Bible says “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have accessto the Father by one Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:14-18)
“For he himself is our peace...” (Ephesians 2:14)
The word peace occurs seven times in the Book of Ephesians (1:2; 2:14; 2:15; 2:17; 4:3; 6:15; 6:23). Paul begins this Epistle with greetings—“Grace and peace” (1:2). In this salutation, grace comes first and then peace. As a result of God’s grace in and through Jesus, one experiences peace, reconciliation, wholeness, newness and access (2:14; 2:15; 2:17) with God. It is because of this Peace that Christians are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:4).
In this very remarkable passage of Ephesians two, the apostle gives us the way of peace. He uses as an illustration the fact that Jesus Christ bridged the widest gap which ever has existed between men -- the abyss between the Jew and the Gentile. Why it is so difficult to settle the Arab-Israeli problem in the Middle East. The greatest minds of our day have tried to work that out, and no one has gotten anywhere near a settlement. It is because this conflict is extremely difficult to bridge. Paul describes how Christ actually does it. And this is a wonderful picture for us of how peace can be brought in any area of conflict. Paul says, "He is our peace,” speaking of Christ, and He has made peace “so making peace" and, "He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near." In those three occurrences of the word peace, you have the Blue print of how Christ makes peace, the way he goes about it. So it is very important that we note these. He is our peace (2:14) that is the source of peace. Then there is the procedure of peace, how it is actually brought about -- he came and made peace (2:15) finally there is the means of proclaiming that peace -- he preached peace. (2:17)
The word peace in Ephesians 2:14 is about the Prince of Peace that Isaiah (9:6) prophesied about seven hundred years before His coming in human flesh (John 1:14). One can say that Christianity had a life before its birth (Genesis 3:15). This One that is called Jesus is the One who reconciles lost people to God. It is in this same vein that Isaiah also predicts: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Again, Isaiah proclaims: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (53:5). One can say that the Gospel is the Good News that God is creating a new world in which peace dwells. This peace can only be found in the One who became flesh. Paul starts with a definition of what true peace really is. True peace is oneness. It is not merely the cessation of hostility, the absence of conflict; it means being one.
Paul as he seeks to grasp the richness of God’s grace calls out: “For he himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Again, Paul puts across the very center of this peace as existing only in Jesus, as he expresses elsewhere in very concrete words: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Jesus enters the world of sinful history in order to redeem. Just a perusal of God’s whole revelation reveals God coming down to save sinful men and women. As one reflects upon the Incarnation, one quickly realizes that the cross of Christ and the message of the atonement are the last phases of the Incarnation. One cannot understand the life of Christ if one does not understand His life as culminating in the Cross. God makes “peace through his bloodshed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20).
It is obvious that the death of Jesus was not a tragic defeat; it was a component of God’s age-long purpose (mystery) for the deliverance of both men and women from condemnation.
The Cross of Jesus makes it impossible for us to take forgiveness of sin lightly. The crucifixion of Jesus is the outcome itself that gives forgiveness of sin its complete weight. In the Cross of Jesus, one witnesses divine holiness and divine love. God Himself has provided the divine safeguard—the Cross of Jesus. God wants to have communion with His creation, but this peace is found only in one’s acceptance of Jesus as God’s message of free grace. Forgiveness and justification and peace of the sinner can only be found in the suffering Savior (Isaiah 53). In order to have peace with God, there must be forgiveness. When one reflects upon his or her guilt, one realizes that guilt is too great to be removed by forgiveness pure and simple, that is to say, God could not just speak: “I forgive you.” The doctrine of forgiveness is established upon the Atonement of Jesus.
The Atonement for sins is not offered by men and women, but by God Himself. In the Atonement, one observes God descending and running after lost humanity.
God makes peace through the Cross of Jesus. It is in the Cross that one observes God’s holiness and God’s mercy coming together. In the words of the psalmist, one can also say that “righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Psalm 85:10).
Deliberation upon the Cross of Jesus causes one to reflect upon the words of Paul to the Galatians: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). As one studies the Book of Ephesians, one should pray that this Scripture would sink into his or her heart and stand fast. The very essence of the Christian faith is to believe that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). One cannot live with God unless one’s sins are forgiven. Forgiveness is only found in Jesus. Paul writes with power as he ponders God’s grace: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
Peace is oneness, harmony. It is sharing mutual enjoyment. The secret of oneness is a Person: "He is our peace." When Christ Jesus makes peace between individuals or between nations -- that peace will be a satisfying, permanent, and genuine peace. It will be a real peace that will last. God starts with the person and in order for you to live at peace with someone else; you must be at peace with the Person of Christ. If you have his peace, then you can start solving the conflict around you. But you never can do it on any other basis. So the place to start, the foundation of peace, is the settling of any problems between you and God. That is always the place to begin.
Now look at the procedure of peace. How does it happen? It comes in three stages, Paul says. Three things must happen before you really have oneness. But this is what Christ can do, and this is the way he does it: First, he "has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances,” And, second, "that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace," And, third, "might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end."
Paul is talking about the ending of the great conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles of his day. He says the first thing Jesus did was to break down the "dividing wall of hostility." Paul is referring to a feature of the temple in Jerusalem. He was a Jew, and He understood the temple -- wall, which ran through the court of the temple, dividing it into two sections, separating the court of the Gentiles, where the Gentiles were permitted to come, from the inner court, into which only Jews were permitted. In the year 1871, archaeologists, digging around the temple site in Jerusalem, actually uncovered the very stone marked with this warning. These were the actual words, translated from both the Hebrew and the Greek: "No man of another race is to proceed within the partition and enclosing wall about the sanctuary. Any one arrested there will have himself to blame for the penalty of death which will be imposed as a consequence."
Now, the wall is a symbol of the Jews attitude towards the Gentiles, they despised and hated them. There was enormous hostility between these two peoples. There are walls like that among us. There is hostility and hatred and defiance and suspicion and distrust between communities. But the apostle says that Jesus Christ knows how to remove these walls. Paul tells us: "by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances." That is the way. It is the Law which makes the hostility, and if you remove the Law, you'll end the hostility. The strength of any hostility is demand. This is what the apostle is saying. What creates hostility? Why, a self-righteous demand upon someone, a demand without any admission of guilt on the part of the one demanding, a one-sided justice, a holier-than-thou insistence. This is what creates hostility.
The Jews despised the Gentiles because they considered themselves better than Gentiles. "We have the Law of Moses," they said. "The Law is right and true; it reflects the character of God. You Gentiles don't have the Law." And in their blindness and self-righteous hypocrisy, they thought they were keeping this Law because they didn't do some of the outward, external acts the Law prohibited. And so they hated and despised the Gentiles because they thought they were superior. The Gentiles, on the other hand, hated the Jews, because they knew they lived in self-righteous hypocrisy. So there was intense hostility between them. Jesus' solution is to take away the Law. Remove that from the picture -- help them to see that the Law judges both alike -- and you'll end the hostility. Put them on the same level -- so they both need grace, both need forgiveness and salvation -- and you remove hostility.
This is so beautifully exemplified in a story in the eighth chapter of John's gospel. Jesus is confronted with a woman taken in adultery. “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:3-11).
No one knows what Jesus wrote. But whatever he wrote, those who watched him became convicted of their own guilt, and, beginning with the eldest, they began to find excuses to get away and so they began to disappear. Finally only the woman and Jesus were left there together. Now, what had he done? Well, he had simply applied the Law to the judges as well as to the judged, that's all. He'd brought them under the same Law. And this is what Paul says Jesus has done with the Law. He fulfilled the Law in himself, and by doing so, he rendered both Jew and Gentile unacceptable before God. He showed them how the Law was meant to be fulfilled. And when they saw his impeccable life, the Jews knew they were just as guilty as the Gentiles. This is what Paul argues at great length in Romans 2, 3, and 4 -- that the Jew has no advantage over the Gentile at all simply because he knows more truth, but that he stands on exactly the same ground -- Jew and Gentile need to be forgiven. And so our Lord gave them a common ground of forgiveness. And when he did that, there was no hostility left.
So this is the way to start ending hostility: Stop being self-righteous. Remove the self-righteousness, the demand that one change without any admission of a need for change on the part of the other. This removes hostility. But as long as one insists that the other is all wrong, and there is nothing at all he needs to change, then of course hostility and resentment remain.
There is a second step: "that he might create in himself one new man." Only God can take a situation which is nothing, and make out of it something. God creates out of nothing. He makes a new man, a new unity which never existed before. Here in Ephesians, of course, the new man Paul refers to is the church itself. In the church, there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The Jew does not have to become a Gentile; the Gentile does not have to become a Jew. There is a new man, a new person created. And the same is true of any other division among men. In that sense, the church is never to integrate; it is to make a new man. They both bring what they are, and they discover that there is oneness, fellowship, a union, a beautiful relationship and an acceptance of one another. A new unity is formed, which cannot be discovered apart from the settling of hostility on the ground of the peace that Jesus Christ gives.
There is still a third step: "and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross." In other words, ultimate peace must be with God. Once the hostility has been ended by the removal of a self-righteous spirit and they have begun to experience this new unity in Christ, must see themselves as being forgiven and accepted by God. Otherwise, self-righteousness will begin to arise again, sooner or later. If there is any area in which one feels superior to the other, in which one says, "I didn't need quite as much forgiveness as that one did; my level of life was higher," then self-righteousness starts in again. But if they stand before God on the same level, on the same ground exactly, both needing the same forgiveness, then the hostility is brought to an end. This is what the apostle says, "thereby bringing the hostility to an end."
The only ground we have to stand on before him is that of forgiveness, and "not of works, lest any man should boast," (Ephesians 2:9). Therefore, everyone stands before God on the same level. When people see this, hostility is brought to an end. Nobody is pointing a finger, nobody is blaming the other, nobody is saying, "Well, if only you'd done this, then I could have done that." All such division and schism and hostility is brought to an end, and there is only the reception of the grace and the forgiveness of God. Hearts are healed, and hostility ends. This is what is brought out in the last section -“He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:17-18)
Preaching is simply the announcement of a fact. You can either accept it or reject it, but you can't quarrel with it. It is what God says is true -- that the ground of self-righteousness has been removed, and a new relationship is possible. A new relationship will come into being which will be better and more beautiful, richer than anything you've known before. And God says he is satisfied with the arrangement, that he accepts you both on those terms. Then what? Well, the last step is beautiful. It is communication with the Father: "through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." You can come before him, upheld by the mystery of the entire Trinity at work on your behalf. This is probably the greatest statement in the book of Ephesians. "Through him [the Son] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." There is the Trinity of God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- all working together to bring us into the closest possible relationship with God: the understanding and the daily experience of his Fatherhood, his Fatherly care over us. So we begin to understand that the circumstances of our life are chosen by the Father, that the trials and pressures and joys and sorrows all have been selected by a loving Father. We begin to see that his provision of power and truth and life is all available in Jesus Christ, and we understand that we can appeal to him. We can cry out to him. He invites us to communicate with him, to unload before him all the burdens and pressures of our life. And we begin to live in this relationship with the Father.
There is nothing higher than this. When the full glory of this relationship breaks upon us, we will have discovered that nothing can be greater. "This is eternal life," Jesus said,” Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent," (John 17:3).
At the heart of this amazing peace-making process, Paul tells us, Through Jesus we have peace with God and we have the peace of God. Peace with God has to do with our right relationship with God (Romans 5). The peace of God has to do with our hearts and minds being filled with assurance, hope, and contentment in Jesus (Philippians 4:7).Jesus is the Prince of peace, the ruler of the kingdom of peace, and his subjects are peacemakers. Jesus is the only one who can calm the tempests of the soul, quiet the churning waves of the heart, and lead us safely to divine peace. What is peace of mind? It is a state of inner calmness and tranquility, together with a sense of freedom, when thoughts and worries cease, and there is no stress, strain or fear. Jesus invites all men to the most meaningful, life- changing experience. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Will you accept His invitation, “Come unto me”? He offers light for darkness, trust for doubt, peace for strife, joy for sorrow, rest for weariness, hope for despair, and life for death. God made man with a living soul which longs to be in fellowship with its Maker. Psalmist cried “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1, 2). Only the living God will satisfy the soul. Of this you may be certain: you will never be at peace until you are at peace with God.
A story was told about a man, when he was young. He jumped from a bridge into a river and he was drowning. There was another young man who was watching him what was happening. After some time, he also jumped into the river. Brought the man to the shore, took him home, after giving him the hot bath, gave him new clothes and food , made him sit down, spoke to him gently and ask him to lead a good life and sent the man away with hope and faith.
Twenty years later, in a courtroom, there was a judge sitting and a criminal was brought with charge sheeted for murder. When the criminal came in, he looked up and the judge was looking very familiar so he said, excuse me Sir? And somebody said quiet please. The case proceeds. The judge was about to pronounce the verdict, the man again said, Sir Do you recognize me? The judge looked in his eyes and told him, “yes, I recognize you, I remember you. Twenty years back, you jumped into the river, to commit suicide, I jumped behind you; saved your life; brought you home, spoke to you as a friend, told you to live a good life. I was an advocate at that time, today you stand as a criminal before me, and I sit as a judge. I can’t help you . So the judge pronounced the life-long death for this criminal. Friends, Jesus Christ is Savior today, but judge tomorrow.
Jesus Christ did not come to this world to judge us; He came to be our Saviour. God looked on this sinful world, and He knew that only by sending His Son Jesus to this earth could anyone be saved. Jesus is holy, perfect and good, He came willingly to die in our place, a sacrifice without spot or blemish, so that if we ask Him to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, He will forgive us and cleanse us so that we can go to heaven. Today Jesus Christ is your Saviour, but tomorrow He will be your judge.
Before you go to bed this evening open your Bibles. Start with the first words— "In the beginning, God!" This is the right starting point for a man's faith. Now turn to the last Book in the Bible, to Revelation 20:12: "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." Start with the one and end with the other, and this is the story of God's dealings with His people. We see Him as Creator. We behold Him as the ruler of nations. We see Him as the judge of His ancient people. We behold Him as the father of Jesus Christ. We hear Him crying out through the lips of His Son to a wicked generation. At last we see Him seated upon the Throne. Time is being finished. The Books are being opened, and the dead, small and great, are standing before God. Stop for a moment and think about Him. He has showered His love upon you ever since you came into the world, yet you have resisted Him. Prepare to meet thy God, because He is God. Acknowledge your sins. Accept Him as your Saviour. Confess Him before men. Follow Him faithfully. One day you will meet God, and will hear His welcome — "Well-done."
