108 - The Means to Peace

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:14-18

Introduction - Peace, Peace - When There Is No Peace (783 Words)

The words of the prophet Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 23:17 NKJV

They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”

Jeremiah 6:14 NKJV

They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.

Attention Grabber

In 1918, when World War I finally came to an end, the world breathed a deep sigh of relief. They called it the war to end all wars. Leaders stood before microphones and promised that humanity had finally learned its lesson. Peace conferences were held. Treaties were signed. The League of Nations was formed with the bold idea that if nations could just talk to one another, we could prevent another global conflict.

For a moment, people believed it. They really thought the world had turned a corner. They thought peace was finally within reach.

But it didn’t take long for reality to tell a different story.

Not twenty years later, the world was plunged into a second war—bigger, darker, and more destructive than the first. The “war to end all wars” gave way to a war that brought devastation we still struggle to describe.

And here’s the point: Humanity wanted peace. Humanity worked for peace. But humanity could not produce peace.

We’re still trying. We sign agreements, we form alliances, we pass laws, we hold summits—yet peace continues to slip through our fingers. Nations rage. Families fracture. Hearts stay troubled.

And after all our attempts, we’re left with this one undeniable truth:

We cannot create the peace our souls long for.

Introduction to Sermon

What I want us to know this morning is that there is a means to peace that comes not from man but from the one true living God as a gift to all humanity.

If we look down to the opening verse of our text, we read these words:

Ephesians 2:14 NKJV

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one,

Before we can unpack this simple assertion that Paul is making, we must first identify who “He” is and who the “both” are.

And the very first word in verse 14, “For,” hints that Paul has already made these identifications for us.

All we have to do is go back and read the previous verses:

Ephesians 2:11-13 “Remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—

(Paul identifies one of the both as the Gentiles, all non-Jewish nations and peoples),

who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,

(Identifies the other one of the both as the nation of Isreal, the Jews, who had received the promises of God and were given the law with all its commandments and regulations)

So we have identified “the both” in verse 14 as the Gentiles and the Jews, which together make up the population of the world.

We, here this morning, are the Gentiles, and let me just add that this next statement should cause each one of us here to fall down on our knees and cry out to God.

Look down in your Bibles and let’s read together the words Paul writes about the Gentiles at the end of verse 12

“having no hope and without God in the World.”

Paul says there was no hope for the Gentiles.

Church, let me tell you, that is a scary thought.

But you can lift your hands up in praise to God as we read Paul’s identification of “He, Himself” in verse 14 as Christ Jesus.

Join me in praising God as we read

Ephesians 2:13 NKJV

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ Jesus is the means to peace, and as believers who have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ, we need to understand this.

We need to understand that Christ Jesus is the means to peace, and how Jesus is the means to peace.

What is it about this one man - Jesus of Nazareth - that makes Him the only true source of peace in a world where peace is promised everywhere, yet found nowhere?

These are the questions that Paul wants to answer for us here in Ephesians 2:14-18 by setting before us three works Jesus accomplished to secure our peace.

The first work that Jesus accomplished was the destruction of the wall that divided the Gentiles from the Jews.

Jesus Destroyed the Wall that Divides Humanity

Explanation

Do you know what the barrier is that keeps humanity from obtaining peace?

Prejudice!

Prejudice is looking at someone and deciding what that person is like based on some preconceived idea.

And it grows out of our sinful nature.

1. Prejudice grows out of our selfishness. We desire what is best for ourselves and favor those who look like us and think like us, while at the same time rejecting all those who do not fit our preferences.

“If you don’t fit into my world, you’re not as important as I am!”

2. Prejudice grows out of our idolatrous thoughts. We commit idolatry anytime we place anything above God. Whenever we lift up our background, our preferences, our people group, or our comfort above God’s truth, we create mental idols. Those idols whisper words of hate into our ears: “My group is superior. My way is the right way. My people matter more than those people.”

3. Prejudice grows out of pride! Pride blinds us to our sin and exaggerates the sins of others. It creates a false sense of superiority, and that is the heartbeat of prejudice. Pride says, “I judge you because I think I am above you.”

When these three sins come together, the wall of prejudice is built, and peace becomes increasingly hard to find. People cry out, Peace, Peace, when there is no Peace.

This is exactly what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 2:14-15

Ephesians 2:14–15 NKJV

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances,

Many say that the “wall of separation” Paul speaks of here, was the wall that stood between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of Israel in the ancient temple, which was a wall that stood about four feet tall which bore a sign written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, saying, “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.”

However, this physical wall was not destroyed when Christ bled and died at Calvary.

Others say the “wall of separation” was the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the people in the Temple. True, this veil or curtain was torn from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus’ death, but it was a curtain, not a wall, and it did not separate the Jews from the Gentiles. It separated all humanity from the presence of God (which we will get to shortly).

The “wall of separation” that Jesus abolished, or rendered ineffective, was a Spiritual wall of prejudice that had been built up between the Jews and the Gentiles out of which the seeds of hostility and hatred were formed.

Paul continues to explain,

Ephesians 2:15 NKJV

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,

The Jews and the Gentiles were enemies because the Jews sought to keep the Law with its commandments and regulations, whereas the Gentiles couldn’t care less about the Law and its commandments, much less abide by it.

This wall of separation, the prejudice which had sprouted and grown between the Jews and the Gentiles, Jesus destroyed and in doing so He created a new nation of people from the two, a nation in which all humanity is seen as image bearings of God, all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God who have all been transformed through regeneration by the precious blood of Christ Jesus and brought into one body, the body of Christ, the church in which all humanity finds peace with each other.

Illustration

In 1961, the East Germans built a wall around West Berlin, Germany. This wall cut West Berlin off from the rest of Germany. Families and friends were separated by this wall for a generation. East German guards patrolled the wall and killed hundreds, including whole families, who tried to cross the wall to freedom in the West.

    On Nov. 9, 1989, the East German government announced that East Berliners could pass through the wall to visit people in the West. A celebratory atmosphere broke out with both East and West Berliners climbing onto the wall. In a short time, souvenir hunters began to chip away at the wall. Before long, the governments of both East and West Germany dismantled the wall completely. This led to the reunification of Germany in 1990.

    If you were watching television when that wall came down, you had a small glimpse of what Paul is trying to teach us here. When the wall fell, the people from both East and West crossed the no-man’s land where the wall had stood. These former enemies embraced one another in a spirit of unity.

    When Jesus broke down the walls between Jews and Gentiles, He made it possible for longtime enemies to be brought together as friends. He made it possible for lost, wretched sinners to be embraced by God. He made reconciliation possible on every level of life! Praise His name!

Transition

The first work Jesus accomplished to secure our peace was destroying the wall that divided humanity.

And by doing so, He reconciled sinners to God.

Jesus Reconciled Sinners to God

Explanation

The Jews were at enmity with the Gentiles because the Gentiles dishonored and disregarded the Law of God.

The Gentiles were at enmity with 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.

The Law itself was not the enmity which Christ rendered ineffective; the Law was the cause of the enmity.

Paul explains it this way:

Romans 7:7–8 NKJV

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

The Law was given by God so that humanity could see that they were sinners in need of a Savior. The intention of the Law was to point people to the Savior who was to come.

The sin the Law exposed was the enmity which Christ destroyed at Calvary.

Putting an end to the Law, Christ has made the Law inoperative

Romans 10:4 NKJV

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Jewish-Gentile hostility is now gone, and Jesus has made of them both one new nation.

But there was a greater reason for Jesus’ work of destroying the wall that divided humanity.

And we find this greater work in

Ephesians 2:16 NKJV

and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Not only were the nations of the world at enmity with one another, but they were all at enmity with God.

But by the death of Christ Jesus, we have not only been reconciled to each other but also to God, bringing us all into one body in which Christ Jesus is the head.

Illustration

There’s an old story about two brothers who owned farms separated by a creek. One day they got into a bitter argument — harsh words were spoken, doors were slammed, and the relationship was severed. For months they refused to speak.

One morning the older brother heard a knock at his door. A carpenter stood outside and asked, “Do you have any work I can do for you?”

Still fuming from the conflict, he pointed across the creek and said, “Yes. I want you to build a fence. Make it tall — tall enough that I never have to see my brother’s face again.”

The carpenter nodded. “I can do that.”

The farmer left for the day, and when he returned, he was shocked by what he saw.

No fence.

Instead — a bridge stretched across the creek, beautifully crafted, sturdy and wide.

And on the other side of that bridge stood his brother, tears in his eyes.

He called out, “After all I did, you built a bridge? You still want me in your life?”

The two brothers walked to the middle of the bridge and embraced.

What hatred had separated, a carpenter had reconciled.

Church — that is what Jesus has done for us.

Our sin dug the trench.

Our rebellion widened the gap.

We cut ourselves off from God.

But God sent a Carpenter — His Son — who didn’t build a fence to keep us out.

He built a bridge of reconciliation with two beams of wood and three nails.

Application

The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and have fallen short of the Glory of God.

Isaiah says,

“our iniquities have separated us from your God; And our sins have hidden His face from us, So that He will not hear.”

But here is the beauty with God, for He is a God of love and He has never stopped loving His creation.

Even when Cain murdered his righteous brother Abel, God still loved Cain and placed a mark of protection upon him so that no one would seek to kill him.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, will be reconciled with God, all sins forgiven, cleansed by the atoning blood of Christ Jesus.

And how do you call on the name of the Lord?

Romans 10:9 NKJV

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

There’s an old hymn we sometimes sing here at Stanley Baptist Church to which the chorus goes like this:

“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.”

Transition

Jesus is the means to our peace.

He has destroyed the wall that divides humanity

He has Reconciled Sinners to God

And now He has granted us Access to the Father.

Jesus Granted Us Access to the Father

Explanation

We mentioned the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple and how it served as a barrier between a Holy God and sinful people.

It was not a barrier that God wanted, but one that had to be placed, because if sinful man ever entered the presence of the Holy God, they would die.

Only the High Priest could go beyond the veil, and that only once a year, during what we now call Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest would go in and sprinkle the blood of an innocent lamb upon the Mercy Seat, asking forgiveness for the sins of the nation for the year.

The Priest himself had to be cleansed by bathing and changing into white linen garments with bells fastened to the hem (his normal garment was ornate gold, distinguishing him as the high priest). He would then sacrifice a bull for his own sins.

And then, as he entered the Holy of Holies, they would tie a rope to him because if he was not found cleansed of his sin, he would be struck dead, and hearing no bells, the other priest would have to pull him out by the rope.

This was all done according to the Law, which, as we can see, did not do away with sin, nor did it allow access by anyone but the High Priest to God.

But through the sacrificial atonement of Christ Jesus, the Son of God who stepped down from glory and took on flesh and lived among us as one of us, yet without sin. He took on all the sins of the world, and in His sacrificial death on that Roman cross, He destroyed the enmity that divided humanity and separated mankind from the living true God. He destroyed sin and put it to death through His death, and took it to the grave with Him and buried it.

Yet death could not hold Him, and three days later, He came out of the grave and ascended back to the Father His work being accepted as the righteous payment for our sins.

And through faith in Him we receive the Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us along the path or righteousness.

We are no longer enemies of God, but now children of God to whom we can cry out Abba Father.

Illustration

There’s a classic story about a little boy who stood outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. He wanted more than anything to see the king. But the guards stopped him instantly. Their rifles were crossed. Their message was clear: “You can’t come in here. No one gets access to the king like this.”

The boy stepped back with tears in his eyes. He had the desire — but he had no right to enter. His clothes were dirty, his face unwashed, and he had nothing that would grant him entrance. The gate remained closed.

Then a well-dressed young man approached him and asked what was wrong. The boy explained his longing to meet the king. The young man listened, nodded, and simply said, “Take my hand.”

The boy took it — and everything changed.

When they walked back to the gate, the guards stepped aside. No questions asked. No hesitation. No refusal. They didn’t open the gate because of who the boy was, but because of who he was with. The young man led him past the gate, across the courtyard, down the hallway, and straight into the presence of the king.

It was only then the boy learned the truth:

The young man was the king’s son.

And the only reason that little boy gained access to the king was because he came with the Son.

Closing

Ephesians 2:17

“And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.”

The message of Jesus was a message of hope, peace, love, and joy.

His message of peace rendered the wall of prejudice that divided humanity ineffective while creating in Himself a new creature. The old creature being buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

No longer Jew or Gentile, black or white, free or slave, but one together in the body of Christ.

His work on the cross satisfied God’s wrath, delivering us from the penalty of sin, which is death, eternal separation from God.

And being cleansed of our sins, Jesus took us by the hand and walked us across that great chasm that had kept us from God, and He walked us right into the presence of the one true God who sits on the throne and presented us not as acquaintances, not as friends, but as brothers and sisters, fellow heirs of the throne being adopted into the family of God and in doing so He identified us as children of God.

Let me ask you one question:

Has Jesus taken you by the hand and introduced you to the Father?

Or do you still hold prejudice against others who may not seem to like you?

Are you separate from God by that great chasm form by sin in your life, or has the carpenter come and built a bridge so that you can be reconciled to God?

Do you have access to the Father where you can approach Him and cry out, Abba Father.

If not, I want you to bow your heads and repeat this prayer after me, it is known as the sinners prayer and if you pray it from your heart meaning every word of it, repenting of your sins today, turning away from the sins that are leading you away from God and turn in faith to Jesus and begin to follow Him you will be saved.

The Bible says that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!

Just bow your head right now right where you are and repeat after me.

 "Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen". 

Now we are going to stand and sing the first, second, and forth verse of Hymn #86, “O little town of Bethlehem.”

And if you prayed that prayer as we sing I want to ask you to come up front and make your profession of faith public so we can all celebrate your new life in Christ Jesus with you and pray over you.