I invite you to join me in chapter 2 of Ephesians as we open up the new year. This morning we'll be looking at verses 14-17, Ephesians chapter 2. First, just to recall the context, back in chapter 1, we saw Paul's prayer for the church, a prayer that they might know the magnitude of the exceedingly great power that is directed toward those who believe. And then to demonstrate that exceedingly great power, the magnificent effect of that power, he goes on to describe the resurrection of men, how men have been resurrected as individuals, dead in their trespasses and sins, slaves to Satan, under the wrath of Almighty God. So we saw We saw back in chapter 1 how Paul's prayer for the church is that they might know the magnificent, exceedingly great power directed toward us who believe. And then he goes forth in chapter 2 to give two examples of how that power is demonstrated. First, in the resurrection of men as individuals, dead in trespasses and sins, slaves to Satan under the wrath of God. Then secondly, also, but God, then we find out in verse 4, in order to display the glory of His grace, saves men from their destructive fate, makes them a new creation, and creates them in such a way, recreates them in such a way to display His glory. And this is true individually. But it is also demonstrated corporately, as saved people from every tribe and tongue and nation are gathered together in Christ to form one new man, a new commonwealth of Israel, no longer identified by an outward fleshly means as the circumcision made by hands, but as an invisible circumcision of the heart. And we discussed how, as a result of the atoning work of Christ, that the most ancient of dividing walls, the one that has separated Jew from Gentile, was torn down so that we who are Gentiles, who were once far off from God, strangers, alienated from His covenants and His promises, are now brought together, brought near in Christ by His blood. So that we're no longer aliens. Those who are in Christ by faith are no longer aliens, no longer strangers to the covenant and promise. As it says in verse 13 of Ephesians chapter 2, But now in Christ Jesus you, who were once afar off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Our text this morning emphasizes now how this was accomplished. Let's look at it together and we'll read verses 14 through 17 of Ephesians chapter 2. for He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the law of the commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who are far off and to those who were near." The theme, obviously, which our text brings up, is that which is repeated most here, and it's a theme that mankind has been seeking after for thousands of years. Songs have been written about it. Lives of men have been dedicated to keeping it or finding it. Repeated three times in the text, the theme is peace. One can say that the entire Bible is a story of peace. Peace lost and peace regained. Peace being a synonym really for salvation. The very message of the scripture is that Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace, has made peace through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He shed blood on the cross. We are saved because God is a God of peace. Jesus is called Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace. Paul refers to Christ Himself as our peace. The message of the angels when they announce Christ's birth, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased. As Aaron blessed the people, he concluded his benediction with the aspiration that they would have shalom, peace. Shalom is what the heart of every human being needs. And shalom was accomplished by the atonement of the Messiah. And that's the peace that our text in Ephesians deals with. It's that kind of peace that we're going to look at today, and we're going to look at it under three headings. We're going to look at a peace which was forfeited because of sin. Then secondly, a peace initiative that was forged by God by the work of God on our behalf. And then thirdly, a peace demonstrated and displayed by the body of Christ. A peace forfeited by sin, a peace initiative forged by the work of God, and then a peace demonstrated and displayed in the body of Christ. That's how we'll break it down in our time today. Again, a peace forfeited, the Bible tells us that there was a time when man lived in peace. However, it was lost when sin entered the world, and enmity replaced peace. So that since the fall of man, there's been enmity between man and God, between man and his fellow man, and even between man and the very creation. And we'll see how that happened. And then considering that enmity replaced with peace. God's peace initiative. The peace that was established by God with man. Resulting then in a peace between men in His church. And we'll look at what that looks like. And ultimately a peace with all of creation. So, peace forfeited, peace attained, and then the peace and shalom of atonement, how it affects and makes us ambassadors and peacemakers. As Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. So we'll consider God as the first peacemaker, and then ultimately how His peace, the peace that He gives us, the peace that He leaves us as a church, we then display that peace. Twas the night before Christmas in the year 1914. The air was filled with sounds of rifle bullets, the boom of artillery, the moans of wounded soldiers in World War I. English soldiers and German soldiers faced each other in the trenches of Europe's Western Front. But as the darkness of the eve of Christmas approached, peculiarly, the artillery exchange stopped. Rifle fire, which had become more than occasional, became sporadic. Was this to be a silent night, holy night, or would this just be another night of suffering and death, just as the many leading up to that night? A strange stillness and quiet engulfed the battlefield. Suddenly, from their trenches, German troops on the western front began to place candles on trees and sing Stille Nacht, Silent Night. In what was, I'm sure, an awe-inspiring moment, out of the silence another chorus could be heard. This time it was the voice of the English, who too left their trenches to sing English Christmas carols. And the two sides started shouting Christmas greetings to each other over the no-man's land that was between them. Soon after, there were visits across, shaking of hands between the trenches. The sound of artillery could scarce be heard, and the war front became a silent night. And both sides took the opportunity to bury their dead And even reports of spontaneous soccer matches developing between the two sides, and even exchanging of gifts took place between the warring factions. For a little while at least, peace and brotherhood and goodwill to men ruled in the most unlikely of places. Meanwhile, in the German headquarters, the commandants sent out a command to continue the fighting. This was a war after all. But despite their efforts, the truce continued until the new year. In fact, despite the efforts of the British, French, and German military leaders to prevent a period of truce from happening again and it being repeated, the same kind of thing happened again in Christmas of 1915, and again on the Eastern Front in 1916 on Easter. The song asks the question, peace on earth, can it be? And then that Christmas song from the 70s goes on and asks, when will the day of glory come? When men will live in peace? again. I wonder what the humanistic composers and singers of that song meant when they used the word again. When was it, do they suppose, that men lived in peace in the first place that they should live in it again? What were they singing about? Was it this temporary kind of peace that took place on the battlefield of World War I? Certainly that's not the kind of peace the scripture speaks of when it speaks of peace. Interestingly, the Greek word for peace is Irenae. And Irenae comes from the Greek verb aero, which means to join. But in classical Greek literature, that word Irenae, merely meant the absence of war. That's what that word Irenae meant in classical Greek literature. But in the Word of God, in the New Testament, it means something very different. It had a much broader term. It was more linked to the Hebrew word Shalom. As one commentator describes Shalom, Shalom is the living of life, enjoying God, enjoying one's physical surroundings, and enjoying life with one's fellows. The Bible tells us that there was indeed such a time of Shalom, where man lived in Shalom. After God created him, he lived in peace and harmony with God and with all of creation. Eden, the very name Eden, means delight. Adam was charged with keeping the delightful garden, as a priest would keep the tabernacle. And he was charged with keeping the peace. That was his responsibility, to keep the peace in the garden. And this peace, however, was ruptured suddenly when sin entered the world and Adam took of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. And since that time, peace was replaced with enmity. Again, a threefold enmity. Enmity between man and God, enmity between man and his fellow man, and enmity between man and creation itself. The shalom that he had was forfeited. Let's look at how this happened. Turn to Genesis chapter 3. Really, the whole Bible, from chapter 3 where the curse is pronounced to chapter 22 in the book of Revelation, where Jesus says, no more curse. The whole Bible is about a shalom which mankind lost through sin and the resultant curse. and the shalom then regained by the Lamb of God in the book of Revelation. The curse broadcast in Genesis chapter 3, fully undone in the end by the time we reach Revelation 22. Let's look at this curse in chapter 3 of Genesis. Let's look at the effect of the fall. Immediately right after the fall, if you look in verse 8 of Genesis chapter 3, right after Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit, we find Adam and Eve both hiding themselves. from the presence of the Lord." See, fear and flight replace intimacy and fellowship they once had with God. There's a separation. Isaiah announced in chapter 59, your iniquities have separated you from God and your sins have hidden His face from you. So as a result of sin, now there is a separation between man and God, as God is holy and nothing sinful can be in His presence. And Adam inherently knows this. There's something in him that knows right away when he fell, he had to run. He had to run from God's presence. And after he sins, he seeks to hide himself from God. God is holy. Nothing sinful can come into his presence. Adam recognizes this, and he inherently knows this, and he seeks to hide himself from God. But then also there's an enmity that we're going to see right away that exists between the individuals, between people. In verse 11, Adam blames his wife If you look at verse 11, you'll see here that Adam blames his wife, so there's enmity that now is established within humanity. Even among the closest of human relationships, that of husband and wife, there is enmity. Then God pronounces the curse. First He curses the serpent. And while speaking to the serpent, if you look in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, we see a curse that affects mankind. And God says, I will put enmity between you and the woman. And the enmity he's talking about here, which is the result of human disobedience, is that between Satan and the woman. The enmity is demonstrated then through spiritual warfare in the realms of principalities and powers, Satan and his demons against humanity. And then it continues in verse to 15 to say this enmity extends then between your seed, he's still talking to the serpent here, your seed and her seed. And between, so he's talking about here the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman. This is then followed by what is often considered the first gospel message in the Bible, where he promises that the conquering seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent, while at the same time himself experiencing a bruise on his heel. And we'll see that this was fulfilled in the cross. Then in verse 16, God pronounces to the woman. He says, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. We see enmity again now between the closest of human relationships, husband and wife. These are the only two people on earth, and there's enmity between them. Men, he says, will act harshly and wickedly and even violently against their wives. And if the closest of human relationships is affected by the fall, if there's enmity in the closest, you can be sure that that's just a picture of the enmity throughout the entire human race. This enmity is then confirmed in chapter 4 and chapter 5 and chapter 6. The first two children that are born, one is a murderer. And by chapter 6, the Creator is looking down on the world, and all He can describe it, it's repeated time and again, violence filled the earth, violence, corruption, wickedness, and His only recourse is to destroy the earth, and He does so with a flood. Continuing in verse 17 of Genesis 3, Then to Adam he said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, and thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you. And you shall eat herb of the field, in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. So we see here this announcement that enmity here even extends to man and creation. The very ground is cursed. And then further in verse 21, God kills animals to make skins, clothing for Adam and Eve out of their skins, thus establishing a violent form of dominion up to this point. Mankind was given dominion, a peaceful dominion over all creation. God created it for mankind, for His enjoyment, for His sustenance. And we see this in Genesis chapter 2, when all the animals, even those we consider savage, are coming up, dwelling together, coming up to Adam to be named lions and lambs, fox and sheep, all together. But once man sins, all of creation, which was created for him, fell with him. So that now, Dominion was no longer so easy. Wild beasts have to be subdued. The ground has to be tilled by the sweat of man's brow. In the book of Romans, chapter 8, Paul describes all creation, he says, is subjected to futility. eagerly awaiting the final consummation, where in Paul's words, the creation itself will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. When every created being will join once again, enjoying God, enjoying each other, enjoying creation itself, shalom is re-established. There is a time coming when there will be no more curse and no more pain and no more division and bondage and corruption. When Isaiah describes in chapter 11, The wolf will lay down and dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion. The little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze. The young ones will lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole. And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. So even the very animal that was cursed by God specifically, the serpent, will no longer be a threat to humanity. And the whole created order is awaiting this age to come. But until then, Paul writes that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together. We live today outside of Eden in a groaning creation, longing to live in peace again. In Genesis chapter 3 and its following chapters, if they leave us with one word, it is the word enmity. Enmity between God and man, enmity between man and man, and enmity between man and the earth. Man's unreconciled state is described as weak, ungodly, enemies, sinners, corrupted, even haters of God. All that encompasses shalom is destroyed Our sin creates a genuine moral guilt before a righteous and holy God, and we stand not only to condemn men for eternity, but right here, now in time, the scripture says, we are condemned already. And God is concerned with this. He considers His relationship with His creation with utmost moral seriousness. Sin and creation is no trivial matter to God. He is going to deal with it in an unprecedented, yet a devastating response. We understand that His wrath is set against men and that it is rightly so. We understand that God cannot love moral evil, He can only hate it. And so wrath comes because it's the just response to sin. As Packer writes, if you understand this, you're now seeing the very heart of the Christian gospel. No version of that message goes deeper than that which declares man's root problem before God to be his sin, which evokes wrath, and God's basic provision for man to be the propitiation, which out of wrath brings peace." Packer's saying, you get that, you get the gospel. God's role as the righteous judge requires judgment of sin. It is the response of His righteous character. A universe without a final hell is a morally indifferent one, and God is not morally indifferent. So there must be a final judgment. There must be a great white throne judgment where men will be judged according to what they have done and be cast into eternal hell forever. how are you gonna face that judgment How are you going to be reconciled? How are the differences that separate you from God going to be reconciled? How are you going to reconcile irreconcilable differences between men? How is evil once and for all going to be defeated? How is creation going to be reclaimed and set free from the bondage under which it presently groans? How are sinful men going to be reconciled to a holy God? How can God forgive sin without condoning it? These are the perplexing problems that plague humanity. All of this encompasses the biblical concept of the loss of shalom. The answer to these questions brings us inevitably to one place, hallelujah, one place where we find a bruised heel and a crushed head. One single place which accomplished an unfathomable and innumerable number of benefits. One place where we find redemption, propitiation, regeneration, justification, reconciliation, expiation, cleansing, forgiveness, sanctification, union with Christ, sacrifice, atonement, penal substitution, the death of death, the extinguishing of Satan and the kingdom of darkness, victory over sin in the grave and death, eternal life, knowing God, access to the Father, the destruction of the work of the evil one, satisfaction, vindication, righteousness, justice, covenant making, renewal and restoration of creation, and the breaking down of the human barriers which separate us. In a word, Shalom. Peace. This is what the maker of heaven and earth's project goal is. The reclamation of all of creation. A restorative peace initiative taken by God because He's the only one who can initiate peace. Because His universal character is love. And then His sacrificial nature acts on that love. So He not only feels for us, He not only looks down and has pity upon us, but He takes the necessary action required to make reconciliation. You see, sin leads to separation. Sin has left mankind aliens and strangers to God and His covenant. Sin puts men at enmity with each other, as we have individual self-pride and self-interest and self-concern. Man is set against man, each demanding his own rights. This is mine. Claiming, fighting over the same things. And God at the same time says, Love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love one another. To love one another, love me. You love me and you'll love one another. But man in his human wisdom says, no, no, no, we don't need to love God. We can love our fellow man. We can do so through negotiation, and being pleasant, and being friendly, without needing to love God first. And then he wonders why it doesn't work. And there's wars, and competition, and striving, and rivalry, and envy, and he continues to separate men despite his best effort to combat it. You ever wonder why in situations you could be the kindest, gentlest, most unoffensive person to someone and they just still seem to hate you? Because enmity is spiritual, it's not natural. It is impossible for you, by natural means, to win over another human being. If men could achieve peace, true peace, through negotiation, or good feelings, or just being kind to one another, then the cross would not have been needed. Listen, good tidings of comfort and joy might stop a battle in Europe for a couple of days, but it will not bring lasting peace between a warring people who are at enmity with each other. but because our text says, He is our peace. He has removed the vertical wall that separates us from God, as well as the horizontal wall that separates from each other. This all-elusive peace, then, is not only possible, but it is accomplished by Him. Look at your text again, Ephesians 2, verse 15. having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. We see here that the cross is what abolishes enmity vertically, that is between God and man, and horizontally, that is between men and man. Keep your place in Ephesians, go to the right a couple of pages, pass Philippians, and go to Colossians chapter 1. Our text deals mostly with the peace between men. But in the cross, God also deals with a different kind of enmity. according to Colossians chapter 1 verse 20. God reconciles all things to Himself by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross. All things! All things is even beyond all people. All things is even beyond the enmity between man and God. The restoration of Shalom extends to the heavens and the earth. to the condition that it had before the fall. Turn over to Romans chapter 16. Again, keeping your place in Ephesians. Romans chapter 16. I want to see how that first gospel promise, right after the curse, God promises Eve the promise of the gospel. I'm going to see how that final restoration of peace takes place. Romans chapter 16, verse 20. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. Here we have a reiteration of the first Gospel promise. The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Satan's head is crushed. Not yet in time. That's why Paul uses the future tense here in Romans chapter 16. Will crush. You see that? The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet, speaking of the believers, will crush, but his head was already crushed, it is finished, that is, there's no question that this is going to happen. We've just not seen it yet with our eyes, but it is done. In our day and age, Satan is bound, but he has a limited power nevertheless. He has the freedom, as the scripture tells us, to roam the earth, seeking whom he may devour. But on the last day, because of that which is already fully accomplished by Christ, we will, in Christ, you get that? You get that? We will, in Christ, we will crush Satan's head under our feet, and thus Genesis 3.15 is fully completely fulfilled. He has bruised us. Satan has bruised us, brethren, and he will continue to bruise our heel, but he has no access to our sacred head. His blood reconciles all things to Himself. The cross is the place where the barriers which separate men are disintegrated. But all of this is only possible because, again, look at verse 16, back in Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, 16. All this reconciliation, where He talks about all things, is only possible because first we're reconciled to God. That He might reconcile them both, what? To God through, in one body, through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. The horizontal enmity that existed between Jew and Gentile is put to death as the result of a reconciliation that takes place between man and God. And the definitive text on this, on this conciliatory event between man and God is Romans chapter 5, if you would turn there. Romans chapter 5. From Genesis to Revelation, the scripture unfolds this drama of estrangement and reconciliation. Estrangement occurs in the garden, reconciliation occurs in the new heaven and the new earth. And D.A. Carson writes, whatever else the cross accomplishes, it must reconcile us to God. It must remove the ground of our alienation. It must set aside God's wrath, or it doesn't meet the plight the scriptures themselves set forth. In other words, if the blood of Christ reconciles all things but God and man, if God and sinner are not reconciled, as the Christmas song says, then the very plight of sin and death, which the scripture says we're under, has not been solved. Romans 5. And Romans 5 is the pivotal point here. It links up the earlier chapters of Romans with the later chapters. It summarizes the arguments of Romans chapter 1 to 3 about man and his depravity, but it anticipates the conclusion of Romans chapter 8. I want to read the entire section because it's really set apart. You really get the whole thing, you've got to understand it. It's what's called in the scripture an inclusio. And it begins with peace and reconciliation and it ends, it's like bracketed here, with peace at the beginning, reconciliation at the end. And this again deals with the vertical component of the restored peace, man and God. Look at Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, But we also glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance character, character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Now here's a summary of the earlier chapters. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, but perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. much more than having been now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled will we be saved by His life." Now the conclusion. Conclusion of this thought returns us back to reconciliation and peace. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation. The peace that this passage is describing is reconciliation with God, a vertical peace where enmity gives way to embrace. And Christ died to put away our sin, and thereby we are no longer enemies with God. It's that kind of peace that in the year 1555, Nicholas Ridley had, as he was facing to be burned at the stake for his witness for Christ. On the eve before his execution, his brother offered to remain with him in the prison chamber, to be a comfort to him. And Nicholas said, no, no. He denied the offer and replied, I'm going to go to sleep tonight. as quietly as I ever have in my life. Here's a man who knew the peace of God. He knew the peace of God because he had peace with God. Peace with God. What a wonderful idea. What a concept. And it is just a concept to some. It need not remain an idea. You, if you yet be His enemy, might have peace with God. That is the good news which you need to embrace. Reconciliation with God is great news, but it is only so to you if you will receive it. Amnesty doesn't just turn into embrace automatically. You must embrace it. That's why Paul begs, he implores, He says, I implore you, be reconciled to God. I beg you today, if you are not reconciled to God, that you be so, that you come, that you follow Christ, that you repent of your sin, that you confess your weakness, your inability to keep His law, and receive and rest on the grace of the finished work of the cross to atone for your sin. And you'll have peace with God. You'll have a relationship with Him. He'll be your Father. You can talk to Him. You can go to His throne of grace. Peace with God is what the world needs now, and it's what you need if you do not have it. Surrender to Christ and follow Him. There's nothing in this world, there is nothing, young people, there is nothing that this world can offer you that is not going to turn to dust in the end. Come to Christ. Surrender your life to Him. Follow Him and you'll have peace. Your individual, experiential, personal reception of God's love toward you is essential. It's the vital aspect of the Gospel as God saves individuals based on whether they personally receive Christ by faith. And Paul speaks this way in Galatians 2.20, in this personal terms. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Very personal. I have been died for. Can you say that? I have been died for. Christ died in my place. But then the peace initiative doesn't end with the individual because the same Paul writes in Ephesians 5 verse 25, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, corporately. So we have been died for. Christ died in our place as a church. As wonderful as the cross is to us individually, we can't lose sight of a bigger picture. And if we consider the work of Christ only to that which is done to the individual alone, we risk diminishing what Christ achieved on the cross, corporately and cosmically. And that was the revealed mystery to Paul in Ephesians. The whole mystery is that in this cross, Gentiles who were once afar off can now be grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. That's a description of the church. So much emphasis in the past two centuries, in particular, have been placed on the individual. And there needs to be the individual, pressing of the individual towards repentance. But church historian Mark Knoll observes, up to the 1700s, British Protestants preached on God's plan for the church. From the mid-1700s, however, evangelicals emphasize God's plan for the individual. And for this, one should not be lost for the sake of the other. In our desire to save individual sinners, we must not ignore the broader scope of God's peace plan, which extends peace between people, Jew and Gentile in particular, and people. from every tribe and tongue and nation in general. It's the very same blood that saves individuals, reconciles people. And how does the cross achieve this? Look back, chapter 2, verse 14. He himself is our peace, verse 14, who made both one has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law and commandments contained in the ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace." This is jam-packed with theology here. And I don't have time to get into it today. It's going to require more time than I can give it today. We'll get into it next time. But suffice to say for now that at the heart of what separates Jews and Gentiles, and in fact at the heart of what separates all people, is the law, as Paul puts it, the law of commandments contained in ordinances. And that must be brought to fulfillment if God is going to create one new man and reconcile both to Himself. Because realize this, law, as Paul describes it, commandments contained in ordinances, divides Jew and Gentile, and it separates men from God. Because where there is law, Paul says, there is sin. Sin is strong where there is law. And where sin is given strength, people divide. That's why legalists are very divisive. Legalists are the most divisive of individuals. Legalistic churches are the most divisive of congregations. But, where there is atonement, where there is reconciliation, where the accusations that could be made against you have been removed, there is shalom, there is peace. The barrier between God and man is broken down. What barrier is that? The law which accuses men. But Christ fulfilled the law. He fulfilled it by living by it perfectly, dying under its curse as one who is innocent of its transgressions. And so He restored shalom. So man no longer needs to run as Adam ran from the presence of God. Peace is the presence of God, then manifested in the unity of God's people. Jesus said on earth in John 14, peace I leave you, my peace I give you. If you're living under God's atonement, if the reconciliation work of Christ on the cross has been applied to you, then you're living under shalom. God has left you His peace. And there is then a manner, then, with this peace, how we ought to live as a result. And I'll take what time I have remaining here to consider three ways in which peace must be applied to your lives, both individually and corporately. First, you must live at peace with yourself. Now, while this text does not directly address individual peace with oneself, the peace that it's describing will certainly bring peace to yourself. As a result of the vertical peace that comes from knowing that our sins are forgiven, there's an inward component of peace. Peace is an inward manifestation, a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. You are to enjoy peace, peace in your soul, the peace of a good conscience that knows that if you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. A peace that knows if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. There is to be inward peace, a rest of the soul of being confident in God's supply, that God is in control of all the affairs of life. After Jesus leaves His disciples in peace, He later on says, I've told you these things, so that in Me you'll have peace. Where do we find peace? He says, in Me you'll have peace. Living in the sphere of His resurrected life, seated in heavenly places. You don't live in an earthly realm. And the less peace you have, the more you're tied to earth. The more you're troubled, the more you're disturbed, the more that you lack peace in any area of your life, it is demonstrating that you're living in an earthly realm. Jesus said, in the world you will have trouble, but take heart, be encouraged, be comforted. I have overcome the world. And if you lack peace, it's because there's somewhere in your life you're not appropriating or resting in God's grace. Peace doesn't mean an absence of pain or hurt. It means that in your pain and your hurt, you have peace because you know the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that He's in control. Listen, for you who do embrace the doctrines of God's sovereign grace, as many of you do, If you truly believe that God is sovereign, there should be a genuine peace that accompanies your life. If you truly believe, you, which I hope is all of you, who believe that God hears and answers your prayers. If you truly believe that God hears and answers your prayers, there should be a genuine peace in your life. His is a peace that should settle your nerves, fill your minds, and allow you to rest even in the midst of the greatest uproar that might come around you. Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. Why dart around in your minds and in your hearts when God has said, I give you peace, my peace I leave you, I give it to you. There must be the fruit of individual peace guarding our hearts and minds. But then secondly, There is the peace of harmony, the peace with others, a peace of unity and oneness expressed in the body of Christ, a oneness of mind, a oneness of purpose. Ephesians 4.3, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 1 Thessalonians 5.13, live in peace with one another. Satan is the agent of disunity and strife. The enemy of the Church would seek to sow seeds of fear and anger in order to reap a harvest of discord through hurt feelings and failures to forgive and selfish ambition and offenses that have not been dealt with. We saw this. This was the contention in the Garden of Eden that came as the result of sin between man and wife. And this happens when Christians refuse to live together based upon the principles of God's Word. As Mark 9.50 tells us, we lose our saltiness. We lose our saltiness as a church when we cease to be at peace with one another. You know, our Declaration of Independence says that we have certain inalienable rights, which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But in the Bible, we're never told to pursue happiness. But we are told to pursue peace. The author of Hebrews says, pursue peace. And he even warns against the danger of coming short of God's grace in this area. Speaking of the body of Christ, in terms of the human body, He's linking, in Hebrews 12, He's linking the body of Christ with a human body. This is how we should behave toward one another. Brethren, He says, strengthen the hands that hang down. You see brothers with their hands hanging down? Strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness without which no one can see the Lord." We know the importance of holiness. You hear the importance of holiness stressed from this pulpit. But you know, the author of Hebrews is putting the pursuit of peace right on that same level. Are you pursuing peace right here in your local church? That's what God has challenged us with. Pursue peace. There is your imperative, brethren, as a church. If we're going to be a biblical, God-glorifying church, it's necessary that we pursue peace. And that's going to require patience. That's going to require bearing with one another. That's going to require loving one another. It also means that personal offenses must not be let go, unrepented of. It's going to require you make effort Remember I said about how the walls, how it requires effort to take down walls, it's easier just to leave them up? Well, peacemaking is not the same thing as appeasement. Peacemaking is rather an active way to resist injustice by confronting an offender in love with the offer and end goal of reconciliation. It's unfortunate that the church doesn't do church this way anymore. When one is offended in the church, they just go and find another church. Leave, find somewhere else. But that is not an option for a biblical church. You know, we're going to get into it in the coming weeks, but in verse 19 of Ephesians 2, it calls us a household. It describes the church as a household. The word is oikaios. Literally, oikaios literally means living in the same house. We're called a household. The person sitting next to you or across the aisle from you or on the other end of the room is your brother or your sister. Why don't you treat them so? I'll tell you why. Because we live in a world that is steeped in individualism. It is a sin. Individualism is a sin. We've been so affected and infiltrated by a worldly individualistic ideas and this affects, we're swimming in it. Look out for number one. I did it my way. Take care of yourself first. And you know what? As much as you think this hasn't affected you, it has. We all live our lives for ourselves. There's no sense of corporate life anymore. There's no sense of seeking counsel for life's decisions. We think we know best what works good for us, and we're going to do what we think is best for us, regardless of the body of Christ. You know, it's easier for you to come to church on Sunday and for you to listen to a sermon, play to Christian for a couple of hours on a Sunday, and maybe even once a month sit down across the table and express some concern for a brother or sister over a meal. But that is not a biblical church. Period. God has ordained sanctification to occur and to be accomplished corporately. That's why He puts us together. Sanctification is accomplished corporately, but that requires much of your precious effort and time. It requires to break down walls, which is difficult. And if there's a Christian who lives with a wall between him and his brother or sister, if there's that wall separating you on some interpersonal level, you need to revisit the cross. You need to repent. instead of brooding, or even in some cases delighting over division and strife, or some petty divide-and-conquer mentality. As disciples of Jesus, we must delight in and make peace wherever and whenever is possible. Tear down that wall. Stop putting up walls. And I charge you, brethren, here, just in our midst, that we be a true church of Jesus Christ. And to be so, there must be some sense of reality of this in our midst. We cannot be the unique showcase that God desires us to be, to display of His glory and continue to live in our relationships with people like the world. We're a unique people, God says. How is it that this covenant relationship that we're in is going to be expressed to the world as a group if we're all individuals living our own in our own little islands? You can't live in human relationships in the church just like we live in the world. You go to work, you have your co-workers there, you say goodbye at the end of the night, and they're out of thought, out of mind. I'll bet that there is many of us here that not one thought of a brother or sister in this church comes to your mind for seven days between Sunday and Sunday. If I'm wrong, I repent. You can't live this way, church. That brings us to the third and final application. Again, first, for the unbeliever, vertically, peace with God comes through Christ. If you haven't joined His household, repent of your sin, receive His grace, be reconciled to God. But then the three applications for the Christian, peace within yourself first, rest in Christ, believe His Word, believe what He says about the state of your soul and be at peace. And secondly, peace between one another. That is endeavor. Strive for peace with your brethren. Don't allow offenses to drive you apart. Remember the lie I mentioned a few weeks ago? You must love, but you don't have to like one another. That is a lie. You have to love, and if you love, you'll like. Be reconciled to one another. Do all that is within your power to be at peace with all men, especially in the household of faith, for that's a peace of unity that glorifies God. And then lastly, be a kingdom of priests, peacemakers. Just like the priests in the temple were the managers of Shalom. They were the ones who were ministering peace through the atoning sacrifice of the blood. They were carrying that knowledge of what atonement meant to the rest of the world. The atonement, that which brings us shalom, must be a witness to the surrounding world, both in the manner in which we live and what we say. And this application comes right out of the text. Look at verse 17, Ephesians 2. And he's talking about Christ. And he says, He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. And he's talking about Jew and Gentile there. Christ preached peace. He preached the gospel of peace. When He said in the Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be sons of God, I believe this is what He had in mind. That we also be preachers of peace. Preachers of the gospel of His peace. And I'll have one more text I want you to turn to in closing. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5. As you're turning there, I'll ask you to think on this question. When did Christ preach peace to those who were afar off? when christ preach peace to the gentiles i mean he certainly preach the gospel to the lost house uh... washington house of israel we know that but in matthew fifteen when a sire phoenician woman a gentile came up and said cast the demon out of my daughter jesus said it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs how did christ preach peace to those who are far off the gentiles out he does so by means well what means is now No, not His own physical mouth, but He does so by His Spirit through the mouths of His disciples. He does so through you as you go there for making disciples of all nations. And this we see, you know, when I was looking at this text, how did Christ preach peace to the Gentiles? I don't get it. 2 Corinthians 5, look at verses 18-21 and you'll find the answer. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. He's given you the ministry of reconciliation. And now here's your message. That God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. What a message we have. Now then, we, as ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. You see that? You're His mouthpiece. God is pleading through us. And now Paul says, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is how Christ preaches the gospel to those who are far off. You have a ministry. You have a message. You are an ambassador with a message, a gospel of glad tidings of peace. You have the Word. He who made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. What a message! Proclaim the message of reconciliation to a world that is seeking peace but has no idea where to find it. Come out of the trenches of your battlefields and start singing glad tidings, peace on earth. Every Christian has a story to tell about reconciliation because you have been reconciled to God. Every believer is a witness. This is how your life is to be lived in these last days between the cross and His second coming. God is saving a people for His purpose. You are His ambassador of this great peacemaking initiative that He has made. So implore, yes, even beg people to come to be reconciled to God. The time is short. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Be the blessed peacemakers who shall be called sons of God. Amen.