Turn, if you would, to Isaiah,
chapter 9. Isaiah, chapter 9. The name of
the message is the great peacemaker. And then put your finger in Luke,
chapter 2. Continue study number 2 on the
Lord's incarnation, the fact that God became a man. And Christ
is the great peacemaker. He's the great peacemaker between
God and man. He's the only mediator between
God and man. He's the only way to the Father.
Again, that's why God the Father at Christ's baptism said, this
is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Christ is the only
one who lived the perfect life. See, we're all a bunch of sinners.
We're all a bunch of sinners, but Christ He's perfect. And something I noticed in the
reading Brother Tom did there, I used to be a Catholic. You ever hear Catholics say that
Mary was immaculately conceived? That's their thing, too. They
say not only was Christ immaculately conceived, oh, but Mary was immaculately
conceived. I just saw a great verse to give
folks that say that stuff. In that section, Luke chapter
2, verse 46, it says, and Mary said, my soul doth magnify the
Lord, and put my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior, verse 47. Mary's a sinner, just like you
and I. She needs a Savior. A good thing to talk to folks
about, if that ever comes up. Mary magnified the Lord. Why? And my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Savior. And you know what? Mary, being
a sinner, she was at enmity with God in her natural state. She was dead in trespasses and
sins, just like everybody else. She needed a Savior, just like
we do. And who does she look to? She looks to Christ. She looks to Christ, just like
we do. Oh, my. Look at this in Isaiah chapter
9, verses 6 and 7. And again, this is the Messiah.
It's spoken of the Messiah, which we saw last week in those just
10 prophecies that we looked at of the Messiah, that Christ
is the Messiah. And look what's said of the Messiah
here in Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7. For unto us a child
is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall
be upon his shoulder. In other words, he'll be in control. And we know that all power is
being given to the son by the father. Look at that. And his name shall
be called Wonderful. We call him our wonderful, merciful
Savior, don't we? Because he is. Counselor. He's our mediator
between God and man. The mighty God. He's God incarnate
in the flesh. The everlasting father. Christ
is from the ancient. He's the ancient of days, the
scripture says. He's from everlasting. The prince of peace. Look at
that. The prince of peace. You know man in this world? is
constantly striving for peace. You have peace talks in the Middle
East all the time. You have peace talks when countries
fight each other. They have a peace talk usually
to end the conflict. But man can never find peace.
They make a peace treaty and someone breaks it. You know why
man can never make peace? Because we're a bunch of sinners.
That's why. My. Now turn, if you would, to
Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Man chases after
that which is elusive by his own works and by his supposed
will, not knowing that his will is tied to his nature, which
is dead in trespasses and sins. So all he's ever going to do
is choose sin. That's why they break treaties. Make a peace
treaty, then they just break it. My. Yeah. So we live in a world of sinners.
That's why they never find peace on this earth. But believers have true peace
while we're on this earth. And look what's declared here
in Luke chapter 2. John Gill brings forth that this
is a proclamation of the great peacekeeper being born. And that's
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 2, verses 8 to 14. And they were in the same country,
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. So these shepherds are just doing what they always
do. They're watching over the sheep. It's pitch black. Oh, look at
the stars. They're beautiful, aren't they?
Oh, yeah, beautiful stars tonight. And lo, the angel of the Lord. Lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them. Oh my, the angel of the Lord?
Yeah? And the glory of the Lord showed
up, and they were sore afraid. They're seeing the angel of the
Lord, and they're terrified. Remember, it's dark, and all
of a sudden, this angel appears. Could you imagine if we were
there? Your jaw would drop open. You'd be speechless, wouldn't
you? I'm going to die. And the angel said unto them, look
at this. Look at this. Oh, beautiful. David. David said to Mephibosheth,
fear not. God says to us, as sinners, saved
by the grace of God, fear not. He says that to us in Christ,
doesn't he? Fear not. You've got a mediator. My beloved
son, in whom I'm well pleased. Look at this. Fear not. Don't be afraid. For I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
In God's people are people scattered among every nation, right? Out
of every nation, tongue, tribe, and people. For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior. These were some of God's lost
sheep, beloved. You know why? Because it says, for unto you
is born. We're going to meet those shepherds
by the grace of God. For unto you is born in the city
of David a Savior. Your Savior is just being born.
We know these are God's lost sheep from that statement right
there, right? You didn't die for everybody in the world. But
he died for his people, a savior. Who is he? Christ the Lord, the
Messiah. And this shall be your sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly, now remember, It's
a dark night. These guys are keeping their
flock. Like I said, they might be talking
about the stars. Might have been talking about their lives. Just
going about their nightly business, right? Taking care of the sheep
so the wolf come up, they can whack the wolf with their stick. And all of a sudden, an angel
of the Lord appears. And they're terrified. It doesn't end there. And suddenly,
there was with an angel a multitude. whole bunch a whole bunch of the heavenly
host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest look
at this and on earth peace and goodwill toward men peace that
which is most elusive for us because we're a bunch of sinners
peace true peace Over there is born the Prince
of Peace, the one who will make peace with
God for his people by the sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross.
And his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder he says, good will
toward man. God's people say amen, don't
we? Now turn, if you would, to Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. And here we will see the source
of true peace. Paul writes this letter, the
book of Colossians, combating the Gnostics who have risen up
and said that Christ is just one of many mediators with God.
And the Gnostics had a whole hierarchy of angels. And they
said, well, Christ is just one of those mediators. So what Paul
is writing when he writes this, again, he's battling another
works-based salvation in the sense of all these different
mediators. And he sets forth, if you read this book on your
own, he sets forth the supremacy of Christ all through this book. And that's why he says in chapter
3, and you are complete in him, complete in Christ. The salvation's
finished. So all through this book, he's
setting forth the supremacy of Christ and battling the Gnostic
era at the same time of multiple mediators. And look what he says
here in Colossians 1, verses 15 to 23. He says, about Christ,
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Look at this. This shows us,
remember it said the government's on the shoulders in Isaiah about
the Messiah? Right? Which means he's in charge
of everything. Look what it says here. For by
him, that's Christ, were all things created that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by him and for him. And then it says, and he is before
all things, and by him all things consist. The government's on
his shoulders, beloved. He has all power. He's in full
control. He made those things, and he
orders those things, and he keeps those things. He says, by him,
all these things consist. That includes you and I. The
only reason we consist is because God gives us breath to breathe.
And not only does he give it to us, we who are his people,
but he gives it to everybody in the world, doesn't he? He's
a benevolent God. Even those people shaking their
fists at him, saying they hate him, he still gives them breath
to breathe. The rain falls on what? The just
and the unjust, right? Oh yeah. Look what it says in
verse 19, or 18. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, that
in all things he might have the preeminence. When I came here,
Jean-Claude said to me before I came here, he said, remember,
Christ always gets the preeminence. And we preachers can get proud
just like everybody else. And to me, if a young preacher
came to me, that's something I'd pass on to him. Christ always
gets the preeminence. He always gets it. He is first
and foremost in our ministry. We preach Christ and him crucified.
This church exists for the gospel to go out, for you all to hear
the gospel, but then it goes out into the world too, doesn't
it? And who knows how the Lord uses it. We just thank Him that
the opportunities to send it all over the world is there.
It's amazing. And remember, this is being written,
again, against the Gnostics, who say there's multiple mediators,
and so what he's doing here, he's saying Christ is the head,
the preeminent one. Because when we get pictures
taken, we don't get pictures taken of our feet, do we? Or
our hands. We get pictures taken of our
face, our head, right? It's the preeminent part of our
body. That's how we're identified. You know, they have that facial
recognition stuff. That's all our face. We have
fingerprints that they can track us with too, but our face, that's
the main thing, isn't it? So he's the head. He is the supreme
one. We're just the body. The body's
in submission to the head, right? Your brain tells your hand to
move this way, or cook this on the stove. Your brain tells your body. The
body's in submission to your brain, to the head. We're in submission to the head,
aren't we? He's the supreme one. He has all, and He has to have
the preeminence. Christ has to have a preeminence.
He must. He must. And then look what it
says. Remember, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. It says here, for it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And now look
at this in verse 20. Oh, look at this. Remember, He's
called the Prince of Peace. In Isaiah, the Messiah is called
the Prince of Peace. And having made peace through the blood
of His cross, It's already done. That which is most elusive to
man, peace, Christ has accomplished in our place. And this is a stated
fact in having made peace. Rejoice, beloved, in that. Christ
came into this world as the great peacemaker that we might have
peace with God. who in our minds we were an enemy
with. In our natural state, whether we said the words or not, we
shook our fist at God by our actions. I think I told you before, I
had somebody who once attended here. They said, well, I was
never an enemy of God. Pardon? The scripture says we
all are in our natural state, in our minds enemies with God. You wonder if the person really
knows the gospel when they make a statement like that. I remember
Rupert Reichenbach. He preached on everybody being
a sinner. And one time after, somebody,
the lady, come out and said, I'm not a sinner. Well, he said, then
you're not saved. Your profession is nothing but
a false profession. God's people admit we're sinners.
We know we're sinners. We've been taught by the Holy
Spirit, God, that we are sinners. And praise God, like Mary said,
Christ is our savior. That means he's our deliverer.
And he delivered us, didn't he, from our sins. And look what
it says here. And having made peace. How did he make peace?
Look at this. There's a specific way he made
peace. Through the blood of his cross. So not only did his blood redeem
us, beloved, not only did his blood purchase our eternal souls,
but because of his blood, We have peace with God. That's a state of fact here,
right? I say, whether they be things on earth or things in
heaven, whether they be the saints in heaven or whether they be
the saints on earth, we have peace with God through
his blood. And even them lost sheep have
peace with God. They just don't know it yet. But they'll find out. The Holy
Spirit will fetch him, won't he? Remember, David said, go
fetch, and Mephibosheth. That's called fetching grace,
the old timers used to call it. We're saved by fetching grace,
beloved. The Holy Spirit fetches us. Oh my, we're way out there in
Lodabar, getting as far away from King David as far away from
the Lord as we possibly can. The Holy Spirit comes and fetches
us. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful
truth. And then look what it says here.
And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works. So there it's about forthright
before us. That's where we were. We were alienated. We were enemies
with God in our mind. By what? By our own wicked works. By our sinfulness. This is good
news here, though. Yet now hath he reconciled. Past
tense again. It's already done. Now, you're reconciled right
now, if you're a believer, to God, through the blood of his
cross, through the blood of Christ, which was shed at Calvary's cross
for the remission of our sins. This is a fact. The great peacemaker
died that we might have peace with God. I'll tell you, as I
said in Sunday school, this is the best news I've ever heard
in my life as a sinner. It's wonderful. I'm so undeserving,
and so are you. But yet, he's had mercy on us,
hasn't he? Yet now hath he reconciled. How?
In the body of his flesh through death. He gave himself for us,
as we looked at this morning in Sunday School. He gave himself
for us that he might deliver us from this present evil world.
Turn, if you would, to Galatians. Let's read that verse. And what did he give us for?
I left out some stuff when I just quoted that. Look at Galatians
chapter 1, verse 4. This is wonderful. And this ties
right in here when it says, and you that were sometimes alienated,
enemies in your mind by wicked words, yet now hath he reconciled,
how? In the body of his flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. Look at this in
Galatians 1, 4. Paul's writing to the Galatian
believers. who had been influenced by the Judaizers, saying, you
have to trust in Christ and be circumcised in order to be saved.
Just adding man's works to the perfect finished work of Christ,
which makes it no longer the perfect work of Christ, because
man's work's being added, it's a false gospel. He says this
to them, who gave himself for our sins, ours, We're the sinners. He's the sinless one. He gave
himself for our sins. God himself gave himself for
our sins, right? That he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our father.
It's the will of God from eternity, that Christ would give himself
for us. That the great peacemaker would
be born in Bethlehem. and would go to the cross and
die, because let's go back to our text here. It says, and yet
you who are sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
quirks, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you. Now look at this. What are we? We're sinners, aren't we? The
scripture says we're sinners from the top of our head to the
bottom of our feet. Everything we say and do is tainted
with sin. But look, this is a wonderful truth. Look at this. Present
you holy. Perfect. And look at this, and unblameable.
Who can lay any charge to God's elect? It's God who justifies.
This is wonderful news. And unapprovable in His sight.
He sees no blemish in us. Yet we're sinners from the top
of our head to the bottom of our feet, and yet, in Christ,
God sees us in Christ. And Christ is going to present
us, right? Because we're still sinners while
we're living in this world. And while we're breathing air,
we're still sinners. But we're safe sinners now. But
there will be one day when we will be presented perfectly holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. Now again, God sees us that way
in Christ right now, which is incredible. But can you imagine
what it's going to be like when we have no sin? None. And then it says here in verse
23, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be
not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which is Christ,
which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature,
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister.
So here, Paul's bringing forth again the preeminence of Christ,
And he also brings forth the great work of reconciliation,
which the Lord Jesus Christ did at Calvary's Cross. And the fact
that he's the peacemaker, we have peace with God through the
great peacemaker. Again, that which is most elusive
to man comes in Christ. And think of this, here we are
in the midst of this world as believers, and we have peace.
You know, I see stuff going on in the world, and I got a peace.
I know he's in control. Now, do I waver sometimes with
that peace? Yeah, because of my flesh, yeah. But he's constant, isn't he?
And when I start to get like this, I look to Christ. I look
to him. I look to him who is my peace
with God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know when Adam fell, when
Adam fell, we all fell in Adam. And we come into this world,
we know, dead and trespasses and sins. But look at verse 20
again in Colossians 1, and having made peace, it's already done.
We don't have to make peace with God, it's already done by Christ
for us. People say, have you made peace
with God yet? Well, no, Christ made it for me. I have peace with God through
Christ. There's nothing I could have done to make peace with
God. But praise God as a believer,
I have peace with God. It says, through the blood of
his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. It's absolutely
incredible. And look, it says in verse 19,
for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.
It pleased the Father that he be the great peacemaker. Pleased
God. And this reconciliation, this
great peacemaker coming into this world, was all planned and purposed
by God. Because that verse we read over in Galatians, it says,
by the will of God the Father. It's all planned and purposed.
Think of that. If you're saved right now, it's all according to the will
and purpose of God. Think upon that this week. I, Wayne Boyd, stand before you,
a man saved by the grace of God, a man saved because Christ gave
himself for me, and it was all according to the will and purpose
of God, and it's true for every single believer. Marvel at that. That's incredible. And how are we redeemed? Through
his blood he gave his life for us. He gave himself for our sins,
the sinless one, gave himself for our sins. My, wonder of wonders,
God himself became a man and gave himself to die in my room
and place to redeem me, and he's made peace with God for me. So if somebody asks you, have
you made your peace with God, I'd just say, only in Christ.
He did it all for me. He saved my soul. He justified
me. He sanctified me. He made peace
with God for me. My, oh, my. And he said, I am the way. There's
only one way. Only one. I am the way. That
takes away all those other religions in the world. I am the way. The
God-man, remember he was speaking, God in the flesh. I am the way.
I am the truth. And I'm the life. Eternal life
only comes through Christ. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Exclusive. Only in Christ. And again, this was all planned
and purposed by God. Turn, if you would, 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Look at this wonderful, these
wonderful, wonderful words. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses
18 to 20. We'll read verses 18 and 19 first. And all things are of God, who
hath, look at this, past tense, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. When did that happen? 2,000 years
ago. It's already done. God reconciled us to Christ through
the death of his son, who came into this world to die in our
Roman place. and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. That's why gospel preachers just
cry out, salvation's in Christ alone. There's no other hope but Christ.
To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. We're forgiven, God's
people are forgiven of all their trespasses. They're not imputed
to them because they were imputed to Christ. And his perfect righteousness
was imputed to us. That's what it's telling us here.
And hath committed unto us the work of reconciliation. So the
sinless one, our sins are imputed to the sinless
one. He's still the sinless one. He's sinless one in his birth.
He's the sinless one in his death. And because our sins were imputed
to Christ, they're not imputed to us. Christ paid for them all. What did he give himself for?
Our sins. No wonder that Paul wrote, and
you're completing Christ. You're completing him. There's
nothing to be added. See, but man wants to do something, eh?
Natural man. Not those who are born again,
because no, we're just resting and trusting in Christ. But natural
man, they always want to do something. And I know. I was in religion.
I came out of Catholicism, went into religion. I went from the
fire to the frying pan. And then Lord showed me grace
and saved my soul. My. And look what it says, verse
20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ. God's people, we're
ambassadors for Christ. As though God did besiege us
by you, we pray you in Christ's name be reconciled to God. Flee
to Christ. He's the only hope for sinners.
Flee to him. And this work of reconciliation
has been committed to the son, and he's completed it. It's finished. Over in Romans chapter five,
the scriptures declare, but God commandeth his love toward us
and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
than being now justified by his blood, again, redeemed by his
blood, justified by his blood, peace with God through his blood. See how important the blood of
Christ is? It's so important. We shall be saved from wrath
through him. What wrath? The wrath of God, because it
fell on Christ in our Roman place. So the Lord's a great peacemaker.
It says this in Romans 5.10, for if we, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of Christ, of his son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Saved
by his life, a perfect submission to the Father, the Lord our righteousness,
weaving that coat of righteousness and saved him in his death when
he redeemed us and purchased us with his precious, precious
blood. So marvel that God himself became
a man. Ephesians chapter 2 says this,
says, for he is our peace. God's our peace. Christ is our
peace. We don't have any peace with God except through Christ.
who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of
petition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, he satisfied the
law of God in our place, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace. We have peace. And then it says,
and that he might reconcile again, reconciliation. Reconciled both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
So the wrath of God's appeased. It's satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ in our Roman place. And came and preached to you
which were far off. That's where we were. We were
far off. Right? And to them that were nigh, to
both Jews and Gentiles. We were far off. We were Gentiles.
The Jews were nigh. They were given the ordinances
of God. But they still need a savior, just like we do. Because in the
body of Christ, there's both Jew and Gentile, isn't there? There's only one meat-eater.
Only one. Let's go back to that verse in
20. Verse 20. You know, the Lord needs no assistance
in the salvation of our souls, too. I want to say that. He needs
no assistance. See, man, by wicked works, tries
to give assistance to God for salvation. I don't need no assistance. He gave himself for our sins.
We're delivered from our sins by him alone. We're delivered
from this present evil world by him alone. He needs no assistance. I might need some help when I
do some tasks. He don't need no assistance. None at all. Nope. He accomplished this, and
look what it says in verse 20. Evidence of this is given in
verse 20, that we're complete in Him. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him, to reconcile things unto Himself
by Him, I say whether they be things on earth or things in
heaven, reconciliation with God, peace with God comes through
Christ in Him alone, nowhere else. And if man tries to add something,
we just mess it up. That's why, like Jean-Claude
said, you put a pinprick of works, add it to grace, it's no more
grace. It becomes another gospel. Church
of Christ, they say you must be baptized to be saved. That's
another gospel. That's another gospel. My, oh, my. And look at this
in verse 20 here. It says, in having made peace,
made peace, Colossians chapter 1, verse 20. In having made peace.
Made peace in the Greek is defined, listen to this. This is amazing. To be a peacemaker. To be a peacemaker. That is,
to harmonize and make peace. He is the peacemaker. He is the
prince of peace. He's the Messiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the false teachers at Colossus aim to bring about
a partial recognition between God and man through, again, a
list of interceding angels. That's what the Gnostics did.
And the apostle speaks of an absolute and complete reconciliation
in Christ, period. Period. No other mediators, the
word of God is incarnate to make reconciliation, to make peace
with God through the blood of his cross for his people. And therefore it's necessary
for the great peacemaker to be born into this world, isn't it?
He must become, God's a spirit, he can't die. You heard me mention
that in Sunday school. But he became a man that he'd
die in our room and place. And the Word of God, the second
person of the Trinity, became a man. So it was necessary that
the Messiah must be born into this world to deliver his people
from their sins. And he must suffer as a man in
our room and place. He must die and shed his blood,
which we know the life of the flesh is in the blood. He must
suffer and die. in our room and place in order
to reconcile us, in order for us to have peace with God. So think of that. Christ did
that because he loved us. And he still loves us. And then
it says, in having made peace, this is all one word in the Greek.
Again, it means to make peace, reconciliation, also concerning
itself with bringing about a secession of hostilities. An end of hostilities. We who were enemies in our minds
are no longer enemies in our minds with God. The enmity has ceased. The wrath
of God has been satisfied by the great peacemaker. And it also means to reconcile
fully. We're already reconciled with
God, beloved, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
is our peace with God. He's our peace with God. Heaven
made peace through his blood, 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. Our text
here says, through the blood of his cross, it brings forth
the fact of his death. God himself, God incarnate in
the flesh, purchased our eternal souls. He redeemed us. He justified us. He gave us peace
with God through his blood. He gave himself for our sins. When he died 2,000 years ago
on Calvary's cross, We didn't know. When we were lost, we didn't
know Christ was our peace. Again, you couldn't tell. When
we were in our lost estate, you couldn't tell us as the lost
sheep of God from the goats. You couldn't tell. We looked
like a goat. We acted like a goat. But we
weren't goats. Isn't that amazing? We're God's
sheep. We had no clue, though. We didn't
know Christ gave himself for us. We didn't know that we'd
be delivered from the power of darkness until God gave us true
saving faith, until we were born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
by the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit when he drew
us to Christ. Romans 4 says, verse 25 says,
he was delivered for our offenses. The sinless one was delivered
for our sins and was raised again for our justification. So the
great peacemakers born into this world, To deliver us from our sins,
and was raised again for our justification, and now he's seated
at the right hand of the Father in glory, interceding for us.
My, oh my. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter five, and we'll read verse one. Romans chapter five, verse one. Look at this. This couldn't be
more plainly stated that the believer in Christ has peace
with God now. Therefore, being justified by
faith, again, that's God-given faith, and that faith we exercise,
don't we? And it has one object, which
is Christ. Justified by faith, we have peace with God, how?
Through the Lord Jesus Christ. So this peace spoken of in Romans
chapter 5 is the only reason the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to redeem
us, right? He came into this world to redeem us from our sins. He came into this world to justify
us before God. He came into this world to save
us from our sins. And he came into this world that
we might have peace with God through the blood of his cross.
It's amazing. Let's go back to Colossians chapter
One, we'll look at verse 20 again, and it says, by him. In heaven made peace through
the blood of his cross by him, by him. This is mercy overflowing. This redemption, this reconciliation
all flowed out of the free grace of God the Father and comes to
us by him, through Christ. It's the only way it comes. And
this destroys the error of man trying to bring about reconciliation
with God by any other works. This just destroys it. The only
way you and I can be reconciled, the only way we can have peace
with God, is by him, by Christ. No other way. No other way. Again,
brings more power, even more power to, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. The very words of our Savior. My, oh my. By him. So anyone putting their
trust in sacrifices or their own repentance or praying a certain
prayer or following the law, they will not get to heaven by
doing any of those things. They've built themselves a refuge
of lies. Because salvation is by Him.
So plainly stated here, by Him. By Christ. Remember what the
The keeper of the prison said, when he woke up, and he was about
to kill himself, and Paul and Silas were in the prison, they
said, don't do you any harm, don't do any harm to yourself.
We're all here. And he called for a light, and
he went in there, and he shone the light, and they were all
there. And he besought them, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Paul said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. What must I do? Nothing. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And God-given faith exercises
that, doesn't it? It believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It trusts and rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. And men
and women have a desperate need to be reconciled, desperate need. Just as all of us, but beloved,
Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That
which was purposed and planned by God in eternity came to pass
at Calvary. Just as much as Christ's birth
was prophesied, his death was prophesied too. Both came about by the will and
purpose of God. My oh my. The Old Testament,
the Savior's promise, it says, 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. Oh, he's a great
Savior, isn't he? The Lord sent a great Savior,
didn't he? Jehovah sent a great Savior himself. Oh my God, himself shall provide
a lamb. Abraham said to Isaac, right?
He presented Himself, didn't He? He gave Himself for our sins. God don't lie. He can't lie. He's God. And salvation is all
by Him and through Him. That's it. And notice that by
Him is stressed twice in this verse. Let's read it again, Colossians
1.20. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him, to reconcile all things unto
Himself by Him. Look at that, it's emphasized
twice in the same verse, by Him, by Christ. There's only one mediator
between God and man, and that's Christ. Neither is there salvation
in any other, none other, for there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Acts chapter
4, verse 12. And then our text continues,
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether
they be things in heaven or things in earth. Now the Greek word
reconcile there in the Greek is to reconcile completely. Completely
reconcile. Nothing for us to do. Isn't that
wonderful news? We just believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. What did Paul say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. God's people have been fully
redeemed. I mean, we are fully redeemed. We are purchased by
the blood of Christ. We have peace with God through
the blood of Christ. My, oh, my. Turn, if you would,
to Romans chapter 5. Our Lord made peace with God
for us by the shedding of his blood And that word reconciled
is further defined as to reconcile back again. We fell in Adam.
We need to be reconciled, don't we? We're reconciled back to
himself. Before Adam fell, he had peace
with God, perfect peace with God. My, oh, my. We fell on our federal
head, Adam, but now we're reconciled back by the second Adam, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this in Romans chapter
5 verses 12 to 15. Wherefore is by one man sin entered
into the world, that's Adam in the fall, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. We're
all the seed of Adam. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there's no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the simmetude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come. We're all born sinners, all of
us. But not as the offense, so also
as the free gift. For if through the offense of
one, that's Adam's fall, many be dead, much more through the
grace of God, And the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many. We're made alive in Christ. We
who were spiritually dead are now made spiritually alive in
Christ. And let us think back on this. We were reconciled back to God,
the Father, and God, the Holy Spirit, and God, the Son. Because
we'd sinned against all. We'd sinned against God, and
God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now we're reconciled
by the blood of Christ. We who are his people, we're
reconciled now. Our sin was against divine majesty, wasn't it? Our
sin was against God. Our sin was against divine justice.
Our sin was against divine law. And this great reconciliation
has been accomplished, beloved, for the elect of God by the great
peacemaker, the Lord Jesus Christ. How? By the shedding of his precious
blood upon Calvary's tree. So we wonder in amazement that
God became a man, that the great peacemaker became
a man and died for our sins. And we who were far off are now
made nigh. How? By the blood of Christ.
We were far off in our sins. Now we're made nigh, forgiven
by the grace of God. And it's all being accomplished
by Him. Anyone ask you? Anyone ask you? How can you say that you're totally
saved? Because I'm saved by Him, by
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I didn't contribute nothing. My salvation is wholly by Him,
wholly by the Lord Jesus Christ. by him, by his sovereign life-giving
power, by Christ and Christ alone. My salvation is by the great
peacemaker, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the one mediator between
God and men. There's no other mediators. He's
the one mediator. There's no angels that are mediators,
none at all. What Gnostic teachers were teaching
was nothing but a false gospel. My, oh, my, the Lord Jesus Christ
in merciful, loving kindness, and because he is also God, he
is our representative, and he's brought us back to God. We fell
in Adam, and we're far. Now we're made nigh. Now we're
brought back to heaven, peace with God. We lost that peace
when Adam fell, but we have it again in Christ. Isn't it wonderful
to think that we have peace with God Almighty now? We've sinned
against them, but yet now we have peace with God through him. And the sacrifice made by Christ
in his death is the atonement which accomplishes our reconciliation
through his blood. We are reconciled to God. Remember,
we have peace with God through his blood. We're justified through
his blood. We're sanctified through his
blood. And one day we'll be in his presence. Why? Because by him, and by the shedding
of his precious blood, by him, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have
salvation. Therefore we cry out, salvation
is of the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise be to God.