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THE CROSS (4)

A.M. In the reading this morning, we dwelt on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and its bearing in the responsible sphere. Most of what we said had to do with our side, our responsibility. I had the impression that we should now speak about what God has effected in the cross. This goes beyond anything to do with man, in the sense of what man can do. It is really the way in which God has brought about His purpose. The purpose of God is a great matter, and I would say it is an important thing to keep in our souls at all times, lest we should be moved away from what He has in His heart, for the purpose of God flows directly from His own heart, His own affections.

In this passage in John, we have this wonderfully elevated view, two views actually, of the death of the Lord Jesus. First, we have the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying. When He was here, He abode alone; none could be united with Him in flesh and blood conditions. But “if it die, it bears much fruit”; no measure is put upon that much fruit. Who could say how great that fruit is! The coming day will declare it, and that fruit is so great that the universe will wonder at it. It is extraordinary, the much fruit that was achieved by this holy grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying. But then the Lord Jesus goes on to speak of a second aspect of His death – the cross. He speaks about Himself being lifted up, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth”. This is the third reference to His being lifted up in John’s gospel and this is the last, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me”. Everything for God is secured as having been drawn to Christ. This really is a link with our three previous readings. There were those who took their place alongside the cross of Christ, but from this aspect He is the centre of attraction as “lifted up out of the earth”.

In Colossians, it is what God has done, what the Fulness has done; “in him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell”. Think of the way in which divine Persons chose to bring about Their purpose to secure Their end; “in him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell”. This is the Lord Jesus in manhood here; “by him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross”. The Lord Jesus came into a scene where everything was in disorder, total disarray, and through the cross and the shedding of His precious blood, He established the basis on which everything is settled for God. He has “made peace by the blood of his cross – by him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens”. Everything, the whole universe, is secured through the work of Jesus. Maybe when we are young, we may think that heaven is just as God created it and will always be so. In fact the whole universe is secured on the basis of redemption; it is through the work of this blessed and glorious One. He has “made peace by the blood of his cross”.

In Ephesians it is both what He has done and what He is; “he is our peace”. That is what He is. There are also references to what we were in Ephesians – these references in Ephesians are wonderful! The chapter starts by Paul saying what we were, “dead in your offences and sins”, and then it says “but God being rich in mercy” (v.4). And here Paul says, remember what you were, remember that ye were once without God, “without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel … but now…”. The ‘buts’ in the epistle to the Ephesians are beautiful; “but now in Christ Jesus ye who once were afar off are become nigh by the blood of the Christ. For he is our peace”. Then Paul speaks of enmity having been met in the death of Jesus. The apostle takes up the greatest possible example of enmity, that between Jew and Gentile. He says that the Lord Jesus has annulled that enmity in His flesh, He has “broken down the middle wall of enclosure”. It was as if there was something there which could not be overcome, but He has broken it down, “having annulled the enmity in his flesh ... that he might form the two in himself into one new man”. What a thing that is, the new man. Our brother spoke in prayer as to the features of the blessed One with whom we are occupied being found in the saints. The new man is the expression of Christ in all His moral worth found in His people here, “that he might form the two in himself into one new man, making peace; and might reconcile both in one body to God”. This is not exactly the teaching of the body as we get elsewhere, this is what could never be brought together but which has been brought together in one entity; “one body to God by the cross”. That is how He has done it, “having by it slain the enmity”. It all came to a head at the cross and God used the cross to overcome it. We look at the cross of Jesus and we see man’s wickedness, man’s hatred and man’s enmity, all coming to a head there. But by the cross, God has come to an end of it all and secured what He had in His heart before time was, that He should have man set up in liberty in His presence. The passage goes on to speak about that; we have access to the Father Himself. It is wonderful that God has used that means to bring about what He had desired.

N.J.H. The love of God is expressed to us in its fulness by the sacrificial basis that He has taken up in His purpose. It speaks of the Lamb in Peter, “foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world”, 1 Pet.1:20. So it was actually in God’s purpose to have a sacrificial basis for everything that he had in His mind to be secured.

A.M. I am glad you say that, because we may wonder at times what was in purpose and in counsel, and what came in in the ways of God, but right from the outset the love of God was engaged. Divine Persons took counsel together that there should be one divine Person who should come in and provide that sacrifice in order that man should be secured.

N.J.H. We have been impressed with what the cross was towards man, but here it is what the cross is for God, and that is the sacrificial basis on which He has arrived at His purpose. It enhances our appreciation of the blessed God to us.

A.M. Yes it does, that He should take such a way. I was thinking about the early part of Hebrews, “For it became him”, Heb.2:10. It was just like God “to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings”. That was the way He chose.

R.D.P. Does fruit in scripture generally indicate what is for God? The Lord says, “falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit”. Is that a particular side of what you have before you here; is it what is for God?

A.M. Yes, the grain of wheat was precious:-

‘ … O how precious

Was that lonely Corn of Wheat!’, (Hymn 369)

God found delight in that single grain, but think of what Christ has secured for the pleasure of God. We have been reading Ruth locally and we were impressed that the harvest was cut, the harvest was gathered and it says that Boaz went and lay down. There may be a suggestion of the death of Christ in that, “he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn”, Ruth 3:7. This great quantity, the heap of corn, not measured, is what has been gathered in from that harvest. It is all for the pleasure of God.

J.L. There is no doubt that the assembly will have a unique place in relation to the answer for God as the fruit of what has been secured by Christ. But do you think that the reference here to “much fruit” bears application to the many families as well – the universal scope of the results?

A.M. I am quite sure of that, and do you not think that every family will bear some feature of Christ? In some way will He be expressed in every family?

J.L. Yes, and there will be no family without its source of blessing springing from what was accomplished at the cross.

A.M. Yes, I think that is right. So at the cross, God has used the display of what man would regard as the very worst thing to bring about His end – the much fruit. He is the Father of every family. It speaks in one of the scriptures that we read that there are the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, all secured on the basis of the death of Christ and all taking character from Him.

P.J.W. Is this word “Except” a divine imperative? It is one of John’s ‘excepts’; “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit”, John 3:5.

A.M. Yes, that is interesting. You could not think of this not taking place; “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone”. Jesus abode alone during that wonderful life here, but could that be continued indefinitely? There is the first reference to the lifting up of the Son of Man, “thus must the Son of Man be lifted up”, John 3:14.

P.A.G. Why did God secure much fruit by the way of the cross? Could He have done it by a word of power?

A.M. Could He? If it were possible that a man could present himself to God in a perfect righteousness of his own, God would have to accept him – that is if it were possible. We know such a thing is absolutely impossible, but if it had been possible, that man would never have come to know His heart. God has chosen this way to operate in order that we should come to know Him not only in righteousness, but to know that wonderful heart of love that would go to such lengths.

P.A.G. I would say you are right. Power does not display the nature of God. It displays other attributes that He has, but it does not really display His nature, and God delights in the display of His nature.

A.M. Yes, and His nature is love. That is something that we can lay hold of. When I was young, I heard a brother speak in the gospel about God’s need and I thought, you cannot speak about that, you cannot say that God had a need. We have to understand it. God’s nature is love and love must have an object on which to express itself; love needs to have a response. That is why God has operated right from the outset according to His purpose that He should secure an answer for His own wonderful heart of love and that His heart should be made known to those who have been set up to appreciate it. It is a wonderful thing.

J.L. The hymn writer also wrote:-

‘No act of power could e’er atone’ (Hymn 431)

That has a double meaning; power could not have revealed the heart of God, neither could it make atonement for sin. The cross was necessary for both.

A.M. Yes. In fact, “by one man sin entered into the world” (Rom.5:12), hence the responsibility to put that right rested with man. It did not rest with God, it rested with man. No natural man was capable of doing that. It required that a divine Person should come into manhood to take up man’s responsibility to God, and there we have a righteous basis on which atonement is made. Divine ways are marvellous!

R.T. He was “raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father”, Rom.6:4. The glory of the Father entered into it.

A.M. That is very fine. There is one Man who was worthy of being raised. Every other man will be raised eventually, but there was One of whom the Father said, as it were, ‘This One is going to be my firstborn from the dead’. God came in to raise one glorious Man!

D.C.B. Genesis 2 brings in the fact of the deep sleep, and as we know that is before sin had come in. Would you say something about that?

A.M. I think it indicates partly what has been already said, because the woman was not created as Adam was, but we know that it was ever in God’s mind that the woman should be there. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen.2:18). We are not told about Adam’s feelings about that. Think of what Adam’s feelings must have been when all the animals were brought to him and he saw that for each of them there was a male and a female, but for him there was no one his like. What did he feel? God said, “It is not good”. It involved that Adam should in figure go into death and that the woman would be derived from him. Eve could not have been created out of the dust of the earth like Adam was. Adam was the head; Eve was derived from him.

D.C.B. I was thinking of it in the light of what was said as to the corn of wheat and the many families, and no doubt each was in divine purpose. Does that emphasise just how distinctive the assembly was as presented in scripture, as in the divine mind before sin came in?

A.M. I think so. The assembly is presented in types that are not explained in the Old Testament. I think this shows the greatness of the assembly. All through Old Testament times, man was recognised in flesh and blood, but now we know that that order has been ended. The truth of the assembly was a mystery, it was hidden in God until the work of our Lord Jesus, and then there was a basis on which that glorious truth could be made known. How great the assembly is; how wonderful the light of it! Suggestions are given in the types but the light of it remained a secret with God until the coming in of the Holy Spirit.

J.D.G. The assembly had no sinful history. It is out of the death of Christ; there is no sinful history coming out of the death of Christ.

A.M. That is right. The assembly is entirely of Himself, she could not be united to Him if she was not of Himself. He could never be united to any other. Her origin is in His death. That deep sleep in the type had to take place and then the rib was taken; it is what was closest to His heart, closest to His affections, and that was built into the woman. Think of the divine care that such a vessel should be built.

N.J.H. There was no penalty linked with the death of Christ in the way in which we are speaking of it now. Neither was there with the deep sleep of Adam; that was before sin came in, there was no penalty. This is the aspect of the death of Christ of which penalty is not part.

A.M. Yes, that is right. We are able to look at the death of our Lord Jesus quite apart from the question of sin. When we are young, we think of the death of Christ in relation to being saved from our sins. That is right and good, but as we go on we come to see another aspect of the death of our Lord and it is apart altogether from the matter of sin. It was a matter of sacrifice in order to secure divine purpose.

R.Gr. Does this not make our view of local assemblies very important? We have the view of the assembly which is one assembly, Christ’s assembly, but the actual functioning of it, and the learning as to it, goes on in local assemblies. That is where the enemy would seek to undermine things.

A.M. So Paul says to the elders of Ephesus, “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”, Acts 20:28. The reference to the assembly of God in that verse is to what is down here in the scene of responsibility. The assembly as a glorious entity in glory will not need shepherding, but down here there is what does need it, and Paul said this to the saints in Ephesus. You might wonder, in Ephesus of all places? The saints need shepherding, and beloved, we need to be careful.

We have this “much fruit” and then we have the other reference, “and I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me”. The Lord Jesus becomes the centre of attraction, out of the earth. We know much has been said about this, that He could not be the gathering point on the earth. He is lifted up out of the earth; I “will draw all to me”.

R.Gr. Is this worked out in the soul of the one who said “My heart is welling forth with a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king”, Ps.45:1? It is not the king of the Jews or anybody else, it is the King. He stands alone in all His glory.

A.M. Yes, He does and that psalm goes on to speak about the queen at his right hand (v.9), and all that has been secured. That psalm is extremely suggestive; it brings out His moral worth, brings out His greatness because of righteousness, meekness and truth. “And in thy splendour ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness”, Ps.45:4. What a thing it is to see Him in His glory and His greatness; “I say what I have composed touching the king”.

W.M.P. Would you say that this is a prophetic utterance of the Lord? It is not an aspect of His ministry that we often think about but what is prophetic has in view what is for God coming about. God has done this; the Lord Jesus made this statement and God has seen to it that it has come about. He has made “this Jesus .... both Lord and Christ”, Acts 2:36.

A.M. That is right. Earlier in this gospel, He speaks about the Father drawing to Him, “No one can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him”, John 6:44. I suppose that had particular bearing at that time. But here He is lifted up as an object of attraction. “I … will draw all to me”; it is like a magnetic force. But what He draws to Him is what is of Himself; it is the fruit. It seems to me that you get the fruit, the wealth of what has been secured, which is one thing, but here it is a personal thing; it is being drawn to Him.

P.A.G. There was no doubt that this would happen, but why does He say “if I be lifted up”?

A.M. I suppose the “if” is consequential. It is not a question of doubt, it is a consequence; if this, then that. “I, if I be lifted up” then “I will draw all to me”. Jesus had just said that the prince of this world was going to be cast out; the judgment of this world was coming, and then immediately He said, if I am lifted up then all will be drawn to Me. They would not be drawn to the prince of this world.

P.A.G. That is very helpful. I suppose the question is, the Lord is lifted up, but is He lifted up for me?

A.M. Exactly.

D.M.C. What is the difference between what we have here and the serpent lifted up, the serpent of brass which we had yesterday.

A.M. I think the serpent was lifted up so that on the one hand, man in all his fleshly nature was exposed, and on the other hand, the love of God was expressed. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up, that every one who believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal”, John 3:14,15. The love of God came into full expression there, but here it is that He was lifted up to draw us to Himself. One is God coming out to me, that I should not perish but have life eternal, but in this section it is that I am being drawn to Christ.

D.M.C. Is this a divine necessity from God’s side, that Christ should be lifted up?

A.M. Yes, that is right. Nothing for God would have been secured without it.

N.C.McK. Is it the purpose of God “to head up all things up in the Christ”, Eph.1:10? God has a means by which He is going to hold the whole universe for His pleasure, and that is as having Christ as the centre of a glorious system.

A.M. Yes, a coming day will show that. It says “he purposed in himself for the administration of the fulness of times”, Eph.1:9,10. Think of that; everything throughout the ages of time has been building up to it, “to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; in him”, Eph.1:10.

N.C.McK. So the whole world will be held in attraction. The power of attraction to Christ, love for Him, will hold the whole universe for God.

A.M. Yes, God always works on the principle of attraction, and it is centred in a glorious Man.

R.D.P. I was thinking of these words “if I be lifted up out of the earth”. The scripture in Corinthians which we spoke about this morning related to the wisdom of the world. This was One who had glorified God on the earth but now He is speaking about being lifted up out of the earth. We seem to be looking here at another place – away from the earth.

A.M. Yes, that is right. It has been said that the Lord Jesus could not have died upon the earth. The question was asked yesterday about why the cross was so necessary. He could not have died upon the earth; the earth was the scene where He glorified God. He could not have died in heaven; that would be impossible, unthinkable. He was lifted up out of the earth, and as lifted up out of the earth, He would draw us apart from this earth. There is a sphere where He now is, and He would draw us to that sphere.

R.Gr. Will this be seen in some measure at the rapture? “I, if I be lifted up .... will draw all to me”. At the rapture it will be manifested that He was lifted up.

A.M. That will certainly be manifested.

R.Gr. He will draw all to Him, all those who have recognised the worth of the One who went by way of the cross.

A.M. Yes, and all those who have gone before who had faith.

R.Gr. And all who have the Spirit. If any of His own did not have the Spirit before, they will be given the Spirit at that moment.

A.M. That will be the great moment!

R.Gr. That does not detract from us coming into some appreciation and enjoyment of it now. It should attract us to know more of it now.

A.M. Yes, that is exactly what was in my heart. It is Himself. His work is great, it is wonderful; we sing ‘O the cross of Christ is wondrous!’, (Hymn 212). All God’s ways are wonderful, but the point of attraction is a blessed Man who has effected it all and secured everything for God. He is drawing hearts; He would draw us to Himself now. I do trust, beloved brethren, that our hearts have been drawn to Christ in these meetings, that He may become increasingly the centre of our lives, and that we should know what it is to come to the One who has been lifted up, and have our eyes lifted up to Him.

M.C. Did the thief on the cross illustrate this? He came to a very quick appreciation of Christ; “this man has done nothing amiss”, Luke 23:41. His being secured in such a way magnifies the grace of God; he was fully attracted to Christ.

A.M. That is very good. When you think of the words of that man, it is as if his heart went out to the Lord Jesus; he said “Remember me, Lord”. He said “this man”; there was every other man, but there was “this man” – he was drawn to Him through some appreciation of the worth of the Person who was there.

In Colossians, God is acting; “the fulness of the Godhead”. We have spoken much as to what the Lord Jesus has effected as Man and how great that is. But “in him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell”. Divine Persons chose that way; “and by him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross”. In the blood of His cross every divine claim has been met, peace has been made. There is a sense in which we see God reconciling the world during the life of the Lord Jesus down here, although all was anticipative of His death. God was “in Christ, reconciling the world to himself”, 2 Cor.5:19. That really means that God had a basis in one Man to be propitious to men. He was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. God was propitious to men because He was justified in man in the life of Jesus, but here it is “the blood of his cross”. A righteous and full basis has been made that all things should be reconciled to God.

R.D.P. The reconciliation of all things in their fulness awaits a coming day, but the price has been paid. That work secured everything that was necessary; we do not yet see it, but it will be, but then it says “And you, who once were alienated ... yet now has it reconciled”, so that persons are being reconciled now. That is not to be waited for, that is the present time.

A.M. Yes, and we are able to come before God without any fear. There is much on the line of responsibility that would banish us from the presence of God, but no, Paul says “you, who once were alienated .... yet now has it reconciled”. It is wonderful that a believer here in this scene can go through as reconciled to God with nothing coming between. We can know the presence of God, know His voice constantly, and it is all based upon “the blood of his cross”.

J.L. Is there in some way an answer to this in Revelation chapter 5? There is the wonderful universal answer to God and to the Lamb, the Person who wrought it out. It includes there every creature, and then makes reference to the earth and the sea, and adds “and all things in them”, Rev.5:13. That is the reconciliation of all things, with its result in glory to God and to the Lamb.

A.M. Very good. In chapter 4 of Revelation, there is an answer to God in His greatness as Creator, but what we get in chapter 5 is so much greater. There are those who respond to Him; thou “hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev.5:9), but then as it goes on, the whole creation is involved. The whole creation came into being in order that there should be a suited and full response to God.

J.L. Yes. I think it is interesting that, in that section, it is to Him that sits upon the throne (v.1). That is the answer in glory to God Himself. Is it God who is on the throne in that passage in Revelation?

A.M. Yes, the answer is suited to the One who is there. The throne brings out His supremacy, and there is a suited answer to such a One as that.

P.A.G. Does “the blood of his cross” suggest the completeness of what was accomplished? God’s righteousness must be met and that was met by the blood, but sin was an affront to His holiness and that was dealt with at the cross. So having “made peace by the blood of his cross” means that God’s righteousness was satisfied, but also that the affront to His holiness was resolved. Thus He can come out, the fulness can come out.

A.M. Very good, these two features being brought together. Elsewhere we get the expression that the Lord Jesus “by his own blood, has entered in”, Heb.9:12. He was holy. The blood of the cross means that there is a full answer to everything; every divine attribute has been answered to in the work of Christ.

G.B.G. Why is it that, when it is in relation to ourselves, it is “the body of his flesh”?

A.M. I do not know – we can get help together. It brings out His humanity, His manhood but “the body of his flesh”; what do the brethren say about it?

D.J.H. It is remarkable that it should say “through death”; that is the instrumental power. It is amazing that death was an agent, something that could be used by God to this great end.

A.M. That is right. Christ went into death; “the body of his flesh through death”. Through death – it had to be that way.

D.J.H. Was it necessary that He should come into that condition of flesh in order that He might go through death?

A.M. He came into the condition of flesh and blood in which He could die. We have been created as men and women in order that we should live, man has been created to live, but Jesus came into manhood in order to establish a universe for God. That involved that He should die.

J.L. Is that the witness that we have in the loaf? “This is my body ... for you”, Luke 22:19.

A.M. Yes, the body of His flesh.

J.L. That is, the body of His flesh that was laid down, by which we have been reconciled, but in which His love has been displayed as well.

A.M. That is very precious.

T.C.M. Does the thought of justification come before reconciliation? I was thinking of Romans where we are “justified in the power of his blood”, Rom.5:9. Here it is reconciled in the “blood of his cross”.

A.M. Yes. In that setting we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son and “having been reconciled, we shall be saved in the power of his life” Rom 5:10. Those who are reconciled are those who have been justified. God could not reconcile to Himself anything that was not in keeping with Christ.

N.J.H. The thought of the body goes through; it is the humanity of Christ going through death, everything hanging on that truth. The condition changes, but that order goes through and we are to be part of that.

A.M. It is a wonderful thing to have before us that these bodies will be changed. They will not exactly be done away with, they will be changed to conform to His body of glory.

N.J.H. I think “the body of his flesh through death” seems to emphasise that our link is with a blessed Man.

R.D.P. Paul uses very strong words in relation to reconciliation; “once were alienated and enemies”. It was not only the matter of sin and sins in its detail but the mind that was behind it, the mistrust of God, the alienation from His presence, the distance that was there. That was the background to the sin, and that has been met.

A.M. All has been met!

R.D.P. You get this wonderful thought that reconciliation is for God.

A.M. Yes, I have often been struck in the gospel by the different ways in which we are viewed. The lost are found, the dead are raised and debtors are set up with resources, yet we have been reconciled through the “blood of his cross”.

T.C.M. It is a very full and complete result, “holy and unblamable and irreproachable before it”; is that not a wonderful thought?

A.M. It is. Say more.

T.C.M. I was just following on from what has been brought up about the condition in which we were, but as the result of this great matter of the cross, we are placed on entirely new ground, elevated ground.

A.M. Yes, “holy” is an inward matter; holiness is seen supremely in the Lord. Then “unblamable”; no one can bring a charge, and “irreproachable”; we take up the reproach of the Christ here but there is no reproach there. Nothing can be said against anyone who has been reconciled to God.

J.B.I. The presentation is for God’s own pleasure. I was thinking of how the Lord Jesus is soon going to present the assembly to Himself without spot and without wrinkle for His own pleasure (Eph.5:27). Here it is presentation in this wonderful state before God.

A.M. I am glad you say that because so many of the things we take up as blessings are actually primarily for God. Reconciliation really is for God in the sense that God has been affronted; man has been lost, man is away from God. God’s purpose was to have response from man, and man has now been reconciled, it is for His own pleasure. I am glad you brought us back to that.

R.Gr. Did the hymn writer express that:-

‘Every circle gathered round Thee
Yields of Christ some beauteous ray;
And for Thy delight and pleasure
Shines throughout th’ eternal day'. (Hymn 83)

There it is in a nutshell.

A.M. Yes. ‘Every circle’; that is the many families, which links with what we had earlier. Then each one yielding ‘of Christ some beauteous ray’; I like that expression ‘beauteous ray’. It is not described as a brilliant ray, it is the beauty of it. Think of the pleasure that God finds in all that speaks of Christ.

R.Gr. The intrinsic worth of Christ.

R.G. Do you think that what we are speaking of is intended to set us in movement? We are not on Roman ground now exactly, where we are set up in righteousness, but God is showing by His Spirit that every difficulty has been removed. Not only that, but we are placed in a very favourable position. Would this cause us to move as Colossians teaches?

A.M. Yes, that is right, we are moving onwards and upwards. That is Colossians; we are moving towards the One who has effected it all.

In Ephesians, we are there! We are seated in heavenly places (Eph.2:6), but we have this wonderful reference “For he is our peace, who has made both one”. The fall of man came in two parts. The first part was Adam’s lawlessness, and that brought in condemnation and distance from God. But “There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus” (Rom.8:1); man can be set up as free, as justified. Cain’s sin was hatred and that brought in enmity, but now we have reconciliation by the cross; “having by it slain the enmity”. There are very strong words here; “broken down the middle wall”. It has been broken down, the enmity has been slain. The Lord has done this; this is the work of Christ in order that He “might reconcile both in one body to God”, and coming, He has preached glad tidings.

W.M.P. If the enmity is slain, what remains?

A.M. Well, the love of God in all its fulness being expressed and appreciated and answered to. What do you say?

W.M.P. I was thinking of brotherly love. If the enmity is gone, what remains is what is true to God, what is like Himself.

A.M. Yes, as expressed in us. The Lord has done this – how much are we in the good of it? He effected all this by Himself, in order that He should bring us to God.

J.L. Does it involve that the moral incongruities are slain and annulled, but the persons are retained? Reconciliation has retained the persons, secured them for God.

A.M. Yes. We have the expressions ‘the old man’ and ‘the new man’, and we know that the old man could never be reconciled to God, but the person is reconciled. In Colossians, it is you, it is the person, who is reconciled.

R.T. It is also now; we are not waiting for it. Do we need to have a sense of our place there that is unchangeable and unchanging?

A.M. Yes, and let us have an appetite to go in for it. There were those in Israel who said, ‘We have come through the wilderness and this place is good for our cattle; let us just settle here’. Moses gave them what they desired but all they ever knew of the land was conflict. They did not know anything other than conflict (Num.32). They went over the Jordan and fought against the Canaanites with the other tribes and then went back, so they knew nothing of the land except conflict. But the other ten and a half tribes enjoyed something of the fulness of it.

R.T. The conflict only robs us of our sure enjoyment of it, but it does not alter it, “but now in Christ Jesus ye who once were afar off”. It is established forever through the work of the cross.

A.M. Yes, indeed. We were afar off. The apostle here is speaking to the Gentiles. In the early part of Ephesians, there are references to ‘we’ and ‘you’. The apostle was writing as a Jew and he wrote about ‘we’ – things that were true of him as a Jew. Then to the Gentiles he was writing to, he says ‘you’; ‘you’ were aliens, ‘you’ were afar off. But he refers now to you who are “become nigh”. We are “fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God”, brought into that blessed sphere that is for God’s pleasure.

G.A.B In what way does He preach the glad tidings of peace?

A.M. Have you not heard them?

G.A.B. Yes, I am sure I have, but perhaps we could just have clarity as to what that means. We know that the Lord preached when He was here, but is this something that really relates to a finished, completed work? Is it by the Spirit now?

A.M. Yes, and I think the character of the glad tidings is greater now. When the Lord was here, there were the glad tidings of repentance and the glad tidings of the kingdom, but now how vast are the glad tidings of peace. Everything has been met in one blessed Man, everything secured for God from a scene where everything is out of joint, out of place. There is so much contrariety, but glad tidings of peace are going out.

P.J.W. Would it relate to what Paul says, “God as it were “beseeching ... Be reconciled to God”, 2 Cor.5:20? I was thinking of the question that has been asked. Is that how the glad tidings are preached, “beseeching … Be reconciled to God”? That can go out to every man, woman and child in the universe.

A.M. And Paul was saying that God is using us to do it. “Be reconciled”; Paul was, in a sense, an ambassador, representing another country. We can do that. We can go out, and we can tell people. It speaks in Proverbs about “good news from a far country”, Prov.25:25. That is what the gospel is, good news from a far country. We are ambassadors proclaiming it, proclaiming peace, all through the work of Christ.

T.W.L. Would it be right to say that the glad tidings of peace have in view love and sound relationships? This is God resting in what He has done, and then our resting in what God has done, and all of it in Christ.

A.M. We have been brought into it. I think the household of God suggests a sphere where everything is settled.

N.J.H. Is it material for the assembly? Paul goes on to “the assembly in Christ Jesus", Eph.3:21. It is material for the assembly which is being secured.

A.M. Yes, what is secured for God today is for the assembly, it is all part of the assembly. God is working today and what is being secured is what is of and for the assembly.

P.A.G. Do the glad tidings of peace have in mind oneness and approach to God.

A.M. Yes, that is exactly the setting here. “For through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”. Every family is named of the Father (Eph.3:15). The name Father conveys different things, but for those of us of the assembly it is more than simply the progenitor. The Father is the source of all, in that sense He is the Father, but for us it is a name of intense affection and relationship. It is a wonderful thing, the name Father.

R.G. Do you have in mind the Lord saying “I ascend to my Father and your Father”, John 20:17? It is the same Father, and we are brought into the same relationship through mercy and love, and in that area of love the whole of our being can be poured out towards Him under the leadership of Christ.

A.M. While we are brought into that relationship, He remains distinct. Who could say those words “my Father” like He could? Who could know the Father as Jesus does? So He could say “my Father”, and then He could say “and your Father”. What a wonderful favour! Well, beloved brethren, if the Lord leaves us here for a few more hours, may we enter into that in our spirits, and may there be a richer answer as we do so.

Glasgow

15 August 2015

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