How God can bring people together
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Owen Lynch:
What did I like about today’s passage?
I love the theme of reconciliation that Paul majors on in this letter. Humanity is reconciled to God and reconciled to one another through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Remember that Paul is thoroughly Jewish, like Jesus, and at first there is some confusion amongst the apostles about whether the gospel of Jesus is for Gentiles as well as Jews. Read Acts 10 to understand more about how Peter changes his mind and realises that God does not show favouritism towards one ethnic group.
Paul understands this as well and his priority is to communicate the gospel of Jesus to non-Jews (commonly called Gentiles by Jews).
In Ephesians he expands on this theme to describe the reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles. He says, “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2:15-16)
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
It shows me that just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one - so all of humanity is one in Christ Jesus. Not that we all share the same religion, culture, ethnicity, social status – no, the one thing that we all share is the unmerited, unconditional love of God. This is what brings all of humanity together - sharing in the unconditional love of God. Paul’s language is clear - 2:14 - “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility….”
Notice the past tense - his death has now changed the status of humanity - we are reconciled in Jesus and we should live in the light of this.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I am going to try and follow Paul’s advice in chapter 4:3 - “therefore… make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
That’s not always going to be easy!!
Who am I going to share this with?
My friends and colleagues.