14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
If there is one things this world lacks and needs desperately it is peace. But we will never find it because, as the old song says, we are looking for it in all the wrong places. Or should I say, in all the wrong people. Peace is not a state of mind or a cessation of hostilities, it is a person. Jesus is our peace. This is not just true in religious realms, between Jews and non-Jews. During the days when the Old Testament Temple was in existence and active worship took place there, part of that structure was a curtain that separated the people from the presence of God. At times God’s presence was visibly present in that structure. At other times it was absent. That curtain symbolized sin’s destructive power to break the fellowship that God designed for humans to enjoy. But when Jesus died, removing sin’s power to separate, we no longer have to experience a break in our fellowship, our intimacy with God. He is our peace. Not that He brings peace, but He is our peace. He is not the agent of peace, but the object of peace. When we have Him, we have peace. We don’t bring Him in as a third party to solve an issue, we get to know Him and we experience peace. The world thinks peace is external, something to be imposed from the outside. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can get cessation of external hostilities. That is easy. Simply have an external power placed over the defeated party with authority and might to punish infractions. But that does not change the nature of people or nations. In the Early Church, when both Jews and non-Jews had Jesus, they had peace, peace between each other and peace with God. The formula holds true today. Jesus is our peace. That is one of the reasons the Gospel is unique. It is about the person of Jesus, not the teaching of Jesus. Get Him and you get peace.
The Arnold Journey 