Colossians 1:19-23. 20/6/10
Holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.
{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. {21} Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. {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-- {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.
Just think about this holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. That is what Jesus Christ has done for you and me! Absolutely amazing! No matter who we are or what we have done, Jesus declares and has done what is necessary, in order that we be holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. This surely turns life upside down for us and enables us to go forward with hope and certainty.
The trouble is we don’t always accept that God can look at us in this way. We too often think of forgiveness in the way we human treat and understand it. We so often think along the lines of what I said as I began to announce the absolution to you after you had made confession of your sins: ‘As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce to you that God says, ‘That’s okay. I doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it. Mind you, you should be sorry. Don’t ever do it again. I forgive you, but I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. Go in peace, but don’t come back.’ Sadly that is all too often the way that we forgive other people; and the way that we then think that God must surely operate in relation to us, and the things that we have done, and what has been done to us.
On the one hand, we brush off our sin as if it is no big deal. Its okay. Its just a few little things that we have said and done, but they really don’t amount to much; so what is the fuss.
Here however, let us remember that every little thought and deed that goes against the Ten Commandments is sin. Every selfish act is a sin. It is not okay. In fact, they are all signs of a much deeper and more tragic problem: our rebellion against God himself. These little sins highlight the fact that we have turned away from God and chosen to do our own thing. We have chosen to put ourselves in the place of God. That is evil. That is not okay.
So our sin does matter; every single little one, as well as the deep, underlying cause of them. God’s word is very clear that our sin great and small brings about a broken relationship between God and us. It is the cause of us now facing death: and without God and his forgiveness, we are in deep trouble. We cannot pass off sin as no big deal. It has dire consequences if it is not dealt with - death and hell. Without forgiveness, there is no peace between God and us.
So without forgiveness we have something to truly worry about. If we are not prepared to take sin and forgiveness seriously, we have much to be concerned about. Too often we simply look at this issue from our perspective, thinking that we are not too bad; and so why worry. But even that attitude indicates a huge problem, because it highlights the fact that we only want to look at this from our perspective, rather than taking God and what he says, seriously. God makes it quite clear that in our sinful state we are alienated from him and deserve to be totally forsaken by him. So this is a big problem, indeed.
But then having come to that monumental understanding, God comes in and pronounces that he has come and done what is necessary to rectify the situation. He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—God himself has come and taken the punishment that we deserve for our sin, on himself. He dies in our place so that we might be fully and freely forgiven. He has done everything necessary in order for God to now look on us as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. Despite all that we are and all that we have done, and all that has been done to us, this is what he does for you and me. Amazing! Absolutely amazing!
This forgiveness and new future has all been made possible for us by Jesus Christ. All we are called on to do now, is to continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. As we trust in what Jesus has done for us, we have the certainty of knowing God looks on us now as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. It has all been done for us, so that we can be absolutely sure that it is so. The Good News that we can trust implicitly is that now nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So surely we will not now, on the other hand, turn around and let God do all of this for us, but then hang on to our deep-seated sins, thinking that he cannot or will not forgive them, thereby rejecting what God himself tells us. Remember it is the great ploy of the devil to seek to get you to feel deep guilt over past actions and to think that God cannot forgive them. God himself declares that you are holy, without blemish and free from accusation. No matter what you have done or has been done to you, that is what Jesus has done for you; without reservation. So who do we think we are that we tell God that he doesn’t know what he is saying or doing. No, trust that nothing now separates you from his full love, forgiveness and acceptance.
Here remember that unlike us he does not say, ‘I forgive you, but I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. Go in peace, but don’t come back.’ Yes, he does say, “Go and sin no more.” However, when we do, he reassures us again that we are fully and freely forgiven. The only sin that is unforgivable is the sin of unbelief. Apart from that, he reassures us again and again that he loves us and is with us, now and always.
That is why week after week he invites us to His Table, so that he can give us his very body and blood, which he shed on the cross, so that in turn, we can know for sure that he loves us, forgives us and is with us always. That is why we treat Holy Communion as so special in our church; because we uphold as vitally important that here, God himself is doing something so special and great for us. He knows that we need to receive real and tangible evidence that he fully forgives us and is with us always.
Then as we go forward with his blessing given in the Benediction, we can now live with absolute confidence and joy, know that we are fully and freely forgiven. We have God’s assurance that he now sees us and accepts us as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. No longer do we need to carry any guilt and shame with us. We are free to live and be the people of God that we are.
That in turn will impact on the people that we come into contact with in our lives. They will see in us a deep-seated assurance and joy, that comes from not carry any guilt around with us, and which is grounded in the absolute assurance that we are loved and accepted by God. This then will also impact on our relationships with one another as well. Because we are loved and fully forgiven, we will also seek to be loving and forgiving of one another. This in turn will bring greater reconciliation with the people around us, and then glory and honour going to our great God for all that he has done.
So to conclude, thank God that he understands the gravity of what we have done and what sin does to our relationship with God and the people around us. But also, what it cost him in order for us to be fully and freely forgiven, for all that we have done, as well as the evil that has been done to us. He knows that we have and will continue to sin much, but has done what is necessary for it all to be forgiven and no longer held against us. Every sin; no matter how heinous, is fully and freely forgiven; and so also will never be held against us. So now, nothing stands in the way of us being in God’s presence now and for all eternity. All who believe: who simply trust that this is so, because that is what God says, has this full and free forgiveness as a certainty. So go now in peace and give all glory and honour to our great God Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and always. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
Holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.
{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. {21} Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. {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-- {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.
Just think about this holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. That is what Jesus Christ has done for you and me! Absolutely amazing! No matter who we are or what we have done, Jesus declares and has done what is necessary, in order that we be holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. This surely turns life upside down for us and enables us to go forward with hope and certainty.
The trouble is we don’t always accept that God can look at us in this way. We too often think of forgiveness in the way we human treat and understand it. We so often think along the lines of what I said as I began to announce the absolution to you after you had made confession of your sins: ‘As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce to you that God says, ‘That’s okay. I doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it. Mind you, you should be sorry. Don’t ever do it again. I forgive you, but I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. Go in peace, but don’t come back.’ Sadly that is all too often the way that we forgive other people; and the way that we then think that God must surely operate in relation to us, and the things that we have done, and what has been done to us.
On the one hand, we brush off our sin as if it is no big deal. Its okay. Its just a few little things that we have said and done, but they really don’t amount to much; so what is the fuss.
Here however, let us remember that every little thought and deed that goes against the Ten Commandments is sin. Every selfish act is a sin. It is not okay. In fact, they are all signs of a much deeper and more tragic problem: our rebellion against God himself. These little sins highlight the fact that we have turned away from God and chosen to do our own thing. We have chosen to put ourselves in the place of God. That is evil. That is not okay.
So our sin does matter; every single little one, as well as the deep, underlying cause of them. God’s word is very clear that our sin great and small brings about a broken relationship between God and us. It is the cause of us now facing death: and without God and his forgiveness, we are in deep trouble. We cannot pass off sin as no big deal. It has dire consequences if it is not dealt with - death and hell. Without forgiveness, there is no peace between God and us.
So without forgiveness we have something to truly worry about. If we are not prepared to take sin and forgiveness seriously, we have much to be concerned about. Too often we simply look at this issue from our perspective, thinking that we are not too bad; and so why worry. But even that attitude indicates a huge problem, because it highlights the fact that we only want to look at this from our perspective, rather than taking God and what he says, seriously. God makes it quite clear that in our sinful state we are alienated from him and deserve to be totally forsaken by him. So this is a big problem, indeed.
But then having come to that monumental understanding, God comes in and pronounces that he has come and done what is necessary to rectify the situation. He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—God himself has come and taken the punishment that we deserve for our sin, on himself. He dies in our place so that we might be fully and freely forgiven. He has done everything necessary in order for God to now look on us as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. Despite all that we are and all that we have done, and all that has been done to us, this is what he does for you and me. Amazing! Absolutely amazing!
This forgiveness and new future has all been made possible for us by Jesus Christ. All we are called on to do now, is to continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. As we trust in what Jesus has done for us, we have the certainty of knowing God looks on us now as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. It has all been done for us, so that we can be absolutely sure that it is so. The Good News that we can trust implicitly is that now nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So surely we will not now, on the other hand, turn around and let God do all of this for us, but then hang on to our deep-seated sins, thinking that he cannot or will not forgive them, thereby rejecting what God himself tells us. Remember it is the great ploy of the devil to seek to get you to feel deep guilt over past actions and to think that God cannot forgive them. God himself declares that you are holy, without blemish and free from accusation. No matter what you have done or has been done to you, that is what Jesus has done for you; without reservation. So who do we think we are that we tell God that he doesn’t know what he is saying or doing. No, trust that nothing now separates you from his full love, forgiveness and acceptance.
Here remember that unlike us he does not say, ‘I forgive you, but I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. Go in peace, but don’t come back.’ Yes, he does say, “Go and sin no more.” However, when we do, he reassures us again that we are fully and freely forgiven. The only sin that is unforgivable is the sin of unbelief. Apart from that, he reassures us again and again that he loves us and is with us, now and always.
That is why week after week he invites us to His Table, so that he can give us his very body and blood, which he shed on the cross, so that in turn, we can know for sure that he loves us, forgives us and is with us always. That is why we treat Holy Communion as so special in our church; because we uphold as vitally important that here, God himself is doing something so special and great for us. He knows that we need to receive real and tangible evidence that he fully forgives us and is with us always.
Then as we go forward with his blessing given in the Benediction, we can now live with absolute confidence and joy, know that we are fully and freely forgiven. We have God’s assurance that he now sees us and accepts us as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. No longer do we need to carry any guilt and shame with us. We are free to live and be the people of God that we are.
That in turn will impact on the people that we come into contact with in our lives. They will see in us a deep-seated assurance and joy, that comes from not carry any guilt around with us, and which is grounded in the absolute assurance that we are loved and accepted by God. This then will also impact on our relationships with one another as well. Because we are loved and fully forgiven, we will also seek to be loving and forgiving of one another. This in turn will bring greater reconciliation with the people around us, and then glory and honour going to our great God for all that he has done.
So to conclude, thank God that he understands the gravity of what we have done and what sin does to our relationship with God and the people around us. But also, what it cost him in order for us to be fully and freely forgiven, for all that we have done, as well as the evil that has been done to us. He knows that we have and will continue to sin much, but has done what is necessary for it all to be forgiven and no longer held against us. Every sin; no matter how heinous, is fully and freely forgiven; and so also will never be held against us. So now, nothing stands in the way of us being in God’s presence now and for all eternity. All who believe: who simply trust that this is so, because that is what God says, has this full and free forgiveness as a certainty. So go now in peace and give all glory and honour to our great God Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and always. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
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