SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JESUS "And . . . " This word connects with the previous declaration of the Person and position of the Son of God. That is, the works that follow are the result of WHO He is. To put it another way, God sent Jesus into the world in the capacity of a Man in order to achieve the accomplishments that follow. These are part of the purpose He was to attain. They are matters that are essential to salvation. If men are to be rescued from the dilemma of sin, these are the things that had to be done. They are not optional. They are not matters that can be ignored, despised, neglected, or treated with disinterest. We could not be saved without the accomplishment of these realities. They had to be done, and done effectively, timely, and to the thorough satisfaction of God. 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.21And 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." (Colossians 1:20-22)
Devotion 4 of 31
Two prevailing reasons can be sited for the Word becoming flesh, and all of the attending circumstances that resulted from it.
1. In order to qualify Him to be the Savior of men.
2. In order to accomplish what was required for men to be saved.
The things addressed in this text deal with the later – what was required for men to be saved. Without these accomplishments recovery from the fall – salvation – could never be realized.
HAVING MADE
" . . . having made . . . " The language here is very precise. The phrase "having made peace" actually comes from a single Greek word. It means to make peace, or establish harmony (THAYER). Through Christ God has, in fact, lay the groundwork for this harmony, or peace. It has already been established. No further work is required upon which to ground this peace. It has been "made," and effectively so.
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.
PEACE
" . . . peace . . . " Peace is a large word, indeed. The making of peace confirms that sin had really 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 OD 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).
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 (Rom 3:26).
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for dispatching Your Son to make the required peace upon which our association with You is firmly based.