For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
“Peace in our time.” Those were the words of Neville Chamberlain after returning from Berlin in 1938. In 1939, the Nazis he negotiated with invaded Poland and WWII had begun. The peace in their time had lasted less than a year, a little longer than the approximate gestation period for a human baby. I make the baby reference because, as the Apostle Paul wrote, peace is not a treaty. Real peace is a person. Paul was writing to Gentiles who had been at enmity with God and no man-made peace treaty would make it right. The only outcome of this war was victory. Amazingly, the victory would be ours. That is why we surrender to our Master.
Israel had been at enmity with every major power in their history; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. They knew no peace until God himself became peace, born in a manger, killed on a cross. Now Israel is at enmity with every nation around them and have been since 1948 when their nation was restored. They know no peace. So many people live in personal enmity with the God of the Universe. They long for peace but they can find no peace. The Christmas message is that peace is a person, Jesus Christ, and knowing him brings real peace…
No Jesus. No peace. Know Jesus. Know peace.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church