Christ Our Peace

“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 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 were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:14–18).

Have you ever had one of those sleepless nights, you know, the ones where you toss and turn? You seem to wake up and count the hour or every second hour waiting for morning to finally arrive so there can be reason to this insanity going through your mind. Sometimes it is a song of the Lord that consumes my mind in which I can find rest in our God even though I am not asleep. It is as if the words and the melody touch my soul and I know that, pardon the song reference or not, it is well with my soul.

But what of those other times where doubt, worry, strife, and anxiety plague your mind and keep you awake? The verse above speaks of a “wall of separation.” Before Jesus, the Jews would often seek out a place to build their cities where a river or wall could separate them from the Gentiles. Jewish custom, or tradition, taught that they needed to be separate from each other. Jesus came to remove this Jewish ordinance because He came for Jew and Gentile alike.

At the death of Jesus, the veil in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies from all but the priest, who would make atonement for the people of Israel, was torn so the people at large could have the presence of the Most High God and His peace. On those nights of restlessness, what wall separates you from His peace, or whose wall does He want you to pray for?

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