For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.
Colossian1:19-22
who was in most need--- the slave girl or the man who bought her? The slave girl, of course. In the same way, God did not need to be reconciled to man; man needed to be reconciled to God. While it was God's desire to continue in love and fellowship with man, sin has compelled Him to become an opponent. Although the love of God toward man remains unchanged, sin made it impossible for Him to admit man into fellowship with Himself.
Andrew Murray brings incredible insight to this subject in his book The power of the Blood.
Sin has had a twofold effect. It has had an effect on God as well as on man. But the effect it has exercise on God is more terrible and serious! It is because of its effect on God that sin has its power over us. God, as Lord of all, could not overlook sin it it His unalterable law that sin must bring forth sorrow and death ;[Roman 6:23]
In the old covenant, God instructed His people to offer sacrifice. These slain animals symbolically bore the punishment for sin that the people deserved. But the sacrifice had to be made over and over against
The old covenant was the shadow (Heb. 10:1). The new covenant brought the reality. Christ died "once for all," atoning for our sins and bringing us back into fellowship with God (Heb. 10:10). Righteousness demanded it; love offered it. Read 2Cor.5:18-19). In the time of Christ, gentiles were excluded from the family of God because they were not part if the old covenant. They were known as "aliens from the commonwealth if Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph.2:12).
But through "the blood of His cross" these two groups--the Jews and the gentiles were made one, and He "has broken down the middle wall of separation" so "that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity" (Eph. 2:13-14,16). He made tge gentiles "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19).
Removing the walls of hostility between people and between God and people is a part of Christ's great work as mediator of the new covenant. That's a topic we will continue.
Colossian1:19-22
who was in most need--- the slave girl or the man who bought her? The slave girl, of course. In the same way, God did not need to be reconciled to man; man needed to be reconciled to God. While it was God's desire to continue in love and fellowship with man, sin has compelled Him to become an opponent. Although the love of God toward man remains unchanged, sin made it impossible for Him to admit man into fellowship with Himself.
Andrew Murray brings incredible insight to this subject in his book The power of the Blood.
Sin has had a twofold effect. It has had an effect on God as well as on man. But the effect it has exercise on God is more terrible and serious! It is because of its effect on God that sin has its power over us. God, as Lord of all, could not overlook sin it it His unalterable law that sin must bring forth sorrow and death ;[Roman 6:23]
In the old covenant, God instructed His people to offer sacrifice. These slain animals symbolically bore the punishment for sin that the people deserved. But the sacrifice had to be made over and over against
The old covenant was the shadow (Heb. 10:1). The new covenant brought the reality. Christ died "once for all," atoning for our sins and bringing us back into fellowship with God (Heb. 10:10). Righteousness demanded it; love offered it. Read 2Cor.5:18-19). In the time of Christ, gentiles were excluded from the family of God because they were not part if the old covenant. They were known as "aliens from the commonwealth if Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph.2:12).
But through "the blood of His cross" these two groups--the Jews and the gentiles were made one, and He "has broken down the middle wall of separation" so "that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity" (Eph. 2:13-14,16). He made tge gentiles "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19).
Removing the walls of hostility between people and between God and people is a part of Christ's great work as mediator of the new covenant. That's a topic we will continue.
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