The Signs of the Times, vol. 21

April 18, 1895

“‘Making Peace’” The Signs of the Times 21, 16, p. 7.

BY ELDER A. T. JONES

[From a discourse before the General Conference Institute.] SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.1

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” Ephesians 2:13-15. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.2

That is, he did it to make peace. Peace is made, and only by this means. And it is all “in himself.” And he made this peace, “that he might reconcile both [Jew and gentile] unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” The text says “thereby.” The margin says, “having slain the enmity in himself;” the German says, “having put to death the enmity through himself;” “and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.3

It is the separation, the enmity, that existed between Jew and gentile, that is considered here. It is true that the destruction of that separation and enmity is considered; the taking away of it is explained, and also the means by which it is taken away, and the destroying of it, is told. But Christ did not spend any time trying to get the Jew and the gentile as of themselves reconciled among themselves. He did not begin by trying to get them to agree to put away their differences, turn over a new leaf, and try to do better, and forget the past, and let bygones be bygones. He did not spend any time on that; and if he had spent ten thousand years it would have done no good, because the separation, or enmity, that was between them was only the consequence, the fruit, of the enmity that existed between them and God. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.4

Therefore, in order effectually to destroy the whole evil tree and its fruit, as it stood between these, he destroyed the root of the whole thing by abolishing the enmity between them and God. And, having done so, “he came and announced the glad tidings—peace to you who were afar off, and to those near” (Greek). SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.5

Thirteenth verse: Therefore, “now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one.” It is true that he made both Jew and gentile one; but he first made another one, in order that these two, “both Jew and gentile,” might be one, and before they could be made one. Therefore the “both” in this verse, that are made one, are not the “both” of verse 18. In verse 13 the two, the “both,” are God and man; man is separated from God, whether he be near or far off. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.6

Therefore, first, He is our peace who hath made both God and man ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between God and man, having abolished in his flesh the enmity,—that is, the enmity which is in man against God, which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. This he did in order that he in himself of TWO should make ONE new man, so making peace. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.7

The new man is not made of two men who are at outs, but is made of God and the man. In the beginning man was made “in the image of God.” And that signifies a good deal more than the shape of God. One looking upon him would be caused to think of God. He reflected the image of God; God was suggested to whoever looked upon the man. God and the man were one. And God and the man would have always remained one had not the man hearkened to Satan, and received his mind, which is enmity against God. This mind that is enmity against God, when received by the man, separated him from God. Then they were two, and not one. And, being separated from God, and in sin, God cannot come to him himself; for the man cannot bear the unveiled glory of his presence. “Our God is a consuming fire” to sin; and so for God to meet a man in that man’s self, or alone, would be only to consume him. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.8

Men in sin cannot meet God alone and live. This is shown in Revelation 6:13-17. Here it says that on the great day when the heaven departs as a scroll when it is rolled together, and the face of God is seen by all the wicked ones upon the earth, then “the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” A man who is in sin, a man in and of himself, meeting God, would rather have a mountain upon him than to be where the unveiled glory of God would shine upon him. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.9

Therefore, in order that God might reach man, and be joined to him once more, in order that God might be revealed to man once more, and that man might be once more in the place for which God made him, Jesus gave himself, and God appeared to him, with his glory so veiled by human flesh that man, sinful man, can look upon him and live. In Christ man can meet God and live, because in Christ the glory of God is so veiled, so modified, that sinful man is not consumed. All of God is in Christ, for “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily.” When Jesus came to bring man once more to God, he veiled this bright, consuming glory, so that now men can look upon God as he is in all his glory in Jesus Christ, and live. Whereas, out of Christ, in himself, alone, no man can see God and live. In Christ, out of himself, no man can see God and not live. In Christ, to see God is to live; for in him is life, and the life is the light of men. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.10

Thus God and man, by the enmity, were separate, but Christ comes between, and in him the man and God meet, and when God and the man meet in Christ, then those two—“both”—are one; and there is the new man. And “so,” and only so, peace is made. So that in Christ, God and man are made as one; consequently, Christ is the at-one-ment between God and the man—at-one-ment—making at one. Consequently, join the syllables together, and he is the atonement. O, the Lord Jesus gave himself, and in himself abolished the enmity to make in himself of two,—God and the man,—one new man, so making peace. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.11

Now we come to the other “both,” in Ephesians 2:16: “That he might reconcile both [Jew and gentile] unto God in one body.” But what body is it in which he, Christ, reconciles “Having slain the enmity thereby; and came and preached peace to you which were afar off [to the gentile], and to them that were nigh,” that is, the Jews. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.12

The Jews were “nigh for their fathers’ sakes.” In themselves, on their own merit, the Jews were separated from God, and were just as far off as the gentiles. But God had made promises to their fathers, and they were beloved for the fathers’ sakes. And they had the advantage, for to them pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” In this sense, and for this cause, they were nigh. And he preached peace to them that were nigh; they needed peace preached to them. SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.13

Thus “through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” SITI April 18, 1895, page 7.14