T. Guthrie, D. D Colossians 1:19-22 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;… It is great to "reconcile"; greater "through Himself"; greater, again, "through His blood"; greatest of all "through His Cross." Here are five things to be admired — reconciliation, to God, through Himself, by death, by the Cross. ( Chrysostom.) The Reconciler: — I. BY NATURE MAN IS AT ENMITY WITH GOD. As God is love, so the carnal mind is enmity; this being so much the nature, essence, element of its existence, that if you took away the enmity it would cease to be. It is not always in activity, but sins, like seeds, lie dormant, and only await circumstances to develop them. This is a doctrine into which the believer does not need to be reasoned. He feels it. The text takes it for granted; for what need can there be to make peace between friends? Not friends require to be reconciled, only foes. But does God appear as reciprocating our enmity, as the enemy of man? No; not even when He condemns him. He does not hate the sinner, though He hates his sins. He hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked. II. GOD DESIRES TO BE RECONCILED TO HIS ENEMIES. 1. Man stands upon his dignity. The injured says to the injurer — and each generally thinks not himself, but the other such — "He is to come to me; I am not to go to him." You may tell him that it is noble to make the first advances. "No," he says, "he must acknowledge his offence, and I will not refuse my hand." Strange terms for those to stand on who know the grace of God. If God had so dealt with us, we should have gone to hell. 2. Does God stand upon His dignity, the justice of the ease? If ever any might, it was He. No, He takes the humiliation to Himself, and might be supposed to be the injurer, not the injured. Veiling His majesty, and leaving heaven to seek our door, He stands, knocks, waits there, beseeching us as though it were a favour to be reconciled. Salvation has its fountain, not in the Cross, but in the bosom of the Father. III. TO MAKE OUR PEACE WITH GOD, JESUS CHRIST LAID DOWN HIS LIFE. 1. The price of pardon was nothing less than "the blood of God." 2. Purchasing our peace at such a price, God has done more for us than for all the universe besides. (T. Guthrie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; |
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