Colossians 1:21-28 (KJV) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven …

When we come to the Lord’s Table it is a time to remember what our Lord Jesus did for us. It is also a time of self examination. The Lord’s Table emphasizes the extreme measures that our Lord Jesus Christ took to reconcile us to God. As we come to the Lord’s Table each person here should ask and answer the question:

Am I reconciled to God?

1 We All Need To Be Reconciled To God.The Lord’s Table is a

A Table of Peace
A Table of Family
A Table where those who are RECONCILED to God gather to worship and remember.

What does it mean to be “reconciled”?

a People Who Are Unreconciled To God Are First Of All Sometime Alienated.

Colossians 1:21 (KJV) And you, that were sometime alienated ….

Those who are not reconciled are sometime alienated. “Alienated” is a Greek word, ̓παλλοτριόω, apallotrioō, (pronounced ap-al-lot-ree-o’-o), which means “to be cut off”. You were not PERMANENTLY cut off from God, but sometime cut off. There were brief moments when you realized them is a God. You would see something beautiful in nature – a butterfly or a beautiful hummingbird – and you would think “perhaps there is a Creator”. You would see the beautiful design of the earth and common sense would take over. There is no design without a designer. There MUST be a Designer – there MUST be!

Romans 1:20 (KJV) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

You were sometime alienated. You were not always cut off from God. Someone would do an unspeakable evil and you would think “there must be a Hell for people like that” and thenn your mind would think of the possibility of Heaven. Even the most liberal, godless, alienated person thinks of Heaven beyond this vale of tears.

You were sometime alienated. It is as the Psalmist said:

Psalms 10:4 (KJV) The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

The alienated are not totally divorced from God. They look for Him under the Christmas Tree and during the Easter Egg Hunt – but rarely is He in their minds. When it is CONVENIENT they think of God – otherwise they keep Him locked out of their lives.

Colossians 1:21 (KJV) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind

b People Who Are Unreconciled To God Are Mentally At War With God. Before we were reconciled we were “enemies in our minds”. What God says is right we want to dispute. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. …

Those who are unreconciled question every statement of God. Just as Adam and Eve heard the warning of God they began to reason within themselves:

Genesis 3:6-7 (KJV) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

What directed them was not the Word nor the Warning of God but what THEY THOUGHT was right. The unreconciled may hear what God says but dismiss it, making themselves to be gods.

Romans 8:7-8 (KJV)7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

c The Third Mark Of The Unreconciled Is To Be Engaged In Evil Deeds.

Colossians 1:21 (KJV) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,

The mark of the unreconciled, lost soul is that this person has no regard for God. When a Christian sins (and Christians do slip and sin) they do not delight in the slip. When an unreconciled person sins they:

Defend the Sin
Deflect Judgment From The Sin
Justify the Sin

When a person is reconciled to God then God is recognized as God – and we recognize ourselves as His Sheep. Just as the earth rotates around the Sun we who are reconciled to God center our lives on Christ. We revolve around Him – He does not revolve around us!

2 How Are We Reconciled To God? We are not reconciled by our works. The Bible declares:

Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

We cannot by our works reconcile ourselves to God. We are like drowning people, cast adrift in the sea of sin. We cannot work our way into a right relationship with the Holy God. But the Bible declares that:

Colossians 1:21-22 (KJV) … yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death

We who were the enemies of God are now friends of God and members of His Family because Jesus came in the flesh. God the Son left eternity, took upon Himself humanity, lived, and then died to reconcile us to God. We are told in:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

FIVE TIMES the Apostle uses a form of the word “reconciled” in that 2 Corinthians text. We are:

Reconciled to God by Jesus Christ
Given the ministry of reconciliation

Christ Who is sinless was made sin for us. He stood in the place of us. He died for us. His Body was broken and His Blood shed for us. There is NO WAY that a person can be reconciled to God but through the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (KJV)5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Hebrews 2:16-17 (KJV)16 For verily {Jesus} took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Jesus Christ came to this earth for one reason – to become the Bridge by which every person could come to God in peace. Jesus Christ died for us on Calvary. He paid the penalty for our sins. There is no other Savior, nor any other way whereby a person might be saved BUT through Christ.

3 What Are The Results Of Reconciliation? There are three words used of the Reconciled.

Colossians 1:22 (KJV) In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

a If You Are Reconciled To God You Are HOLY. I didn’t say “holier than thou” but “holy”.

You are holy, dear believer. You are holy because the Blood of God was shed for you. You are holy, set apart for God’s own use. You are His purchased and prized possession – and you are therefore to serve Him with all your hearts.

The devil will offer many opportunities for we who are Christians to follow the pathway of the world. We are holy in God’s sight – God gave up everything to reconcile us to Him. We need to see everything that happens in our lives through the lens of God’s reconciling power. You are reconciled by God, therefore you are holy to God. The devil will offer you many things, dear One, but if you are God’s and reconciled to Him through His Son Jesus Christ then you must walk holy unto Him. We are to say with our Master:

Matthew 4:10 … Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

This is His Holy Table, a table for His Children, a table for those who love Him. C.H. Spurgeon once said:

“O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God’s priest: act as such. You are God’s king: reign over your lusts. You are God’s chosen: do not associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion; live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have time true faith; but except ye do this, your end shall be to lift up your eyes in hell, and find yourself mistaken when it will he too late to seek or find a remedy.”

b If You Are Reconciled To God You Are Unblameable. Because of the Blood of Christ your sins are covered. Your works will be weighed one day for reward, but you shall never stand before the Great White Throne to be damned. Christ has bore the penalty for your sins – you shall inherit not hell but Heaven. You are a product of Love:

Ephesians 1:4-5 (KJV) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

We come together at the Lord’s Table to love Him and to love one another. We exalt our Father’s Kingdom by acting as His Children:

Philippians 2:14-15 (KJV) Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

c Finally, We Are “Unreprovable” Or Free From Accusation In His Sight. When the Father looks at us it is not as Sinners but as Saints, not as Corrupt but as Children. We are free from all charges. When Jesus died on that Cross He cried out:

It is Finished

He did not say “I am finished” but IT. Jesus finished the work that the Father sent Him to do.

4 Now We Come To The IF Of Reconciliation.

Colossians 1:21-23 (KJV) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel …

Reconciliation in Christ comes only by an ABIDING or CONTINUING faith. When you believed on Christ for salvation God sent His Holy Spirit into your hearts. The Spirit in the Child of God continually directs our hearts back to Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Romans 8:14-16 (KJV)14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The day you received Christ as Savior God planted His Spirit into our hearts. We know that we are His because He whispers His love to us. We know we are His because He bears witness to us. Those who are saved have an overcoming faith, the fingerprint of God on their lives.

Do you belong to Jesus? If you do, the Lord’s Table is for you. If not, turn to Him and receive Him. God loves you, and God will receive you as His own. May He touch your hearts with His Word.