Ephesians Study
Chapter 2
Amplified Bible:
13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.
14 For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,
15 By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.
Paul keeps bringing us back to the blood of Christ…we have been brought near! What is good to see is that this again is talking about Christ’s relationship with us and us with Him. It is so easy to turn this into religious theology instead of relationship with Christ. I believe this is another reason we are told to rightly discern the body and blood of Christ. Take eat…all of it. Internalize what it means on this level…the physical/relational level. We Westerners are so in our head about things.
The angels declared, “Peace on earth, good will to men.” Is not this saying the same in different words. Christ is our peace (bond of unity and harmony). Harmony is a beautiful feeling and expression. I like that it is another way of explaining “peace.” The angel’s declaration lets us know that it is time for all of us to embrace a change of belief from disharmony to harmony, and it has come through the Messiah. He was a man of peace who lived and walked in times on no peace and with those who were bent on war and dividing walls.
All dividing walls are hostile. God puts up no dividing walls. Even the utilization of the Children of Israel was to bring others to oneness. They so often let Him down because they thought they were “better than.” They built up dividing walls. Such a lesson here for us as we compare one church against another and unchurched folks against churched folks. It all misses the point of His blood was shed to usher in peace. The greatest place that this peace is needed is within. When we are at peace with self, we will not be trying to change others to look like ourselves. We will be content with allowing God to do what He needs to do with others. Like in John 21:22 when Peter asked Jesus about John’s future and Jesus said: What is that to you? So much that we can take to heart here.
Oneness peace…what an important visual aid the scripture can be to us. We can see the impact of the dividing walls. We can see the impact of all that says that one group is better than another. We can see how much there was to overcome as Paul tried to bring the two into oneness.
Sometimes we feel like we are two different people…a house divided against itself…like we have both Jew and Gentile in us. Sometimes the walls erected are within us, within and around our hearts; not some thing built outside. Sometimes convincing the heart to be “for” us instead of “against” us is the issues to be addressed. Self-hate, rage, low self-esteem, and on and on. These things are the old man of sin. They can raise up and try to intimidate the new man in God. We need to hear the words of Jesus: It is finished. What part of this do we not believe? We can get so caught up in fighting the old man. The best way to fight the old man is to be wrapped up in the love that is God’s. Do not give the old man your attention, but rather, live out the new man that is Christ within.
It is interesting that Paul points out that what has been abolished is what man has done to the law. It is what Jesus was saying on the sermon of the mount and in the Beatitudes. The word "ordinances" in these passages does not refer to God's laws. It is translated from the Greek word dogma and refers generally to opinions, judgments, and decrees. Such ordinances could be public decrees by government officials or religious decrees by religious officials.
The New King James version has rendered dogma as “requirements. Its basic meaning is "a written statement of obligation," much like a traffic citation, which lists the laws that its recipient broke. Thus, it is a record of wrongdoing or guilt.
What Paul is telling the Colossians is that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has "wiped out" all record of their guilt in breaking God's law. That is good news! They had gotten so caught up in keeping man’s laws that they lost their way confusing “dogma” of man with the guideposts / markers that God has given us on Mt. Sinai and which was reinforced on another mountain…the one on which Christ spoke the Beatitudes. We can do the same with the traditions of men…the dogma of our day. The flesh tends to get taken with the things of this world. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death Proverbs 14:12.” We are having to learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit instead of the voice of man. This is not so easy when we think we have all the answers or we have been enamored by the ways and words of man.
I share these thoughts to bring us closer to the Lord. Not that I have all the answers. I have more questions than answers. But, this I know, our Messiah came, died for us, and lives again. I want the answers to be easy and comfortable. So much of what is promised on the religious front today is about easy and comfortable. It makes people who are less than perfect feel like something is wrong with them. I look at Paul’s life and see that it was neither easy or comfortable. I have an unsettling idea growing within me that we are missing the mark. Paul teaches me daily.
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