The Thin Red Line (2)

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  Colossians 1:19-20  NASB

Before we get started today, I wanted to share this blog comment I made about how DIFFICULT yesterday’s edition was.  Indulge me, for a moment.

“Ah, the beauty and COMPLEXITY of it all. Atonement is certain. But HOW it occurs is a great mystery, perhaps one that we will never fully understand. What seems clear to me now is that atonement for sin, that act of grace by which God restores relationship with Himself, does not occur on the cross. I say this because I believe Scripture teaches us that Abraham’s restored relationship occurs by the same mechanics as mine – or Paul’s. Salvation is God’s gift. It is the same for Abraham and for me. There is no WORKS vs. GIFT (LAW vs. GRACE) dichotomy in Scripture. I find this amplified by Rev. 13:8 and 1 Pet. 1:18-20 and various other oblique passages indicating that the sacrifice of the Lamb occurred before the foundation of the world. If by atonement we mean “restoring right standing before the Father,” then it occurs in the heavenly Temple at the heavenly altar by a priest not of the Levitical order. In other words, SALVATION is God’s work done His way in His place.

I find that the commonly held Christian belief that atonement for SIN (capital S) occurs on the cross does not account for significant facts of Scripture, not only those mentioned above but also the fact that atonement in the Levitical system could be accomplished in a large number of ways not all of which required blood sacrifice or even death.

All of this means that when Yeshua points us to Numbers 21:9 as an explanation of what is happening on the cross, it is not about forgiveness (atonement). It is about something else, something so essential and so powerful that it took the death of the Son to show it to us.

I believe that the issue God settles on the cross is the fundamental question of life, that is, DEATH. After all, even if I am forgiven, the consequences of my prior disobedience still apply. GUILT is removed, but not the prior consequences. I STILL DIE! And, since sin has entered the world, all creation is affected by these consequences. Everything is tainted by DEATH. So, if God forgives me and restores my relationship with Him but I still suffer death, what was the point of it all? In order for God to show me that His offer of restoration also OVERCOMES THE CONSEQUENCES, I must see that death is NOT THE END.

Now, no power of earth, no kingdom, no king, not even Satan, can overcome this final fact of all existence. But God MUST if His creation is to be restored. This is why the death on the cross is not about MY sin problem. It is about THE SIN PROBLEM, the problem that affects everything created. God must overcome the final enemy, the one thing that Satan threatens all creation with, the one thing that every pagan kingdom threatens in order to gain ultimate compliance. And God uses the symbol of this power, the cross (the power of death in pagan hands) to demonstrate that HE and HE ALONE has the answer. Death isn’t the END!

Now, let’s continue.  Thanks.

Blood – If Morris is right and the idea of blood is about death, not life, then what about Paul’s emphasis on the blood of Christ?  Perhaps the place to start is with Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:19-20. It is important to read exactly what this verse says, and not to read into the verse something it does not say.  Notice the claim is not that men are reconciled to God through the death on the cross (for that is how we must understand “blood of His cross” after Morris).  While men are included in this claim, the scope of the claim is much larger.  All things, both on earth and in heaven, are reconciled.  This claim is patently false if it applies only to sinful men since there are no sinful men in heaven.  Paul has in mind something far greater with the term apokatallaxai.  The verb (apokatallasso) means “to make other than what it is, to alter, to change” and is often associated with monetary exchanges or substitutes.  There is a subtlety involved in the use of this term, for the New Testament does not suggest that God is the object of reconciliation as if He needs to be placated so as to divert His anger.  The Scriptures claim that God Himself brings about this change in relationship.  The object is “all things,” including sinful men, but so much more.  Paul makes it clear that this change is the purpose of God brought about in the death of Yeshua (Romans 5:10).  But if it applies to everything, then it must be about more than our sins.

Notice that the result of this death on the cross is peace, not forgiveness.  This makes perfect sense.  Heaven and earth were not at peace because the purposes of God have not been fulfilled since the original act of disobedience.  To bring peace to heaven and earth requires a reunion of God’s design, a reconstitution of the original perfect creation where the will of the Father is perfectly executed on earth as it is in heaven.  So while there is no doubt that God’s purposes are fulfilled in heaven, the very fact that the creation has fallen into disobedience means that peace did not prevail until, as Paul suggests, the death of the Son on the cross.  Ridderbos notes that Paul’s statement does not mean a restoration of “the right disposition (e.g., among the apostate spirits), but rather of the divine  government over all, through the fact, among other things, that the authority of the powers that have set themselves against God have been taken away and through Christ  they have been subjected to God.”[1]  What is at stake on the stake is not expiation for sin but the re-establishment of God’s authority!  Paul reiterates this claim in Romans 16:20.  “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”  This is a statement about power, not about clemency.  To claim that Yeshua “is our peace” is to reiterate His claim that “all authority has been given to Me.”  “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups [Jews and Gentiles] into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity,  . . . and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”[2]  If we translate the verse properly, we see that reconciliation removes the consequences of disobedience, and with these consequences removed, creation can return to its original design and purpose.

Ridderbos is generally correct when he says, “[T]he abrogation of this enmity through reconciliation is the same as being delivered from God’s wrath, being acquitted of sin and guilt,”[3] but he applies the verse only to the despicable condition of men, and the verse clearly implies far more than that.  “Peace on earth” is not simply a statement about forgiveness.  It is about restoration.

But this brings up another issue.  Yeshua died.  According to Paul, His blood on the cross brought peace.  But look around you.  Do you see God’s peace spread across the globe?  I certainly don’t.  Nevertheless, Paul says that this “peace” has been accomplished in Yeshua’s death.  The Greek is eirenopoiesas, the aorist, active participle of eirenopoieo, a combination of words meaning “to make peace.”  But the verb is a completed action (aorist).  According to Paul, it’s finished.  Peace has been secured.  How?

Paul can only have in mind the Hebrew idea of “first fruits.”  When the first of the harvest was offered to God, all the rest of the harvest was considered also sanctified.  The first represented the whole.  When Yeshua died, he overcame the final enemy, death itself.  Peace was secured for the first fruit in His resurrection.  As a result, all the rest, all those who follow Him, are guaranteed the same status, even though as yet we do not see it.  Paul’s view is eschatological.  He looks over the horizon to see the end result resident in the present reality.

Now, we might argue that “peace with God” implies forgiveness.  Yes, it does.  But don’t you see that the scope of the claim is so much bigger.  The entire cosmos is involved in this event.  It’s not just about forgiving your sins.  It’s about reordering the universe.  And it’s been accomplished.  We are just waiting to see how it arrives.

Topical Index:  blood, apokatallasso, reconcile, eirenopoieo, make peace, cross, Colossians 1:19-20