He Himself Is Our Peace

The word therefore which connects verses 11-22 directly to the good works that God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them has massive implications for relations between all the diverse people of the world. Part of the good works that God wants to enable us to do is for us to be agents of reconciliation and peacemaking between different people groups. We saw last time, there is no racist division between groups today which is any worse than, or fundamentally different than, the divide between Jews and Gentiles in the time of Christ.

The transformation wrought in you when you come to faith in Christ is miraculous. It changes everything. It allows you fellowship with God. It makes you a new creation. It makes you an essential member of a body comprised of all who believe. Remember how Paul poked at the pride the Jews attached to the symbolic ritual of circumcision? He emphasized that it is performed in the flesh by human hands in verse 11. But in Christ there is something infinitely better.

1. You Have Been Brought Near (13)
2. The Barrier Is Broken Down (14)