Several months ago, our
pastor challenged us to memorize the book of Ephesians. Not just a verse or
two, but the entire book. When I was young, I could have memorized it in two
weeks or less. But I’m getting older. After several months, I’m almost through
chapter three.
It isn’t just that my
brain is older and slower. It’s that my attention gets caught by different
words…different phrases. They stick in my brain and de-rail my rote
memorization as my brain attempts to grasp what is really being said. I can say
with no exaggeration that Ephesians is currently my favorite book of the Bible.
Did you know that the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with EVERY spiritual
blessing…such as the fact that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world!? (Ephesians 1:3-4)
If you don’t think that’s
personal and specific, keep reading. I spent weeks on just the first four or
five verses. The book of Ephesians is dripping with God’s love for us. For you.
For me.
As I struggle to engrave
these precious words into my permanent memory, I occasionally find a concept
that seems to have many layers. The most recent of these was Ephesians 2:14-22
(ESV[1])
“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.”
“For He, Himself is our peace.”
I
need peace right now. It doesn’t matter what circumstances we face. As believers, our
peace can always be found in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. I found that
thought incredibly comforting – until a nasty voice in the back of my mind
accused, “You’re taking that out of
context. That’s not the peace Paul’s talking about.”
Maybe not, I thought rebelliously, but it’s still true.
Paul is referring to the conflict between the
Jews and the Gentiles in this passage, and the miracle of love shown by
Jesus when He included Gentiles in God’s kingdom through His sacrifice. In our
day, we have the opposite problem. We Gentiles have to be reminded that the Jews are also included – if we know any
Jews to include. Our culture is not the clear-cut mix it was in Paul’s day. Aside
from general racism, I really have to stretch to find a corresponding example
in my life.
I had a difficult time with this passage because
it seemed too specific to have any relevance for me. Everybody knows the Gentiles are
included – why keep harping on it?
“For He,
Himself is our peace…and has broken down in His flesh the
dividing wall of hostility…” (vs. 14)
What does that
mean? Romans 8:7-8 flitted across my mental screen.
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's
law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
I sat up a little
straighter. Maybe there was a way I could apply these verses in my life.
“For he himself is our peace, who … has broken down in his flesh the dividing
wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed
in ordinances…” (vs.14-15)
My mind was hostile, at war with God, until Jesus
came - as a man - prone to that same hostility, but broke down in His flesh
the wall of hostility by living a sinless life and allowing Himself to be
slain as a sacrifice, both fulfilling the law and abolishing the “law of
commandments expressed in (639) ordinances” – the law that made God impossible
to please and left me consumed with guilt, dead in my trespasses and sin. But He
abolished it – put a stop to it…
“that He … might reconcile us both to God in one body through the
cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (vs. 16)
What a way to put it! He didn’t just make peace,
He killed
the hostility. Killed it, buried it, left it in the grave when He resurrected.
It is gone. Forever!
“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”(vs. 17)
Then He came and told His disciples about it, and
sent them into the world to declare that
“ … through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (vs. 18)
Both Jews and Gentiles, “us” and “them”, whoever
that may be today.
Then Paul reveals the true miracle:
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (vs. 19)
I, who was once
“…separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers to the covenants of
promise, having no hope and
without God in the world.” (vs. 12)
I am now included among the saints as a member of the household of God. If
you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, so are you.
This is a household, not a bachelor pad. I find I have come full circle
from what Christ has done for me personally, to what He has done for those who
are hostile to each other.
I am not allowed hostility toward others because He did not break down
the wall of hostility between myself and God only, He broke it down between each
of us as well.
“that he might create in himself one new man
in place of the two, so making peace,” (vs.15)
His desire for His people is that we would become
one. He emphasizes this again and again in the prayer he prayed for us in John 17:22-23
… “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
He has brought us together for a reason. Returning
to Ephesians 2, the household of God is
“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.” (vs. 20)
“In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (vs. 22)
This is the reason for the command found in
Hebrews 10:25,
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit
of some, but encouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the Day
drawing near.”
We are not islands.
The “church” is not a building, or an institution, or a religious
system. It is the act of assembling together.
We gather together as a church to worship together, to learn from each
other, to correct each other when we start to get off course, to encourage each
other… to love each other.
And in this gathering, a temple for the Lord is being built – a microcosm
of the plan set in motion before the foundation of the world. A plan Paul
reveals in Ephesians 1:9-10
“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth.”
One day all of creation will be united in Christ.
That unity began in God and continues in us.
We see the moments. We see the brokenness, we see
the failures, we see the abuse, and we see the hurt.
But let us not forget the plan God has set forth
in His Son.
A plan for eternity, for healing, for victory,
for love, for joy…
For His glory.
And it will be more beautiful than anything our
human minds can comprehend.
Have faith, hold on to His nail-scarred hands,
and accept the spiritual blessings He has prepared for you.
And go read Ephesians - maybe even memorize it.
God bless!
Jules
[1]
For those of you who know me, I have switched to the ESV – but that is material
for a different blog.
