Peace: The End Game

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“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” —Colossians 1:19, 20

There could be no worse, no crueler death than to be crucified. Christ suffered the worst so that we could receive the best: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God...Christ suffered in his body” 1 Peter 3:18, 4:1.

John Piper writes in The Passion of Jesus Christ: “We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. But when, by grace, we awaken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins’ (1 John 4:10)” (page 21).

But it’s the end of the story that explains the necessity of the means required to get there.

I read the story of the Battle of Britain recently. In one chapter the author described one way in which the British authorities addressed the desperate shortage of raw materials with which to build up their war machinery. At one point an appeal was sent out to all the households on the island asking women to sacrifice their pots and pans so that the aluminum could be recycled into Spitfires, the most popular and powerful of the fighter planes that the Brits used against the Luftwaffe. Tons of aluminum were collected and the most humble of housewives felt personally involved in the war effort just by imagining that the enemy was being thwarted by their kettle or frying pan!

The cross was a sacrifice, but Jesus knew that the glorious end justified the terrible means. There would be reconciliation—two parties whose relationship was fractured would have that relationship restored. Two parties in conflict would find peace.

This truth is often pictured for us as a deep gap, or gulf, called sin. On one side of the gap is God. On the other is man. The breach is so wide and so deep that it is impossible to get across. Then, in the gap between God and man, a cross is placed. Its horizontal arms bridge the space between the two and provide a walkway that allows for a holy God to bring a sinful man back into His presence and for that man to cross the barrier created by his sin.

In the place of a dysfunctional relationship and conflict comes reconciliation and peace.

That’s the end game of the cross.

Paul writes in Romans 4:25-5:1, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Who's Keeping Watch?

“Because the Lord kept vigil that night…” —Exodus 12: 42

Tucked away at the end of Exodus 12 is a verse that is easily skipped over. 

This chapter describes the last plague—the plague to end all plagues—the death of the firstborn of animals and humans. The ritual needed to prepare for this disaster—and to prevent it from impacting the Hebrews—is described in detail.

As God had promised, the angel of death passed over Egypt at midnight. The Almighty kept His promise, “When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down” (vs. 23).

This last plague was enough for Pharaoh. He urged Moses and the Israelites to go—and go quickly. They did, not even adding yeast to the next day’s bread that was waiting in their kneading troughs (vs. 34, 39). They needed to go before Pharaoh changed his mind again.

Of course the symbolism of this “pass over” drives us to the cross, illustrating what Christ did, and will do, for us. The destroyer cannot touch us. As believers we are covered by the blood He shed on Calvary.

But what struck me is a phrase that appears in the final instruction that Moses was given just at the end of the chapter. “Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honour the Lord for the generations to come” (vs. 42).

The Passover continues to be an important observance for orthodox Jews to this day. I don’t know if they “keep vigil” as part of their observance, but the phrase caught my eye. It suggests that every year, in celebration of the night the destroyer passed over Egypt and did not touch any of the Hebrews because of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost—the night God Himself kept vigil to make sure that none of them were touched—the Jews held what we used to call a “watchnight service.” They watched, waited, remembered, celebrated, kept vigil until midnight as part of their observance of the greatest moment in their history.

We used to celebrate the “watchnight service” in our churches as December 31st rolled into January 1st. At midnight we met in the auditorium to welcome in the New Year with a prayer and praise service. I don’t know how the tradition started. It’s not a bad one, but perhaps it is misplaced. Perhaps it is on Good Friday that we, as redeemed believers saved from the touch of the destroyer because of the blood of Jesus Christ, ought to be keeping vigil in celebration of the greatest day in our history.

The tendency is to limit our Good Friday observance to an hour so as not to inconvenience anyone or intrude on family get-togethers, or, as in my experience, to ignore it altogether. But perhaps we need to learn a lesson from the Hebrews of ancient days. If they were to keep vigil to remember how God saved them from physical death, how much more should we keep vigil to remember how Christ has saved us from eternal death and has given us new live at the cost of His.

And So It Begins

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“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” —Genesis 3:15

I have a set of old rusty keys. I also have some nice shiny ones. They come in handy. And, oddly enough, they connect to Calvary.

As far as the historical record is concerned the story of the cross begins in Genesis with the first couple and the first sin. But God’s plan to deal with what He knew was inevitable actually was in place before time was established and history was first recorded. This is suggested in Revelation 13:8 when John refers to the “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

It’s a pity. If there had been no sin, there would have been no need for a Saviour to come and take our punishment upon Himself; no need for a cross upon which He would have to die.

James Kennedy remarks in Cross Purposes, Discovering the Great Love of God for You, that we seldom, if ever, hear the word sin used today—not even from some of our pulpits. Many people go so far as to deny that such a thing as sin exists. We have invented more acceptable terms to describe it—and excuse it. Kennedy once used the following example to illustrate sin’s existence.

“I remember…saying,...‘ I wonder if I may see your keys. Do you have a key ring?’ The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring. I said to him, ‘If there’s no such thing as sin, sir, tell me, why do you have these?’ He was speechless. He has keys because he has locks. And why does he have locks? Because he has things locked up. And why does he have things locked up? Because there are people who would steal them if he didn’t. And why would they steal them? Because they’re sinners. That’s why” (page 23).

It’s hard to argue with the logic.        

Adam and Eve decided to steal God’s glory by competing for His position by doing what He had forbidden them to do. Satan had made this claim, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). The first couple fell for the lie. We’ve been falling for the same lies ever since.

Their decision made Calvary necessary. Our decisions, as sinners who have followed the path of our ancient ancestors, made Calvary necessary. From the beginning of recorded history God promised the coming of a Saviour (Genesis 3:15). Satan would try to destroy Him, but He who would conqueror death on one glorious Resurrection morning would also conqueror Satan and sin on one strangely glorious dark and deadly Friday.

Perhaps our need to reduce the cross in our worship, and in our practice, is related to our desperate need to deny the sin in us that made the cross necessary.

But all of us must confess to having keys—and the locks that make the keys necessary. Every time we lock or unlock a door we are reminded of sin.