SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/8/2019 8:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “Peace with God and His People”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
2:14-17
Message of the verses: “14 For He Himself
is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier
of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity,[hostility] which is the Law of commandments contained
in ordinances, so that in
Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it
having put to death the enmity [hostility]. 17 AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE
TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR;”
In
our last SD we were talking about what we called the ceremonial laws, and these
laws distinguished and separated Jews from the Gentiles and were now, since
Christ died on the Cross were obliterated (to remove utterly from recognition or
memory). Now before Christ the two
groups could not even eat together in the same place and this was because of
the restricted foods, also the Jews had required washings to do, and they had
ceremonial contamination. After Christ
came and died the Jews were able to eat anything. One may wonder why all of these ceremonial
laws came about in the first place. God
wanted the nation of Israel to be different so others would notice them as
being different in a good way and come to them and ask why they were different,
and then they could explain to them about the God they worshiped. The nation of Israel needed to stay pure in
order for the Messiah to come through their blood line. As one studies the genealogy of Jesus Christ
they will find things in His blood line that one wonders about. There are four different women in His blood
line and one of them is a Gentile. Women
were not usually recognized in the genealogies found in the Bible, mostly just
men. Paul says “all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, then it is only sinners that God had to chose from
in order to bring about the birth of His Son.
So now that Christ has come these ceremonial laws are not needed any
more as all ceremonial distinctions and requirements were removed and we can
see this in verses like Acts 10:9-16; Acts 11:17-18; and Col. 2:16-17. One of our verses says “that in Himself He
might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.” MacArthur adds “The emphasis is again on ‘in
Himself,’ affirming that this new unity can occur only when men are united in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Kainos
(‘new’) does not refer to something recently completed, such as a new car
rolling off the assembly line—one of many other cars just like it. This new refers to a difference in kind and
quality, to a completely new model, unlike anything that existed before. The ‘new’ person in Christ is not simply a
Jew or Gentile who now happens to be a Christian. He is no longer a Jew or Gentile but only a
Christian. Every other characteristic is ‘former’ (see v. 11). Paul summed it up when he said, ‘For there is
no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for Whoever will call upon the
name of the Lord will be saved’’ (Rom. 10:12-13).” This is wonderful news to all who have ever
believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
I have another World War II story
that helps illustrate this as told by John MacArthur in his commentary. Another story from World War II is that a
group of American soldiers who had lost their buddy in battle. They carried his body to the only cemetery in
the area, which happened to be Catholic.
When the pries was told that the dead man was not Catholic he said, ‘I
am sorry, but he cannot be buried here.’
The disheartened and discouraged soldiers decided to do what they
through was next best, and during the night they buried their comrade just
outside the cemetery fence. They
returned the next morning to pay their last respects, but they could not find
the gate outside the fence. When they
told the priest of their quandary, he said, ‘The first part of the night I stayed awake sorry for
what I told you. And the second part of
the night I spent moving the fence.’”
14 For Christ is our living peace. He
has made us both one by breaking down the barrier and enmity which lay between us
(Phillips).” “14 For Christ himself has
brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His
own body on the cross, he
broke down the wall of hostility that separated us (NLT).”
I
wanted to give us a number of translations of verse fourteen so we have a good
idea of what this verse is saying. When
we look at this verse and compare it to the story that we just read what we can
say is the Jesus moved the fence in order “that in Himself He might make the
two into one new man.” MacArthur adds
“No person who comes to Him will be excluded, and no person who is included
will be spiritually distinct from any other.
In His flesh points specifically to Jesus’ death on the cross, through which
He nullified, annulled, made of no effect, and invalidated (‘abolished,’ katargeo) the feud, discord, and alimentation
(‘enmity,’echtra), ‘thus establishing
peace,’ as already indicated in verse 14.”
We
will continue to look at this subject in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful for this study of what I
believe could be called the unity of believers, and we have unity because of
what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us.
It’s that old fallen nature that causes most of the problems in the life
of the believer, and that can cause disunity where as Christ paid the price not
only to save us but to bring us together.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will continue to give me
insights into Romans 12:3.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Ester.”
Today’s Bible question: “On what day did God say ‘Let there be
light’?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/8/2019 10:08 AM
Just a note that this is the first
question of the last card that I have on Bible questions as there are seven to
go.
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