Sep 25, 2019
A summary of Thursday night’s message
By Miriam Berg
When I think about people being truly separated and isolated from one another, one of the first things I picture is the Berlin wall. This wall separated families and communities in Berlin for almost thirty years. And when it was broken down, people experienced wholeness, health, and unity—not only in Berlin, but around the world. Now, even though we are not living in separated Berlin, we each have experienced and continue to experience separation like this in our own lives.
In my life, the deepest sense of separation that I have ever felt was in my marriage. Now, people joke, and they say, “Ha, ha. The first year of marriage is really hard.” And it is. And that was true for us, but it was true for more like seven years.
I don’t know if I can truly explain how bad it was. We were dealing with issues that I never expected that I would have to deal with in my marriage, and we were going through multiple miscarriages at the same time. We saw counselor after counselor and tried to work it through, but things didn’t get better. Things stayed the same. We were experiencing disunity, brokenness and separation in deep ways. For a very long time.
I had a wake-up call one day, when a was talking to one of my Christian friends, who I respect in the Lord. And this person counseled me that separation was probably our best choice. I felt trapped, alone, and hopeless. It was horrible.
Let’s take a look at our text—it is taken from the book of Ephesians, Chapter 2 verses 11-22. Taking a quick look at this text, we see that there are many references to the division between Jews and Gentiles. It’s a complicated, long story, but to oversimplify this division, the Jews were God’s chosen people—and they knew it. In the effort to remain pure and devoted to God, they effectively excluded the Gentiles in all areas of life. It had been that way for about two thousand years at the time that was written.
When Paul wrote this letter, it hadn’t been very long since he had begun to preach that the Gospel was also for the Gentiles. And it’s clear in this text that everyone didn’t just automatically feel unity, equality, and wholeness as co-heirs to the blessing of Christ.
Paul addresses this separation by including an extensive BEFORE and AFTER list throughout this section of scripture. Let’s look at it closely. He says:
AT FIRST you were:
• The uncircumcision (the physical sign of covenant with
God—if you were a Gentile it was a physical marker that
you were an outsider)
• Separated from Christ
• Alienated from Israel
• Strangers to the covenant of promise
• Having no hope
• Were far off
• Without God in the world
You can see how this language communicates deep pain and separation. It paints a bleak picture.
BUT NOW:
• You have been brought near
• He has made us both one (Jews and Gentiles)
• He has broken the dividing wall (between God and
people, and people and people)
• Jesus has created one new man out of two–making peace
• He has abolished the written code as a tool of division
• Jesus has reconciled us all to God
• Jesus has killed the hostility (among people, and between
people and God)
• Jesus has preached peace to those who were far off and
those who were near
• We have access to the Father through the Spirit
• Fellow citizens join the Saints in the household of God
• Christ Jesus is our cornerstone
• Jesus joins together his people
• We, together, Jews and Gentiles, are a dwelling place for
the Spirit of God
Look how much longer the second list is than the first! Although the pain and separation was awful, look how long the BUT NOW list is! And the words speak life—brought near, peace, reconciled… These are the wonderful things that we can now have if we are part of the family of God in Christ. We are joined together, we have access, we have peace. The list of the things that Christ has given us is SO MUCH LONGER than the list of things that sin can do.
Paul is emphasizing how Jesus has brought unity between God and people (vertical) and people and people (horizontal). Through Jesus, we as human beings can have peace with God. And we can have peace with each other. That is the Gospel.
Now we come to what many scholars believe to be the heart of this text. All of this amazing transformation and healing we have just talked about is possible because of what we read in verse 14—FOR HE, HIMSELF, IS OUR PEACE.
When we see a sentence that says, “blank is blank,” we can usually just replace the word “is” with an equal sign. In this case, we would say “Jesus = peace.” That would be an acceptable interpretation of what this text is saying. But I think this sentence is about so much more than a mere equal sign. And here’s why:
The emphasis of the sentence in Greek is the pronoun “he.” The pronoun is the main focus or purpose or emphasis of the sentence. You get a sense of that in the English translation, “He HIMSELF is our peace” instead of just, “He is our peace.” HE HIMSELF. HE HIMSELF is our peace.
Instead of a mere equal sign, it’s more like Jesus is at the center of a peace vortex, with peace emanating from his very being, encompassing everything around Him. He so much exudes this peace that it spills over and permeates all the relationships and lives that He touches. It goes to everything, and everything is drawn into it. The essence of His being is this overwhelming presence of peace. Can you sense the enormity of it? It’s big. It’s powerful.
The Greek word used here for “peace” is eirene, which means wholeness, the bringing together of parts in unity, quietness, rest, someone’s welfare. This “peace” that Paul is talking about is greater than just a lack of conflict or a comfortable feeling—it draws on the Hebrew concept of Shalom.
Shalom means fulfillment, wholeness, physical wellbeing, prosperity, security, good relationships, integrity, justice, God’s reign, salvation, the presence and favor of God, etc., etc., etc. It goes on and on. It is an all-encompassing word. Essentially, Shalom is being the way God created us to be. That is a powerful thing.
So with this POWERFUL peace, God has brought humankind into proper relationship with himself, as well as bringing together those people who are separated from each other.
This peace, this unity, this wholeness is possible not only because of what Jesus did, not just the cross, but because of WHO HE is and because of His presence with His people. The mention of the Spirit building together the Body of Christ at the end of this passage is not some kind of disjointed add-on. The mention of the Spirit is the presence of God that allows this peace to become a reality in our lives.
FOR HE, HIMSELF, IS OUR PEACE.
Here’s what this peace can mean for us specifically:
• Forgiveness from sin—life eternal with Christ that
starts the moment we follow Him
• Freedom from the spirit of fear that keeps us
immobilized and alone
• The supernatural power of God to heal and restore
all that is broken by sin—our bodies, our hearts, our
addictions, our churches
• We know our purpose—to live in Christ as He recon-
ciles all things together in Himself
Now, remember how earlier I shared about my struggles in marriage? I brought up this example because I firmly believe to the core of my being that Matt and I are still
married because of the miraculous, transformational power of the Spirit of God. I can look back to the time when things started changing. Sophia had been born (which was its own miracle), and I try to pinpoint exactly what changed. What was that thing that made it change? What is the birth of Sophia? Was she the linchpin that held it all together? Of course we both worked hard to save our marriage, but we had already been working to save it for a long time. I don’t think it was either of these things.
Ultimately, our attitudes started changing. There began to be a sense of peace in our home. I can’t pinpoint exactly what happened to make it change. Deep emotions and habits don’t just magically change. Deep, lasting transformation like that doesn’t just happen. It’s not like we just tried to do something that we hadn’t tried before.
I believe that we both allowed God’s presence to dwell with us and guide our thoughts and behaviors and, over time, this brought the reconciliation and wholeness that we had so desperately been missing for so long. I can honestly say that I feel love for my husband every day. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a big statement. But it is. We are happier, we are more whole now than we have ever been. I believe it is because of the powerful, transformational presence of God.
We are probably all experiencing this miraculous peace in some ways and not in others. It’s important to remember that this peace that emanates from the very being of God does not come from me feeling bad that I don’t fully experience it, or just willing myself to be more peaceful. It comes from the indwelling of the powerful Spirit of God.
Let me say that again: This peace does not come from me feeling bad that I don’t fully experience it, or by just willing myself to be more peaceful. It comes from the indwelling of the powerful Spirit of God. And it’s not a one-time kind of thing. It comes from a daily acknowledgment of our need for Him and surrender to His grace. It comes from a constant dwelling in His presence. Jesus, in Himself, brings peace, unity and wholeness to our lives.
Now for the hard questions. What is God calling you to surrender to Him to experience His peace? What is He calling you to walk out in faith to do? Where is He calling you to reconciliation and unity? What healing needs to happen in your life so that you can live in His peace and share it with others? Where does your church need more of the powerful presence of God? And—maybe most importantly—are you willing to be obedient to what He is saying? Are you willing to sacrifice whatever it will take to grab hold of that peace? Is that transformational power of the Spirit of God the pearl that you will sell all that you have to own? Or not?
I know in my life, I’m no longer interested in playing church or playing Christian. Saying I have the peace of God while I hold on to my junk and don’t truly live in His presence. Where I agree to the tenants of the Gospel but I don’t TRULY seek and surrender to and live in the presence of the Spirit of God. There is too much at stake. People are dying. Outside and inside our churches.
So my question is, “Is God big enough?” Is the powerful Shalom peace of God big enough to transform and reconcile us? Can He really change us, our churches, and our families—or not? We know from Scripture that God desires His people to be unified with Himself and with each other. He died to make it possible.
So I ask again, “Is God big enough?” Is He big enough to change me? Is He big enough to change my church and my family? My denomination? Can He bring the peace and reconciliation that His Word says He can? I am here tonight to say yes. Yes, God is big enough. Yes, Jesus’ sacrifice was enough even for struggling SDB churches. Yes, the presence of God can change me and you and us. If we surrender our lives to Him and seek first His kingdom, not mine or my denomination’s, seek first His righteousness, and not just what I think is right. Then I say a resounding, “Yes!” and I welcome us all to say, “Yes!” to Him tonight.
