Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:14-16

If you have read the Scripture text, I want you to notice right away that it doesn’t immediately say, “He made peace.” Even though that, of course, is true also, as we will see in verse 15. In verse 14 however, Paul is stating the fact is that Jesus Himself is our peace. But you might be asking yourself, “how can a person be peace?”

In essence, this is how: When a Jew believes on the Lord Jesus, he loses his national identity; and from that moment on he is “in Christ.” Likewise, when a Gentile receives the Savior, he is no longer a Gentile; again, from that moment on he also is “in Christ.” In other words, a once believing Jew and a believing Gentile, once divided by hate and malice, are now both one in Christ. Their union with Christ necessarily unites them with one another. Therefore a Man is the peace, just as the Prophet Micah predicted (Micah 5:5).

First is the work of union which we have just described. He has made both one, that is, both believing Jews and Gentiles. They are no longer Jews or Gentiles, but Christians. Strictly speaking, it is not accurate even to speak of them as Jewish Christians or Gentile Christians. All fleshly distinctions, such as nationality, were nailed to the cross of Christ.

The second phase of Christ’s work might be called demolition: He . . . “has broken down the middle wall of separation.” Not a literal wall, of course, but the invisible barrier set up by the Mosaic Law of commandments contained in ordinances which separated the people of Israel from the nations. This has often been illustrated by the wall which restricted non-Jews to the Court of the Gentiles in the temple area. On the wall were No Trespassing signs which read: “Let no one of any other nation come within the fence and barrier around the Holy Place. Whoever is caught doing so will himself be responsible for the fact that his death will ensue.”

A third aspect of Christ’s work was abolition of the malice and hate that smoldered between Jew and Gentile but also between man and God. Paul identifies the law as the innocent cause of the antagonism, that is, “the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” The Law of Moses was a single legislative code; yet it was made up of separate, formal commandments; these in turn consisted of dogmas or decrees covering many, if not most, areas of a Jew’s life. The law itself was holy, just, and good (see Romans 7:12), but man’s sinful nature used the law as an occasion for hatred. Because the law actually did set up Israel as God’s chosen earthly people, many Jews became arrogant and treated the Gentiles with utter contempt. The Gentiles struck back with deep hostility, which we have come to know all too well as anti-Semitism. But how did Christ remove the law as the cause of arrogance and hate? First, He died to pay the penalty of the law that had been broken. He thus completely satisfied the righteous claims that God demanded and commanded. Now the law has nothing more to say to those who are “in Christ”; the penalty has been paid for them in full.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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