2020.05.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:14–18

Read Ephesians 2:14–18

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the peace between the Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14)? What has Jesus done to them? What has He broken down? What did He do to the enmity (Ephesians 2:15)? How? What had sealed this enmity? What has Christ done to it? What has He created in Himself? To Whom has He reconciled them (Ephesians 2:16)? How? What did this put to death? What did He come and preach (Ephesians 2:17)? To whom? What do we both have (Ephesians 2:18)? Through Whom? By Whom? To Whom?

When we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, He is honored as the only way that guilty and helpless sinners could be reconciled to a holy God. When we refuse to be reconciled to God, or try to be reconciled in some other way, Christ is dishonored.

What then, if believers refuse to be reconciled to one another? Ephesians 2:14 tells us that He Himself is our peace. When Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled and obsoleted the ceremonial code, including the holiness code that emphasized the alienation and enmity between Jew and Gentile. By giving us access to the Father in one Spirit, Christ brings us near to one another.

So, if we refuse to be reconciled, or try to be reconciled in some other way, we dishonor Christ. What personal bitterness or prejudice could be worth that?

On the other hand, when we are reconciled to God through Christ, we rejoice in Him who has killed the enmity between us and God. And when we are reconciled to one another through Christ, we rejoice in Him who has killed the enmity between us.

It makes one wonder why we don’t delight in reconciliation more. Something that brings honor to Christ. Something that increases our joy in Christ. Something that takes bitterness and misery out of our lives.

With whom do you have the opportunity to be reconciled for the honor and enjoyment of Christ?

Suggested songs: ARP87 “The Lord’s Foundation” or TPH87A “Zion, Founded on the Mountains”