Christ Himself Is Our Peace | Ephesians 2:14-22

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:14–22, ESV)

This has long been a favorite, encouraging and convicting passage of Scripture. Recently I read it in a book written by Eugene Peterson, called The Message, which paraphrases the Bible into contemporary language. Hearing it read in such an informal way helped me listen with a fresh ear to the powerful sincerity and compassion that Paul had for these beleaguered believers in Ephesus.

Here is a taste of that passage, from the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 2, from The Message:

“The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped.

"Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility.

"Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

“That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders! (Ephesians 2:14–19, The Message)

Our big idea this week is simple: Christ himself is our peace.

Let's make it personal: Christ himself is my peace. Christ himself is our peace!

Reconciliation Between Different People

The heart and soul of this passage concerns peace between different people. This passage speaks quietly of reconciliation with God. But it resounds loudly with a trumpet sound of peace between people...different people...different people living at peace with one another, in Christ.

Skim through this chapter, Ephesians, Chapter 2, verses 14-22:

• Verse 14: He himself is our peace
• Verse 14: He destroyed the dividing wall between us
• Verse 14: He has made us both one
• Verse 15: One new "man" in place of the two ("man" meaning human)
• Verse 16: In one body
• Verse 17: Peace to the "far off" and to the "near"
• Verse 18: We both, in one Spirit have access to the Father
• Verse 19: Fellow citizens with the saints
• Verse 19: Members of God's household
• Verse 20: Built upon one foundation (that which was declared, preached and taught by the apostles and prophets of the Old and New Testaments of The Holy Bible, solidly joined together by Christ Jesus)
• Verse 21: Joined together into a holy temple
• Verse 22: Built together into a dwelling place for God's Spirit.

If this were a song sung by God, the driving drum beat would be "DIFFERENT - PEOPLE - LIVING - IN PEACE!"

If this were a work of art painted by God, the subject would be people of different sizes, shapes, ages, skin, hair, ability, experience, history, culture, male and female...all living in peace, in Christ!

If this were a smart phone app, there would only be four menu items: [DIFFERENT] [PEOPLE] [LIVING] [IN PEACE]

Enough with the metaphors!

The two different people Paul was describing were "non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders" or "Gentile and Israel".

How can this grouping of people apply to us here now?

Paul's separation of people into two groups: "non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders" or "Gentile and Israel" was based upon some very common human characteristics:

• Family
• Religion
• Function
• Fearlessness

Family:

How closely are you related to me? Do we share a common ancestry, a country of origin, a common ethnicity or culture? Can I determine at a glance how we may be part of the same "family"? The closer you are to me, the more "in" you are. Anyone else is "out"

That sounds a lot like what we call "race", "ethnicity" and "my people".

Religion:

Do you worship and walk according to our religious patterns and preferences? Do we share a common set of rituals, morals and traditions? Does your appearance and public speech fit with established conventions? Then you are "in". Otherwise, you're "out".

That sounds a lot like what we call "religious affiliation" or "church membership".

Function:

Do you provide well for yourself, your family, your community and your country? Do you work hard for your money. Is your work important and fulfilling? Then you are "in". Otherwise, you're "out".

That sounds a lot like "rugged individualism" or "healthy, wealthy and wise" or "worth one's salt" or "make it own your own".

Fearlessness:

Are you smart, bold, aggressive and ambitious? Are you impatient with the timid and short-sighted? Are you trending and popular? You're "in" like Flynn!

That sounds a lot like "influential" and "powerful" and "respected".

Now hear me carefully...if I were in your shoes right now I'd be starting to ruffle my feathers, because there are aspects of all of these criteria for "in" and "out" that I incline toward.

I'm not ignoring nor condemning these attributes. I'm not trying to minimize the depth of spiritual darkness and despair in which every "non-Jew" was mired before Christ appeared.

I'm attempting to make real the huge difference that Christ makes between people who are different.

I'm attempting to connect our modern culture with that of the apostle Paul's culture.

I'm trying to connect with how Paul's generation separated "us" and "them", "insiders" and "outsiders", the "high" and the "low", those who matter and those who do not matter.

I'm trying to bring my flawed sense of who and who does not deserve care and compassion into line with Christ's work on the cross.

Life on earth is permeated by categories of who is "in" and who is "out", who is "high" and who is "low", with each group receiving more or less care and attention than others. But God's heart cares and attends to all:

...From the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD, I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Paraphrased from Jeremiah 31:34 ESV)

But I know that it can be overwhelming.

The ways in which people are broken and hurting are myriad. The aggressively obnoxious person who is screaming and spitting with outrage and insult. The quietly despairing person who sleeps in the park. The reclusive neighbor. The sex offender living down the street. The junky front yard. The depressing complainer. Those who don't speak our language. Those who scorn Christians. Those who scorn non-Christians. The gender-blurring, tattooed, long-haired, motorcyclist who is always fidgeting with a piece of string...

But they...we...all have a broken and hurting past and present...we all know in some way what it is to live in darkness and doom.

But that common experience of living in darkness and doom easily fades. I find myself thinking and feeling if I'm in the light of hope because of something intrinsically good and strong in me, as if something about me deserves to be hopeful.

I find myself falling into the complacency of thinking that my foundation in Christ is mine! "Mine", in the sense of "I deserve benefits" of having Christ on my side. My "faith" becomes trust in my own self-righteousness. My "joy" becomes dependent upon my own good fortune and my own prosperity in health and wealth.

When that happens, humility is discarded. Humility becomes a foreign, uncomfortable feeling to be avoided, rather than the precious, life-giving presence of God's Spirit working in my heart.

John Piper wrote,

It is cheap grace, not genuine grace, that thinks life in Christ is without remorse for past sin and for remaining corruption...

Our joy in God’s mercy is intensified by the realization of how undeserving we were, and are. This sense of being undeserving is a real experience, not just a bare intellectual notion. It is felt.

Jonathan Edwards wrote,

A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble, brokenhearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit, and more like a little child, and more disposed to a universal lowliness of behavior.

And it all is based on the words of Jesus,

Blessed are the poor in spirit...those who mourn...the meek...and the merciful. Matthew 5:3 NIV

Christ himself is my peace.

When I am frustrated with restrictions and weakness, Christ himself is my peace. When I am frozen with fear or gutted with guilt, Christ himself is my peace.

Christ himself is our peace.

When we are divided by politics, language or liberties, Christ himself is our peace. When we are separated by animosity, culture or preferences, Christ himself is our peace.

That is a true statement, regardless of how my emotions respond to it. When I say that Christ is my peace, I'm not saying that's how my emotions are feeling. I'm saying that's what my heart desires. I desire to feel at peace, and truth says that Christ himself is my peace. When my emotions refuse to align themselves with the truth, it's a red flag of warning to me: I'm ignoring the truth of this passage: Christ himself is my peace.

This book of Ephesians describes a way in which we can respond when peace seems distant. When you feel that you are a foreigner or stranger in your own community or group, Scripture urges you to respond in a very definite way. When you encounter someone so very different than you that it makes peace with them seem so very far and improbable, recall the rock-solid truth that makes it possible to love others who are unloveable:

YOU - WERE - DEAD!

Go back up to the first verse of this chapter, Ephesians 2, verses 1-3:

“You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1–3, ESV)

YOU - WERE - DEAD!

When you are feel far from peace, within and without, remember: You were dead!

Who were the people Paul was calling "you"?

• Saints, people faithful in Jesus
• People God has blessed, chosen and adopted as sons and daughters
• People redeemed, forgiven, and loved on
• People who heard and believed what the words of Scripture said about Jesus

All of these faithful, blessed church-members were, in the not-too-distant past, dead! They had been "the walking dead"!

Here's how Ephesians 2 sounds like in everyday plain English, describing anyone who considers themselves a Christian:

“It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us....(Ephesians 2:1–3, The Message)

Does it matter that God, through Jesus, has called to himself a world of different people...people different in all sorts of huge ways, spiritually as well as physically and mentally?

Yes, it matters! You were dead, and Christ himself is your peace!

I and God had huge differences between us, and I walked away from the table. Yet, for the sake of his great name, and in his great love, he came to me and brought me back to himself, through the blood and brotherhood of Christ Jesus.

I was dead, and Christ Jesus is my peace!

It is God's love which does this! Are we to minimize the depth and determination of God's love? Are we to boast that our individual, different histories, characteristics, liberties and preferences (and dare I say it, our politics) somehow gain a measure of influence over God's love?

This book of the Bible, the book of Ephesians, was written by Paul, a rigidly Jewish leader whose heart was radically transformed by God. Paul was changed, in a moment, from being an arrogant, authoritative, self-righteous Jew who fought and fenced off all who were different. Paul became a humble, submissive, Christ-dependent Christian who befriended and cared about all who were different.

In a letter to the Christians in Rome Paul wrote this:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:14–18, ESV)

Paul never forgot that he was once among the "walking dead":

“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” (Ephesians 3:8, ESV)

Paul remembered that he had once been a persecutor of "outsiders" (Philippians 3:5). He described his past as being like an "unwanted baby", the least of others, unworthy, rigidly moralistic and without compassion for others (1 Corinthians 15:8-9). But he always relied upon the grace of God as his sole support and justification.

Paul did not wallow in his torrid past, but he used it as a reminder of God's glorious mercy, and he used it as a foundation in caring about outsiders.

Paul reminded proud, rigid uncaring Christians about their previous condition of deadness (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Paul warned strong, self-assured Christians to never allow their rights and privileges to be used to destroy the weak and wounded (1 Corinthians 8:9-12).

I desperately need to submit to this truth: God loves weak, far-off, difficult and different people.

God is working in the hearts and minds of different people, in love. God is working in his time, not according my timeline or my expectations. The people he's working on may not consciously realize it. I certainly fail to realize it. When I fail to consider how God may be working on someone, I am guilty of ignoring, belittling or denying the goodness and power of God's love.

We are to reflect God's heart to those around us. His heart is that of mercy and compassion. His Spirit within urges me to reflect that same attitude of mercy and compassion.

God's Wrath

What about God's wrath? Shouldn't we reflect all of God's heart, his wrath as well as his mercy. Scripture describes the details of God's wrath upon Satan and the stubbornly rebellious men and women who love the darkness of Satan. Does God's Spirit within urge me to reflect his wrath as well as his mercy?

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord...” (2 Thessalonians 1:6–9, NIV)

God's judgement has been declared. God's wrath against our sinful and satanic self-love and God-hating hearts was poured out when God sent his only begotten Son Jesus to die on a cross. The sentence for humanity's capital crime of sin has been declared. All that remains now is for it to be carried out. And that is God's responsibility alone, in God's timing.

Not mine.

Warning is not Condemning!

Now, all that remains is for us to reflect God's merciful love and compassion.

Yes, part of that love involves speaking the truth, plainly and clearly. Yes, part of compassion is the responsibility to warn of God's judgement and future sentence of death. But warning others is not to become like wrath...it is not to become our place to condemn or punish others. Condemnation and punishment is God's responsibility. Not ours. Our responsibility now, on earth is to speak the truth in love, and to do all we can to live in peace with others, no matter the differences.

Here's how Jesus put it, in the Gospel of John, chapter 3:

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:16–20, NIV)

These words shout loudly that every person in the world is fundamentally and eternally equal...either equal in the doom of divine judgement and punishment of their sin, or equal in the delight of God's gracious mercy and providence. And for those two sides of "equality" God alone has ultimate responsibility. Not me!

My failure to see how every person in the world is equal, causes me to pick and choose among all people, using my own flawed judgement, as to who matters and who does not.

I cannot help everyone. But I certainly cannot close my ears, or harden my heart against anyone who is different than me, in any way. Every person I meet or see is more like me, than different than me.

How Then Should We Respond?

How then should we respond to any group of people who, in the eyes of "our group" matters somewhat less? How then should we respond to a "different group", perhaps a group of which we've been blissfully ignorant or intentionally ignoring? How then should we respond to a group who begins to call out, "Why don't we matter to you?". How then should we respond to accusations that I and "my group" are exalting ourselves above others?

“Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.” (Psalm 138:6, NIV)

This verse in Psalm 138 introduces a stanza that describes great anger between groups of people, causing death and fear. And God stretches out his hand to preserve the lowly and far off.

I was dead, and Christ Jesus himself is my peace.

How should I respond? I should ask my Father and Lord to cause me to remember when I was dead and far off, yet Christ Jesus is my peace.

"Lowly" is the same as saying "those who seem to matter less". God looks kindly on those who seem to matter less.

How should we respond?

When divisions and disagreements separate and destroy our peace, we should ask our Father and Lord to cause us to remember when we were dead and far off, yet Christ Jesus became our peace.

We were dead, and Christ Jesus himself is our peace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

We all have access in one Spirit to the Father. We are no longer strangers and aliens with each other, but we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him we together are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Paraphrased from Ephesians 2:18–22, ESV)

We are "in" the Father, and "in" the Lord, because the Spirit dwells "in" us!

A Loophole?

Now, I can hear a whisper in my heart that says, "Fine! I'll associate with the lowly, as long as they are Christians!"

Who am I to determine where God is working? Who am I to decide that this person is worth caring about, but that person is a lost cause? Who am I to deny that God is working on a sinner's heart?

In

Look at the significance of "in" the Father and "in" the Lord?

I'm shamelessly stealing from John Piper now:

The word “Father” implies primarily care and sustaining and protection and provision and discipline. So, to be “in” the Father would mean mainly to be in the care and under the protection of God as our heavenly Father.

The word “Lord” implies primarily authority and leadership and ownership. So, to be “in” the Lord means mainly to be in the charge, under the authority, and in the possession of Jesus as our supreme Lord.

Christians are a family (in the care of a Father) and they are servants (in the charge of a Lord).

These two descriptions of God as Father and Lord, and thus of the church as family and servants, correspond to two of our deepest needs. Every single one of us has a need for rescue and help, on the one hand, and the need for purpose and meaning, on the other. (Two of Our Deepest Needs, a Devotional by John Piper - https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/two-of-our-deepest-needs?utm_campaign=Solid+Joys&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119079967&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_RDDZt3A)

Every person I see, hear, pass by or meet has these same two deep needs. Everyone is somewhere on this path of either delighting or refusing to be in God the Father and in God the Lord Jesus. God is working on, in and around every person, in some way, that I cannot see. In no instance can I say arrogantly, "This person is becoming a Christian, but that person is not."

Let me end this message by praying through some of the words of Paul.

"Praying through" has become my favorite way to pray using Scripture. To me it means rewording the verses into a sort of prayer, making it personal and applicable to my current situation or my heartfelt desire, sometimes to my feelings of discouragement or frustration.

Look first at chapter 1, beginning at verse 3. I'll be changing some of the words to make it fit our circumstance:

Let's pray.

God, God our Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may you be blessed! May you delight in the work of your hands. May you enjoy and be satisfied in your plans and purposes. Rather than hoping in our earthly wealth or politics or intelligence or morality, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring us hope in Christ, that our lives now and forever would be in praise of your glory.

Now, jump ahead to chapter 2, beginning at verse 14:

Open our hearts and minds to hear and believe these words of truth: Jesus is our peace. He has made different people to become one. In his own flesh Jesus has broken down every dividing wall of hostility between people who are different. No legal system, no human government, no human economic or educational system, no language, no code or rule of behavior, no color of skin, no earthly wealth or poverty, no ability or disability, no culture, no strength or weakness, no sin, no demon can bring peace on earth, nor can any difference break the peace you give. May it be so in our own hearts and minds today!

May your peace saturate and surround every difference we encounter as we walk and work and worship. Reconcile us, Father, in one body through the cross of Christ. Make all differences become reminders of our common past and our common reality: Our past: when we all were as strangers and aliens, separated from you, our God and Maker. Our reality now: in Christ, as fellow citizens, saints and members of your household, O God our Father! Make us in every relationship, friendship and neighborhood to intentionally and consistently depend upon all that your apostles and prophets have preached and taught in The Holy Bible. Make us all together hold tightly, as if our very lives every moment depend upon it, the Cornerstone which holds it all together: Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord!

Amen.