Having made peace through the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20a).
Peace! What a beautiful word! When it comes after war, peace is a beautiful fact. The signing of the Armistice by the Allied and the German leaders brought to a close the most dreadful war the world had ever seen up to that time. But the treaty between God and man was signed on the Cross; signed not in ink, but in Immanuel’s blood.
Because of sin the whole human race is involved in this war. At war with God, man is at war with his fellow men, and at war with himself. In the midst of this war come tidings of peace for all men. An armistice has been signed on Calvary. In that peace Christ represented both God and man. “Couldn’t anyone else have died for me?” asked a seeking friend. No! “Why not?”
I. Christ Died for Us Sinners. For a friend, for a good man, to save him from danger and death, one might lay down his life. But the marvel of Christ’s death on the Cross was that he died for sinners. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
He died that we might be forgiven;
He died to make us good;
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood.
II. No One Else Could Be What Christ Was. He was, and is, God in Christ. Therefore what he did on the Cross has infinite value. As the Representative of men he took on himself all the responsibility of the war against God, and all the guilt of the sinner. As the Representative of God Christ had the authority to make peace. To do this work of reconciling man to God Christ came and died.
III. Nothing But the Cross Could Bring About this Reconciliation. Only the Cross can take away the guilt and the stain of sin. God is the Author of the Armistice signed by Christ on the Cross. When by faith and repentance you also sign it, then you have peace. This is the heart of the Gospel, the heart of Christianity, that Christ made peace by the blood of his Cross. Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace with him.
Are you at peace with God? Have you accepted his terms? Have you signed the Armistice? There is your Saviour’s name written for you in crimson colors of the Cross. Therefore I beseech you, be reconciled to God. When you accept the pardon that Christ holds out with his pierced hand, there is peace with God, with the world, and with self, the peace about which Christ speaks (“My peace I give unto you”), the peace that the world cannot give, or take away.—Used by permission of Channel Press, Manhasset, N. Y.
