Several years ago a retired couple was alarmed by the threat of nuclear war, so they undertook a serious study of all the inhabited places on the globe. Their goal was to determine where in the world would be the place to be least likely affected by a nuclear war—a place of ultimate security. They studied and traveled, traveled and studied. Finally they found the place. They moved to their new home—in the Falkland Islands. However, their "paradise" was soon turned into a war zone by Great Britain and Argentina (Illustrations Unlimited, 402).
So many today are like that couple searching for peace. It’s obvious that our world needs peace. There is an absence of peace on this planet. Peace is lacking between nations and between races; it’s lacking in homes and in hearts.
On the night of Christ’s birth, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).
However, since that glorious evening, this world has seen very little peace. Why not? Ultimately it is because this world has not embraced Jesus Christ. And there is no peace apart from Him.
CHRIST IS OUR PEACE.
"FOR HE IS OUR PEACE. . . ."
"The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6)
"This man shall be the peace" (Micah 5:5)
In the end, Jesus Christ will bring peace to this earth. But until then, He is bringing peace to people in other ways.
CHRIST HAS MADE PEACE. He is our Peacemaker.
First, HE HAS MADE PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND GOD.
Second, HE HAS MADE PEACE AMONG MEN.
The root cause of all hostility is the pride of man.
Pride is what led to man’s first act of disobedience. Adam and Eve said, "We don’t want to do what God says. Who is God to tell us what to do. We will do what we want to do." That’s pride. And it led to the hostility between man and God.
The same is true with our relationship with one another.
I. CHRIST HAS MADE PEACE AMONG MEN (vv. 14b-15).
". . . WHO HATH MADE BOTH ONE. . . ."
"BOTH" refers to Jews and Gentiles. Christ has made them one. How has He done this?
A. He broke down the wall between them (vv. 14b-15a).
". . . 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 THE ORDINANCES. . . ."
1. The wall between Jews and Gentiles caused division.
A "WALL OF PARTITION" divides.
2. The wall between Jews and Gentiles caused hostility.
"ENMITY" means "hostility."
3. The wall between Jews and Gentiles was caused by "THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN THE ORDINANCES."
4. The wall between Jews and Gentiles was abolished "IN [CHRIST’S] FLESH."
B. He united them by creating the Church (v. 15b).
". . . FOR TO MAKE IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, SO MAKING PEACE."
1. The Church is something completely new.
"For to MAKE in himself of twain one new man, so making peace."
"MAKE" really means "create."
2. The Church is formed in Christ.
"For to make IN HIMSELF of twain one new man, so making peace."
3. The Church is a new race.
"For to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace."
a. We are born into this new race.
b. We are all equal in this new race.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
Pride is the greatest cause of conflict within churches.
An admirer once asked Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated orchestra conductor, what was the hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation: "Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony" (Illustrations Unlimited, 450).
Without humility, there is no harmony.
Someone once said, "Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow." From pride comes selfishness, criticism, gossip, complaining, and conflict.
A few years ago two ministers got into a fight about what they considered to be an important doctrinal matter. They settled the fight when the first minister told the second: "Look, what are we fighting for? We’re both striving to do the Lord’s work. You do it your way and I’ll do it his way!" (Illustrations Unlimited, 90).
The pastor of a small souther church was on his way home when he met an acquaintance from town who was not a member of his church. After chatting a while the man was asked how many members he had. The pastor responded, "Fifty active members." The friend said, "My, that certainly speaks well for you." But the pastor responded, "Well, I wouldn’t say that. All fifty are active—but twenty-five are actively working for me and the other twenty-five are actively working against me" (Illustrations Unlimited, 90-91).
Our pride should melt away when we consider what it cost Christ to bring us together. He gave up His life so that we could be brought together as one. Will we show disregard for what Christ has done by not loving our fellow Christian?
When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.—Isaac Watts
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that firefighters in Genoa, Texas, were accused of deliberately setting more than forty destructive fires. When caught, they stated, "We had nothing to do. We just wanted to get the red lights flashing and the bells clanging."
The job of firefighters is to put out fires, not start them. The job of Christians is to help resolve conflict, not start more of it (Fresh Illustrations for Peaching & Teaching, 28).
Colossians 3:15 declares, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body." In other words, "as members of one body you were called to peace" (NIV). We are called to peace! We are called to put out fires, not start them.
II. CHRIST HAS MADE PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND GOD (vv. 16-17).
"AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD. . . ."
What does "RECONCILE" mean? The Greek word that has been translated "reconcile" in this verse is found in only one other place in the entire Bible. "And, having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to RECONCILE all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven [one day all things will be reconciled to God]. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he RECONCILED" (Col. 1:20-21).
• Reconciliation is a change from a hostile relationship to a friendly relationship.
• Reconciliation is a reuniting.
• Reconciliation is complete.
• Reconciliation is a restoration of something that was there before.
• Reconciliation was initiated by God.
A. Man’s greatest need is peace with God.
We know that a car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn. There is no other. That is why it is no good asking God to make us happy in our own way. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
"Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:19-21).
Without God, man is restless and unhappy.
Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Everybody basically has an empty hole inside of them that they try to fill with money, drugs, alcohol, power—and none of the material stuff works" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 259).
Boris Becker, the former tennis star, said, "I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed. . . . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 259).
Edmund Hillary was the first man ever to climb Mount Everest. Hillary was asked what exactly he felt when he reached the peak. He replied that the first sentiment was one of ecstatic accomplishment. But then there came a sense of desolation. What was there now left to do? (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories Illustrations & Quotes, 260).
The late comedian Jackie Gleason was described by Reader’s Digest as "a lonely and suffering soul given to late-night drinking sessions, looking for answers to life and death, with a terrible emptiness in him that he couldn’t fill" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 260).
One successful man once said that the one thing he wished he had known as a small boy was this: "When you get to the top, there’s nothing there" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 260-261).
B. Everyone needs to be reconciled to God.
"And that he might reconcile BOTH unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH."
C. Reconciliation is only possible because of the cross.
"And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body BY THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY."
A friend visited an elderly woman badly crippled by arthritis. When asked, "Do you suffer much?" she responded, "Yes, but there is no nail here," and she pointed to her hand. "He had the nails, I have the peace." She pointed to her head. "There are not thorns here. He had the thorns, I have the peace." She touched her side. "There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace." That is what the atonement of Jesus Christ means for us—He gave of Himself so that we might have the peace (Illustrations Unlimited, 35).
The death of Christ was absolutely necessary.
"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them" (2 Cor. 5:19). Why not? Because God took your sins and mine and put them on the head of Christ, and He suffered and died for our sins.
"He hath made [Christ] to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21).
What happened on Calvary? Christ was slain. But by being slain, He slew the hostility.
Only when you have peace with God can you enjoy the peace of God.
When Christ was about to leave this world, He made His will. His soul He committed to His Father; His body He left Joseph of Arimathea to be decently buried; His clothes fell to the soldiers; His mother was left to the care of John. But what should He leave to His poor followers? He had no silver or gold, but he left them that which was infinitely better—His peace!
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7).
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee" (Isa. 26:3).
CONCLUSION
The Puritan Thomas Watson put it this way: God the Son is called the Prince of Peace. He came into the world with a song of peace: "On earth peace. . . ." He went out of the world with a legacy of peace, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." Christ’s earnest prayer was for peace; He prayed that His people might be one. Christ not only prayed for peace, but bled for peace: "Having made peace through the blood of His cross." He died not only to make peace between God and man, but between man and man. Christ suffered on the cross, that He might cement Christians together with His blood; as He prayed for peace, so He paid for peace" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 606).
Jesus Christ is the Christian’s PEACE and the Christian’s PEACEMAKER.
Is He a part of your life? Do you have peace in your heart?
THE GOD OF PEACE
from Psalm 29:11; Ephesians 2:14-16; John 14:27; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 91:1-2; Romans 15:33
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
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 twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
