JESUS, THE GREAT ACCOMPLISHER -- Tomorrow:
"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 things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." (Colossians 1:20-22)
Devotion 4 of 32
" . . . having made . . . "
The language here is very precise. The phrase "having made peace" actually comes from a single Greek word that means to make peace, or establish harmony (THAYER). Through Christ, God has, in fact, established this harmony, or peace. It has already been established. No further work is required upon which to ground, or found, this peace. It has been "made."
The phrase does not mean that the experience of the peace has been thoroughly realized, but that THE BASIS for it has been established. In other words, this is an affirmation addressed to the believing heart. It is a statement faith can grasp, for we are ever saved "by grace through faith" (Eph 2:8), and faith must have a word from God. It ought to here be noted that faith can neither find its genesis nor be maintained by a commandment, a law, or some form of correction. It is in this sense that the Spirit affirms, "The law is not based on faith" (Gal 3:12, NIV).
PEACE
" . . . peace . . . " Peace is a large word, indeed. The making of peace confirms that sin had introduced hostility between God and man. Man's lostness includes more than simply being apart from God. It also involves being at enmity with God, or at war with Him, as well as God being firmly set against man. I fear this picture has not been faithfully declared by the professing church. It is true that "God so loved the world," yet sin introduced a situation that drove a wedge between man and God. This is stated in a number of different ways in Scripture.
1. " . . . he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18).
2. " . . . he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM" (John 3:36).
3. "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, HAVING NO HOPE, and without God in the world" (Eph 2:12).
4. "For if, when WE WERE ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom 5:10).
5. "Because the carnal mind is ENMITY AGAINST GOD: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom 8:7).
6. "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and WERE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as others" (Eph 2:3).
There is no possible way this circumstance could be remedied by man himself. The keeping of a code, or the fulfillment of a procedure, could not remove the enmity that sin created. The wrath of God cannot be lifted from man by a system of works, or by man fulfilling a routine. Something had to be done at a higher level. Peace had to be "made," not negotiated. A sound basis for peace had to be established – one that permitted God to be just in the justifying of sinners.
THE PROCLAMATION OF EPHESIANS
A parallel passage in Ephesians establishes the scope of this peace. Not only did sin create enmity between God and man, there was also hostility between Jew and Gentile, a division of peoples resulting from God making a covenant with Israel, and NOT with the Gentiles. The whole of this situation was resolved by God through Jesus Christ. Thus is it proclaimed, "For He is our peace, who hath made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph 2:14-18).
The enormity of the wake of sin staggers the human intellect. It brought enmity against God, hostility between those who had dealings with God and those who did not, a separating wall of division that was God-imposed, and a consequent lack of access to God. In order for peace to be "made," all of these conditions had to be successfully addressed – and none of them in any degree could possibly be addressed by men. A third party had to work in the behalf of men, for they could not enter into the development of a resolution themselves.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for not leaving the human race to itself!