Pastoral Perspective: " God's Peacemaking Process- Revealed!
Ephesians 2:11-18
"Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men);remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,and in this 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 access to the Father by one Spirit." (NIV)
The Bible shows us in the Ephesians 2:11-18 "4 ways" that God brought peace to us.
A. The First Way God brings us peace is by bringing warring men together under the "banner" of Christ.
Through Jesus Christ, all barriers between the Jews and Gentile people have been broken through his blood. All of us as people whether Jewish or Gentile are outside the arc of safety and stands as sinners before a Holy God. Because of our sin nature we inherited from Adam, we all need to be saved. We all must accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord in order to be saved. Paul reminds us in Romans 10:12 that there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek (or Gentile) because the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call on him. We all come to Jesus to be saved. The need for man as a whole to be saved through Jesus puts us all on “equal footing” in the same manner that being all “born in sin” does since all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity.
B. The Second Way God brought Peace was by breaking down all "access" barriers.
Through the death on the cross of Jesus Christ, the shedding of his blood brought remission of all of our sins, whether Jew or Non-Jew. As stated in the first reason, we all are on common ground pertaining to our personal relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus said that none of us could have access to the “Father” (God) except by (through our acceptance) of me (himself). From a historic perspective, a vivid example is given through the schematic of the Temple. The temple consisted of 4 courts. Each court separated men from the presence of God. The Gentiles nations were not allowed to advance past the outer court. There were tablets hanging around the Gentile court that warn them that they would face death if they strayed or walked into another courtyard of the temple. When Jesus died, the bible says that the veil in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the “Holy of Holies” supernaturally tore from top to bottom. The tearing of the veil symbolized that there was now “direct access” to God for anyone who dare to seek it and no more separation of the Jews from any the of the Gentile nations who embraced Christ.
C. The Third Way God brought Peace was by wiping out the Law of Enmity.
Before the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, all of mankind had to approach God through the Mosaic Law. Unfortunately for us, the Law actually revealed that we were condemned in the eyes of God and there was no way that we could be acceptable by God. Not only this, but the more we measured our lives up against the Law, the more the Law revealed that we were far away from God. Adam’s sin broke the law of obedience and passed the penalty of his disobedience (death) down the corridor of all of man’s geneology. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary’s Hill paid the debt (penalty) Adam passed to us by breaking the Law. Jesus wiped out the “enmity” of the Law as well as fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law. Jesus came to fulfill and not abolish the Law. Thus, Jesus is the only way for all of mankind to have a personal relationship with Almighty God. Because of Jesus Christ, the “only” way that there will still be enmity between God and man is if mankind never accepts Jesus Christ as savior and Lord before he dies.
D. Finally, God brought Peace by "creating" a “new” man.
Whenever man accepts Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord, God changes the spiritual nature of that person. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:17: "if any man is in Christ (accepts Jesus Christ as savior), that man is a “new creation”. The “old nature” (nature that caused man to sin) of that man is considered “passed away”. That is; God no longer holds the sins of that man at the point of his acceptance of Jesus against him toward paying off the “wages” of those sin (Romans 6:23), which would have been death. That person is said to be “born again” in his relationship to God and has been given another chance at life to live the rest of his life the way God directs him to. With this “new nature”, man has to develop a relationship with God through Jesus Christ on a daily basis, since this new life in Jesus Christ is a “new beginning in the life of that man. Not only this, but all of those who accepts Jesus Christ have been “reconciled” into “one” new body (Body of Christ) and a position in the household of God.
Ephesians 2:11-18
"Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men);remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,and in this 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 access to the Father by one Spirit." (NIV)
The Bible shows us in the Ephesians 2:11-18 "4 ways" that God brought peace to us.
A. The First Way God brings us peace is by bringing warring men together under the "banner" of Christ.
Through Jesus Christ, all barriers between the Jews and Gentile people have been broken through his blood. All of us as people whether Jewish or Gentile are outside the arc of safety and stands as sinners before a Holy God. Because of our sin nature we inherited from Adam, we all need to be saved. We all must accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord in order to be saved. Paul reminds us in Romans 10:12 that there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek (or Gentile) because the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call on him. We all come to Jesus to be saved. The need for man as a whole to be saved through Jesus puts us all on “equal footing” in the same manner that being all “born in sin” does since all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity.
B. The Second Way God brought Peace was by breaking down all "access" barriers.
Through the death on the cross of Jesus Christ, the shedding of his blood brought remission of all of our sins, whether Jew or Non-Jew. As stated in the first reason, we all are on common ground pertaining to our personal relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus said that none of us could have access to the “Father” (God) except by (through our acceptance) of me (himself). From a historic perspective, a vivid example is given through the schematic of the Temple. The temple consisted of 4 courts. Each court separated men from the presence of God. The Gentiles nations were not allowed to advance past the outer court. There were tablets hanging around the Gentile court that warn them that they would face death if they strayed or walked into another courtyard of the temple. When Jesus died, the bible says that the veil in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the “Holy of Holies” supernaturally tore from top to bottom. The tearing of the veil symbolized that there was now “direct access” to God for anyone who dare to seek it and no more separation of the Jews from any the of the Gentile nations who embraced Christ.
C. The Third Way God brought Peace was by wiping out the Law of Enmity.
Before the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, all of mankind had to approach God through the Mosaic Law. Unfortunately for us, the Law actually revealed that we were condemned in the eyes of God and there was no way that we could be acceptable by God. Not only this, but the more we measured our lives up against the Law, the more the Law revealed that we were far away from God. Adam’s sin broke the law of obedience and passed the penalty of his disobedience (death) down the corridor of all of man’s geneology. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary’s Hill paid the debt (penalty) Adam passed to us by breaking the Law. Jesus wiped out the “enmity” of the Law as well as fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law. Jesus came to fulfill and not abolish the Law. Thus, Jesus is the only way for all of mankind to have a personal relationship with Almighty God. Because of Jesus Christ, the “only” way that there will still be enmity between God and man is if mankind never accepts Jesus Christ as savior and Lord before he dies.
D. Finally, God brought Peace by "creating" a “new” man.
Whenever man accepts Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord, God changes the spiritual nature of that person. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:17: "if any man is in Christ (accepts Jesus Christ as savior), that man is a “new creation”. The “old nature” (nature that caused man to sin) of that man is considered “passed away”. That is; God no longer holds the sins of that man at the point of his acceptance of Jesus against him toward paying off the “wages” of those sin (Romans 6:23), which would have been death. That person is said to be “born again” in his relationship to God and has been given another chance at life to live the rest of his life the way God directs him to. With this “new nature”, man has to develop a relationship with God through Jesus Christ on a daily basis, since this new life in Jesus Christ is a “new beginning in the life of that man. Not only this, but all of those who accepts Jesus Christ have been “reconciled” into “one” new body (Body of Christ) and a position in the household of God.
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