He is Our Peace: A sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent

Ephesians 2:14

Ephesians 2:14 NKJV

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

We now come to the Second Sunday in Advent. The Christian theme for this Sunday is peace. It is a time in which we reflect on what peace is and how it relates to the Christian life. So let us examine what peace is in the light of Christ.

the word “peace is common in the Bible. It translates the Hebrew “shalom” over two hundred times in the Old Testament and nearly one hundred times in the New. The Hebrew idea of “peace” is an overall feeling of well-being, often in relationship between God and his people. The Greek “eirene” from which we get the word “irenic” has a similar meaning in the New Testament. So when we talk about “peace” in the biblical context, this is what we mean.

When we look at the verse we just quotes in Ephesians, we are told that He (Jesus Christ) is our peace. the Greek text is very emphatic in that it adds an extra pronoun at the beginning of the clause. when the Greeks wanted to emphasize something, they could emphasize the word by putting it first in the sentence as well as by using the extra pronoun. Both are used here. So what Paul is telling us is “HE and HE alone is our peace.” This statement implies that there was a time we were not at peace with Him. when we read the litany at the lighting of the Advent candle this morning, we read in Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” We were once at enmity with God. But God has reconciled us to God through the blood of the cross. Christ died for us. We believe this; therefore we are reconciled. So when we talk about “peace,” this is what we mean.

The promise of reconciliation occurs throughout the Old Testament. We have a small hint when Melchizedek comes to Abraham after Abraham had defeated the confederation of kings who had captured Sodom and had taken his nephew, Lot, prisoner. (Genesis 14:17-20) Hebrews reminds us that Melchizedek’s name means “King (or prince) of righteousness. It also says He was King (prince) of Salem (Jerusalem). (Hebrews 7:1-2) This Melchizedek is properly the “Prince of Peace.” He came to Abraham bringing bread and wine which we recognize as the tokens of our reconciliation to God that we celebrate at Communion. We celebrate that Christ’s body was broken and His blood was shed for us. Hebrews goes on to remind us from Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””

We could quote a number of other Old Testament texts, but time would not permit this morning. But I would like to quote one other Old Testament text, Isaiah 9:6-7:

Isaiah 9:6–7 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Here again, we see Jesus as being the Prince of Peace. We reflect at Christmas time that the Prince of Peace came to earth as a newborn child in a manger in Bethlehem. The Word had become flesh (John 1:14) The promise of peace came during the night in the most inconspicuous of ways. How could this helpless child born under the meanest of circumstances bring peace to anyone. A few shepherds were summoned to come and see. They heard the heavenly hosts proclaim “Peace on Earth.” When we realize that the word “host” does not mean one who invites guests to a party, although the shepherds were summoned to a party of sorts. The word “hosts” in this context means “armies.” The Army of the Lord was proclaiming “peace” and not “war.” This Jesus who suffered so much in His earthly life is the one whom God approved to bring peace.

More than two thousand years have passed. As Longfellow says in “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” that there was no peace on earth. As far as the world is concerned, this is true. They have no peace because they do not have the peace of Christ. But let us look at Romans 5:1 again. We who have been justified by faith have peace. It does not say “We will have peace.” We will come to the fullness of peace at the Advent (When He returns). We have the promise from Isaiah 9:7 which we read earlier: “The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this.” As we have learned in this Advent season, this is a season in which we prepare ourselves for His return. So we don;t just look for a day when peace finally comes to earth. In the meanwhile, we need to wage peace. our lives need to be a demonstration of the Lord’s peace. By this we witness to the world.

Going back to our original text in Ephesians 2, how do we wage peace? Waging peace is so much harder than waging war. Paul in the Book of Ephesians is concerned about the unity of the church. How can the Church witness to the peace of God in Jesus Christ when there is as much conflict in the Church as there is in the world. Christians engage in petty squabbles with each other. Churches split over the color of the carpet. The Church is split along denominations, often over petty disagreements of doctrine or governmental organization. We are too prone to forget that “the government is on His shoulders and not ours. (Isaiah 9:6)

The problem of unity within the church is not new to our generation. It was also a plague in the time of Paul as well. The major schism in Paul’s day centered around the relations between the Jews and the Gentiles. Too many Jews saw themselves as doubly privileged. They were privileged as Jews as being God’s special chosen people in addition to being privileged as followers of Jesus the Messiah. Some did not want the Gentiles included at all. Others allowed the Gentiles a subservient role in the Kingdom as a type of Gibeonite, a group which Israel enslaved to cut firewood and draw water. (See Joshua 9) Others would allow Gentiles full access if they would submit to circumcision and an oath to keep the Law of Moses. Paul dealt with this issue in polemical fashion n the Epistle to the Galatians. the Church as a whole had to deal with the Gentile problem in the Council of Jerusalem in 49 AD.(See Acts 15) Paul was constantly troubled and having to deal with this issue, even as we see in the Epistle to the Ephesians which is one of his later writings. Ephesians is probably the most elaborate treatment of the doctrine of the Church that has ever been written.

When we look at the Ephesians 2:14 text we quoted at the beginning of this sermon, it might be helpful to see what Paul says just before this verse in Ephesians 2:11-13:

Ephesians 2:11–13 NKJV

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—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, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The church demonstrates peace by its internal unity. Paul mentions that the “middle war of partition” has been torn down. an analogy can be made to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gentiles were only allowed in the outer court of the Temple. They were forbidden by pain of death from entering. They had to pray to God amid the sounds of haggles over prices, the bleating of sheep, the clanging of money, and the cooing of doves. Jesus has abolished this partition. the Jewish women were allowed inside, but only in the Court of the Women. It is interesting that the offering boxes were placed there. the women could give money, but they were partitioned off from the rest of the Temple. Jesus tore down this partition also. there is neither male of female (Galatians 3:28).This is not to blur the distinctions between male and female as far as this world is concerned. It is hard to be fruitful and multiply otherwise. But there is no partition. In the Jewish world, only males can be circumcised. Women are excluded because by definition, they cannot be circumcised. In the christian Church, the sign of the covenant is baptism.Both makes and females can be baptized.

We next go to the next partition in the Temple, The Jewish men had a special place called “the Court of the Men of Israel.” But they could not get past the next partition unless they were priests. These were the laymen of Israel. We in the church have followed the same practice in giving special privilege to the priesthood over the laity. But Jesus has torn down this partition also. We see many lay people like Philip and his four virgin daughters who were evangelists.

We next come to the Holy Place where the priests could go in the divine service. They were the most privileged of all. they were even privileged above the kings of Israel. They got to be the closest to where the presence of God was in the Holy of Holies. But the common priests were forbidden to enter that last partition. The High Priest was permitted only once a year to sprinkle the blood of atonement there. In earlier times, the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark. But in the time of Jesus, the blood was sprinkled in an empty room, So when the last partition was torn at the death of Jesus, the hollowness of Judaism was exposed. (Matthew 27:51). The last partition to God had been removed. All believers could come into His presence because the presence of God has come to us in the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is the proof of our peace and reconciliation with God. The final atonement has been made in the sacrifice of Jesus. As a result, we are all one. We were all excluded, but because Jesus has come, we who believe are equally included in His body, the Church. The church does well when it practices this truth.

When we realize the enormity of our reconciliation, we realize our great privilege. Peter calls us a “royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Revelation 1:6 also affirms our royal status as priests in the Kingdom. We are all priests. We are His body. We share in His priesthood. For since we are all priests, we are equally privileged in Christ. This does not mean that we serve the same functions in the body. As we read in Ephesians 4:11-12:

Ephesians 4:11–12 NKJV

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

Seeing that God wants us to be at peace with one another, let us work together to achieve this goal. the only partition left is between the believer and the unbeliever. This is a necessary partition, bit we need to invite the others through the veil of Christ’s sacrifice. Those who are afar off need to be invited to enter.this is the work of evangelism.It is,of course vital that we use words.The words of the Gospel are the words when received by faith become the words of the new creation. God speaks life into existence, so His ministers need to be proclaiming the Word of Life and not their opinions, politics, psychology, or some other message. But in addition to this, the church which is united in love and at peace with one another is a powerful witness to the truth of the Gospel. Let us wage peace well as we anticipate the Advent.