Easter is about Peace
Donny Haynes
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We are living in a world of differences that leads to a world of division and destruction.
We live in a world with political differences that keep America and the rest of the world on edge of war and continual strife.
We live in an ever deepening societal difference with homosexuality, abortion, co-habitation.
We live in a world where the family and even the church now is being destroyed and divided because of these differences.
The church is becoming ever divided over worship styles, types of music, dress codes, doctrinal beliefs and Bible translations.
Paul is trying to teach us this morning that when we are “in Christ” and come together as a church and leave as church, these differences should be put to death.
We should be living testimonies that unity and peace can exist in this evil world.
The resurrection, that we are celebrating today is the seal and God’s approval on the accomplishment of Christ to accomplish this tremendous feat.
In Jesus Christ, there is a oneness that brings all believers together on common ground of faith in Jesus Christ.
For those who might be joining us for the first time this morning, I would like to bring you to where we are in a study of the book of Ephesians entitled “From Rags to Riches” and in chapter 2 we have studied the richness of our past and lost condition.
Last week we saw that chapter 2 is dealing with the body of Christ and how that it is composed of both redeemed Jews and Gentiles. These two groups were avowed enemies as we saw last week.
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Then, verse 13 gives us the glorious news that Jesus, through shedding of his blood, has reached out to those who were lost in sin, and has brought them near to God.
In the passage before us today, Paul teaches us that in Jesus, there is no more Jew or Gentile; there is only Christ and those who are in Him.
Many years ago one of the early church fathers named
Clement of Alexandria said, “We who worship God in a new way, as the third race, are Christians.”
Paul wants us to know that in Jesus, those who were formally at war made to be at peace. We have peace with both men and with God in Jesus Christ.
Christ is our Peace. As we work through this passage this morning, I want you to remember that the resurrection was the guarantee of God that what Jesus Christ accomplished was accepted.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 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;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
What Easter Destroys
What Easter Destroys
Ephesians 2:14–15 (KJV 1900)
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 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;
When Paul says, “He is our peace,” he is telling us that Jesus is the ground of peace for both the Jew and the Gentile.
In other words, the Jews could never earn peace with God through their rituals, their sacrifices, or their attempts at keeping the Law. Regardless of what they did, they would still be sinners in His sight.
By the same token, the Gentiles had no way to even approach God, so they had no hope of securing peace with Him through any means.
What the Law could not do; what the sacrifices could not accomplish, what works of the flesh could not make a reality; Jesus did accomplished when He died on the cross. We are told that Jesus “hath broken down the middle wall of partition”.
The phrase “broken down” means “to dissolve something coherent into parts; to destroy.” In dying, Jesus brought some things to an abrupt end.
Notice what He destroyed when He died.
Social Wall
Social Wall
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Paul mentions “the middle wall of partition.”
This refers to the wall that stood between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of Israel in the ancient temple. This wall was about 4 feet tall, with several openings. Archeologists have recovered a sign that once hung on that wall. In fact, history teaches us that the same sign hung beside every entrance into the Jewish area of the Temple. Those signs were written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
The signs said: “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”
That sign was symbolic of the division that existed between the Jew and the Gentile. They were on opposite sides of a great social wall, and there was no common ground between them. When Jesus died, He dismantled that wall and brought the Jew and the Gentile together in Himself.
In Jesus, there is no Jew and there is no Gentile. There is only the Christian, the redeemed believer in Christ.
Notice a couple of powerful verses that teach this truth.
Colossians 3:11 (KJV 1900)
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Galatians 3:28 (KJV 1900)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
This does not mean that we lose our national, religious, social or sexual identity in Christ. It simply means that no person has any advantage over any other person. In Christ, there is only believer and unbeliever! That should cause us to examine our prejudices a little more carefully. We are better than no one else in the eyes of Jesus. Jesus Christ destroys social walls!
Spiritual Wall
Spiritual Wall
Ephesians 2:15 (KJV 1900)
15 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;
Verse 15 says, “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity.” the word “enmity” means “hostility.”
The source of the “enmity” between the Jew and the Gentile rested in “the law of commandments, contained in the ordinances.” The Jews despised the Gentiles because they dishonored and disregarded the Law of God. The Gentiles despised the Jews because they sought to keep the Law. The Jews with their strict dietary laws, their laws of dress, and their laws governing every aspect of their social and religious lives hated the Gentiles who lived outside the Law and did as they pleased. The Law stood as a great wall of division between the two groups.
While there was great hostility between the Jew and the Gentile, and between all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons for that matter, the greatest hostility existed between God and man. All men, regardless of whether they were Jews or Gentiles, were sinners and stood guilty before a Holy God, Rom. 3:10–23.
They were all guilty of violating His Law, thus they were all destined to face His wrath, Rom. 6:23.
Here is what the Jews never considered, and what the Gentiles never knew,
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
When Jesus Christ came and died on the cross, He tore down the social walls between the Jews and the Gentiles, and He tore down the spiritual walls between lost sinners and holy God. Jesus Christ takes both Jews and Gentiles “to make in Himself one new man.”
The Lord took these two people groups who were so opposite, and so opposed to one another, and created a brand new person. He takes sinners and makes from them the “Body of Christ.”
In Christ, our differences disappear. We are made right with God, apart from the deeds of the Law, and we are made right with one another. In Jesus, everything that stands between people is destroyed. In Jesus, everything that stands between sinners and God is destroyed.
Paul says that Jesus Christ “abolished in His flesh the enmity.”
The word “abolished” means “to render inoperative; to deprive of force or power.” In other words, by fully keeping the Law of God, Jesus fulfilled the Law of God. Now,
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Through His death, Jesus has rendered the Law inoperative. It holds no claim over us any longer. We are free from its power to condemn. It serves the purpose of exposing our sins.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
The Law serves as a necessary teacher to bring us to Jesus,
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
And, in Jesus,
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
In Him, we are freed from the Law!
Romans 6:14 (KJV 1900)
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Praise God this morning for Easter and His Resurrection!
What Easter Does
What Easter Does
Having told us what Jesus destroyed, Paul now tells us how He did it, and what He did when He for us in what He did.
Ephesians 2:16 (KJV 1900)
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Reconciles
Reconciles
The word “reconcile” means, “to bring to a state of harmony.”
The Lord Jesus, in His death, destroyed the walls of separation that stood between Jew and Gentile, and between man and God. He was able to take all warring parties, and bring them together, in Himself, making eternal peace.
He has brought man together with man and He has brought man together with God. The ultimate goal of the Lord Jesus was not to settle a dispute between warring human parties. His ultimate goal was to reconcile sinners to God. His ultimate goal was to take lost, Hell bound sinners, and make them one with God, in Himself. He accomplished this when He died and God confirmed it in the Resurrection.
Redeems
Redeems
Jesus did all this when He gave Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross at Calvary. In giving His perfect life for sinner on the cross, Jesus has “slain the enmity.”
The word “slain” means, “to kill, to utterly abolish.” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He delivered all those who believe in Him from the power of the Law and from the penalty of sin.
He did this by:
1. By becoming subject to the Law—
Galatians 4:4–5 (KJV 1900)
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
2. By bearing its penalty—
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
In His Own Body,
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
On the cross,
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
3. By offering Himself in the place of sinners—
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That’s what He did and what it cost Him to do it!
Listen, It doesn’t stop there. It just keeps getting better.
What Easter Delivers
What Easter Delivers
Ephesians 2:17–18 (KJV 1900)
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Peace
Peace
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
The word “peace” appears in this passage three times, vv. 14, 15, 17.
Peace between people speaks of “harmony, unity and concord.” That is what Jesus accomplished between the Jew and the Gentile.
In verse 17 it speaks of the peace between man and God.
It refers to “a tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing Him and content with its earthly lot, of whatever sort it is.”
The word “preached” is the same word often translated “Gospel.” Literally, it is “The Good News.” Paul is telling us that the Lord Jesus Christ secured peace with God through His death on the cross, and that He has gone out to both the Jew and the Gentile declaring the Good News that they both can be saved from their sins.
That Good News still stands today! Those who come to Jesus Christ for salvation always find a willing Savior, John 6:37.
John 6:37 (KJV 1900)
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Those who come to Him will be brought into a state of perpetual peace with God Almighty. They will experience complete forgiveness for and freedom from their sins. They will find that they are reconciled to God and adopted into His family. They will experience His power to forgive them, save them, deliver them, secure them and change them forever. That is the Good News preached by the Lord Himself. By the way, unless He preaches that Good News to the lost heart, that soul will never be saved, John 6:44.
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Permission
Permission
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
through Jesus, and through what He did on the cross, we have “access” to God.
The word “access” means, “the act of moving to; or of bringing to.” In other words, when we come to Jesus Christ by faith, we are placed in a position of “being brought to God.”
This word is used three times in the New Testament, Rom. 5:2; Eph. 3:12. Each time, it refers to the believer’s access to God.
The word refers to a court official who was responsible for introducing people to the monarch. That person controlled access to the king.
Jesus Christ is our access to the Father, John 14:6.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
He controls access to God. Jesus Christ is able to take us where we could never take ourselves. Our sins stood as an impossibly high barrier between God and us, Isa. 59:2.
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
When Jesus died on the cross, He tore that wall down. He reached out and claimed us, and He brought us to God.
I am thankful for what Jesus did in bringing us to God. I praise Him that He has made us one with Him and with one another. That is a message the whole world, Jew or Gentile, saved or lost, needs to hear!
Easter is about Peace!
Are you at Peace With God?
Are you at Peace With Man?
If you know there is peace between you and God, you should come before Him to praise Him for His grace in your life. But, if you know there is still a wall of partition between you and God, you should bow to Him today and be saved.
If you know that there is a division between you and a true brother or sister in Christ, you need to deal with that both horizontally and vertically so that God and His power might be revealed through your life.