We come now to the third C in Ephesians 2, the Cross of Christ which came from God's love. We see that Christ was not conquered by the cross, rather through it he became the Conqueror. The cross cancelled the debt against us, and reconciled us to God in peace. At the end of the lesson we explain that when the Bible speaks of the "cross" in this way, it refers not to the wooden cross as such, but rather what was done on that cross, namely the killing of the flesh-and-blood body of the Son of God.

Christ reconciled you to God through the cross (Ephesians 2:16).

The Cross Came From God's Love

"God... is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us... the surpassing riches of his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:4,7).

Although Jesus was "crucified by wicked hands and slain" he was "delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" (Jhn 3:16).

The cross of Christ was not a defeat of God's plan by wicked men. It was God's plan to let those wicked men slay Jesus so that there would be a "sacrifice for sins once for all" (Heb 10:12). I have never been able to work out why Satan was hell bent on getting Jesus killed. I guess he must have gambled that Jesus would do something to spoil the sacrifice. If so, his gamble didn't pay off. God's love won the day, and now we have a way back to God and out of our condemnation.

The Cross Could Not Conquer Christ

"Even when we were dead in sins, he has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:5-6).

God proved that the cross of Christ was not a defeat of his plan. He raised Christ from the dead. Through the cross we too are quickened (made alive) and raised up from spiritual death. Christ had the victory over death, not death over him. Through him we too can have victory over death physical, spiritual, and eternal. "We are more than conquerers through him who loved us" (Rom 8:37-39).

The Cross Cancelled The Debt Against Us

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; in order to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace" (Eph 2:15).

In another study, I describe the cross as the cross of abrogation, consummation, and propitiation. Abrogation means to take away. The cross of Christ takes away not only sin itself, but the law of commandments wherein the condemnation for sin is effected.

Any law of commandments from God, whether it be the law of Moses or not, is going to create enmity between God and man, because as soon as one breaks any commandment in that law, one will be dead in sin, "alienated from the life of God" (Eph 4:18) and "without God in the world" (Eph 2:1,12 Rom 7:9).

The only way that a law of commandments from God could solve this problem, is that it incorporate, and be based upon, a sufficient sacrifice that provides the means of forgiveness. This forgiveness would have to be not only for sins against the law that incorporates the perfect sacrifice, but also for sins against former laws that lacked that sufficient sacrifice. Furthermore, the sacrifice would have to be so powerful as to abolish not only the transgressions committed against the former laws, but also the very laws themselves.

Now this is a very big ask. Nevertheless, this is exactly what the new covenant accomplishes, because it incorporates the sacrifice of Jesus which he made on the cross. Paul puts this even more strongly in Colossians 2:13-14. "He made us alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the handwriting of debt consisting of decrees against us, and which was hostile to us. He took it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross".

Don't misunderstand this point. The commandments of the new covenant, the gospel, will alienate those who do not obey them just as surely as any other law did. Christ will come "dealing out retribution to those who... do not obey the gospel" (2Th 1:8-10). However there is the means in that covenant to avoid retribution before the time, by accepting the sacrifice of Christ. "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins..." (1Jn 2:1-5).

The Cross Reconciled Us In Peace

"But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us... He did this to reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to those who were near by" (Eph 2:13-17).

The cross is the means of reconciliation to God. There are at least three facets to this reconciliation expressed in our study chapter (Ephesians 2)...

The Cross? No, The Flesh And Blood

"...brought near by the blood of Christ... [who] abolished in his flesh the enmity... to reconcile them both in one body to God by the cross" (Eph 2:13-16).

I think we all understand that where we (and Paul) have spoken of "the cross" throughout this lesson, we were using a metonym. We do not literally mean the wooden cross itself, but rather the death Jesus died upon it, and the sacrifice there of his flesh and blood. The cross was the cruel instrument of that death. The death is the significant thing.

Paul's phrase "through the cross" is a figurative equivalent of the other two phrases he uses in the same context. These literal equivalents are: "by the blood" and "in his flesh" (Eph 2:13, 15, 16).

So when we say, "The Priceless Cross" we mean of course the priceless sacrifice of Christ's body and blood. Without that, beloved, we would indeed still be "children of wrath... without hope and without God in the world".

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