“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. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

Ephesians 2:14‭-‬16

Paul continues talking to the non-Hebrews, sometimes called Gentiles, of Ephesus about how God was reuniting them with Himself. God had always loved them & had revealed Himself to the Hebrew people who had come to be known as His chosen people who, in turn, were suppose to reveal Him to all the people of the world! The problem became that the Hebrews soon wanted to keep Him to theirselves, rather than share Him with others. So in this passage, Paul is explaining that Jesus, Himself, brought peace between Himself and ALL people! He united all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, into One People, His people!

Vs14, explains that Jesus paid for this reunion of Himself & all people, with His own physical body, on the cross, by dying for us! In doing so, He “broke down the wall of hostility that separated us”- us from each other, as well as us from Him! Jesus, in effect traded His physical earthly body for us, His Church, the Body of Christ! Jesus paid a very high price for each of us! His desire is for unity among ourselves as well as with each other!

So now, as ONE BODY-THE BODY OF CHRIST, “Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” That was a pretty old statement of Paul’s part, considering the racial tension that plagued both his day’s culture, as well as our own. Mutual respect for each group, speaks volumes!

How connected are we?

Thk about it!