Christ Our Peacemaker
For Christ is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Eph 2:14).
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, it was his intention to build one new man out of two men (Eph 2:15). Amazingly, the two men he had in mind—Jews and Gentiles—hated one another, and would never have pursued peace apart from Christ’s conciliatory work.
From the call of Abraham on, God was carving from humanity a people who were wholly his. By the time Jesus Christ came as a son of Abraham, Jews and Gentiles were violently opposed to one another. In fact, the temple court had a sign in it that forbid Gentiles to move any nearer to God’s dwelling place, without threat of execution. Yet, when Jesus died on the cross, he abolished the law, tore down this wall of hostility, and provided peace.
What came after his death and resurrection was the outpouring of his Spirit and the consequent creation of a new human race. Today, the church of Jesus Christ is this “one new man,” made up of Jews, Greeks, Somalis, Chinese, and thousands of ‘others.’ As Paul teaches us, the Cross of Christ has been preached and now all who have believed in him share in the same access to the Father by the same Spirit (2:16-17). Thus, God’s people in their local churches are to be at peace with one another.
For the last three months, our church on Sunday nights has been studying the biblical idea of peace-making. This month marks the end of that study. But hopefully, it is more of a beginning than an end. I pray that the seeds sown will bear fruit in a prayerful and intentional peace-making culture in our church family.
When we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that our hostile attitudes reflect the flesh more than the Spirit (Rom 8:6). Yet, what we have learned over the last few months is that the reality of Jesus’ death on the cross, the forgiveness of the Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to put off the old man with his hostile mind, and to put on the mind of Christ to seek peace with others (Rom 12:18). In doing this the gospel is not simply explained, it is experienced!
My prayer for our church as we anticipate our golden anniversary is a renewed commitment to reconciliation and reaching out to others in love for the purpose of peace. Christ who bought his church with his blood also empowers his church to live at peace in the shadow of the cross as we await his return. May we continue to strive towards that end.
Praying with you for Christ’s peace in our church,
Pastor David
