The Greatest Peace Mission
Ephesians 2:12-19
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/PeaceMission.html
In September of 1938 the British Prime Minister Chamberlain returned from conferences in Nazi Germany. He was certain that he had stopped Adolf Hitler. He said, "Peace in our time, peace with honor." A year later, Hitler invaded Poland and on 9/3/39, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Chamberlain's peace mission had failed.
From 1500 B.C. to A.D. 850 there were no less than 7,500 peace treaties agreed upon by various nations, and most of them were regarded as 'eternal covenants.' Each brought hope of lasting peace, but not one of them made it for long.
Look at Israel and her enemies to this day, and throughout history. There will be no peace there until the Prince of Peace comes in person and establishes that peace!
ill.--Bring it forward to the USA. [sarcasm] Isn't it grand that the Revolutionary War ended and all the Brits are fond of us now? Aren't you glad the Civil War came to a final resolution and there is no racial prejudice anymore? Good thing WWI was the war to end all wars, right? And about that line between North and South Korea...that's where you want to build your retirement home! Because the treaties have been signed!
The only peace mission that will work is the one spoken of in our passage. It was signed by God and sealed by the blood of Jesus.
v. 14 First 5 words
v. 15 last 3 words
v. 17 first 5 words
The wall was torn down between Jew and Gentile and peace is made between mankind and God Almighty.
v. 12 Mankind is Christ-less, homeless, hopeless, and Godless.
Christless:
A Christless life is like a song with no one to sing it, a bell with no one to ring it. A sky with no sun to shine in it. A puzzle with a key piece gone from it. A building with no cornerstone. What a tragedy to be without Christ!
No Christ, no peace / joy / love / hope / heaven!
Homeless:
God has promised us a home...though we've not yet seen it...we are aliens in a strange land, but ambassadors for another land. "I'm kinda homesick for a country..." "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' thru!"
Hopeless:
For the Christian, we look forward to endless hope. For the lost awaits a hopeless end...which has no end!
Godless:
This doesn't mean they didn't worship gods. Look at human history, from the Greeks and all their mythological gods to the Romans, the Far East, and every pagan nation on the planet worshiping all forms of creation, to today's mystics and Indian beliefs in millions of gods in all shapes and sizes. Then there's America. What do we worship? Ourselves it seems!
Paul saw all the statues and temples in Athens, and noticed one statue labeled, "To the Unknown God." [just in case they missed one.] Paul said, "Aha! That's the one I'm preaching to you today! His name is Jesus!"
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There was a separation, but God now brings a reconciliation...
ill.--a man's wife has left him, and he wants her to return to him and be reconciled. This is a picture of mankind and his maker. We are the prodigal and He is the Father.
ill.--Warren Wiersbe tells of a struggling couple he counseled with. They had both sinned against each other and the man was a redneck and blurted out, "We need a re-cancellation!" [He meant reconciliation, but in a sense he was right, because until their sins against one another were cancelled out and erased, there could be no healing.]
And there can be no peace treaty between man and his Maker until our sins are cancelled out...which is what Jesus came to do!
1. The Source of our Reconciliation.
v. 13 The Blood!
ill.--a father and son were at odds for years, and neither would talk to the other or apologize. The mother tried all she could to bring them together to no avail. It was on her deathbed that the circumstances even brought the two men into the same room. They stood on either side of her bed and watched as her breathing receded away...soon she would be gone. And just before she drew her last breath, she took each of their hands and brought them together on her chest, which never again rose with air. They both began weeping and neither would remove his hand. They hugged, apologized, and for the first time in many years, were reconciled.
When Jesus hung on that cross, the only thing separating man from God was sin, and when God poured out His wrath on that sin, laid that day on His Son, Jesus was in effect taking the hand of sinful man and placing it in the hand of the Holy God, and rested both there on His person and died.
"Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled!"
The source of reconciliation is the blood of Jesus.
2. The Substance of our Reconciliation.
v. 14 Peace. Not the peace OF God, but peace WITH God.
v. 15 Enmity
v. 16 Enmity = hostility between God and man. It's the war between God's holiness and man's sinfulness. You are either God's friend or His enemy...and the difference is whether or not you have received the source of reconciliation...the blood, which leads to the real substance: Peace!
ill.--a wife cried as she rode in the car with her husband. He asked what was wrong. She said, "You used to drive with one arm around me and we would sit so close, and now there's this distance between us." He said, "I'm the one driving. Who moved?!"
God doesn't need to be reconciled to man, but the other way around. We turn our back on Him and we run from Him...and there is enmity between us.
Jesus went to the cross on a peace mission, and God signed that treaty when He accepted the sacrifice.
Isaiah 53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin...
But YOU have to sign on the dotted line for yourself!
ill.--one of you owes another $100 and cannot pay, and you are at odds. I want to make peace so I pay it for you. Will you accept it? Will you sign on, or will you insist on paying it yourself?
Jesus paid in full, but you have to sign on and accept it.
ill.--a man on death row was about to be summoned to the chair. He heard footsteps approaching, but it wasn't the jailer. It was a guy in a suit and tie. He knew who it must be. "Get out of here preacher!" "But I just need to talk to you and help you." "You can't help me, I don't need your help, now leave me alone!" "Do you not know who I am?" "I don't care, now get out!" The man left. Then the jailer came in. He said, "Son, you just missed a great opportunity." "Awe, I'm not interested in anything that preacher has to say." "That wasn't the preacher, that was the Governor...here to discuss your pardon."
You must believe, sign on, and accept the pardon God offers you!
The Source = the blood...
The Substance = peace...
3. The Settlement.
Unity.
v. 14 'and hath made both one.'
v. 15 'of twain one new man.'
v. 16 'one body'
v. 18 'one Spirit'
Jew and Gentile are made one as they both approach closer to Christ, they are closer to one another. And all races are closer to each other the closer they are to Jesus.
All people on earth are descended from one of 3 men: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. In Acts 8 a black Ethiopian was saved [Ham], in Acts 9 Saul was saved [Shem], in Acts 10 a Gentile, Cornelius, was saved [Japheth].
So when you are aggravated at someone, remember, you are related! Do you think you are above the sons of Uncle Ham? We are all a part of the one race...the human race!
ill.--did you know that Shem was still alive when his great grandson Abraham came on the scene? The Jews are sons of Shem. So how about the Arab/Muslim nations? Did they not come from Ishmael, a son of Abraham, a descendant of the same Shem? Why can't we all get along!
That is the nature of the sin nature, but good news: The ground is level at Calvary...the cross brings us all together!
Husband and wife are made one as they both approach closer to Jesus, they are closer to one another. Social rivals, enemies, bosses and employees...all are brought closer by drawing nigh to Christ!
v. 19 Aren't you glad we can be members of the same family of God? Do you need to join the family? Christ broke down the wall which separated us from Himself. The blood brings peace, reconciliation, and unity!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/PeaceMission.html
