SERMON YIII.
And having made peace by the blood of his cross, to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, ivhether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.-^CoL. I. 20.
In these words observe : —
First, What Christ was to do.
Secondly, The manner how he did it ; or.
First, The end for which he was appointed. To be our Mediator and Redeemer, and accordingly promised and sent into the world to reconcile all things to God, ' Whether they be things in heaven, or things in earth.'
Secondly, The means by which he accomplished it : ' Having made peace by the blood of his cross ; ' that is, by his bloody sacrifice on the cross, thereby answering the sacrifices of atonement under the law. In the first branch take notice of : —
1. The benefit : reconciliation loith God.
2. The person procuring it: by him ; and it is repeated again, I say, by him.
3. The persons to whom this benefit is intended, expressed — [1.] Collectively, iravra, all things.
[2.] Distributively : whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.
As they are collectively expressed, it teaches us that grace is re- vealed and offered in the most comprehensive expressions, that none may be excluded, or have just cause to exclude themselves. As it is distributively expressed, the latter clause is of a dubious interpretation. Some ' by things on earth,' understand men, but by ' things in heaven ' the angels. Surely not the fallen angels, for they are not in heaven, neither was Christ sent to reconcile them, nor relieve them in their
Col. I. 20.] by the blood of christ. 405
misery and reduce them to God, Heb. ii. 16, ovk iTrCkafi^dverai rwv dyyeXoov. What then shall we understand by ' things in heaven ' ? Some think the holy angels, others the glorified saints. (1.) Those that assert the first argue thus: that the angels are properly inhabitants of heaven, and so fitly called things in heaven ; and they are enemies to men whilst they are ungodly, idolatrous, and rebels to God (as good subjects hold with their prince, and have common friends and enemies with him), but are reconciled to them as soon as they partake of the benefits of Christ's death, as we are told of 'joy in heaven among the angels of God, at the conversion of one sinner/ Luke xv. 10. Now if there be so much joy over one sinner repenting, how much more when many sinners are snatched out of the jaws of hell ? They make the sense to be thus : before, for the sins of men, they were alienated from them, but then reconciled. But this scripture speaks not of the re- conciliation of angels and men, but the reconciliation of all things to God ; for so it is expressly in the text, to reconcile all things to him- self. Now the good angels cannot be said to be reconciled to God, for there was never a breach between them, Se nunquam cum matre in gratiam rediisse. (2.) Therefore, I interpret it of the glorified saints. See the like expression, Eph. i. 10, ' To gather together in one all things to Christ which are in heaven and in earth.' And more clearly, Eph. iii. 15, ' Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.' Meaning thereby the faithful who are already in heaven, and those who are now remaining upon earth. This is a comfortable note, and teaches us : —
1. That the apostle Paul knew no purgatory, or third place for souls after death.
2. That the saints departed are now in heaven as to their souls, and gathered to the rest of the spirits of just men made perfect.
3. The souls now in heaven once needed the merit of Christ, even as we do. None come thither but they were first reconciled to God. By him their peace was made, and they obtained remission of sins by the blood of his cross, as ye do. In short, all that go to heaven go thither by the mediation, sacrifice, and meritorious righteousness of the same Redeemer.
Doct. One great benefit we have by Christ is peace and reconcilia- tion with God. Here I shall show : —
1. What this reconciliation is.
2. How it was obtained.
3. What assurance we have that it is obtained.
4. How and upon what terms it is applied to us. 1. What this reconciliation is.
I answer : It is not an original peace, but a returning to amity after some foregoing breach. Now the breach by sin consisted in two things — an aversion of the creature from God, and an aversion of God from the creature. So before peace and reconciliation can be made, two things must be removed — God's wrath, and our sinful nature : God must be pacified, and man converted. God's wrath is appeased by the blood of Christ, and our natures are changed and healed by the Spirit of grace. First, God's wrath is appeased, and then the Spirit is bestowed upon us ; for while God is angry and offended, no saving benefit can
496 RECONCILIATION WITH GOD [SeR. VIII.
be expected from him. This text speaks not how he took away our enmity, but how he appeased God for us, not so much of the apphca- tion as the impetration of this benefit. The application is spoken of ver. 21, how it is applied to us, but here the apostle more directly speaks of the impetration, how it was procured and obtained for us — namely, by Christ's satisfying God's justice for that Avrong which caused the breach, or the dying of the Son of God for a sinful world. Now this hath an influence on God's pardon and our conversion, for by virtue of this reconciliation we are justified and pardoned. There- fore, we are said to be justified by his blood, Rom. viii. 9, that is, the price is paid by Christ and accepted by God. There needeth nothing more to be done on the Mediator's part. By virtue of the same peace made we are also sanctified and converted unto God, 2 Cor. v. 18. The gift of the sanctifying Spirit is given us as the fruit of Christ's death.