Jesus, the Great Unifier and Peacemaker

Ephesians 2:15-16. “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

Recent events in Mumbai, on top of other situations of conflict around the world, leave serious doubts about the likelihood of lasting peace in the world. It can be hard for us to be optimistic.

In the scripture above, Paul is writing to the local Christian church in Ephesus which is comprised of a very diverse group, including Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). He says that these two groups are antagonistic toward one another (divided by a “wall of hostility” in verse 14). It is easy for us to picture this kind of conflict in various parts of our world today.

Jesus’ purpose is to unify people who are in conflict, making one “new man” out of the two (Jews and non-Jews). The result of people living in unity is peace. The approach to unifying disparate people is to reconcile them to God; that is, restoring a right relationship between each person and God. Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished this, by paying the price for our wrongdoings.

There are a host of man-made solutions for resolving conflict, some good, some not so good. But I believe that lives lived in submission to a loving, grace-giving God whose two primary commandments are to love him (defined as obedience) and to love others as we love ourselves is the ultimate path to lasting peace.