Turning now to Ephesians chapter
2, Paul gives us a very stark and
plain reminder of what we are in the flesh and what we are
by nature in verse 11 of Ephesians 2. He says, remember, remember
where I found you. God says, remember what you are
in the flesh, Gentiles, uncircumcised, ungodly, considered by the Jewish
community as dogs cast out, outcast, that the outcast cast out, that
at that time you were without Christ? Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel? Strangers from the covenants of promise, verse 12,
notice it's covenants, plural, of God's promise of mercy to
sinners in Christ, having no hope, no hope and without God
in the world. And then he comes with this glorious
good news of mercy to sinners in Christ Jesus, but now. But now. But now. Not in your works. But now. Not in your ceremony. But now. Not in anything we bring. Not
anything that we have. He says, but now in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Even though
by nature in Adam. Far off. sometimes were far off,
full of guilt, full of sin. Yet, in Christ Jesus, by that
glorious sacrifice that He made on behalf of His covenant people,
He said, in Christ Jesus, even though you were far off, in Adam's
guilt, Adam's ruin, Adam's sin, now He says, made nigh. made near unto God by the blood
of Christ. In Christ, by the blood of Christ. That's salvation by grace. That's
salvation by God's purpose. Redemption. Oh, redemption. Deliverance from all sin. One
way. One way. By the designated Lamb
of God, the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Redemption
by His blood. Peter declares we are not redeemed
with corruptible things. And he mentions silver and gold.
He mentions tradition of our fathers. But he says we are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. The precious blood of Christ.
The Lamb of God without blemish and without spot. We have a great
high priest. As our great high priest, the
Lord Jesus Christ, as a representative priest for His people, He has
somewhat to offer, not the blood of bulls and of goats, but He
offered Himself unto God, His own blood unto God, whereby he
obtained for us temporary amnesty." No, he obtained for us eternal
redemption by his blood sacrifice. When he had by himself purged
our sin, he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, having
accomplished all his purpose in putting away all of our sin. Ephesians chapter 1. Look at
verse 7. In whom we have redemption. In whom. Now it all gets back
to who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what He did. It's who
He is that gives infinite merit and value to what He did. In whom we have redemption. God bought us with His own blood,
in whom we have redemption through His blood. We have redemption
through His blood. We have the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace. The riches of His grace. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off were made nigh unto God by the blood of
Christ." Now you think how far off we were from God who is absolute,
holy, eternal, everlasting, and we're the extreme opposite. Dead,
He's life. Dead in sin. We're darkness,
He's light. Through this almighty sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have reconciliation. Sin brought
separation in the Lord Jesus Christ by that almighty sacrifice
that He made unto the Father, whereby put away our sin to enable
God to be just and the justifier, were made nigh by the blood of
Christ, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way, without
the shedding of blood, No remission. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sin. But He did. No wonder the song
of the redeemed is what? Unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in His own blood. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now, notice verse 14 in
our text. made nigh by the blood of Christ.
There's no other way, there's no other way that sin can be
put away. Atonement made, but by the blood
of Christ. Now, having said that, He is
our peace. He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and broken down the middle wall of separation between
us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments,
the ordinances, or to make in himself of the two one new man."
Now, let me work on this verse 14 for just a moment. Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
by his sacrifice, by his obedience, by his righteousness, by his
faithfulness, He is our peace. He is our peace. He is our peace. Now find Romans
5. He is our peace. Romans 5, 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace with God. by whom also we have access. We have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. We have access into His presence
through this blood atonement of Jesus Christ. He is our peace. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only ground and reason of peace and hope with God. The only ground,
the only reason. Christ and Him crucified. Peace
is made no other way. It's peace through His strength,
not mine. It's peace through His righteousness,
not mine. It's peace through His sacrifice,
not mine. It's peace through His doing
and dying, not mine. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us. Peace made by Christ, His righteousness,
His obedience, His sacrifice, His blood. Find Colossians chapter
1. How is peace made? Oftentimes
we hear people in religion saying, well, I'm trying to make peace
with God. Forget it. That's mission impossible. No
sinner can satisfy a holy God. But I tell you how peace is made.
Colossians 119 declares, for it pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. Having made peace through the
blood of His cross, His sacrifice, by Him to reconcile all things
unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. and you that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
he reconciled in the body of his flesh, he was a real man,
through death to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight." That's peace through the blood. That's the fruit of
that peace. That's the fruit of his sacrifice, the fruit of
that peace. Peace made by Christ. No wonder
in Scripture He is called the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9, 6. Another scripture over in Hebrews
7 talks about the priesthood of Christ. He's called the King
of Peace, and He is the Great High Priest. He's the King of
Peace. From the God of all comfort,
from the God of all grace, from the God of all peace. Let's turn
and read this scripture in Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. This glorious peace comes from
the God of all covenant mercies. This glorious peace through the
blood atonement of Christ comes from the God of all comfort,
comes from the God of all grace who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Notice Hebrews 13 verse 20. Now, the God of peace. He's the
God of peace. He's the maker of it, the sustainer
of it, the glory of it, the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood. The everlasting covenant make
you perfect in every good work to do his will. working in you,
that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. He is our peace. Peace through His blood. Now
look back at the text again, verse 14. He is our peace, peace through
the blood, peace through His obedience, through His righteousness,
who hath made both one and hath broken down that wall of separation. May both one in Christ. Jew,
Gentile, it doesn't matter your heritage. In Christ Jesus, we
are one. One. All distinctions, all barriers,
obstacles been removed. In the Lord Jesus Christ, His
people are one. Let me show you that. Back to
Galatians. Chapter 3, verse 26 of Galatians
3, For you are all children of God by faith in Christ. For as
many of you have been baptized into Christ, that means put under
his rule, under his reign, under his authority, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female.
You're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be his, Christ, notice,
possessive. He possesses us. Then are you
Abraham's true family seed and heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs
with Christ according to the promise of salvation in Christ
Jesus. Believers are one in Christ.
One in Christ. You remember Ephesians chapter
4, verse 4, there's one body, one spirit, even as you're called
in one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. There's one, His body. Made both,
He is made, He made both one. It's His doing. We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. Now, it says there in verse 14,
broken down, that middle wall partitioned between us. It reminds
me of what happened when the Lord Jesus Christ yielded up
the ghost, died on Calvary's tree when he declared, mission
accomplished, it is finished. That veil on the temple, that
thick veil that divided the holy of holies from the holy place,
that thick veil where the priest went in under, not without the
blood, once a year on that day of atonement and sprinkled that
blood on the mercy seat. Remember what happened? That
veil of that temple was rent. Top to bottom. Top to bottom. Why not the bottom from the top?
Salvation is not from the bottom up, it's from the top down. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of His doing. I
like that outline that Spurgeon gave years ago. Salvation is
of the Lord and its origination, its execution, its sustaining
power, its application, and its ultimate perfection. Salvation
is of the Lord. broken down that wall that separated
us. It's His doing. Now look at verse 15. He explains
what has been said. Having abolished in His flesh
as the God-man mediator, bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, the riot, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself unto one new man, so making peace." Here's the thought. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled
the holy law of God for us in His flesh. That's what He's doing. As the God-man mediator, fulfilling
God's holy law for us as our representative. He said in Matthew
7, He said, I came not to destroy the law, I came to honor the
law. He honored the law and every precept of that law. Now we think
of God's law, most people think of God's law, they think of those
ten. But I tell you, the precepts
of God's law is much more vast than ten statements. The precepts
of God's law is far-reaching. Someone said there's over seven
or eight hundred precepts of God's law that demands absolute
perfection in word, deed, thought, and motive. No man, no mere man, is justified
by the doing of a law because God sets the bar so high that
no sinner can meet what the law demands. But I tell you what,
The God-man mediator did. He honored the law of God in
every detail, every precept. He magnified the law. Now, we
often quote that, but let's turn and mark it in our Bible. That's
found in Isaiah 42. This would be good for you to
mark this. Isaiah 42, verse 21. You remember on the Mount of
Transfiguration when God spoke out of heaven, out of that cloud? And He said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. I'm well pleased. Hear Him. Look what it says here in Isaiah
42, 21. The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law. Did he do it? Absolutely. And make it honorable. Now, I tell you what, you say,
well, is that a big deal? Oh, yeah. God's law has to be
honored. He honored every precept of that
law. And listen to me, he did this not because he personally
needed a righteousness. He didn't. He is righteous. He
had no sin, knew no sin, did no sin. But he's doing this as
my representative, working out for me a perfect righteousness
whereby he gives that to us by his grace. It's called, "'Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works.'"
It's his obedience reckoned and counted to us, freely given by
his grace. He honored the law and every
precept of that law. Christ came not only to honor
every precept of the law, but the law also had some penalties. The law of God demands sin must
be punished. God cannot forgive sin without
a payment being fully made. He cannot just sweep away sin
without the guilty paying the price. of sin. The Lord Jesus
Christ not only honored every precept of that law, but He came
and satisfied the very penalty of that law. The penalty of that
law says the guilty must die, the soul that sinneth must die.
And the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree, taking our sin,
the sin of God's elect, reckoned to Him and charged to Him, He
said, Peter said that he bare our sin in his own body on the
tree, and taking our sin to himself, he took the wrath of God due
our sin, satisfied the penalty of that law to enable God to
be a just God and Savior in Christ Jesus. He redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Now you think
about that. The Holy One who knew no sin
made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the good news of the gospel.
He took it out of the way. Here's another scripture I need
you to turn to and mark this if you haven't. Find Colossians
chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Look at verse 13, "...and you,
being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh..."
Colossians 2.13, "...hath he quickened together with him,
having..." He's writing the ordinances that was against us. The law
said, stop your mouth, you guilty. Which was contrary to us. Took
it out of the way. nailing it to his cross, having
spoiled, defeated principalities and powers. He made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them, and the word there, notice
the marginal reference, himself, by himself, with himself. Satisfied that law of God for
us and took it out of the way. Christ is the end of the law.
Romans 10, verse 4. Believers are no longer going
about to establish a righteousness of their own, but they are resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ, submitted to Him who is our righteousness.
It's called that, the Lord our righteousness. Therefore, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
He's the end of the law. The goal, the consummation of
the law. everyone who believed, to the Jew first and also to
the Gentile. Now listen to me, the believer
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ has honored the law of God and
fulfilled the law of God in Christ Jesus. I can make good on that. Turn to Romans chapter 3. The believer resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ has satisfied every precept of that law in Christ. my substitute, my charity, my
mediator, my advocate, and the penalty of that law.
Romans 3 verse 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the
Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing it is one God which shall
justify one God, who is he that condemneth? Who can lay anything
for the charge of God to elect? It is God who justifies, Romans
8. Seeing it is one God which shall
justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through
faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid we establish it. in Christ Jesus being fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ crucified has removed
the wrath of the law of God against our sin by honoring it, satisfying
it, and putting it away. The law of God no longer has
a claim on me. You can execute, the laws of
the state of Tennessee can execute a criminal on death row, how
many times? One time. Once that law of the
state of Tennessee has executed that man on death row, the law
has no longer a claim, it's satisfied. The law of God has been honored
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, does the law of
God have a claim on me? Absolutely not. No wonder Paul
wrote, Thou therefore there is no condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation in Christ
Jesus and no separation in Christ Jesus, but complete and eternal
salvation and reconciliation with God in Christ. All believers,
both Jew and Gentile, are made one in Him. Now, I think this
is illustrated best by turning to Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, when Paul and
Barnabas came back to Antioch and declared all that God had
done through the preaching of the gospel, how God had opened
the door, granted faith unto the Gentiles, some of those old
Jewish people got a little bit upset that God saved some dog,
Gentiles, and they insisted As it says in Acts chapter 15 verse
1, they came down, some of those people, those self-righteous
Jews who said they were believers, but in reality they were still
resting in the law. And certain men came down from
Judea and talked to brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. after God had
already done the work of grace in their heart, now they wanted
to take these poor Gentile people who were trusting in Christ and
slap the law on them. Well, Paul went down to Jerusalem
to discuss the matter and Peter stood up in this council and
he declared this, verse 8, and God which knoweth the hearts
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did
unto us, regenerated them, quickened them, made them new creatures
in Christ. And He put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith, not by the law,
not by circumcision, by faith. Saving faith, the faith of God's
elect, looks to Christ for all salvation. Now, therefore, why
tempt you God? Why insult God? to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor
we are able to bear." Verse 11. Here's the bottom line. But we
believe through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we
shall be saved even as they. Grace and grace alone. Jew or
Gentile, through that blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so making peace, verse 16
of Ephesians 2, that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain that enmity in himself. He took the wrath of God in himself. In Christ crucified, the enmity
and the wrath of the law is abolished and slain. Christ Jesus has reconciled
all His elect unto the Father by this one glorious sacrifice
and presents us holy without blame before Him in love in one
glorious body called His Church. Find Ephesians chapter 5. And I'm going to quit with this
before I run out of wind. Ephesians chapter 5. Look at
verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word. That's the gospel that he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish
before him in love.