I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot of hostility in the world. People disagree about everything! People go to war simply because they’re born in different places to different families. And sometimes, of course, war seems to be unavoidable in our broken world. Ecclesiastes 3:8 says:
a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
And yet, God stepped into our brokenness in order to end all war and bring us together.
Ephesians 2:14-16 says:
For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.
The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901, and has been given out most years since.
Normally, there’s a clear, uncontroversial winner. But in 2010, China disagreed with the choice of the recipient so they created their own award.
Thankfully, God offers us something better than the world’s version of a “peace prize.”
Jesus is our peace. (v. 14) Through Jesus, we have peace with God. Romans 5:1 says:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And through Jesus, we also have peace with one another.
In 2014, Jarom Thomas accidentally backed into his friend, Michael Galen’s car. So Jarom agreed to let his friend Michael punch him so that they would be even. It didn’t go so well, and Jarom fell and hit his head on concrete, and died.
God calls us to peace!
Jews saw Gentiles as unworthy of God’s blessings. But the feelings were mutual. Martin Goodman wrote:
Jews were generally considered in the ancient world to be hostile, prickly people, quick to take offense and unfriendly to aliens.
-Martin Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt Against Rome AD 66-70
And yet Paul wrote in our passage today that Jesus makes both groups one! Jesus tore down the wall of hostility.
One of God’s purposes that He accomplished at the cross was to bring us together. (v. 15)
In the orchestra in high school, there was a song we played that literally started out with chaos. Gradually all of the instruments came together in perfect harmony.
Through Jesus, God is bringing us all together as well! Jesus accomplished this in His flesh. God’s law is perfect, and we ought to obey it.
And in the end, we will obey it.
Jesus fulfilled all of the law perfectly. By accomplishing the law perfectly for us, He gave all of us the reward for His obedience. So we’re no longer divided based on our obedience, but united based on Jesus.
Jesus reconciled us all to God. (v. 16) Both Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God. And we’re both reconciled to God in the same way: through Jesus. By dying for our sins on the cross, Jesus put to death our hostility toward one another.
At least, that’s the goal.
Are you hostile toward others? Do you hold their sins against them?
God has called us to have peace, and to be peacemakers.