Once again, it's wonderful to
be here. Tonight we'll continue our journey
in Colossians chapter 1. The name of the message tonight
is The Peacemaker. The Peacemaker. Our text is found in Colossians
chapter 1, verse 20. 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. A peacemaker. Now in this world
that we live in, folks want peace. But it's elusive. It's elusive. Nations get together
and they sign peace treaties, only to have them broken when
another war breaks out, either between the two nations
that were warring or another nation coming against them again. So we live in a world of turmoil. We live in a world where there's
no peace. And the one thing that men forget
when trying to sign these treaties is that we live in a world of
sinners. That sin reigns. And the reason we have no peace
is because we live in a world full of sinners. Now we know that when Adam fell
in the garden, that we all fell with him. All of us. And as a result of that fall,
we humans come into this world spiritually dead, physically
alive, but yet spiritually dead. Dead in trespasses and sins.
And we have a hatred against God by our thoughts, and by our
actions, and by our deeds. We may not think we have a hatred
towards God. We may not think we do. But our thoughts, and our actions,
and our deeds betray us. They betray us. We need peace with God, but we
don't seek it. We don't have the ability to
seek it. We don't desire it in our natural state. God must be the one who brings
about this great reconciliation. God must be the one. Because
left to ourselves, we would never seek it. Never. Oh, what a mighty God we have.
God must be the one who brings about this great reconciliation
between himself, because he's the one who's being offended,
between Himself and His elect. And it's by His authority and
it's by His appointment of God the Father that this happens.
Look in verse 19 again. It says, For it pleased the Father.
And this verse is tied in with our verse tonight. For it pleased
the Father by His authority, by His appointment, that in Him,
Christ, should all fullness dwell. It pleased God. And then look
at our next verse. Look at our verse here. And heaven
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself by Him, I say, whether they be things
on earth or things in heaven. This great reconciliation is
brought about by the peacemaker. The Lord Jesus Christ, the great
peacemaker. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
5. This reconciliation was planned
and purposed by God in eternity. In eternity. And, beloved, it
is He who has put it into execution. That which He purposed and planned,
He's executed. Look at 2 Corinthians 5, verses
18, 19, and 20. We'll start in verse 18. And
all things are of God who hath reconciled us to Himself. Notice
it's God doing the reconciling. By Jesus Christ. It's only through
Christ. That ties right in with our text
tonight. And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation." So the Lord God has ordained preachers as God's ambassadors. Look at our next verse. Now then
we are ambassadors for Christ. is though God did besiege you
by us, we pray you in God's stead, be ye reconciled to God. Now this mercy and this redemption, this reconciliation, all flows
out of the free grace of God the Father through the Lord Jesus
Christ to us, to we who believe. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 5. And then put your finger in Ephesians chapter 2.
Romans chapter 5 and Ephesians chapter 2. May
we marvel at what love God the Father has for His people, for
His elect. May we marvel at the fact of
it. It's a fact. And it was manifested by Christ
coming into the world to save His people from their sins. Look
at Romans 5, verses 8, 9, and 10. But God commandeth His love
toward us. That's His elect. Well, we were yet sinners. Sinners by birth, nature, and
choice. that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." And
here the Lord Jesus Christ again, the great Peacemaker between
God and His people. 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. He lived the perfect life in
the place of his people. And then he died in the ruined
place of his people on Calvary's cross. This love cannot be measured.
It cannot be plumbed. It's an everlasting love. But
God commandeth his love toward us, towards his people. Mercy. We receive mercy. He's loved his people with an
everlasting love. And this love is manifested by
the Lord Jesus Christ becoming a man and dying in the place
of sinners. It's manifested. Oh, and may we as God's people
just rest and repose in this precious truth. And again, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the peacemaker between God and His people. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. He is the peacemaker between God and His people. The
only mediator. The great reconciler between
God and man. Man, Christ, Jesus. Look at Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 14. For He is our peace. He is our
peace. who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Folks often
wonder how you Christians, in the midst of all that's going
on, you have a peace. Yeah, we do. A peace that passes
understanding. Our human minds can't understand
it, but we know that now, those of us who've been saved, we have
this peace. Now, do we still get troubled? Yes, sometimes
we do. But we always bring it back When there's turmoil and
trouble then, the Lord's in control. We have to constantly remind
ourselves, but then we have this peace that passes all understanding. And Christ made peace between
the Father and us. For He is our peace, who hath
made both 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 a twain one new man, so make in peace. Peace. 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 far off, that's us. And to them that were nigh, he
is the one mediator, the great reconciler. God incarnate in
the flesh, in all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him
bodily. We have seen in our studies so far that Paul is constantly,
constantly pointing us to Christ. Constantly pointing us to Him.
Constantly pointing us to His supremacy. Constantly pointing
us to His preeminence. He's doing this as he battles
the Gnostic teachers. Showing them that Christ is all-sufficient. Showing the Colossians that Christ
is all-sufficient. There is no need for what these
false teachers are proclaiming. And we have the same with us
today, folks that claim that salvation is by something you
do. No. Christ is all-sufficient, beloved. All that a sinner needs. The Lord Jesus Christ, remember
this too, needs no assistance to help or save our souls. The way some folks talk, that
you think God can't do nothing. Well, they're in for a big surprise. The Lord Jesus Christ needs no
assistance to help or to save souls, and He seeks no counsel
from anyone. He's God incarnate in the flesh,
the Almighty God in the flesh. We are reconciled to God by the
shedding of His precious blood. By the shedding of His precious
blood. He is the great peacemaker. The great peacemaker. And think of this, we can't make
the gospel of Christ effectual to ourselves, can we? That's
God's work. He makes it effectual to the
sinner. He draws the sinner. He draws the sinner. The blood
of Jesus Christ must be sprinkled on our hearts by the power of
the Holy Spirit before our conscience can be purged from dead works
to serve the living God. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
accomplished salvation for His people. It's finished. It's finished. Look, our text tonight gives
evidence of that very truth. Look at how Paul states this.
And heaven made peace through the blood of His cross. By Him
to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether
they be things on earth or things in heaven. Here before us in
verse 20, we have the method of how God's people are reconciled
to God. The Lord Jesus Christ, again,
the great peacemaker between God and His people. Look at it.
And having made peace, There's no doubt in the verbiage
here. It's not, well, maybe he made peace. No. Beloved, rejoice. Heaven made
peace. And made peace in the Greek is
defined as to be a peacemaker. To be a peacemaker. And that is figuratively to harmonize,
make peace. Make peace. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the peacemaker between God and His elect. And as I said,
there's no doubt in the verbiage in having made peace. We cry, Lord, help my unbelief. Oh. Heaven made peace. If you're a believer, Jesus Christ is our peace with
God. Our peace with God. Every believer's
peace. Without him, what? We have no
peace. We have no redemption, and we
have no salvation without him. But in him, and through him,
all who believe All who believe, whether they are in earth or
in heaven, have peace with God. Those who are in heaven, they
know it. Oh, peace with God. Precious,
precious words. And heaven made peace. Look,
our text continues. Through the blood of His cross.
Through the blood of His cross. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God incarnated in the flesh, has purchased peace and redemption
and salvation on the cross. How? By the shedding of his own
precious blood. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
20, verses 28. The shedding of his own precious
blood, God's blood. God's blood. Look at Acts, chapter
20, verses 28. And may we ponder this, beloved,
that this peace that our text speaks of, this peace that our
text speaks of was made through the blood of Christ, purchased
by the blood of Christ at Calvary's cross over 2,000 years ago. when He died on the cross as
our substitute. Look at Acts 20, verses 28. Take
heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. Two thousand years ago, the Lord
Jesus Christ purchased all the elect of all the ages when he died on the cross as
the sinner's substitute. Now, we just didn't know then,
right, because we weren't even around, that the Lord Jesus Christ
is our peace. Until we were delivered from
the power of darkness, beloved, and we were in the power of darkness.
We looked at that a few verses further up. Oh, but when we were delivered
from the power of darkness and God gave us true, saving faith by the regenerating of the Holy
Spirit of God and drew us, then it became a reality for us, didn't
it? Peace with God. Peace with God through the shedding
of His own precious blood. Look at Romans 4. Turn there
if you would. Romans 4. Verses 25 in Romans 5.1, it will
be right after that verse. Through the blood of His cross,
remember our text said, who was delivered for our offenses, He's
sinless, perfect, spotless, dying in the room and place of sinners.
And was raised again for our justification to prove that God
was satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, verse 1
of chapter 5, We continue right in that. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This ties right in to our text. And heaven made peace through
the blood of His cross. Oh, this is wonderful. Here's
a good illustration from an old preacher. of this peace that a believer
has in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a young girl
in heaven now, once a member of our church. I went with one
of my beloved deacons to see her when she was very near her
departure. She was in the last stage of
consumption. She said to me, it is sad to
be so very weak, but I think if I had my choice, I would rather
be here than in hell. For it is very precious to me. I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and I am waiting for the moment when He shall send His chariot
of fire to take me up to Him. I put the question, have you
not any doubts? None, sir. Why should I? I clasp my arms
around the neck of Christ. And have you not fear about your
sins? Have you not any fear about your
sins? No, sir. They are all forgiven. I trust
the Savior's blood. And do you think you will be
as brave as this when you come to actually die? The question
was put there. Not if he leaves me, sir. But he will never leave me. For he has said, I will never
leave you, nor forsake you. There's that peace, boy, that
passes all understanding. And the peace spoken of in our
illustration can only come from God. It can only come from Him. God gives dying grace. He gives
grace to His people. Strength to His people when they
need it. And we rest and trust in Him alone for the salvation
of our souls. Notice our text continues with
two words. By Him. By Him. This mercy, this redemption,
this reconciliation, all flowed out of the free grace of God
the Father to us through Jesus Christ in Him alone. By Him. By Him. This destroys the error of man
trying to bring about their reconciliation with God by their own works. These two words destroy it. This destroys the error of a
man trying to be justified by what he does. Anyone putting their trust in
sacrifices or penance, or because they pray a certain length of
time, or because they supposedly follow the law, which they can
never keep. If they're trusting in those
things to get them to heaven, they're building a refuge of
lies. By Him. By Him. Two small words. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
16. Two small words that would destroy. Think of this, too,
in light of our text. These two words rebuke the false
religionists, not only of our day, but of their day. These two words rebuke worksmongers
by Him. It doesn't say, by Him and a
little bit of us. No. It says, by Him. By Him. These two words expose those
who say salvation is by your works as
false teachers and prophets leading men and women to their eternal
doom. Look at Acts 16, verses 27-31. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and he would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. And he called
for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down
before Paul and Silas. And bought them out, saying,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? By Him. And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Salvation is only by Him. Only by Him. Only in the great Peacemaker,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We say to folks trying to work
their way to heaven, cease from your labors. These words destroy salvation
by works. By Him. By Him. And we see in our text the work
of reconciliation is God's work. It's God's work. Not man's. And it's all by Him. All by Him. All by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Son of God incarnated in the flesh. Man has a desperate
need, don't we? We have a desperate need to be
reconciled to God. Desperate need. And think of this. God has already
planned and purposed salvation in Christ. Reconciliation
for His people in eternity past. Christ is, He is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He is. God didn't go to plan B when
Adam fell. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
peacemaker. Now a lot of folks have faith
in different things, don't they? But true saving faith has one
object, just one, and that's Christ. In the religious world, no one
ever goes to hell. Just listen to them. Somebody dies and they say, well,
they're in heaven, even if they hated God. Well, that's just a lie. The Holy Spirit gives faith and
repentance. He gives faith and repentance
to His people. And what happens? They trust
Christ. They believe. They believe. They believe on Christ. And faith
is God's spiritual conduit. All of God's blessing flows through
God-given faith. to all of His people, all of
His enlightened children. God the Holy Spirit enlightens
the mind under the preaching of the gospel, under the preaching
of His gospel, not any gospel, but His gospel, the gospel of
His free and sovereign grace in Christ plus nothing. He gives the believer faith to
understand and embrace gospel truths. Things they once despised,
now they love. The one who they once despised,
now they love. Oh, what a glorious God. given faith to embrace and to
receive Jesus Christ and His finished work for us. Turn, if
you would, to Isaiah chapter 19, and then put your finger
in Acts chapter 5. Oh, in the Old Testament, this
Savior was promised. This Savior was promised. Isaiah 19, verse 20, and Acts
5, verses 30-32. In the Old Testament, the Savior
was promised. Isaiah 19, verse 20, And it shall
be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the
land of Egypt. For they shall cry unto the Lord,
because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Savior,
and a great one, and he shall deliver them." Oh, this is none
other than Christ. None other than our King. And
look at Acts chapter 5. In the New Testament, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Savior, is manifested Salvation is all by Him. Acts
5, verses 30-32. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior and to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. That's all God's spiritual
Israel. all His elect. Notice 2, for
to give repentance to Israel, He gives us repentance and forgiveness
of sins. And we are His witnesses of those things. And so is also
the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey Him. Back to our text in Colossians
1. By Him. By Him. Through Him. And in Him. Notice, by Him is stressed twice
in this verse. Heaven 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, it's stressed twice. This again
is another blow against the false Gnostic teachers. as Paul is
showing that reconciliation is only through Christ. Only through
Christ. Only one mediator. The Gnostics
taught that there was angel mediators between God and man. No. There's only one mediator. There's only one we pray to.
There's only one we cry out to. There's only one we look to for
salvation. And that's Christ, the one who
shed His precious blood for the sins of His people. By Him, by
Him, by Him. Oh, it's wonderful. Music to
the sinner's ears. Neither is there salvation in
any other. By Him. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. By
Him, beloved. Our text continues. By Him to
reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. Now the Greek word here
For reconcile is defined as to reconcile completely. To reconcile
completely. We fell an item, right? We need to be reconciled to God.
The Greek definition for this word, by him to reconcile all
things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven, is to reconcile completely. To reconcile, another
definition, I'll give us three definitions. Number one, to reconcile
completely. Number two, to reconcile back
again. And number three, bring back a former state of harmony. So the question comes up, who
are we reconciled to? Well, we looked at earlier in
the message that God's people, his elect, are reconciled to
God the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. We're actually
reconciled to the whole trinity, but because God is offended. But now let's use this Greek
definition to see what our mighty Savior has accomplished. The
first definition was to reconcile completely. God's people have been fully
redeemed. Fully. Do you see how it takes
any works by us away? If Christ did it all, then there's
nothing for us to do but to look to Him. He did it all. God's people have been fully
redeemed. And we are redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ. Jesus Christ Himself has appeased
and satisfied the offended justice and law of a holy God. of the holy God of the universe,
which we ourselves could never satisfy. Christ did it all. Turn, if you
would, to Hebrews chapter 2. He offered himself up in the
place of his people before God to make reconciliation for his
people Look at Hebrews 2.17. Hebrews 2.17, Wherefore, in all things that
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation Remember, he's sinless, right?
Absolutely sinless. Do you make reconciliation for
the sins of the people? The sinless one dies in the place
of sinners. Oh, and God's sword of justice
falls upon Christ. Falls upon Christ in the place
of his people. Oh, our Savior made peace through
the blood of His cross, peace through the blood of His cross,
and we embrace that glorious, God-honoring truth that He has
made peace for His people. We thank God, the God of all
grace, for His unspeakable gift We who have been reconciled to
God. Now the Greek word is further
defined as to reconcile back again. Bring back a former state
of harmony. We fell in Adam. He's our federal
head, right? Remember, he was sinless before
he fell. He was a living soul. We who believe are reconciled
back to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 5. The Lord Jesus Christ has reconciled
His elect to God by the shedding of His precious blood. Romans 5, verses 12-15. Wherefore is by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Now where people get it wrong
a lot of times is in the fall. They believe that man is just
mostly born dead in religion. No, we're born dead. When Adam
fell, we fell with him. Sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also
as the free gift. For if through the offense of
many, Adam or the offense of one, many be
dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." Sinners
reconciled to God. And let us think on this, beloved.
We who are reconciled to God, We are reconciled back to God
the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. They're one God. They're one God. Our sin was
against divine majesty. Our sin was against divine justice. Our sin was against divine law. This great reconciliation has
been accomplished for the elect of God, for his people, by the
great peacemaker, the great peacemaker, the Lord Jesus Christ. How? By
the shedding of his precious blood upon Calvary Street. We who were far off are brought
nigh by the blood of Christ. And it's God who's done this.
It's God who's done it. He sought us. He bought us. And we will glorify Him forever
in Heaven. God has done all this. It has
all been accomplished by Him. By Him. by His sovereign life-given
power, by the great Peacemaker, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the one mediator between God and man, and not the angel mediators
of the Gnostic teachers, as they were neither divine or human,
but Christ is both divine and human. God incarnate in the flesh, The
Lord Jesus Christ in merciful, loving kindness, and because He is God's man,
He is our representative, He brings us back to God. Christ
does this. The sacrifice made by Christ
in His death is the atonement which accomplishes our reconciliation. May we just rest in that. May
we just repose in this wonderful truth. The blood of His cross
signifies not merely the fact that Christ died on the cross,
but also the value of His death. The value of His death. in the
shedding of His precious blood for the sins of His people as
He accomplishes divine satisfaction. Divine satisfaction in the place of His people by
the payment for the sins of His people. By Him, He redeemed His people. from their sins by Him. It is finished. We who believe
say, praise His mighty name. This song is like a river glorious. We know this song, but I love
how it ends. The last four words in the chorus
there, it says, perfect peace and rest. I'll tell you, if he's
redeemed your soul, you have perfect peace and rest. Number
287, let's stand. Like the river Florida, is God's
perfect peace, over all Victoria.