SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JESUS A parallel passage in Ephesians establishes the scope of this peace. Not only did sin create enmity between God and man, there was also hostility between Jew and Gentile, a division of peoples resulting from God making a covenant with Israel. The whole of this situation was resolved by God through Jesus Christ. Thus is it proclaimed, "For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph 2:14-18). Tomorrow:
"And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." (Colossians 1:20-22)
Devotion 5 of 31
Now, the One through whom the peace was made, Himself becomes our peace, so that if we have Jesus, we have peace with God. Notice the complexity of the situation brought on by sin, and the thoroughness of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
1. The peace has united Jew and Gentile in one body, in Christ Jesus: "who hath made both (Jew and Gentile) one." The Spirit refers to this single entity as "one new man."
2. The Law, which was the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, has, its covenantal aspect, been broken down. Christ has ended it as a means to righteousness (Rom 10:4): "and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." That is, the Law as a covenant separated Jew and Gentile, for it was an agreement made solely with Israel.
3. There could be no peace with God while the larger segment of humanity was without a covenant, having no access to God or promise from Him: "having abolished in His flesh the enmity . . . having slain the enmity thereby."
4. Having made the peace, the Lord Jesus had to come and preach it, else we would never have known about it: "and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."
5. Twice in this Ephesian text, the condition of men is described as "enmity:" "Having abolished in His flesh the enmity . . .having slain the enmity thereby." In the first instance, the "enmity" is identified as "the law of commandments contained in ordinances." In the second, the enmity itself that was resident in fallen humanity was "put to death" (NASB).
6. This "peace" resulted in men, through Christ, having access to the Father "by one Spirit."
7. This marvelous peace is described in these words: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph 2:13).
The making of peace, therefore, involved the death of Christ. It also involved the removal of the hostility created by sin. There was also the removal, or abolishment, of the Law as a covenant, or means to righteousness.
The "peace" of reference involves deliverance from sin by which men had become God's enemies. It also involves the freedom of the conscience which, when defiled, forbids us to come to God. It causes God to welcome those upon whom His wrath once abode. The ground of it all is found in what occurred on the cross of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I You for the magnificent greatness of the peace that Jesus "made."