim of Reconciliation (Col. 1:22b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/3/2017 11:05 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Aim of Reconciliation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:22b

            Message of the verses:  “in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”

            In my study of the gospel of John I am finishing up chapter 16 and chapters 13b-16 we see Jesus preparing His disciples for what Jesus was about to do, and that was go to the cross where reconciliation will take place, and so Paul in this section of Colossians is reminding those in the Colossian church about reconciliation in order to show them who Jesus Christ is to tear apart the beliefs of the heretics who were saying that Jesus is not God come in the flesh.

            God has an ultimate goal in reconciliation which is seen in this last part of verse 22, and that goal is to present the bride of Christ to God holy and blameless and also beyond reproach for that is the only way we will be able to be with God for He is perfect and so we too have to have that kind of perfection to be in His presence.  Paul gives similar words to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”  Jude 24 says “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” 

            John Macarthur talks about three words in his commentary and gives the Greek word that is translated and the first one is “holy” Ohagios) and this means “to be separated from sin and set apart to God.  It has to do with the believer’s relationship with Him.  As a result of a faith union with Jesus Christ, God sees Christians as holy as His Son.”  In Ephesians 1:4 we read “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”  We read that God chose us to be holy and blameless before Him and to be that is to be holy.  Paul writes in a very wonderful verse: 2 Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  The great exchange is seen here so that former sinful believers have now made this great exchange of being sinful to becoming righteous through what Christ did on our behalf.

            “Blameless” (amomos) “means without blemish.  It was used in the Septuagint to speak of sacrificial animals (Num. 6:14).  It is used in the New Testament to refer to Christ as the spotless Lamb of God (Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19).” 

            “Beyond reproach (anegkletos) “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.”

            What a wonderful Savior we have who took our place on the cross in order for us to be reconciled to God and He to us as we have learned.

2/3/2017 11:26 PM  

PT-3 "The Means of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20b,22a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/2/2017 8:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-3 The Means of Reconciliation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20b, 22a

            Message of the verses:  “having made peace through the blood of His cross…He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death”

            We have been talking about the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Bible states in verse 20b which has made our peace through His blood, and have made mention that it is not literally the blood, but the blood being a symbol which speaks of the awful death that He died on the cross.  Let us now look at Romans 5:9-10,

            “9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

            Notice the highlighted sections in these verses as one speaks of the blood while the other speaks of the death of His Son.  MacArthur writes “The critical element in salvation is the sacrificial death of Christ on our behalf.  The shedding of His blood was the visible manifestation of His being poured out in sacrifice, and Scripture consistently uses the term ‘shedding of blood’ as a metonym for atoning death.  (A metonym is a figure of speech in which the part is used to represent or designate the whole.)”

            He goes on to write “Bloodshed was God’s design for all Old Testament sacrifices.  They were bled to death rather than clubbed or burnt.  God designed that life being poured out (‘the life of the flesh is in the blood’).  Nevertheless, those who were too poor to bring animals for sacrifices were allowed to bring one-tenth of an ephah (about two quarts) of fine flour instead (Lev. 5:11).  Their sins were covered just as surely as the sins of those who could afford to offer a lamb, goat, turtledove, or pigeon (Lev. 5:6-7).  Christ’s blood was precious—but as precious as it was, only when it was poured out in death could the penalty of sin be paid.”

            There is only one major group to insist that the application of the blood is literal which is the Roman Catholic Church.  It was the death, the difficult and painful death of Christ that has paid for our sins, for as earlier mentioned in another SD there is not enough of Christ’s blood to be applied to all believers, for Christ did not even bleed out when He died as once His sacrifice was complete He was the One who caused His death as He had said earlier that no one takes His life, and no one did but Him for as mentioned Christ came to do the Father’s will which was His being payment for those who had and will accept His sacrifice for payment for their sins.

            Now only did Christ die as a sacrifice, but also as a substitute.  Christ not only died for us, but He died in our place so when we sin after being saved God looks at what Christ did for us as a sacrifice and a substitute and we are not condemned because of that.  Romans 8:3-4 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  “He condemned sin in the flesh.” “He took the place of sinners, dying a substituionary death that paid the full penalty for the sin of all who believe.”  We know that this death satisfied the Father because Christ was raised from the dead. 

            What we see here is not only Biblical truth, but Paul was also using it to hammer away at the false teaching of the heretics, the ones who were trying to make Christ a split being.  Paul argues and insists the He died as a man for men, and if this was not true then there would be no reconciliation possible.

2/2/2017 8:42 PM

PT-2 "The Means of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20b-22a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/1/2017 10:40 PM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:   PT-2 “The Means of Reconciliation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20b, 22a

            Message of the verses:  “having made peace through the blood of His cross…He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death”

            We ended up in our last SD speaking about the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ and what it means, and so we want to continue this discussion in our SD for today.

            I have actually heard some strange things about the blood of Jesus as far as was it a certain type that no one has ever had, things like this, but there really is nothing mystical about His blood.  The blood of Christ saves us only in the sense that “His death was the sacrificial death of the final Lamb.  It was that death that reconciled us to God (Rom. 5:10)” writes John MacArthur.

            The blood of Christ is applied to the believer in a symbolic way, and not some magical or mystical way.  This is done by faith and it is similar in the way we see Jesus Christ by faith.

            In the Old Testament the blood was applied in the Holy of Holies on the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement which symbolized that God had forgiven the sins of Israel for that past year, as I believe in the spiritual calendar this was the first day of the week.  We know physically that the blood of Jesus is not applied to believers, but as mentioned in a symbolic way.  If this would happen writes John MacArthur “Otherwise we will wind up with an obviously unbiblical doctrine like transubstantiation to explain how literal blood can be applied to all believers for salvation.”

            In John 6:53-54 Jesus states “53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  The physical integration of the blood of Jesus being physically applied to us cannot apply to a passage like this one. 

            So what happened to the blood of Jesus?  Well it actually ran into the dust of the earth around where He was crucified so it was not collected in any way, shape, or form so there is no way that the actual blood of Christ could be applied to all of us, so all of must understand that the sprinkling of the blood of Christ as far as the New Testament application is symbolic.

            John MacArthur writes “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness’ (Heb. 9:22).  I affirm that truth and have never denied it.  But the ‘shedding of blood’ in Scripture is an expression that means much more than just bleeding.  It refers to a violent sacrificial death.  If just bleeding could buy salvation, why did’t Jesus simply bleed without dying?  Of course, He had to die to be the perfect sacrifice, and without His death our redemption could not have been purchased by His blood.”

We will pick up from this point in our next SD.

2/1/2017 11:07 PM

PT-1 "The Means of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20b-22a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2017 10:55 PM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT -1 “The Means of Reconciliation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20b, 22a

            Message of the verses:  “having made peace through the blood of His cross…He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death.”

            I may have mentioned this before and may not have mentioned it before, anyway when I was a rather young believer the first Pastor that I had talked about verse twenty and said that it is the only verse in the entire Bible that has both peace and blood in it.  Now according to John MacArthur “blood speaks metaphorically of His atonement.  It connects Christ’s death with the Old Testament sacrificial system (cf. 1 Pet. 1:18-19). ‘18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.’  It is also a term that graphically notes violent, blood-shedding death the final sacrificial Lamb would suffer.”  Let us look at Hebrews 13:11-12 “11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

            As we compare the death of Jesus with the death of the Old Testament animal sacrifices we know that the OT sacrifices would bleed to death, but that is not the case with our Lord as we can see from John 10:17-18,

            “17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."”

            I know that I have told this story in earlier SD’s but it is worth telling again.  The very first time that we hear Jesus speak through the pages of Scripture comes from the gospel of Luke and this happens when Jesus is left behind after a Passover celebration in Jerusalem.  Mary and Joseph though He was with someone else and did not discover He was “lost” from their family until the caravan they were traveling in was gone from Jerusalem a couple of days.  They hurried back to Jerusalem and finally found Him in the temple talking to some of the spiritual leaders of Israel.  They were amazed that someone 12 years old knew so much.  His mother was upset because they looked long and hard for Him.  He said to his mom “Didn’t you know that I would be about My Father’s business.”  The last thing that we hear Jesus say is “it is finished.”  The business of the Father that He sent Him to do was finished, which was the reconciliation of those who would believe in Him for their salvation.  The Greek word for “it is finished” means “paid in full,” and that is exactly what Jesus did through His death on the cross, pay in full the payment that was required for sin. 

            Now in our next SD from this section we will look more at the blood of Christ.

1/31/2017 11:15 PM

PT-3 "The Plan of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2017 10:56 PM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-43“The Plan of Reconciliation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Colossians 1:20-21

            Message of the verses:  “20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,”

            We want to begin by looking at the phrase “Hostile in mind,” this evening.  The Greek word for “hostile” is Echitros and according to John MacArthur this word could very well be translated as “hateful.”  Unbelievers are both hatful of God in their attitudes, but they are also hateful of God by their attitude.  We can go back to the first murder recorded in the Bible to see that Cain hated God as he resented God’s holy standards.  Cain knew what offering to bring to God but refused to do so because He did not agree with what God wanted him to bring thus He hated not only God but His standards.  By doing this we can plug in the last part of verse 21 for him which states “engaged in evil deeds.”  That is exactly what Cain did as he killed his brother Able.  Unbelievers love the darkness rather than loving the light and they do this because their deeds are evil.  “19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:19-20).”  The problem with unbelievers is not that they are ignorant but they willfully love sin. 

            “21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them (Romans 1:21-24).”

            Let us look at Romans 1:18-19

            “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

            John MacArthur writes “The question arises as to whether man is reconciled to God, or God to man.  There is a sense in which both occur.  Since ‘the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God’ (Rom. 8:8), reconciliation cannot take place until man is transformed.  ‘Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ’ (2 Cor. 5:17-18).”

            As I look at the attributes of God, one of them that certainly is needed in our salvation, our being reconciled to God has to be His wisdom.  We have a Holy God who is angry with sin and we read “the wages of sin is death,” but we also have a Holy God who loves man “For God so loved the world.”  The story is told of a man who was a judge and into his courtroom came his guilty son, who committed a crime.  The father loved his son, but the father, being a judge also had to uphold the law.  He pronounces his son guilty and then says that he will take off his robe and go to jail to serve his son’s punishment.  Basically that is what God did for us to take care of what we humans would call a dilemma in order to satisfy His wrath and love along with He being just. 

            Ephesians 2:16 tells us “and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”  This tells us that Christ’s death on the cross reconciled us to God. John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “In Romans 5:6-10, Paul gives four reasons for that.  First, lack of strength:  ‘we were still helpless’ (v. 6).  Second, lack of merit:  we were ‘the ungodly’ (v. 6).  Third, lack of righteousness: ‘we were yet sinners’ (v. 8).  Finally, lack of peace with God:  ‘we were enemies’ (v. 10).  It is only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ that anyone can receive reconciliation (v. 11).”

            For that we are blessed beyond measure!

1/30/2017 11:24 PM

PT-2 "The Plan of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2017 9:09 PM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-3 “The Plan of Reconciliation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20-21

            Message of the verses:  “20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds (ESV).”

            We have been talking about Jesus Christ reconciling all things to Himself, making things in the Millennial Kingdom similar to what they were when the earth was created, including animals, and also the universe.  We have also spoken about that everything will be reconciled when the Lord creates the new heaven and the new earth, along with the new Jerusalem which is talked about in Revelation 20:10-15.  This all happens after the Great White Throne judgments and the destruction or maybe better stated the un-creation of the universe, including the earth.  Satan was also mentioned and John MacArthur has the following to say about him and the reconciliation:  “On the other hand, there is a sense in which even fallen angels and unredeemed men will be reconciled to God for judgment—but only in the sense of submitting to Him for final sentencing.  Their relationship to Him will change from that of enemies to that of the judged.  They will be stripped of their power and forced to bow in submission to God.  Paul writes in Colossians 2:15 that after Christ ‘disarmed the rulers and authorities [fallen angels], He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them.’  Because of Christ’s victory, ‘the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet’ (Rom. 16:20).  And ‘at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth’ (Phil 2:10).  God has elevated Christ to a position above all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God ‘raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.  And He put all things in subjection under His feet’ (Eph. 1:21-22).

            “Through the sacrifice of Christ, God made provision for the world (cf. John 3:16; 1 John 2:2), all persons will not be reconciled to God in the saving sense of being redeemed.  The benefits of Christ’s atonement are applied only to the elect, who alone come to saving faith in Him.”

            I can honestly say that I did not realize the scope of reconciliation extended to all these things that we have been looking at and am thankful to learn it.  All of these things we have been looking at are what could be called God’s general plan to reconcile all things to Him.  We will see that Paul is going to talk about specific reconciliation of believers like those he is writing to, the Colossian church, as their reconciliation foreshadowed the ultimate reconciliation of the universe. 

            To accomplish this and to impress on them Christ’s power to reconcile men to God we will see that Paul reminds the Colossians of what they were before their reconciliation.  Every believer who is truly a born-again believer can take a moment to remember what they were like before they came to know Christ as their Savior and Lord.  As for myself for many years before the Lord saved me my mouth was a great problem as I could not hardly say a sentence with using a cuss word, taking the Lord’s name in vain, but once I was reconciled to God and He to me He took that away from me.  Yes there are still other things I have to trust the Lord to give me victory over, but once saved my mouth became clean from taking the Lord’s name in vain.

            Paul tells the Colossians that they were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds.  MacArthur writes “Apallotrioo (alienated) means ‘estranged, ‘cut off,’ or ‘separated.’”  The Colossians like all believers before they become saved were completely estranged from God, and a similar passage is seen in Ephesians 2:12-13 “12  remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  You either a born-again believer or not, heading for heaven or heading for hell “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him’ (John 3:36).”

            I mentioned that this section was going to take a while to get through, but hopefully we will gleam many truths from it and that will draw us closer to the Lord and bring glory to His name.

1/29/2017 9:41 PM

PT-2 "The Plan of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2017 8:13 PM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-2 “The Plan of Reconciliation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20-21

            Message of the verses:  “20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds (NASB95).”  “20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. 21 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got (Message).” “20 and through him God planned to reconcile to his own person everything on earth and everything in Heaven, making peace by virtue of Christ’s death on the cross. 21 And you yourselves, who were strangers to God, and, in fact, through the evil things you had done, his spiritual enemies, he has now reconciled (Philips).”

            We have talked about animals and the universe being changed during the Millennial kingdom because of what we see in verse 20 that is reconciling all things to Himself.”  Now we can look at some verses that speak of the tremendous, dramatic changes that will mark the reconciliation of the world to God.  First we will look at Romans 8:21 “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  God and the creation will be reconciled to God from the curse that He made when Adam and Eve sinned, but during the Millennial Kingdom it will be removed.  Peter writes about the universe being made new during the Millennial Kingdom:  “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”  After the earth is burned with fire along with the entire universe God will make a new heaven and a new earth, and perhaps that is what Peter had in mind, but during the Millennial Kingdom things on earth will surely be changed too.  Revelation 21:1 states “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

            The Lord will make everything new as we have seen.

            Paul is taking aim at the false philosophical dualism which is a part of the Colossian heretics in these verses as they were teaching that all matter was evil and the spirit was good.  They did not think that God created the physical universe, I guessed they must have missed reading the first chapter of the Old Testament.  Some people at that time as today like to pick and choose what they want to believe from the pages of Scripture, and some choose to believe none of it.  Paul is stating that God will reconcile the material world to Himself which shoots a whole in what these heretics believed.  God is going to do this reconciliation and will do it through His Son, Jesus Christ as He is the agent through which God will accomplish the reconciliation of the universe.  John MacArthur quotes the German theologian Erich Sauer who comments,

            “The offering on Golgotha extends its influence into universal history.  The salvation of mankind is only one part of the world-embracing counsels of God…The ‘heavenly things’ also will be cleansed through Christ’s sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:23).  A ‘cleansing’ of the heavenly places is required if on no other ground than that they have been the dwelling of fallen spirits (Eph. 6:12; 2:2), and because Satan, their chief, has for ages had access to the highest regions of the heavenly world…the other side becomes this side; eternity transfigures time and this earth, the chief scene of the redemption, becomes the Residence of the universal kingdom of God. (The Triumph of the Crucified)”

            Now I have to say that some have mistakenly imagined ‘all things’ to include fallen men and fallen angels.  John MacArthur writes that this “they overlook a fundamental rule of interpretation, the analogia Scriptura.  That principle teaches that no passage of Scripture, properly interpreted, will contradict any other passage.  When Scripture interpret Scripture, it is clear that by all things Paul means all things for whom reconciliation is possible.  That fallen angels and unregenerate mean will spend eternity in hell is the emphatic teaching of Scripture.” Jesus said in Matthew 42, 46 “41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

            We will end this SD with a quote from the apostle John where he writes the following in Revelation 20:10-15,

                        And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

1/28/2017 8:49 PM

 

PT-1 "The Plan of Reconciliation" (Col. 1:20-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2017 12:22 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-1 The Plan of Reconciliation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:20-21

            Message of the verses:  “20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,”  “20  Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. 21 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got (Message).”

            This section will take us a few Spiritual Diaries to look at.  I used the Message paraphrased Bible to help us understand what these verses mean, and so we can see from these verses that God’s ultimate plan for the universe is to reconcile all things to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ.  As we go back to the first chapter of Genesis we see that after God had created everything in six days, and on the sixth day He created man He said that after He saw what He created, what He had made, He said “and behold, it is very good (Gen. 1:31).”  Now the problem is that shortly after that sin entered as man fell and disobeyed God resulting in God cursing the earth and also the entire universe along with mankind passing on this Adamic nature through the male to everyone who is born, thus causing the mess that we see in the world today.  Romans chapter eight tells us more “19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now (Romans 8:19-22).”

            We now live in a cursed world headed up by Satan as he is both “the god of this world’ (2 Cor. 4:4), and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).  MacArthur adds “The devastating effects of the curse and satanic influence will reach a terrifying climax in the events of the Tribulation.  Some of the various bowl, trumpet, and seal judgments are demonic, others represent natural phenomena gong wild as God lets loose His wrath.  At the culmination of that time of destruction and chaos, Christ returns and sets up His kingdom.  During His millennial reign, the effects of the curse will begin to be reversed.  The Bible gives us a glimpse of what the restored creation will be like.”

            Here are some of those dramatic changes that will take place in the animal world as seen in Isaiah 11:6-9 and Isaiah 65:25.

            “6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

            “25 “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.”

Isaiah 24:23; 30:26; and 60:19-20 shows us more changes, and this time in the solar system.

            23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.

            “26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

            “19  "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. 20 “Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over.”

1/28/2017 12:45 AM

 

           

Intro to "Reconciled to God" (Col. 1:20-23)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2017 11:18 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Intro to “Reconciled to God”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Colossians 1:20-23

            Message of the verses:  “20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach- 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

            Before I begin this introduction for our Spiritual Diary I have to say that 43 years ago this very day that I was reconciled to God and God was reconciled to me through the blood of the cross and that is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.

            We begin to look a bit at the introduction to what is the fifth chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on Colossians which he entitled “Reconciled to God.”  And the first thing we must do is to talk about the word “reconcile.”  Reconcile is one of the most significant and descriptive terms that we will find in all of Scripture and now we must look at five key words that are used in the New Testament to describe the richness of our salvation which is in Jesus Christ alone.  Those five key words are Justification, Redemption, Forgiveness and Adoption and of course Reconciliation.

            John MacArthur writes the following:  “In justification, the sinner stands before God guilty and condemned, but is declared righteous (Rom. 8:33).  In redemption, the sinner stands before God as a slave, but is granted his freedom (Rom. 6:18-22).  In forgiveness, the sinner stands before God as a debtor, but the debt is paid and forgotten (Eph. 1:7).  In reconciliation, the sinner stands before God as an enemy, but becomes His friend (2 Cor. 5:18-20).  In adoption, the sinner stands before God as a stranger, but is made a son (Eph. 1:5).  A complete understanding of the doctrine of salvation would involve a detailed study of each of those terms.  In Colossians 1:20-23, Paul gives a concise look at reconciliation.

            “The verb katallasso (‘to reconcile’) means ‘to change’ or ‘exchange.’  Its New testament usage speaks of a change in relationship.  In 1 Corinthians 7:11 it refers to a woman being reconciled to her husband.  In its other two New Testament usages, Romans 5:10, and 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, it speaks of God and man being reconciled.  When people change from being at enmity with each other to being at peace, they are said to be reconciled.  When the Bible speaks of reconciliation, then, it refers to the restoration of a right relationship between God and man.”

            In this letter to the Colossians Paul uses another term for reconcile – apokatallasso.  Now this is a compound word that has a preposition which is added that intensifies the meaning of the word.  This word means thoroughly, completely, or totally reconciled.  What do you think that Paul would use this stronger word in his letter to the Colossian church?  It was because this church, at least part of the liberal part of it, were holding to something that was wrong, and that was that Christ was merely another spirit that was being emanating from God.   That word “emanating” means to come out or from something, and that is what the false teacher in the Colossian church were saying about Jesus which of course was wrong for Jesus Christ has always existed and always will.  As Paul refutes this denial, he emphasizes that there is total and complete and also full reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ for He possesses all of the fullness of deity which is seen in Colossians 1:19-2:9, as Jesus is able to fully reconcile sinful men and women to God as seen in 1:20 “and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

            MacArthur concludes “Paul defends Christ’s sufficiency to reconcile men to God by discussing four aspects of reconciliation:  the plan of reconciliation, the means of reconciliation, the aim of reconciliation, and the evidence of reconciliation.”  We will begin looking at these in our next SD.

1/26/2017 11:48 PM

Christ is the Pre-Eminent One (Col. 1:18-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2017 11:14 PM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Christ is the Pre-Eminent One

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:18

            Message of the verses:  “18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

            Paul writes what he writes in verse eighteen to refute the heresy that was going on by some of those who were from the Colossian church and the final point he makes in verse eighteen is that Jesus Christ has first place in everything.  You cannot say something like that unless you are talking about God.  Paul also proves this when he wrote to the Philippians:

            8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:8-11)

            Now we want to look at verse nineteen of Colossians as Paul sums up his argument:   “19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.”  MacArthur writes “Pleroma (‘fullness’) was a term used by the later Gnostics to refer to the divine powers and attributes, which they believed were divided among the various emanations.  That is likely the sense in which the Colossian errorists used the term.  Paul counters that false teaching by stating that all the fullness of deity is not spread out in small doses to a group of spirits, but fully dwells in Christ along (cf. 2:9).  The commentator J. B. Lightfoot wrote Paul’s use of pleroma”

            ‘On the one hand, in relation to Deity, He is the visible image of the invisible God.  He is not only the chief manifestation of the Divine nature:  He exhausts the Godhead manifested.  In Him resides the totality of the Divine powers and attributes.  For this totality Gnostic teachers had a technical term, the pleroma or plenitude…In contrast to their doctrine, [Paul] asserts and repeats the assertion that the pleroma abides absolutely and wholly in Christ as the Word of God.  The entire light is concentrated in Him.’”

            Paul lets the Colossians know that they do not need any angel to aid them to be saved.  Rather in Christ, and in Him alone they are complete:  “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority (Col. 2:10).”  We need to be thankful because all of the fullness of Christ has become available to all true believers. 

            We have one more quote to look at and this one John MacArthur quotes the Puritan John Owen as he tells us what our response should be to the glorious truths about Christ in this passage:

            “The revelation made of Christ in the blessed gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness than the whole creation, and the just comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or afford.  Without this knowledge, the mind of man, however priding itself in other inventions and discoveries, is wrapped up in darkness and confusion.

            “This therefore deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them.  For if our future blessedness shall consist in living where He is, and beholding of His glory, what better preparation can there be for it than a constant previous contemplation of that glory as revealed in the gospel, that by a view of it we may be gradually transformed into the same glory?”

1/25/2017 11:37 PM

           

Christ Firstborn from the Dead (Col. 1:18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2017 9:02 PM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus: Christ Firstborn from the Dead

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:18

            Message of the verses:  “18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

            Looking back to our last SD I mentioned that today’s SD would be a bit longer than the one we did yesterday, but I made a mistake in saying that.  The following is what John MacArthur writes on this subject of Christ being the firstborn from the dead:  “First-born again translates prototokos.  Of all those who have been raised from the dead, or ever will be, Christ is the highest in rank.”  That is all he writes but I have decided to look at some of the things that are found in his sermon from 1975 that he spoke on this subject as it is an important thing for us to understand.  The reason that it is important is because when we see the term “firstborn” there are those who contend that Jesus Christ came into existence when He was born at Bethlehem on what we call Christmas day.  Of course that is not what this section means at all as we have studied enough in our recent Spiritual Diaries from different books of the Bible including Colossians to show that Jesus Christ is the God/Man, the eternal God who created the earth and all the universes that we can see or those we cannot see.

            Now in listening to this sermon from MacArthur I learned that those who were making trouble in the Colossian church believed that Jesus Christ was just One of the angels that God created and this letter to the church was showing them that He is the eternal God as I already mentioned and being first born does not in any way negate the truth of who Jesus Christ really is.  Let us look at the second Psalm for a moment “1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

    7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ’You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”  Now verse seven takes place when Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and I know that for a long time I thought this meant when He was born at Bethlehem, but this speaks of after Jesus had done His work on the cross and the Father accepted the work that He did and this we see what our verse tells us that He is the firstborn, the highest in rank who has been raised from the dead.  Now we know that when Jesus was on earth that He raised people from the dead, but they all died again.  In Matthew we read that there were people who came out of their graves when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, but all of them died again too.  Jesus Christ is the only One at this time who has been raised from the dead and continues to live.

            Ok in our next SD we will finally finish looking at this verse when we look at “Christ is the pre-eminent One.”

1/24/2017 9:22 PM

Christ is the Source of the Church (Col. 1:18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2017 10:58 PM

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  Christ is the Source of the Church

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:18

            Message of the verses:  “18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”  “18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (AVLRE).”

            We are looking at the second of three sub-sections that fall under the main section of “Jesus Christ In Relation To The Church.”  We must understand that Colossians 1:18 is a very important verse from this letter that Paul writes to the Colossians as he continues to show the Colossians who Jesus Christ really is, that He is God in the flesh the second person of the godhead, something they were having problems with. 

            Let me give a quote from Dr. Warren Wiersbe “It seems odd that Paul used the word born in connection with death, for the two concepts seem opposed to each other.  But the tomb was the womb from which Christ came forth in victory, for death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24).  The Son was begotten in resurrection glory (Ps. 2:7; Acts 13:33).

            “This bring us to the theme of this entire section:  ‘That in all things He might have the preeminence’ (Col. 1:18).  This was God’s purpose in making His Son the Saviour, Creator, and Head of the church.  The word translated ‘preeminence’ is used nowhere else in the New Testament.  It is related to the word translated ‘firstborn,’ and it magnifies the unique position of Jesus Christ.  ‘Christ is all, and in all’ (Col. 3:11).” 

            I wanted to get some impute from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on this important verse from Colossians as I always value what he writes and have learned much from his writings.

            John MacArthur writes “Arche (beginning) is used here in the twofold sense of source and primacy.  The church has its origins in Jesus.  God ‘chose us in Him before the foundation of the world’ (Eph. 1:4).  It is He who gives life to His church.  His sacrificial death and resurrection on our behalf provided our new life.  As head of the Body, Jesus holds the chief position, or highest rank in the church.  As the beginning, He is its originator.”

            We will look at the last sub-section in our next SD which speaks of Christ being the firstborn from the dead, something we mentioned in the quote from Dr. Wiersbe.  That section will be a bit longer and I want to take my time to go over it as it has been a bit confusing to many people. 

1/23/2017 11:17 PM

Jesus Christ In Relation to the Church (Col. 1:18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/22/2017 2:03 PM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  Jesus Christ In Relation to the Church

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:18

            Message of the verse:  “18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

            Let me explain what we are going to be doing as we look at this one verse as you can see in the “focus” part of this SD the main point and we will be looking at four sub-points or four truths that Paul is presenting about Christ’s relation to the church:  “Christ Is The Head of The Church,” “Christ Is The Source of the Church,” Christ is the Firstborn of the Dead,” and Christ is the Pre-Eminent One.”

            “Christ is the Head of the Church.”  The following are some of the many metaphors that are used in Scripture to describe the church:  A family, a kingdom, a vineyard, a flock, a building and a bride.  The following however is perhaps the most profound metaphor, as it is one that has no Old Testament equivalent and that would be the metaphor of a Body.  The church is a body and Christ is the head of the body, thus the head of the church. Some may tend to think that this speaks of Christ being the head of the body like a CEO is the head of a company, but that is not what the Bible is speaking of when it uses this metaphor of Christ being the head of the church for the church is a living organism, inseparably tied together by the living Christ.  Jesus not only controls every part of the church but also gives it life and direction.  As His life is lived through every member it provides the unity of the Body.  Let us look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 “12  For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body.”

            John MacArthur writes “He energizes and coordinates the diversity within the Body, a diversity of spiritual gifts and ministries (1 Cor. 12:4-13): ‘4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.  12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.’  He also directs the Body mutuality, as the individual members serve and support each other (1 Cor. 12:15-27): ‘15 If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.’ 

            “Christ is not an angel who serves the church (cf. Heb. 1:14).  He is the head of His church.”  ‘14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

1/22/2017 2:23 PM