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 11 of 32
" . . . through the blood of His cross . . . "
When referring to Christ's blood, the Spirit is careful to make proper associations – associations that reflect the purpose of God Himself. When Judas lamented that he had betrayed Jesus, he cried out, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the INNOCENT blood" (Matt 27:4). He was referring to Christ's life on earth, not His death. However, Christ's life on earth is NOT what brought us peace – it was the "blood of His cross." The great works of Jesus prior to His crucifixion did NOT effect peace with God. His mighty miracles, gracious healings, and good that He accomplished did NOT bring peace between God and man. Those were acts of mercy and compassion, revealing the Divine nature. But they did NOT bring peace. It was the "blood of His cross" that "MADE peace" – that is, the blood that was shed there, ON HIS CROSS.
This was not the blood that fell to the ground in Gethsmane, when "His sweat was as it was great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). That was not the blood that "made peace." It was not the blood that resulted from the scourging delivered by Pilate, when "he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified"(Matt 27:24). Nor, indeed, was it the blood that appeared when "the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His head" (John 19:1).
The Spirit is precise: peace was made "through the blood of HIS CROSS." This blood came from the wounds immediately related to the cross, where Jesus was "made a curse for us" on the tree (Gal 3:13). Specifically, the wounds were in His hands, feet, and side. When Jesus rose from the dead, He showed His disciples "His hands and His feet" (Luke 24:40). He also showed His "side" (John 20:20), later urging unbelieving Thomas to thrust his hand into the gapping wound left by the spear (John 20:27). John relates that after Jesus had already died, a soldier "with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (John19:34). The blood that came from these wounds is particularly the blood that "made peace." That is the specific point made by Paul in Galatians 3:13: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth ON A TREE" (Gal 3:13). Peter makes the same association. "Who his own self bare our sins in His own body ON THE TREE, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet 2:24).
We were redeemed, and peace was made, at the particular point WHERE our sins were laid upon Christ Jesus. It is WHEN He "bore our sins," and He was "made sin for us" that peace was forged and reconciliation was wrought. Let it be clear in your mind, Jesus did not bare the sins of humanity in the manger. He did not carry them in the Temple. They were not laid upon Him in the Garden. Nor, indeed, did He "taste" of death in Caiaphas' palace (Matt 26:57-68), Pilate's hall (John 18:28-19:11), or when being judged by Herod (Luke 23:7-11). It was through "the blood of HIS CROSS" that Jesus "made peace," accomplishing atonement and reconciliation.
IT WAS "HIS" CROSS
Jesus was not crucified on a Roman cross, as some thoughtlessly affirm. It was, in every sense, "HIS cross." It belonged to Him by appointment. It belonged to Him by choice. It belonged to Him by purpose. It did not belong to Rome, even though their soldiers executed the awful deed. It was HIS cross – "the cross of Jesus" (John 19:25), "the cross of Christ" (1 Cor 1:17; Gal 6:12; Phil 3:18), and "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14).
Just as every disciple has his own cross (Matt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:34; 14:27), so Jesus had "HIS cross" (Matt 27:32; Mk 15:21; John 19:17; Col 1:20; 2:14). Elsewhere it is called "the cross of Christ" (1 Cor 1:17; Gal 6:12; Phil 3:18). The point is not the cross itself, but the One to whom it belonged. It is not the material of the cross, but the accomplishments wrought upon and through it that are the real point.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for a unique cross upon which a unique redemption was wrought by a unique Person.