Christ IS Our Peace

God’s goal of unity

Synopsis

God’s purpose is to bring together and reconcile to himself the whole of creation. This desire for unity is a reflection of the unity within the Godhead; it is expressed in marriage, and demonstrated in the fellowship of the church.

Unity is a reflection of God’s person

Alienation is a result of sin

Alienation from God

Ge 3:8; Ge 3:23–24; Is 59:2; Eze 28:16; Jas 4:4

Genesis 3:8 (NCV) — 8 Then they heard the Lord God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden.

Genesis 3:23–24 (NCV) — 23 So the Lord God forced Adam out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 After God forced humans out of the garden, he placed angels and a sword of fire that flashed around in every direction on its eastern border. This kept people from getting to the tree of life.

Isaiah 59:2 (NCV) — 2 It is your evil that has separated you from your God. Your sins cause him to turn away from you, so he does not hear you.

Ezekiel 28:16 (NCV) — 16 Because you traded with countries far away, you learned to be cruel, and you sinned. So I threw you down in disgrace from the mountain of God. And the living creature who guarded you forced you out from among the gems that shined like fire.

James 4:4 (NCV) — 4 So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy.

Alienation from one another

Ge 4:7–9; Ge 4:23–24; Ge 6:11; Jas 4:1–2; Jud 19

Genesis 4:7–9 (NCV) — 7 If you do things well, I will accept you, but if you do not do them well, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.” While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?”

Genesis 4:23–24 (NCV) — 23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice! You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hitting me. 24 If Cain’s killer is punished seven times, then Lamech’s killer will be punished seventy-seven times.”

Genesis 6:11 (NCV) — 11 People on earth did what God said was evil, and violence was everywhere.

James 4:1–2 (NCV) — 1 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God.

Jude 19 (NCV) — 19 These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world, who do not have the Spirit.

God’s purpose in unity

To bring together all peoples

Ps 133:1; Eph 1:9–10

Psalm 133:1 (NCV) — 1 It is good and pleasant when God’s people live together in peace!

Ephesians 1:9–10 (NCV) — 9 let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. 10 His goal was to carry out his plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.

To unite all peoples under his rule

Zec 14:9

Zechariah 14:9 (NCV) — 9 Then the Lord will be king over the whole world. At that time there will be only one Lord, and his name will be the only name.

See also Ge 49:10; Ps 72:8–11; Is 2:2–4; Jn 10:16; Php 2:9–11; Re 11:15

Genesis 49:10 (NCV) — 10 Kings will come from Judah’s family; someone from Judah will always be on the throne. Judah will rule until Shiloh comes, and the nations will obey him.

Psalm 72:8–11 (NCV) — 8 Let his kingdom go from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 Let the people of the desert bow down to him, and make his enemies lick the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the faraway lands bring him gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their presents to him. 11 Let all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

Isaiah 2:2–4 (NCV) — 2 In the last days the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands will become the most important of all mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and people from all nations will come streaming to it. 3 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. Then God will teach us his ways, and we will obey his teachings.” His teachings will go out from Jerusalem; the message of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem. 4 He will settle arguments among the nations and will make decisions for many nations. Then they will make their swords into plows and their spears into hooks for trimming trees. Nations will no longer fight other nations, nor will they train for war anymore.

John 10:16 (NCV) — 16 I have other sheep that are not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Philippians 2:9–11 (NCV) — 9 So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name 10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus— everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. 11 And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father.

Revelation 11:15 (NCV) — 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: “The power to rule the world now belongs to our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and ever.”

To unite all peoples in worship

Is 19:23–25

Isaiah 19:23–25 (NCV) — 23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians will go to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship God together. 24 At that time Israel, Assyria, and Egypt will join together, which will be a blessing for the earth. 25 The Lord All-Powerful will bless them, saying, “Egypt, you are my people. Assyria, I made you. Israel, I own you. You are all blessed!”

See also Ps 86:9; Is 56:6–8; Zec 8:20–23; Zec 14:16; Mk 11:17; Re 15:4

Psalm 86:9 (NCV) — 9 Lord, all the nations you have made will come and worship you. They will honor you.

Isaiah 56:6–8 (NCV) — 6 Foreigners will join the Lord to worship him and love him, to serve him, to obey the law about the Sabbath, and to keep my agreement. 7 I will bring these people to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. The offerings and sacrifices they place on my altar will please me, because my Temple will be called a house for prayer for people from all nations.” 8 The Lord God says— he who gathers the Israelites that were forced to leave their country: “I will bring together other people to join those who are already gathered.”

Zechariah 8:20–23 (NCV) — 20 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Many people from many cities will still come to Jerusalem. 21 People from one city will go and say to those from another city, ‘We are going to pray to the Lord and to ask the Lord All-Powerful for help. Come and go with us.’ 22 Many people and powerful nations will come to worship the Lord All-Powerful in Jerusalem and to pray to the Lord for help.” 23 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “At that time, ten men from different countries will come and take hold of a Judean by his coat. They will say to him, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Zechariah 14:16 (NCV) — 16 All of those left alive of the people who came to fight Jerusalem will come back to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord All-Powerful, and to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.

Mark 11:17 (NCV) — 17 Then he taught the people, saying, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house for prayer for people from all nations.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ ”

Revelation 15:4 (NCV) — 4 Everyone will respect you, Lord, and will honor you. Only you are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because the right things you have done are now made known.”

To bring reconciliation between Jew and Gentile

Eph 2:11–19

Ephesians 2:11–19 (NCV) — 11 You were not born Jewish. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.” Those who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies.) 12 Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you had no part in the agreements with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death. 14 Christ himself is our peace. He made both Jewish people and those who are not Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them, but Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body. 15 The Jewish law had many commands and rules, but Christ ended that law. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new people in him and in this way make peace. 16 It was also Christ’s purpose to end the hatred between the two groups, to make them into one body, and to bring them back to God. Christ did all this with his death on the cross. 17 Christ came and preached peace to you who were far away from God, and to those who were near to God. 18 Yes, it is through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit. 19 Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family.

See also Is 14:1; Ro 10:12; Ga 3:28; Col 3:11

Isaiah 14:1 (NCV) — 1 The Lord will show mercy to the people of Jacob, and he will again choose the people of Israel. He will settle them in their own land. Then non-Israelite people will join the Israelites and will become a part of the family of Jacob.

Romans 10:12 (NCV) — 12 That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him,

Galatians 3:28 (NCV) — 28 In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 (NCV) — 11 In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews, those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised, or people who are foreigners, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all believers, and Christ is all that is important.

To bring reconciliation among his people

Je 50:4

Jeremiah 50:4 (NCV) — 4 The Lord says, “At that time the people of Israel and Judah will come together. They will cry and look for the Lord their God.

See also Is 11:10–13; Eze 37:21–24; Mic 2:12; Mt 5:24; Php 4:2

Isaiah 11:10–13 (NCV) — 10 At that time the new king from the family of Jesse will stand as a banner for all peoples. The nations will come together around him, and the place where he lives will be filled with glory. 11 At that time the Lord will again reach out and take his people who are left alive in Assyria, North Egypt, South Egypt, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and all the islands of the sea. 12 God will raise a banner as a sign for all nations, and he will gather the people of Israel who were forced from their country. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from all parts of the earth. 13 At that time Israel will not be jealous anymore, and Judah will have no more enemies. Israel will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not hate Israel.

Ezekiel 37:21–24 (NCV) — 21 Say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will never again be two nations; they will not be divided into two kingdoms anymore. 23 They will not continue to make themselves unclean by their idols, their statues of gods which I hate, or by their sins. I will save them from all the ways they sin and turn against me, and I will make them clean. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 “ ‘My servant David will be their king, and they will all have one shepherd. They will live by my rules and obey my laws.

Micah 2:12 (NCV) — 12 “Yes, people of Jacob, I will bring all of you together; I will bring together all those left alive in Israel. I will put them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will be filled with many people.

Matthew 5:24 (NCV) — 24 leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift.

Philippians 4:2 (NCV) — 2 I ask Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

To reconcile humanity to himself

Col 1:19–22

Colossians 1:19–22 (NCV) — 19 God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. 20 And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross. 21 At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God. 22 But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ’s death in the body so that he might bring you into God’s presence as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty.

See also Ro 5:10–11; 2 Co 5:18–19; Heb 10:19–20

Romans 5:10–11 (NCV) — 10 While we were God’s enemies, he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Surely, now that we are his friends, he will save us through his Son’s life. 11 And not only that, but now we are also very happy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we are now God’s friends again.

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 (NCV) — 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him. 19 God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace.

Hebrews 10:19–20 (NCV) — 19 So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. 20 We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain—Christ’s body.

Expressions of unity brought by God

Unity between husband and wife

Ge 2:24

Genesis 2:24 (NCV) — 24 So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.

See also Mal 2:15; Mt 19:5–6; 1 Co 6:16; 1 Co 7:4; 1 Co 7:10–11

Malachi 2:15 (NCV) — 15 God made husbands and wives to become one body and one spirit for his purpose—so they would have children who are true to God. So be careful, and do not break your promise to the wife you married when you were young.

Matthew 19:5–6 (NCV) — 5 And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ 6 So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

1 Corinthians 6:16 (NCV) — 16 It is written in the Scriptures, “The two will become one body.” So you should know that anyone who joins with a prostitute becomes one body with the prostitute.

1 Corinthians 7:4 (NCV) — 4 The wife does not have full rights over her own body; her husband shares them. And the husband does not have full rights over his own body; his wife shares them.

1 Corinthians 7:10–11 (NCV) — 10 Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.) A wife should not leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must not marry again, or she should make up with her husband. Also the husband should not divorce his wife.

Marriage as an expression of unity between God and his people

Je 2:2; Eph 5:31–32

Jeremiah 2:2 (NCV) — 2 “Go and speak to the people of Jerusalem, saying: This is what the Lord says: ‘I remember how faithful you were to me when you were a young nation. You loved me like a young bride. You followed me through the desert, a land that had never been planted.

Ephesians 5:31–32 (NCV) — 31 The Scripture says, “So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.” 32 That secret is very important—I am talking about Christ and the church.

See also Is 54:5; Je 31:32; Ho 2:16; Jn 3:29; Re 19:7; Re 21:2; Re 21:9

Isaiah 54:5 (NCV) — 5 The God who made you is like your husband. His name is the Lord All-Powerful. The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you. He is called the God of all the earth.

Jeremiah 31:32 (NCV) — 32 It will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt. I was a husband to them, but they broke that agreement,” says the Lord.

Hosea 2:16 (NCV) — 16 The Lord says, “In the future she will call me ‘my husband;’ no longer will she call me ‘my baal.’

John 3:29 (NCV) — 29 The bride belongs only to the bridegroom. But the friend who helps the bridegroom stands by and listens to him. He is thrilled that he gets to hear the bridegroom’s voice. In the same way, I am really happy.

Revelation 19:7 (NCV) — 7 Let us rejoice and be happy and give God glory, because the wedding of the Lamb has come, and the Lamb’s bride has made herself ready.

Revelation 21:2 (NCV) — 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:9 (NCV) — 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last troubles came to me, saying, “Come with me, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

Unity within the church

Jn 17:21

John 17:21 (NCV) — 21 Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me.

See also Ac 2:1; Ac 4:32; 1 Co 1:10; 1 Co 10:17; 1 Co 12:12; Eph 4:13

Acts 2:1 (NCV) — 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Acts 4:32 (NCV) — 32 The group of believers were united in their hearts and spirit. All those in the group acted as though their private property belonged to everyone in the group. In fact, they shared everything.

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NCV) — 10 I beg you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree with each other and not be split into groups. I beg that you be completely joined together by having the same kind of thinking and the same purpose.

1 Corinthians 10:17 (NCV) — 17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share that one loaf.

1 Corinthians 12:12 (NCV) — 12 A person’s body is one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also.

Ephesians 4:13 (NCV) — 13 This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.