Colossians 1:19–22 — For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 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. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
In our recent devotions, we have seen that the Table proclaims the sinfulness of sin, the warfare that exists between sinful mankind and God on account of our sin, and the justice of God, with which He must and will respond to that sin.
How wonderful, then, to be able to turn in our meditation today and consider that the Lord's Supper also proclaims a way to know peace with God! How marvelous that when we were tightly bound in the clutches of such sinfulness, He found a way to set us free. How amazing that when we were rightly condemned as wicked rebels and liable to the justice of God, He found a way whereby we might be acquitted, but His justice would still be satisfied. How remarkable that when we were God's enemies from conception, children of His wrath, He found a way to institute a just and a lasting peace between Himself and us!
How is such a transformation as this possible? How is it that we might know peace with God? Paul tells us plainly in our passage above - it is "peace through the blood of His cross" - and that is the connection with the Lord's Supper.
Jesus was nailed to the cross, and the sin of His people was laid to His account. He bore the just penalty for it from God and so bore it away and fully paid the price. So He broke the power of sin, drew its venom and rendered it powerless to destroy those He came to save.
On the cross, Jesus fully satisfied the justice of God too. We know this because He rose from the dead. If His payment for sin had not been acceptable to God then Jesus must have remained subject to its power in the tomb. He could not have risen, since the wages of sin is death. However, as Peter rejoices to tell us in Acts 2:24 "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." So God's wrath against the sin of His people is turned aside, because that sin is fully paid for.
If, then, sin is paid for and removed, and if the justice of God is fully satisfied, the warfare that existed between God and His people must necessarily be at an end - they must now be at peace!
And what a peace it is! Not merely the absence of hostility, but because of the lavishness of God's grace, these former enemies are now adopted into His family, made kings and priests to serve Him, and given an incomparable, eternal inheritance in heaven.
When we come to the Table, we should hear this proclamation:
Isaiah 57:19 — "...Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near," Says the LORD, "and I will heal him."
Both Jew and Gentile may know this peace with God, but it only comes through the blood of the cross, which is depicted and represented clearly for us at the Lord's Supper.
