Reconciled Them Unto God

Introduction: The Barrier Between Jew and Gentile

0:03 Will you follow, please, as I read this morning from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 through 16. Ephesians 2, 11 through 16.

0:24 Wherefore, remember that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye that once were far off, are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one. And he is our peace, who made both one.

1:06 And he is our peace, who made both one. And break down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. In our study of this, the second paragraph in Ephesians 2, the second great contrast in this chapter, we have noted that the apostle is reminding particularly the Gentiles of what they were prior to the coming of Christ, the accomplishment of his work on behalf of sinners, and the subsequent proclamation of that work in the world. And in this particular passage that has been read in your hearing, our attention is directed to this barrier that existed between Jew and Gentile, few barriers ever existing among men, as deep, as high, as broad, as stubborn as the barrier that existed between the Jew and the Gentile.

2:34 And yet the apostle says, through the gospel, this barrier has been broken. This barrier has been broken down. And God in grace has not only worked to quicken dead, bound, condemned sinners by bringing them into union with Christ, but he has also worked with alienated sinners in such a way as to bring them into an intimate relationship and fellowship with each other. And we are presently examining what the apostle tells us about the relationship between the Gentiles and the Gentiles.

3:09 In verses 13 through 16, concerning the procurement of this peace between Jew and Gentile. When we complete our study in this section, we will then notice in verse 17, the pronouncement of this peace between Jew and Gentile. Verse 18, the participation in this peace by Jew and Gentile. And then the wonderful conclusions that flow out of the peace procured, pronounced, and in which Jew and Gentile participate.

3:46 Verses 19 through the end of the chapter. Now we noted in our previous study that the procurement of peace came in two directions. There was this horizontal barrier that existed between Jew and Gentile called in these verses the middle wall of partition. That partition which was constructed of the ceremonial law which set off and marked off the Jewish nation from the Gentiles.

The Vertical Barrier: Alienation from God

4:20 And that ceremonial law had become this tremendous barrier between Jew and Gentile so that on both sides of the barrier there was a mutual spirit of despising and animosity between Jew and Gentile. And yet wonder of wonders, the apostle tells us that Christ Jesus by his work upon the cross has utterly abolished that partition. And as a result has created in himself of the two, one new man, so making peace. Now we come this morning to verse 16, the focus of which is not so much the horizontal barrier, but the vertical barrier. And he introduces the whole cycle, subject of the vertical barrier, because it in reality lies behind the horizontal barrier. In other words, the reason why there is this barrier between men at the horizontal level is because there is a barrier between man and God in a vertical direction. And so the emphasis in verse 16 falls upon the reconciliation that has been made with...

5:39 Notice the wording. And might reconcile them both in one body unto God. The emphasis fell in the previous verses upon the breaking down of the middle wall of partition between groups of men. Now the emphasis falls upon the breaking down of barriers that exist between man and God.

The Problem Assumed: Universal Alienation from God

6:05 In order to think our way through the text, we shall do so along the following lines. First of all, we will look at the problem assumed in the text. Secondly, the problem resolved according to the text, and then the abiding message of all of this to us. First of all then, the problem assumed in the text.

6:30 When the apostle states that Christ has reconciled both Jew and Gentile unto God, it is quite clear that he is... He is assuming that there is a deep and profound problem existing between both Jew and Gentile and God.

6:49 In other words, reconciliation, even though we won't go into a technical definition of the word at this point, reconciliation immediately assumes a problem of alienation between two or more parties. Driving over in the car this morning, I just threw out the question, I just threw out the question to my children. If I say the word reconcile, what do you think of immediately? And the answer was, well, you think of people that are alienated from one another.

7:19 If you were to come up to me this morning at the end of the service and say, Pastor Martin, in my love to you in Christ, or out of my love to you in Christ, I want to offer my services to you at this time. I say, well, in what way? You say, well, I'd like to reconcile you to your wife. I'd say, well, I appreciate the expression of your love, but I don't need your services.

7:40 I don't need you to reconcile me to my wife because there is no present alienation, you see. So the whole assumption, whenever the word reconcile is mentioned, is that there is the necessity to bring together two parties who have been separated. That there is the necessity of bringing into a relationship of amity those who are presently in a relationship of enmity. There is the necessity of bringing from a distance, into loving proximity, those who are presently in this distant disparity of heart and affection.

8:20 Now, if we go out of here and we see two kids going at it, hammer and tongs, pulling each other's hairs and kicking, why then, your services as a reconciler might well be exercised to the profit of all concerned. And you'd separate the kids, you'd find out what was the occasion of their getting nipped with one another, and you'd try to, to change their frowns to smiles and their closed fists to open handshakes or an arm-in-arm buddy relationship. You see, the problem then assumed in a text such as this, and might reconcile them both in one body unto God, the problem assumed is that Jew and Gentile without distinction are in a state of alienation from God. Now then, this brings us to a very practical question. Is the enmity and alienation in this passage primarily the enmity and alienation in the heart of a sinner towards God? Or is it the enmity and alienation that is in the heart of God to the sinner?

9:33 Or is it both?

9:36 Now that's a very practical question, and it has profound biblical and theological and practical implications. For remember, everything that is biblical is also theological and is intensely practical.

9:51 So you're not engaging yourself in some abstract mental exercise when you wrestle with me through that question. The problem assumed in this text is alienation equally between Jew and Gentile and God. But now, in what precise sense is there an alienation that needs reconciliation? Is it?

Man's Enmity Towards God

10:13 The sinner's enmity to God? Is it God's enmity to the sinner? Or is it a combination of both? Well, there is no question that Jew and Gentile in a state of nature are in a position of alienation from God as far as their own attitude is concerned.

10:34 Romans 8-7 forever establishes the fact that in the heart of every unregenerate man, woman, boy or girl there is a clenched fist in the face of God. Romans 8-7 says, The carnal mind is enmity. Same word in the original. The carnal mind is enmity against God.

10:58 For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. You see, the sinner's enmity to the person of God finds expression in his opposition to the rule and the law. It does not mean that every sinner self-consciously goes around from morning till night saying, I hate God, I hate God, I hate God, I hate God, I hate God, I hate God, I hate God. No, he doesn't say it.

11:26 But his life says it.

11:29 The carnal mind is enmity against God. Why? For it is not subject to the law of God. And the sinner with his first breath and with his last waking thought at night lives in opposition to God.

11:43 He lives in opposition. He lives in opposition to the rule of God over him. He was made to bring glory to God. He was made lovingly to embrace the law of God.

11:54 But he does not do this in terms of motive, in terms of thought, and many times in terms of overt action. His language is the language of Pharaoh. Who is Jehovah that I should obey him? Or the language of those citizens in the parable that our Lord gave in Luke 19.

12:10 We will not have this man to reign over us. So, we will not have this man to reign over us. So, we will not have this man to reign over us. So, we will not have this man to reign over us.

12:15 So, there is alienation in the heart of every sinner towards God. From the moment Adam sinned and we sinned in him, mankind has been doing precisely what Adam did, running from God. Man's face is turned away from God. Man's heart is turned away from God.

12:38 In a parallel passage in Colossians 1, we have perhaps the best commentary on this very fact. Colossians 1. Colossians 1. Colossians 1.

12:45 Colossians 1. Colossians 1 and verse 21. And you, being in time past, alienated and enemies, where in your mind and your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death. Here the apostle says, the alienation exists in the mind and evil works of the sinner himself.

13:14 So, the word is, that all men, Jew, Gentile, slave, free, cultured, uncultured, all are in a state of alienation from God. We defy his government. We stand at a distance from his person. There is none that seeketh after God, no, not one.

13:37 Romans chapter 3. And so the question is settled that certainly this alienation that demands reconciliation involves man's attitude to God. But is that the focus of this passage?

God's Holy Alienation from the Sinner

13:54 And I believe it is not. But rather the focus of this passage is the reality of God's holy alienation from the sinner. Is Almighty God indifferent to the rebellion of man, the sinner?

14:13 When man in Adam said, I'll go my own way.

14:20 And from that point on, the carnal mind has been in a state of enmity to God. I ask the question, does God regard man's enmity to himself with a bland, stoic indifference? No. The scriptures everywhere assert that God is actively concerned with man's sin.

14:46 And that the reaction of his pure and holy being to man's sin and rebellion is one, one of pure and holy anger and wrath.

15:01 Listen to the word of God which asserts this without any hesitation. Isaiah 59.

15:10 Isaiah 59.

15:12 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God. And have hid his face from you so that he will not hear. The face of God is hidden from evildoers. God stops his ears to the whimperings and the self-centered cries of impenitent sinners.

15:53 Again, the scriptures tell us that the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Psalm 34.16. You see, not only is the face of the sinner turned away from God.

16:06 There's none that seeketh after God. God's face is turned away in anger from the sinner. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Psalm 5, verses 4 through 6 assert the same truth.

16:25 Psalm 5, verses 4 through 6. The arrogance shows that the Lord will not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Now notice, it doesn't say thou hatest all the iniquity of the workers of iniquity.

16:50 Thou hatest, and the object of the verb hate is the worker of iniquity. It is the sinner that is the object of the pure hatred of the Holy God. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Verse 6.

17:15 Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies. The Lord abhorreth. When you abhor something. Some of you kids, you say, I abhor spinach.

17:27 You can't stand it. Everything in you. You see spinach and blah. You know what abhor means, don't you, you kids, huh?

17:34 You know what abhor means. Look at the text. The Lord abhorreth. Abhorreth the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

17:42 And it will not do for you to sit there and say, ah, yes, but what about John 3, my friend, listen. Whenever you run from the clear teaching of any text of Scripture, running as you, saying as you run, but what about, what you're saying is I'm not willing to face the implications of the clear truth of any given passage of the Word of God. Here, there is the assertion of the psalmist that God is against the sinner in the state of impenitence and rebellion. Oh, but you say that's all Old Testament, that's all changed in the New, is it?

18:14 Not if I read my Bible rightly. For I read in Romans 1 in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed, presently revealed, from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness and then the very acts of God's judgment are described in His giving up, His giving over. Furthermore, we read in the New Testament Colossians 3.6 concerning certain sins for which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the sons of disobedience.

18:51 John 3.36 the wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not.

19:00 Professor Murray in his masterful treatment of the whole subject of reconciliation has stated in a way that I cannot improve upon this basic concept of God's alienation to the sinner. Stated in these words and I want to quote them just a brief paragraph.

19:20 Reconciliation presupposes disrupted relations between God and men. It implies enmity and alienation. This alienation is twofold. Our alienation from God and God's alienation from us.

19:39 The cause of this alienation is of course our sin. But the alienation consists not only in our unholy enmity against God but in God's holy alienation from us. If we disassociate from the word enmity as applied to God everything of the nature of malice and malignity you see whenever we have enmity it's mixed with sinful malice and malignity of viciousness that partakes of the spirit of hell and not of the spirit of heaven. So Mr. Murray says if we disassociate from the word enmity as applied to God everything of the nature of malice and malignity we may properly speak of this alienation on the part of God as His holy enmity towards us.

20:40 So in answer to the question is the enmity and alienation simply the fact that we are not God? Is it really the disposition of the sinner to God? Or is it the disposition of God to the sinner? The general scriptural teaching is that it is both.

Summary of the Problem: God's Wrath Against All Sinners

20:56 That's why in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul can speak and we'll look at that more carefully subsequent to the point I'm making now that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. He was overcoming the barriers in His own approach to men but now He says the message of the gospel is be ye reconciled to God by repentance and faith the enmity in the heart of the sinner you see is then overcome by the application of the gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit and so there is a two-fold alienation man to God God to man now what is the precise focus in this text? The precise focus in this text is that there is an overcoming of the alienation that is in the heart of God towards those whom He is committed to save. So then the summary of the problem assumed in this passage should be evident to all of us. The Jew with all his privileges remember what he had in the previous verses he had the covenants of the promise of the promises that pertain to the covenant he had this membership in the commonwealth of Israel he was as it were near to Christ in the nation that had the sacrifices and the law and the prophets and yet Paul says the Jew with all of his privileges is in a state of alienation

22:25 from God and in his state of sin there is the burning towards him of the pure and righteous and holy anger of God the face of God is against the Jew in spite of all of his privileges and the Gentile who has never had the written law is not so much to be pitied as an innocent victim of denial because he has not had these privileges according to Romans 2 and Romans 1 he has trampled underfoot the law of God written in his own heart and he has refused to submit himself to the God whose glory he sees in creation and he likewise is in a state of alienation from God and the anger of God burns against the impeccable penitent sinner and my friends that condition has never changed if you are not in Jesus Christ you are alienated from God alienated not only because of your own wicked works and thoughts in which you've turned your face against the God who made you but I stand to proclaim to you this morning that almighty God has turned his face away in righteous anger from you the face of the Lord is against them that do evil and what a frightening posture to be in any hour of any day to know that the God

23:55 who is a consuming fire has set his face against me that's why the psalmist could say kiss the sun lest he be angry and ye perish from the way so much for the problem assumed it's the problem of alienation now look at the problem resolved as the teaching is given to us in our text what if anything has transpired to deal with this enmity and in setting forth the resolving of the problem notice in the first place who resolved it or the agent of the reconciliation look at the emphasis of the text it's picking up of course the thought from the preceding verses but the emphasis falls upon the activity of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Lord Jesus Christ and upon his activity alone and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross having slain the enmity thereby who did the reconciling we have no proper noun in this verse we have none in the verse that precedes we go back to that summary statement in verse 13 the apostle introduces this whole subject of the overcoming of the barrier between the two between Jew and Gentile

The Problem Resolved: The Agent and Activity of Reconciliation

25:23 by drawing all of our attention to the person and work of Jesus Christ but now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off or made nigh in the blood of Christ for he even he is our peace who and everything that follows is a description of the activity of the Lord Jesus Christ and just as surely as it was Christ and Christ alone who broke down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile making possible the reconciliation of both groups into one so it was the same blessed Lord Jesus who reconciled us to God who took away every barrier that existed in God to his receiving of us in favor and in fellowship and so at the very outset in answer to the prayer to the question how was this problem resolved we are directed to the person who resolved it our attention is focused upon the Lord Jesus in the perfection of his work and in the glory of his person in other words this text is just another extended commentary on chapter 1 in verse 3 in which the apostle says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the heavenlies

26:52 in Christ Jesus and for the rest of the book he is simply opening up and declaring one after another of those glorious blessings that are ours in Christ by way of application let me say that this is the acid test of all religion what place does it afford to Jesus Christ the Christ of biblical revelation when Paul said in Christ Jesus he was using those titles of the Son of God manifested as the anointed Messiah identified with Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of the gospel record the Christ who came in fulfillment of Old Testament type and shadow and he says the problem was resolved in and by this person and that's the acid test of all professing religion what place does it give to the Christ of biblical revelation is he given the place of absolute supremacy is he given the place of centrality in every facet of religious life and thought the apostle Paul can't talk about horizontal barriers without drawing all the lines of attention to Christ now when he moves to vertical barriers he draws all the lines of attention

28:21 to Christ why? because he is the source the tongue and substance the beginning the middle and the end of all that is true and saving religion well so much for the question who resolved the problem but now how was it resolved? from the agent of reconciliation we move to the activity of reconciliation itself look at the text and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross having slain the enmity thereby some would want to translate slain the enmity in himself I prefer the exegesis that makes this refer to the cross he reconciled the entire body of those whom he came to save the word body here does not refer to Christ's body but to all of the people of God all of the aggregate of his elect both Jew and Gentile how did he overcome the problem he reconciled them both in one body unto God through the cross and he did it by slaying the enmity in the work that he accomplished upon the cross now why this strange little phrase found only once in this book through the cross

29:50 well for the simple reason that no one who's half awake and half awake can be honest with these words can attribute this activity to anything other than the death that Jesus Christ died upon an instrument of execution there is no way that you can be honest with the words and say well the reconciliation is through Christ because Christ showed us how God loves us and when we look at his love that overcomes the negative feelings we have and we end up no no no no how did Christ show us how God loves us? how did Christ affect the reconciliation not by his teaching not by his life but through his cross through a work of slaying and that's the common word in the New Testament for killing something putting it to death and when you bring together slaying the enmity through his cross it gives but one answer to the question how was the reconciliation effected? it was effected by means of the by means of that which was accomplished upon the cross of Christ now how did that effect the reconciliation? well let Paul expound that to us from 2 Corinthians 5 look at it pivotal text in the New Testament pivotal text on reconciliation

How Reconciliation Was Effected: The Great Exchange

31:17 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18 but all things are of God who reconciled us to himself through Christ you see the emphasis again God has done the reconciling God has done it through Christ and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation to it that is now get these words God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and how did he do it? not reckoning unto himself but to them their trespasses and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation we then are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ as though God were entreating you by us we beseech you on the behalf of Christ be reconciled to God him who knew no sin he made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him how was our reconciliation? reconciliation to God effective? how was that barrier in God towards us overcome? loving his people with an everlasting love having chosen them in Christ but I say it reverently his justice forbidding that he should enter into an intimate relationship

32:46 of fellowship and concord because they had broken the law and that broken law cried out for satisfaction how then could the barrier between God and the sinner be overcome? this text says it was overcome by the great exchange and that's the gospel it's the gospel of the great exchange look at it there was the sinless one Jesus Christ there upon the cross the father could behold no spot in his son for which to bruise him there was no need for the son to be reconciled to the father he never did want he never did one thing that would cause the father to turn his face away he could say I do always the things that please my father the father never said to the son your sins have separated between you and me so that I will not hear you no no the son could say he hears me always why? because I do always the things that please my father this is my son in whom I'm well pleased so the one upon whom the father looked when he hung upon the cross in his person utterly absolutely sinless there was nothing to turn the father's face away and yet the text says that he who knew no sin was made sin for us our Lord

34:13 in his agony upon the cross came into the closest proximity to our sin became so identified with it that all but its defilement became his and the father beholding him in that position as the sin bearer the surety and substitute of his people the head of the new humanity what did the father do? the father was alienated from the son and it was this that rung from the heart of the son my God my God why hast thou hast thou forsaken me? our Lord felt the pain of the alienation and what's the blessed end of all of this? he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him there is a just grounds for the enmity to be done away it was our breaches our breaking our transgressing of that holy law that cried out to God for judgment and for wrath and for anger and the father's response was the bruising of his own beloved son Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse

35:43 for us for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth upon the tree and in the language of Romans 5 and verse 8 God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more than being now justified by his blood we should be saved from the wrath of God through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son the reconciliation the taking down the tearing away the slaying of the enmity that existed between God and his people was effected in the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross and that's the glory of the gospel that it's God who has taken the initiative as he did in the garden man turned his face away from God but God in grace came seeking the sinner and in the text that we're looking at this morning we are informed that it is Christ who by his death death upon the cross has slain the enmity that existed between God and the sinner and you see the emphasis must fall on God's enmity to us because the verb use speaks of once for all

Abiding Message: Root of All Problems, God's Initiative, and the Cross as the Only Answer

37:10 accomplished activity he hath reconciled you see the subjective enmity in the sinner's heart is only overcome when the gospel is applied with power and in that sense the Lord is continually reconciling sinners to himself but the emphasis in the verb in our text this morning Ephesians 2.16 speaks of a reconciliation that was accomplished once for all it's the same emphasis in 2 Corinthians 5 he hath reconciled the world the cosmos the realm of his own people Jew and Gentile unto himself now I believe this is what the text is teaching you say well Pastor Martin what's all that say to me what does that say to us sitting here in this place this morning well let me suggest very briefly several things that I trust it says to us number one in this text there is a bold assertion that all of man's fundamental problems are basically rooted in his alienation from God what led the Apostle Paul to go from this barrier at the horizontal level that existed between Jew and Gentile to shift the attention to the barrier that exists at the vertical level between the sinner and God and God and the sinner why does he move from middle walls of partition to overhead walls of partition

38:39 for the simple reason that his treatment of the former would have been incomplete without the latter it was the reality of the entrance of sin that drove wedges between men that sin never entered the world would have been filled with creatures in right relationship with God and nothing but loving relationship to one another and so the Apostle is teaching us in this passage that God that man's fundamental problems are all basically rooted in his alienation from God now that says a very vital word to us in our own society at this point in time there are people genuinely concerned with our social problems genuinely concerned with international and national problems many of which arise out of what barriers between individuals husbands and wives who are driven to divorce courts discontent members of society who are driven to murder and to rape and to pillage nations that are driven to gunpoint walls of every kind racial ethnic walls sociological barriers all of these things may I say we must never laugh at those who take them seriously

40:06 and with the best of their tools are trying to resolve them but oh may God help us to pity them if they try to resolve them apart from the consideration that ultimately every problem at the horizontal level has its roots in man's vertical problems there's been the rupture of man's relationship to God and God's relationship to man and what's true at the international level is true at the most intimate one to one level you husbands and wives ultimately when there are problems in your relationship to each other they're never resolved until the cause of it in your relationship to God is resolved right? if you're not willing to face your sin and to acknowledge your wrong it's because you're proud and stubborn with your sins against God and when your sins against God are dealt with it's amazing how relatively easy it is to deal with the problems in your relationship with your wife this text is an eloquent assertion that all of man's fundamental problems are basically rooted in his alienation from God secondly this text is a declaration that almighty God takes the initiative to deal with those problems thank God Paul does not describe the problem

41:34 as one that man brought upon himself and then prescribes some self-help that tells man what he has to do this is not a directive to men telling them what they need to do to get back to God you see man in his state of innocence was given the power to rupture his relationship with God and be brought into a state of alienation but man was never given the power to restore that relationship and either God takes the initiative to restore it or it will never be restored and this text is a wonderful declaration that God has taken the initiative that He might reconcile both in one body unto God having slain the enmity thereby it is God who has taken the initiative who took the initiative in the work of Christ we must never think that God was the angry father and Christ the loving mediator who somehow changed God's attitude no, no remember it was God who conceived so marvelous a plan of redemption it was God who chose His own in Christ before the foundation of the world it was God who so loved that He sent we must never conceive of Christ as the mediator in such a way as to have some notion that God was all wrath and anger and Christ placated that anger and now His favor be destroyed

43:03 no, no the Father is the fountainhead of that redemption which has its tap roots in eternal love but there was this barrier in the justice and righteousness of God He could not be favorably disposed to sinners simply on the basis of His love there is in redemption the beautiful beautiful interplay and full expression of all the glorious attributes of God and not one is ever expressed at the expense of the other that's why unto principalities and powers in the heavenly places is made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God who could ever conceive it the God who is offended comes to the ones who offend Him and effects a way of restoring the relationship so as to cut loose all the bowels of eternal love and not tear off one gram of the weight of eternal justice love and mercy and justice flowing out to the redemption of sinners by God who takes the initiative and then thirdly the abiding message of this text is a proclamation that the only real answer to the problems of ruptured human relationships is to be found in the cross of Christ what could be a greater rift

44:33 than that which existed between Jew and Gentile and as Paul is expounding how God has overcome it all of our attention is drawn to the cross of Christ He has reconciled in one body unto God through the cross having slain the enmity thereby and as we shall see in the next verses and I want to give you just a little preview of them then he says Christ came through His apostles and preachers and proclaimed this peace and when that gospel was applied with power and it was embraced what happened? He says Jew and Gentile find themselves coming with one way of access into the presence of the one Father through the one sacrifice indwelt by one Spirit and all of that because Christ died for it was the death of Christ that opened the way for the shedding forth of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh it was Christ's death and subsequent resurrection and ascension and sending forth of the Spirit that provoked worldwide proclamation of preaching and so the preaching by which Jew and Gentile heard of how God had taken the initiative to restore the ruptured relationship that preaching embraced in faith brought Jew and Gentile

46:02 with one way of access unto the one Father and this is ultimately the answer but man is too proud to be told that someone who lived 2000 years ago who died in the language of scripture in weakness to be told that all real effective resolution of the barriers between men is to be found at that cross that's a stumbling block to man because you see it points him completely away from his own wisdom from his own supposed formulas for resolving the problems that he faces and it causes him to fall upon his face and to say not unto us not unto us but unto thy name give glory oh my friend I would press upon your conscience this morning the very simple question have you been reconciled to God you say well how can I know if I was one of those for whom Christ died for whom he turned away the wrath of God how can I discover that there is but one way when the subjective enmity of your own heart is conquered by repentance and faith and therefore I beseech you in his name be reconciled to God

Call to Reconciliation and Communion Reflection

47:27 Christ is set before you in the gospel as a willing and an able savior he is set before you as the one who is able to save the violent able to do all that he has done for many of us who sit in this place today and I entreat you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God and dear children of God as we meditate upon the privilege that will be ours a few hours from now to come to the Lord's table may God grant that something of the glory of what the Lord has done may flood our hearts we meet to take the bread and the wine to remember the body that was broken for us the blood that was shed for us to do what? to turn away the Father's righteous anger that we might bask in the light of the countenance of a reconciled God that we might call him our Father with joy oh my friends there was but one way for this to be done it meant the bloodletting of the Son of God not simply dying a natural death not simply dying a violent death at the hands of men it meant the death of the cross it meant the Father's face turned away nothing less than this would effect our reconciliation to God and one of the wonderful fruits of that is we will come to the table

48:54 not as so many individuals but we will come as a body of Christ people who by nature had barriers galore existing and yet we find ourselves with joy partaking of the one loaf drinking of the fruit of the vine and we say Lord why? he hath reconciled both in one body unto God through the cross oh may God give us new dimensions of love and appreciation for our blessed Lord Jesus Christ let us pray our Father we confess with shame this morning the sins that caused you to turn your face from us oh Lord we have provoked you to righteous anger by our rebellion by the enmity of our carnal hearts and yet we bless you that you did not cut us off in our sins and consign us to the just desert of those sins in the lake of fire

50:14 we think of the angels who rebelled for whom there was never any whisper or hint of redemption planned or executed who according to the words of scripture await in chains the coming day of judgment oh Lord we thank you that you did not deal thus with us we thank you that you loved and sent your Son to be the propitiation for our sins and as we come this morning we pray for those who are yet in a state of enmity who can gaze upon Christ crucified and still defy your law oh God subdue the hard rebel heart and bring that heart broken and in faith to the feet of Christ and then oh Lord for us your people particularly this day as we contemplate our gathering together around our Lord Jesus at his table oh fill us with a new appreciation of all that he is and has done that our eating and drinking together may be with new measures of strengthened faith hear us oh Lord in these our petitions

51:39 and may the benediction of your presence rest upon us and abide with us throughout all the hours of this day through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Amen