Christ our Peace (Ephesians 2:14-18)

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Eph 2:14–18.

• Jesus Christ does not merely announce peace; Ephesians 2:14 says that he himself is the peace of his people.
• Christ removes the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, fulfilling the ceremonial ordinances that marked Israel's separation without abolishing God's entire moral law.
• In Christ, former enemies are created into one new humanity and one church across ethnicity, nationality, class, and former social division.
• The deepest enmity is vertical: sinful people are hostile to God and subject to the just penalty of the broken covenant of works.
• Through the cross, the sinless Christ bears judgment and reconciles both Jew and Gentile to God in one body.
• The risen Christ continues to preach peace through gospel proclamation, giving all who trust him access to the Father by one Spirit.

• Am I seeking peace as a feeling or circumstance while neglecting Jesus Christ, who is himself our peace?
• Do ethnic, national, class, or denominational loyalties compete with the deeper unity of Christ's one body?
• How does the fulfillment of ceremonial ordinances differ from the claim that Christ abolished every command of God's law?
• Do I recognize that reconciliation with other people cannot replace reconciliation with God through the cross?
• Am I trying to approach the Father through law-keeping, ancestry, or another mediator rather than Jesus alone?
• How should Christ's peace change the way I treat a Christian whose background is unlike mine?

Peace

The fullness and reconciliation found in Jesus himself, restoring sinners to God and uniting former enemies in his body.

Dividing wall

The separation between Jew and Gentile embodied in ceremonial distinctions and illustrated by exclusion from the inner temple courts.

One new man

The new humanity Christ creates in himself, not a mixture of rival identities but one reconciled body.

Reconciliation

The removal of hostility and restoration of fellowship with God through Christ's cross.

Mediator

Jesus Christ as the God-appointed go-between who not only represents sinners but personally pays the price for their peace with God.