The fifth accomplishment of Christ's crucifixion was that He dealt with the old creation by being terminated as the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15), and He redeemed all the creation by tasting death for everything (Col. 1:20; Heb.2:9). Christ is the first item of the creatures, the Firstborn of all creation. As such a One He dealt with the old creation. His crucifixion was a termination of the old creation, and He redeemed all the creation by tasting death for everything. Christ was qualified for this accomplishment because He was one of the creatures, the Firstborn of God's creation. Because He was a creature, His crucifixion was the termination of all the old creation. By such a work He redeemed all the created things, because through His death He tasted death for everything, not only for every person, but also for every thing.
According to Ephesians 2:14-15, Christ's death was to make peace among all peoples. This is the sixth accomplishment of Christ's crucifixion. Christ was crucified as the Peacemaker to make peace among all peoples by abolishing all the ordinances, the differences, among them. Ephesians 2:14-15 say, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, having abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace." In these verses, Christ is both our peace and the Peacemaker. Because of the fall, the entire human race has been divided into many nations. No two nations are able to be one, especially the Jewish nation and the Gentile nations, because of many differences, many ordinances. The ordinances are the habits, the customs, the ways of living, and the ways of religion among people.
Through His death on the cross, Christ abolished all the differences among the peoples of the earth. By making peace He brought the different nations, the different peoples, together into oneness. Today we can see many different peoples from different nations as brothers in the church. This peacemaking is to produce the Body of Christ which is the new man. Christ abolished all the differences, the ordinances among the different peoples, in order to create one new man out of so many believers from different nations. Today in the testimony of the local churches we see such a reality. For example, in the United States we recently had a meeting of approximately one thousand people, with representatives from more than thirty nationalities. In the church, although there are people of many different races, all are brothers, all are members, all are components of this one new man! Hallelujah! Who did this? Christ did this on the cross, by dying in the flesh to abolish all the ordinances. Christ died as such a Peacemaker.
The seventh accomplishment of Christ's crucifixion was to bring forth many grains. He did this by being put to death as a grain of wheat (John 12:24). The first six items—to take away sin, to have sin condemned, to destroy Satan, to have the old man crucified, to terminate the old creation, and to abolish all the ordinances between different peoples—are all on the negative side. But there is also a positive side, the bringing forth of His believers as many grains. Christ accomplished this by being put to death as a grain of wheat. On the one hand, a grain of wheat sown into the earth dies. But, on the other hand, while the grain is dying, it is growing. While the grain is dying in its outward shell, it is growing in its inner life. By its dying and growing, it sprouts; something tender, green, and living rises up to bring forth many grains. While Christ was dying on the cross, He was working, He was growing, and He was bringing forth many grains. Hallelujah! Now, we are the many grains to form one loaf, one Body (1 Cor. 10:17).
These are the seven main items of the work Christ has accomplished by His death on the cross. To do this sevenfold work He has a sevenfold qualification: He is the Lamb of God, He is a man in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He is the brass serpent, He is the last Adam, He is the Firstborn of all creation, He is the Peacemaker, and He is the grain of wheat. We all must see that when our Redeemer was dying on the cross, He was dying there as these seven items. He died as the Lamb of God, as a man in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as a brass serpent, as the last Adam, as the Firstborn of all creation, as the Peacemaker, and as the grain of wheat. By this sevenfold qualification He accomplished seven things: He took away sin, He caused sin to be condemned in the flesh, He destroyed the old serpent, He had the old man crucified, He terminated and redeemed the old creation, He abolished all the differences between the nations, and He produced many grains. Now the new man, the Body of Christ, is here. All this has been accomplished by His sevenfold work on the cross.