THE CROSS OF CHRIST

"The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God" -- 1 Corinthians 1:18

Devotion 7 of 13

RECONCILIATION ACCOMPLISHED

"And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Eph 2:16, KJV). "He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him" (Col 1:22 RSV).

A division of people

Prior to Christ's death, there were two divisions of people in the world; Jew and Gentile. There was a divinely erected wall between them, placing them at variance with one another. That wall was the First Covenant, or law of commandments contained in ordinances. In poignant words Paul tells us that God dealt exclusively with Israel prior to Christ. "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Rom 9:4-5). In this circumstance, the Gentiles were "not a people" (Deut 32:21; Isa 7:8; 1 Pet 2:20). They 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).

The situation seemed hopeless. In fact, as we have already shown, the Gentiles were described as "having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph 2:12). Everything pertaining to God was given to the Israelites, and nothing relating to Him was given to the Gentiles. But God, in His infinite wisdom, resolved the dilemma. Faithful to His nature, He "devised means, that His banished be not expelled from Him" (2 Sam 14:14). In the cross of Christ, God brings together Jew and Gentile into "one new man, so making peace" (Eph 2:15). Together, they are now "reconciled unto God." Together in Christ, they form "one new man" (Eph 2:15) and "one body" (Eph 2:16

The enmity was slain!

The enmity that alienated men from God was "slain" on the cross of Christ. This involved divine aggression. Here, the "enmity" stands for the infraction of the "law of commandments." Sin is what alienated men from God. Reconciliation occurred when the thing prohibiting it was removed--"slain." That sin was "slain" in body of Christ. Therefore, it is written, "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). God has "reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ," and He did it through the cross (2 Cor 5:18).

When the "enmity" was slain, the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" was "abolished." This does not mean the law was eradicated, or utterly removed. Rather, it was abolished in its condemning ministry (Rom 3:19). This abolition took place when the infractions of the law, our sins, were blotted out. Where the law once "stopped" our mouths, our reconciliation to God stopped the law's mouth as a condemner. Now the law is our friend, and is written upon our hearts and minds (Heb 10:16).

Heaven and earth were involved

The requirements of reconciliation were large, and seemingly impossible. They involved heaven as well as earth. Not only were men unsuitable for heaven, heaven was not able to receive them. There were also a vast number of personalities that had passed on before in anticipation of the coming Messiah. The effectiveness of Christ's death on the cross also reached them. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Col 1:19-20, NIV). The glorious harmony God had determined to accomplish found its basis in the death of Christ upon the cross!--"to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one Head, even Christ" (Eph 1:10, NIV).

Reconciliation is a marvelous accomplishment! Once we were enemies of God (James 4:4), but now we are reconciled to Him and have received "the Spirit of adoption" (Rom 8:15). Once we were separated from many of our peers, but now we are joined with them in a common cause and upon the basis of a "common salvation."

In a very real sense, the cross of Christ brought heaven down and men up. It joined those whom sin had separated, and did it in an act of death. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Rom 11:33).

A Final Observation

If the cross of Christ effected a reconcilation between the only groups of people God has ever recognized--Jew and Gentile--how utterly absurd it is for men to imagine they can embrace Jesus and remain unreconciled with groups which are purely of human origin. When those who wear the name of Jesus take it upon themselves to honor divisions that God has not ordained, they have committed a sin of the greatest magnitude.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Your Son, I thank and praise You for removing the enmity between myself and You. I thank You for reconciling me to all who are reconciled to You. Help me, Father, to live in an acute awareness of this reconciliation.

– Tomorrow: THE BASIS FOR CONDEMNATION REMOVED --