Turn with me to the Epistle to the Colossians in chapter 1. The letter that the Apostle Paul that Shaul wrote to the Colossians, chapter 1. This afternoon I want to basically speak about three verses in this first chapter that I think are very precious. The verses are basically verses 18, 19, and 20. Chapter 1. And he is the head of the body to the assembly, to the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And And have He made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself?

By Him, I say, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven. I stop here in that verse 20. I was encouraged even this morning as I was reading that passage for myself and re-reading it and kind of meditating a little bit about it and being so precious to my own heart. When you think about the Messiah, Yeshua, our Lord and our Savior, it is so precious because in a world that it is such a chaos and so many problems that exist, it's so wonderful to rest in what the Messiah is and what the Messiah Jesus have done when he accomplished the work of redemption.

Remember that Shaul, Paul, writing this letter to a group of believers that he had never seen. He had introduced himself to them already in the earlier verses. He had told them what he is and what his concern for them, his prayer for them. And he was concerned about the condition that some perhaps have existed by influence of all kind of false teaching. That came across these young believers. And so he's writing to them. And you can see the love that he had for them. You can see the concern that he had for them. He's not necessarily criticizing them and cutting them down. He's building them up.

He's encouraging them in their most holy faith. And he's instructing them with truth, beloved, that you and I need to get a hold of this today. What we have here in the book of Colossians is instruction that will help us to stand firm in our faith in the Messiah, Jesus, and to understand who he is and what he has done. And he here in verses 12 all the way to verse 20, we have covered already up to verse 17 almost, He's directing the Colossians to the preeminence that is found in the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And he's showing to them what makes difference between him and any other men or any other religious group of person in this world.

And so he's telling them, first of all, in what we have read already, he giving thanks to the Father. Remember verse 12, he giving thanks to the Father which has made us meet, suitable as it says here, made us meet in verse 12 to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He is giving thanks to God the Father who made us, Colossians, Paul, Shaul, and you and I, made us suitable to inherit all the blessings that God has for us. How can we, who are so far from God, ever be suitable to receive what God has for us? We could never be suitable, unless God had made us suitable for these things.

And he's telling them, he gave thanks to the Father. In verse 13 and 14, he's showing to them that the Messiah, that Jesus, that Yeshua, that our Lord was the Savior of sinners. He said in verse 13a, he delivered us. In verse 13b he had translated us in verse 14a he redeemed us and in verse 14b he forgave us who can match such a work of the Messiah of Christ he delivered us he translated us he redeemed us and he forgave all our sins where are you going to get such a thing who can offer such a thing what the Messiah have done in verses 13 and 14 and then in verse 15 16 and 17 which we also covered he shows us that hey it is only possible for the Messiah to make us meet for Christ for Yeshua to make us meet and for Yeshua to save us on the basis of who he is He is the creator of heaven and earth.

And he says in these verses, verses 15, 16, and 17, that, you know, he existed before creation. In verse 15, he says very clearly in this verse, he says, in verse 15, he says, He is who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Firstborn, not born first, but firstborn. In title, in position, in rank. He is the firstborn of every creature. He continued in verse 16 and he said, By him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible, invisible, whether it be thrones, dominion, principalities, power, all things were created by him. How could he make us suitable to receive inheritance in light with all the saints?

Do you think he could have done that unless he was a creator? He couldn't have done that. He is the creator God. Genesis 1.1 where we read in the beginning, God created. The word in the Hebrew is Elohim. It gives us the triunity of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God the Son, John 1, 14, became flesh and dwelt among us. But do you know, beloved, that before creation had been in existence, He already had been there in eternity past. That's what He's saying. He's saying here, for by Him were all things created. Now, how could all things be created if He would not be in existence?

He is the Creator God. In fact, the New Testament, in John 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1, those three chapters, gives us the attribute creation to the Messiah, to the Jesus, to the Son. By Him all things were made. He says in verse 16, even the things that are in heaven, the things that are on earth, in earth, visible and invisible. You know what? You and I don't even realize the amount of creation that we have that we have never seen. The Lord God has placed us in what we call Kadur Haaretz in this universe, but the whole creation has been made by Him. The star, the moon, the sun, everything is His creation.

He made everything, and He holds everything by the word of His power. Everything he spoke and it was made that's the son that's God the son before his incarnation he created all things and by the way it says here in verse 16 not only that he created all things but you notice at the end of verse 16 it says that all things exist for him yeah, it says here all things were created by him but also for him do you know that you and I also the human race have been created for the pleasure of the son it's not normal that the world is not subject to the will of God or we look at this as normal but God had not intended it to be why would God want to create creatures why would God want to have a creation create universe that it will not be for his pleasure.

Do you see what happened when you and I, when the human race have fallen into sin, we have turned our back on God and we have gone in a direction that God not intended us to go. Do you know when unto Adam sinned, God asked Adam, where are you? And where Adam was, he was hiding behind trees. He was turning away from God, from the God who created him and loved him and gave him life out of the dust he had made him. He put him to sleep and he made an operation. He took a rib out of him and he made a woman for his pleasure.

But they've gone astray. They've gone away from him. Just like you and I have inherited a sinful nature, we have gone astray. But you know that we have been made for the pleasure of God. Think how much it grieves the heart of God when the whole human race have turned away from him. When men have the audacity to curse God. When men have the audacity to dishonor God in every form and shape and not reckon God. Not recognize that they have accountability to a creator God. All things were made by him, but also all things were made for him. And you know, the animal kingdom, they were made for the pleasure of God, for the blessings of men, but for the pleasure of God, because of sin.

Even the animal kingdom is not giving the glory that they're supposed to give to God. And all the problems that exist in this world, and the disarray, and the pollution that we have caused, all this came because men turned away from God when sin came into this world. But everything had been made for the pleasure of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And you notice it says here in verse 17 that the Lord, not only he created all things, not only that all things have been made for him in verse 16b, but in verse 17 it says that he hold everything together. It says in verse 17, he is before all things, notice verse 17b, And by him, all things consist.

Do you know he holds everything together? You get up in the morning and the sun is shining. How come? In the evening, the sun is going down. The moon is rising. The stars are in the heaven. The universe is turning around and there is not one second out of sync. He holds everything together. He says here that by him, all things consist. You notice it says in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3, the apostle writes it this way. In Hebrews 1 verse 3, it says like this, Who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, and listen, upholding all things by the word of his power.

Look how the writer to the Hebrew believers say, He, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, Yeshua, He is upholding all things by the word of his power. So amazing to see who is that beautiful person that the Messiah is who is that Lord Jesus the son of God that Paul Shaul representing here to the colossian believers at colossi he's showing to them he's directing to them to the preeminence of Christ of the Mashiach now i know we live in a time when people tell us, well, you have your religion and I have my religion. You have your head or your leader and we have our leader.

Why do you think that your leader is better than my leader? Why do you think there is only one way to God? Why do you think there's only one way of avenue to reach God? Why can't we all agree that this leader, this leader, every religion have their leaders and we are all on a common ground. Now why we don't believe that? Why we can't accept it? Not because we are better than anybody else, not at all beloved, but simply there is no other answer to the problem of the human race. No other leader can provide for mankind what the Son of. God has provided.

Nobody can meet our need. Nobody can claim to be something more than just either a great leader or having a great name or great abilities but he's only one that could be called the one that ought to have the preeminence is because he is the creator he is the upholder all things he created and all things consist by him everything is being held together by him but even more than just that if he was only a creator it would not avail for you and I You see, if he was remaining where he was in eternity past and he would not do something about our need, what would that avail us?

Well, we have a great creator, we have a great upholder of all things, but all of us, all the human race would be heading into eternal separation from God. Well, he had to become a Redeemer in order to meet our need. And you see, now notice that it says in the next verses now, in verse 18, 19, 20, these are the three verses that I want to quickly dwell upon this time, to show us that the Messiah is also the head of the church, the assembly, the ecclesia, the congregation, the called out ones. You see what it says in verse 18, first of all, that there is a company called the body, and that body have a head.

It says in verse 18, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, here is this word preeminence, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now just let's dwell for a few minutes about this expression. First of all, there are many ways in which the church can be described. The Bible call it, for example, the Bride of Christ. Another name for the church or the Greek name, Ekklesia, called out one's company. There are many names or various names that we have in the Bible that gives us concerning the believers, the company that are called the church, the redeemed company.

One of the names that the believers have as the church is called the body. And we have a very clear indication in the Bible in various verses that the church, the believers, call the body of Messiah or the body of Christ. You and I have a visible illustration of the body of Christ in our own self. Every one of us have a body. We have a head in the body. We have the trunk, if you will, the rest of the body. We have this illustration very clear. When we look outside, we look at ourselves in the mirror, we look at others. We have a clean illustration of a body that has a head.

And you never see a complete body without a head. The head is from which the body receives instruction, nourishment, direction. And so one of the things that we learn from Scripture is that the body of Messiah, the body of Christ, the body of Yeshua, the body of the Lord Jesus, have a head in heaven. Our head is not here any longer. Our head is in heaven. Now how did the church have began? You remember the clear teaching from Acts chapter 2, after the Messiah Jesus the Lord died on the tree, he was buried in a tomb for three days, and on the third day, the first day of the week, he rose from among the dead, he lived for another 10 days here and he has gone into the presence of God to the Father's house and he sent the Holy Spirit of God to form the body of Christ.

So now what we have really the body of Christ, the church, by the way, we can never call ourselves here the church because the church, the body, the ecclesia is a composition of all believers in the universe. All the believers, The true, real, sincere, honest believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, are part of that church. We cannot actually correctly say, well, the church in Toronto or the church in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We can't say that. We can say a few believers who are part of the church are gathering together in this local area. But the church is the total sum of all believers, Jewish believers, and non-Jewish believers throughout, from the time of Acts 2 up to this present day, they compose that what is known as the church.

Now, beloved, let me just show you from the Scripture, and I have some verses that I want you to turn with me to. First of all, I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 4 for one verse there to read about. We're talking about the body of Messiah and the church is the body. Remember he says in verse 18, and he is the head of the body. And then he says the church, the body, the church or the assembly or the ecclesia called out once. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with all long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, notice verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in bond of peace, then verse 4, there is one body.

Now let's pause here for a moment. Now you say, the Bible say, Brother Gideon, that there is one body. How come, when we look around, we see so many groups of believers or professing Christians, some Christians, some believers, all over the cities and the provinces and the countries and the whole world? Well, beloved, we have to distinguish between positional and conditional. There is one body, even though that one body is not always expressing itself in unity as one. It doesn't matter how we fail the Lord in our practices. It doesn't change the fact that positionally, Ephesians 4.4, there is one body. Not two, not three, not ten.

There is only one body. And that body consists of all true believers in Yeshua the Messiah. That is what Paul is saying to the Ephesians in chapter 4. But you see, that particular body, how do we enter? How does a person enter into that one body? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 now, please. How can a person become a part of this particular body? 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 12 and 13. You see, here again, he's speaking about the body. And in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians, he says this. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, in verse 12, he says this. For as the body is one, and has many members. He's speaking about the human body, as the human body is one and has many members, you know, the hands and the feet and all the members that we have in our body.

And all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ, the Messiah. That means the body with the head in heaven. Then verse 13, for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body. Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bound or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. This is verse 14. You notice what he says here. Important to get a hold of. You see, the body has many members. There are believers in Canada. There are believers in Israel. There are believers in Toronto.

There are believers in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Hamilton, in Toronto, in Saskatchewan, in all the provinces and the cities of the world. They are all believers. There are many members that belong to this body, but how do they come in? You see, some people think that you're going to be part of the church, part of the body of Christ, part of the body of Messiah by buying your way in or by getting under what you call water baptism. You know, in the past, in the dark ages, they used to baptize babies by the hundreds and thousands. We make them Christians by infant baptism. That is not what the Bible teaches.

The Bible teaches according to verse 13, for by one spirit we are all baptized and it is not water baptism here, it's spirit baptism. We are all being baptized into one body. In other words, the Holy Spirit of God produced the work in the heart of a human being, of a person, a man, a woman, a boy, and a girl. And he convicted that sinner. And that sinner repented and confessed that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Lord, the Savior, who died on the tree for them. Then the Spirit of God, at the same moment, you don't have to wait for anything else. The moment the person confessed that the Lord Jesus is his or her Lord, confesses their sins, that moment the Spirit of God baptized them.

And I use this expression, put them under, made them suitable, made them children of God. And they became sons and daughters of God, and they have entered into that one body. It may happen to somebody on the bus. It may happen to somebody at home. It may happen to somebody in the meeting room. It may happen to somebody anywhere at work. The moment a person confesses his or her sins and acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is her or his Lord and accepting him into their heart, that person had been baptized into that one body. And you notice he says, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.

See, Jewish people enter into that relationship the same way the Gentiles enter in. You don't come to God and you say, God, you see, I'm Jewish and therefore you got to let me go in. A Jewish person needs to be born from above just like a non-Jewish person have to be born from above. It is spirit baptism. It is to receive a new birth, a new life, and to enter into the body of Messiah. Whether they be Jew or Gentile, whether they be born or free. You know, a free man in the Roman Empire might say, you see, I'm a Roman, I'm a free man, and you are a slave and a servant, and you are not having the same entrance the way I have.

No, God says. The poor man and the rich, the Jew and the Gentile, the bond and the free, all have to enter into the same body the same way. He continues, he says, and have been all made to drink into the same spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. And so, beloved, here we are. Here we receive a clear instruction from the Lord concerning how one enters into this body. Now go please now back to Romans chapter 12. Let me show you another place that the Scripture teaches about the body. Notice in Romans, the book of Romans chapter 12, again the same apostle, Paul, the same man, Shaul, is expressing himself teaching the Roman believers.

Is saying to them in verses 3 and 4. Romans 12 verses 3 and 4. I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members notice in one body and all members have not the same office so we be in many are one body very clear the Scripture teaches us concerning the body of Messiah and so beloved what he's saying to the Colossians Colossians listen you have gotten saved your faith have been made known And earlier, we heard of all the reports that have gone throughout all the world because of your faith and so on.

And you learn from Apophis all the things concerning the gospel. But now things have been creeping in and they begin to get some information about philosophy and this vain deceit and all kind of human tradition. He said to them, listen, don't allow that to creep in. Recognize that you have, you are part of a body that has a head in heaven. Colossians 1, verse 18, he is the head of the body, the church. He is, and notice now he says, and now he gives the descriptions of the Lord, of the head, of the Messiah, two descriptions he gives to them. Number one, he calls him, who is the beginning.

I'm back in Colossians 1, verse 18, who is the beginning. You know, how did the church start? You know, I'm sorry to say, unfortunate, that a lot of people have mixed up between the nation of Israel and the church. And I'm not cutting down anybody. I'm just reading the Bible for what the Bible say. Israel have its unique place in this world. Israel is going to be restored as a nation. But the church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church. It's not. Israel will be restored one day. God has a plan and a purpose for his beloved nation. But the church began after the head have gone to heaven.

You see, if Israel, if the church was a continuation of Israel, well, where is Israel today? Where is the promises of God for the nation? Where is the restoration? Where is Elijah coming and restoring the hearts of the fathers to the children and so on? Where is the promises that God has given, national promises to Israel? He didn't promise this to the Gentile nations. The promises to the church is a heavenly promises. It's in the Father's house. It's where the head is. And that's why he's saying to them, he is the beginning. Beginning of what? A new thing has happened after the resurrection and the ascension of the Messiah.

He has gone to heaven and he began completely new creation. You will see that when we're going to get to the end. It's a mystery that was hid in God that the Jew and the Gentile will be united in that one body. It is an amazing truth to understand. He doesn't put down Israel here. He doesn't say to belong to Israel is bad. He doesn't say it. But the truth, he cut the Scripture in a straight line to help us to understand the plan and the purposes of God. That's why there are believers in India. What do they have to do with Israel? There are believers in Afghanistan.

There are believers in America and Canada and Europe. All these and most of them, the vast majority are Gentiles who became believers in the Messiah, in Christ, united with Jewish believers who accepted the Lord Jesus as the true Messiah, the promised Messiah who began with the beginning of something entirely new. And you know, in the eternal order, definitely I'm confident that there will be a link from what I understand from the Scripture between heaven and earth and the heavenly company and the earthly company. It's not that we believe in a different person. It's the same person. Jesus, the Lord, the Messiah is just the same, like he's the promised Messiah of Israel who will redeem the nation of Israel one day, but at the same time he is the head to the body, the church, who is a composition of Jew and Gentile in his present day of grace.

And so he's saying he is the beginning. It's a new start. It's a beginning. Then he continues, notice he said, the firstborn from the dead, the certain description that he gives about the head, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. What does that mean, the firstborn? See, earlier in verse 15, he says the firstborn of every creature. Now in verse 13, he says the firstborn from the dead. What's the difference? I tell you the difference. The firstborn of every creature in verse 15 has to do with the position that he receives. As the one who is the creator of everything, he received the position of the firstborn when he entered into this world.

He received the preeminence because of who he is. But the firstborn from the dead take us to the new creation. You see, the other people who were raised from the dead before the Lord, Lazarus was raised from the dead. Talitha, whom the Lord says, Kumi, she was raised from the dead. But you know what's happened when they were raised from the dead? They walked here alive, and they went in the same condition that they had been before. They died again. But here's a man that rose never to die again. Here's a man that rose. You remember when he rose, he went through doors. He had a glorified body.

Lazarus didn't have a glorified body. When Lazarus rose from the dead, Lazarus died again. What I'm trying to say, beloved, what the Scripture shows us here, He is the one that we sing of him and we worship him and we honor him because of who he is and because of what he has done in this present day on our behalf. He is the beginning and he is the first born from the dead in a full sense of the word. Others were raised to die again. He rose never to die again. Do you know what's going to happen at the resurrection? You know when we have the rapture of the church, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13 to the end there, the dead in Christ, in Messiah, shall rise first.

What do you think they're going to rise? To die again? No more. Beloved, you see what happened here. After he rose, you see, before that time, God had never entered into this world in the same way like at that time. The Son of God had never took incarnation until the Messiah came into this world. Something new had happened. Something completely unique had happened. And so what happened? He is the head to this body, which is a composition of all believers. He is the beginning and he is the first born from the dead. The only one that actually was not only received the title as we have in verse 15, but actually literally rose from among the dead and had a glorified body suitable not only for time, but also for eternity.

That's what's going to happen with us. Do you know that when those who died in Messiah and those of us who remain and be changed, what do you think is going to happen when we are going to be with him? We are never anymore going to be subject to all the mess that exists, the sicknesses, the problems, the failure, all the sadness and the sorrows and the weeping and the pain and the wars that exist in this world. No more when we are going to come to the day that he's going to take us to be with him. And so that's why the Bible say to the Colossians that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He has to get a preeminence in everything. Not any other leader, not any other pastor or spiritual leader, not any religious leader. You know there is nothing that one can give except this beloved Messiah this beloved Son of God the Lord Jesus himself the Lord Yeshua himself he's the one that can give us this answer now if you just turn the page to chapter 2 for a moment in verse 19 look at the problem that he is encouraging them to deal with in chapter 2 Colossians 2 and verse 19 he said to them they were not notice verse 19 they were not holding up the head from which all the body is joined together notice this the first part of verse 19 and not holding the head from which all the body is joined together see that was the Colossians problem and i believe and i honestly believe that this is many times our own problem.

We don't hold up the head. We don't recognize the place that he ought to receive in our life. We don't recognize the place that he is right now. We don't recognize that he ought to receive the preeminence in everything. That's why there's such a disorder that exists. If we don't get nourishment from the head, who are you going to get it from? The hand might say to the other hand, you know, I don't need you the feet might say or the eye might say to the foot or to the leg i don't need you that is a problem that was in Corinth and in Romans he tell them you need each other but you gotta get direction from the head and our head the head of the body the Messiah Yeshua himself the Lord Jesus the Messiah he's in heaven giving direction to the head somebody said a story like that and i heard about that that when long time ago you couldn't go to the store to the grocery store like today and get yourself if you want chicken wings if you want chicken legs if you want chicken breast you can get whatever you want cut for you ready for you to cook he says many years ago when.

A person wanted to get a chicken they had to get there by themselves and you know what they had to do they had to cut their head down but he said this particular brother said i remember when i used to do that but for about two minutes the chicken was still alive running around in disarray without the head can you imagine what kind of mess we can be in if we don't get nourishment and direction from the head everybody run his own way everybody does their own thing No direction, no instruction through the word of God from the head. Everybody say what he want. Just like that chicken without a head, running all over in a mess and chaos until two minutes or so are over and he falls dead.

This is exactly what can happen and often unfortunately happen to a body without nourishment and direction from the head. And so, beloved, there is a body, and it's all believers in Yeshua the Messiah. There is a head, and that's our blessed Lord in heaven. And now notice quickly, notice what it says about him in verses 19 and 20. In verse 18, the Messiah is the head of the assembly, of the congregation, of the church, of the body. But notice it said in verse 19 and 20, the Messiah is the beloved one of the Father. You see, it says in verse 19 that in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, all the fullness dwells.

You see what it says? For it pleases the Father, verse 19, that in him, in Mashiach, in Christ, in the Lord Jesus, should all fullness dwell. You know, this is an amazing statement. You know, the word for fullness in the Greek is pleroma. I'm not a Greek scholar, but I read of it. And what it means, pleroma, is that it is the sum total of all the divine power and attributes. That's what it means, fullness. Fullness is the sum total of all the divine power and attributes. It pleased the Father that in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the sum total of all divine power and attributes dwell.

The total of divine power, the total of divine attributes, it pleased the Father that it will dwell in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. It is amazing. I mean, I can't father. I mean, what I'm saying here, and I'm just reading the Scripture, I cannot even understand. We cannot grasp what it means. The Father, this is God the Father. It pleases Him that in Him now, not only in His Son, God the Son, in His divinity, but also in His humanity. He was the only perfect man that ever lived. No sin in the Lord Jesus de Massa. It pleased the Father that in him the sum total of all divine power and attribute dwell.

It is amazing. If you turn to chapter 2 and verse 9, notice it says in chapter 2 and verse 9, For in him, in the Messiah, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. How can you grasp this thing? Notice, he's saying, in him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. In the man Jesus, in the man Yeshua, the Lord Yeshua, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. I mean, this is mind-boggling. It is amazing how man, how human race, reading such passages as this, or at least having the opportunity to read such passages as this, Want to look outside, anyplace else, to find some kind of a leader that's going to try to help them and forgive their sins and to deal with their problem.

You see, here God shows us the preeminence of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. How essential is to get a hold of it. By the way, for the word dwell is to be at home permanently. You see, all the fullness of the Godhead dwell, being at home permanently in the body of the Lord Yeshua, in his humanity. It is amazing to think about it and to read such verses that we have in the book of Colossians. Now you might say, you know, we can sing all kind of songs and many nice songs that we can sing. But beloved brothers and sisters, as believers, we are exhorted to be taught from the Word of God, to rightly divide the Word of truth, to grow spiritually, to understand the Word of God, and not to be gallible, not to be shaking in every form and shape, every form of doctrine, to take it in.

Here we have some solid meat for the soul of the believer. In the last verse, in verse 20, it says that the Lord Jesus the Messiah, notice he made peace through the blood of his cross. How is it all possible? It says in verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, By him I say, whether they be things in earth or whether they be things in heaven. Now, allow me, please bear with me for a couple more minutes. I want to just share a couple of things about this verse. Many times people use this verse in verse 20 where it says, He reconciled all things unto himself to mean this.

So, you know what? When Jesus died on the cross, when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, everything is going to be reconciled. That means everybody is going to be forgiven anyway. So he did the work, so everybody is going to be forgiven. He reconciled all things to himself, and therefore all the people who lived a life of sin and disobedience to God, all the people who rejected God, all the people who rejected the Scriptures, all the people, the murderers, he reconciled all things to himself. But that is not what it says here in this verse. Of course he reconciled all things to himself, but you know what it says?

The word reconciliation is very important to know what it means. It does not speak here about, you know, the word reconciliation is when two people have a problem. The word reconciliation is when two people have a problem. One day they come to a time where they say, listen, let's stop all hostility and let's be reconciled to each other. What we learn from this verse is that there is a day that is coming that there will be a cessation of hostility from which all the human race is suffering from this day. And all the promises that we have here that there will be a cessation of hostility is based upon the work of Christ.

The work of the Messiah's death on the tree, on the cross. But it will only be availed if a person ever acknowledged the work of the Messiah. A person who have not acknowledged what the Lord Jesus the Messiah have done. He or she will never be part of the future cessation of hostility because they have not the blood applied to their hearts by faith in the Lord Jesus. You see, he made peace through the blood of his cross. The blood had to be applied. He had to shed his blood, beloved. The ground of cessation of hostility is on the basis of the blood that he shed.

But do you think if somebody rejects the blood that had been shed by the Messiah himself, who paid the price, do you think that this person would be part of the time, Not only present, but future peace that will exist in this universe? There is no way. It is only on the basis of faith in the precious blood of the Messiah that had been shed for us on the cross, on the tree. He made peace through the blood of his cross. The prophets, the psalmists speaking about righteousness and peace have kissed each other Psalm 85 you know righteousness and peace shalom tzedek and shalom kiss each other at the cross when Jesus the Messiah died that's what the psalmist is referring to because you know there is no peace when there is unrighteousness there is only one who have been righteous in his life and in his death who could bring about shalom peace and that's what happened righteousness and peace have kissed each other when the Messiah shed his precious blood on the cross and he reconciled now let me just quickly tell you what it mean the word reconciliation.

Listen to this statement. Reconciliation is an act of God whereby he, that is God, through the Messiah's atonement, brought men who are at odds with him back to a peaceful, proper relationship with Himself. That's reconciliation. Reconciliation is an act of God, whereby God Himself, through the death of the Messiah on the cross, on the tree, He brings men who are at odds, like you and I, He brings us back to be with him into a peaceful and proper relationship with him. That is reconciliation. You see, God was not at war with us, but we were at war with him. We are called enemies. We are called sinners.

We are called the ones who did not love God. We turn our back on God. Do you know that do you know beloved brothers and sisters every man and woman today without Christ have turned their back on God that's what we did and what God does he says i love you i know you can't do anything to bring yourself to me i am going to allow myself in a person of my son to pay the price to bring you back to me. And so God the Son entered into this world to become a man. And as man, as Isaiah, the Hebrew prophet says, he became a man of sorrows which had been acquainted with grief.

You have grief in your life? You don't even know what this grief is all about when you just meditate on the person of the Lord and the suffering that he suffered for us beloved and then he died for us on the cross he cried my God Eli Eli lama shvaktani why has thou forsaken me and king David answered that without holy thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel God is a holy God and he had to judge sin in the person of his son and so when he died he made peace through the blood of the cross to reconcile all things to himself whether they be things on earth and whether they be things in heaven and you see everything have gone against God because of the failure of men and through the work of the Lord Jesus now there is peace made and one day there will be absent of hostility when the day come and the Lord will come again and take us to be with him.