I hope you were blessed by Pastor’s Dave and Darrell and their messages on Ephesians 2:11-22. I look forward to listening to the sermon podcasts. This passage is one I’ve reflected on quite a bit, especially the words of verse fourteen, For He Himself is our peace.
Not to be overly academic, or analytical, but the grammatical construction of this phrase is the emphatic pronoun. What Paul is saying is this – Christ, and Christ alone, is our peace. There is no other source of peace.
The pagan philosopher, Epictetus wrote concerning the world peace that existed during the time of Christ. That peace was credited to the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, but according to Epictetus, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, greed, and envy. He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns.”
Peace from without comes from peace within. Peace from within comes only from Jesus. He Himself is our peace.
The winds howled, the rains pelted, and the waves threatened to capsize the boat, but while the disciples cowered in fear Jesus stood unflinching and said, Peace, be still, and the storm ceased.
In the gospels after Jesus forgave sin, or healed disease he often said, Go in peace.
As he prepared his disciples for his imminent return to heaven, Jesus said to them, My peace I leave with you.
Paul tells us in Romans 16:20 that it is the peace of God that will crush Satan under our feet.
He gives us a prescription for peace in Philippians 4 when he tells us that lives saturated in prayer will result in hearts and minds guarded by God’s peace.
In fact, a simple word study of the New Testament reveals that the word “peace” appears over one hundred times.
Do you think that maybe peace is a major component of the gospel?
It is significant to me that in the Ephesians passage he does not say that peace is found in a particular doctrine, belief system, or denomination. Do you think that maybe our churches and denominations need to hear that?
Neither does he say that peace is found in a political party, or ideology. I wonder what that says about so called Christian politics?
Peace is found in a person. He Himself is our peace. Peace in ourselves and among others is found in Christ and Christ alone. Let’s join the heavenly host in their song of praise, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.”