Passage: Ephesians 2:11-19
The Big Idea
Jesus is our peace. He brings those who were far off near to God, He makes two hostile groups into one new man by abolishing the Law’s condemning voice, and He goes out preaching peace to everyone. Every human conflict is really a triangle with God at the top. Draw near to Him through the cross, let your side of it die with Jesus, and watch the hostility be put to death.
The Threefold Peace
Ephesians 2:11-19 describes a threefold peace:
- Far off, brought near: He is our peace (with God).
- Two made one: He makes peace (between people).
- He came and preached peace: He spreads peace (to the world).
The Background
The first generation of Christians was almost entirely Jewish, centered in Jerusalem. They kept nearly all the Jewish traditions, still attended synagogue, and felt part of Judaism.
The next generation included some Jews but was mostly Gentiles: Greeks, Romans and pagans who received the good news of Jesus as the Savior of all. They lived in cities across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean. They had no connection to Jewish traditions, and as they learned about them, they saw them as pointing to Jesus and fulfilled in Jesus. So why keep them? Sacrifices, circumcision, Sabbath and so on.
The Church had already accepted these Gentile believers as full members and declared that they didn’t need to keep these traditions to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 15). Paul had fought for this.
But some believers from a Pharisee background had a very hard time letting go. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of things we feel are very important. They struggled to accept that the Law’s role had changed under the New Covenant, and to grasp the extent of the grace given to all believers.
So they followed Paul from church to church, trying to convince new believers that they needed to keep the Jewish law to really please God. They claimed to be completing the work Paul started. Paul had several strong confrontations with these “Judaizers.”
They were wrong. They put too much emphasis on outward acts they thought made a person right with God, and didn’t fully understand the person and work of Jesus Christ.
They thought the Gentiles would live wild lives of sin if they weren’t kept under the Law. But they didn’t realize that when you’re born again by God’s Spirit, you’re given a new heart that naturally desires what pleases God. That’s the beauty and glory of the New Covenant.
These believers wouldn’t live with a license to sin. They were freed from the penalty of sin, every sin they had committed or would commit. And they were freed from the power of sin; it would never again dominate their lives.
With that conflict in mind, let’s read.
1. He Is Our Peace (Ephesians 2:11-13)
Paul tells the Gentiles to remember that they were once called “the uncircumcision” by those called “the circumcision,” which is done in the flesh by hands. At that time they were without Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, those who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Outside Israel, the ancient world was full of gods and idols and sacrifices. People prayed at temples mindlessly, trying to keep the gods off their backs. But there was little heartfelt love or devotion. It was mostly outward show and civic duty. Being far from God was just normal.
The Jews looked at all that empty worship and thought, “You people are so far from God.” They had a personal God, the one all-powerful God, who had revealed Himself and wanted a relationship with them. And they were passionate about it. They kept His rules zealously, especially circumcision, which really set you apart as someone who cared about God. It made you look good.
But Paul says the Gentiles were “in the flesh,” not truly spiritual. And he says the circumcision was also “in the flesh, made by hands.” The Jews who relied on it weren’t truly spiritual either!
Verse 12 describes the state of anyone without Christ:
- Without Christ: no understanding of the Messiah, God’s promised Deliverer.
- Excluded from Israel: not part of God’s kingdom, not under His rule.
- Strangers to the covenants of promise: no rest from works. God’s promises were meant to be believed and received, not worked for.
- No hope: no assurance that their religion or life was going anywhere.
- Without God: alone. Hell is eternal separation from God, so in a sense they were living a little bit of hell already.
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far off have been brought near by His blood. He Himself is our peace.
Personal peace is found in an intimate relationship with Jesus. Intimate means close, not far away.
God isn’t content with a distant relationship with any of us. He wants closeness. That’s scary for some of us. “I always get hurt by the people close to me. Why would I trust Jesus?”
Because of His blood. He cares more about you than about His own comfort, position or body, and He proved it by shedding His blood for you.
We have no idea how blessed we are to have this intimate relationship.
- When Adam lost it, it should have been gone forever.
- Under the Old Covenant, getting even limited closeness to God took tremendous effort. Once a year, one man, the high priest, entered God’s presence on behalf of the people.
- We can enter God’s presence any time through Jesus Christ.
There used to be a veil in the temple between God and the people. When Jesus died, God tore that veil from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), showing that the way into His presence was now open to everyone through Jesus.
The war, the separation, is over. Peace has come between God and man. And between man and man.
Paul says that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; we’re all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Christ is all, and in all (Colossians 3:11).
2. He Makes Peace (Ephesians 2:14-16)
So we all stand in peace with God. But there are real disagreements and problems between people. How do we deal with those wars?
Paul says He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh He abolished the enmity, the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, in order to create in Himself one new man from the two, making peace, and to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, putting the hostility to death.
How does He bring peace to divisions in the Church?
- He makes both sides one.
- He breaks down the dividing wall.
- How? He abolishes the thing that separated people: the Law as a system of condemnation.
The Law says:
- “You did this wrong.”
- “You need to pay for that.”
- “You don’t measure up here.”
- “You messed up over there.”
And that kind of accounting is at the root of so much strife between people:
- “You wronged me.”
- “You lied, or stole, or cheated.”
- “You didn’t pay me.”
- “You’re not good enough.”
- “You were unfaithful.”
But on the cross, Jesus silenced the Law’s condemning voice. What’s left in a relationship after that is a new creation: a Christian, two Christians, whose hearts are filled with God’s Holy Spirit. No matter what wrong was done, they’re united as one body.
And notice that it all centers on their relationship with God: “that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross.”
When you have conflict with someone, it’s really a triangle. As both of you draw near to God through the cross, you draw nearer to each other, and the hostility is put to death.
Watch Jesus be nailed to the cross, and your disagreement gets nailed there too. That’s how you murder a disagreement.
3. He Preaches Peace (Ephesians 2:17-19)
He came and preached peace to those who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So we’re no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.
Now Jesus is on a mission to spread this peace, this amazing ability to bring people together. Of course, it’s all Him. He is what brings peace.
“Through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” Here’s the Trinity, the perfect picture of peace: we approach the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. God is peace.
Paul tells us not to be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, to make our requests known to God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
When you taste this peace, it’s so good. It’s like growing up in a violent, poverty-stricken dictatorship and then moving to a new country where everything is right.
You’re no longer strangers and outsiders, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.
So spreading this peace is like inviting people to join your family. Can you imagine a homeless, hungry orphan rejecting an invitation to a loving family? I can’t.
Let’s take that attitude into the world. Talk to people about the Lord as if you’re inviting them into your family. How would you invite a child to join your family? “I think you’re wonderful. I’d love to spend time with you, provide for you, and have you with us for every important celebration. I love you. Whatever needs to be worked out, we’ll work out in love, because we’re family.”
Someone Has to Die
Jesus hasn’t simply made peace between God and man, and between Jew and Gentile; He is our peace.
That means His prayer in John 17, that all His people would be one, wasn’t “just” a prayer. He prayed it knowing the cross would accomplish it, willing for His agony to be the answer.
Because for there to be peace, someone has to die.
It’s either you, or your enemy, or Jesus. And if it’s Jesus, your place is to die with Him. Whatever your “thing” is (“But it’s not my fault!”), let it die. For the sake of peace, let it die.
Then what happens? Jesus brings life to you and to that situation.
Paul says he has been crucified with Christ; it’s no longer he who lives, but Christ lives in him, and the life he now lives in the flesh he lives by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him (Galatians 2:20).
We get to trust the Lord Jesus. We get the honor of placing the consequences of our self-sacrificing choices in His scarred hands and watching the wonderful things that come from it. We may not see it until heaven, but I doubt we’ll ever be disappointed. I bet it will pass understanding.
So climb up on your cross. Die with the Lord as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). And watch the peace that flows into your life and the lives of those around you.
Grace Takeaway
Jesus is your peace. He brought you near to God by His blood, tore down the wall the Law built between people, and now sends His peace out through you. When conflict comes, remember the triangle: draw near to God through the cross. Let your side of the fight die with Jesus, and let Him bring resurrection life to the relationship.
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