EMMDEV 2011-09-29 [Ephesians] Horizontal Beam 2: Peacemaker

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. Ephesians2:14-16

Adam blamed Eve...
Cain killed Abel...
Jacob cheated Isaac out of what was rightfully his...
Rachael and Leah fought over their husband...
Joseph's brothers plotted murder and sold him as a slave...
The disciples bickered about who was greatest...
Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss...

Since sin entered our world we have been in conflict - brother against brother, sister against sister, war, violence, vendettas and bitterness.

Jesus came to bring us peace.
How did He do it?
He abolished the law in His flesh i.e. He lived a perfect life, satisfying the law and then died to pay for our breaking of the same law - thus reconciling us with God.
This means that we can have peace within.
The French Mathematician, Blaise Pascal, said that there is a God-shaped vacuum in all of us.

When we try to fill the vacuum with anything else, we are filled with disharmony, greed and self-centeredness and we are in conflict with the world around us.

When Christ died on the cross, He made a way for us to be filled by God. The peace that results from our restored relationship with God has the power to enable us to love one another.

Jesus' supreme act of love also overcomes all hatred and hostility and enables us to embrace one another. This is where the vertical beam of the cross (our relationship with God) and the horizontal beam (our relationship with others) come together.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/