PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD

PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD!

Col 1:19-21

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

          In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Peace Child tells their unforgettable story of living among these headhunters and cannibals, who valued treachery through fattening victims with friendship before the slaughter. God gave Don and Carol the key to the Sawi hearts via a redemptive analogy from their own mythology. The "peace child" became the secret to unlocking a value system that had existed through generations.

           Similarly, Jesus was the “peace child” that reconciled sinful man and Holy God. His sacrificial death became the satisfaction of God’s sense of justice and the means whereby God might express His love. The word “sometime,” as it is used in verse 21 does not mean intermittently alienated but formerly alienated. It was a grievous condition that is now past because of Christ.

           The word “enemies” means that we were not only estranged from God but that we were actively hostile to God! This is the position and the condition of unredeemed man.

Warren Wiersbe comments that “They did not reconcile themselves to God; it was God who took the initiative in His love and grace. The Father sent the Son to die on a cross that sinners might be reconciled to God. Jesus died for us when we were "without strength" (Rom 5:6) and could do nothing for ourselves. He died for us "while we were yet sinners" and "when we were enemies" (Rom 5:8,10).

Dear Lord, thank you for becoming our “Peace Child.” AMEN