Big Idea: In Christ, we are reconciled.
Webster defines reconcile as “to restore to friendship or harmony.” It is the kind of positive thing that can only take place after something negative. Our relationship with God was shattered beyond our capacity to repair it by sin, both individually and as a species. We needed to be reconciled. But who could serve as a mediator? Who could absolve our guilt? We needed someone to go between us and God, to bridge the gap between the holy and the sinful. But we also needed a mediator to repair the fractured human race.
Ephesians tells us that Jesus did this in stages. He came and broke down the barriers between people, as a new Adam creating a new humanity. We are no longer Jew or Gentile in Christ: we are simply His. We are part of His family and fellow citizens of His Kingdom. Although this “new humanity” began in Adam, Paul makes clear in today’s chapter that it was really by dying on the cross that Jesus broke down the barriers between us. Then, He rose again triumphantly to reconcile His new people to God. The reconciliation Jesus secured for us is not just a lukewarm tolerance, either with God or each other. With God, we are not just spared from condemnation, we are adopted and blessed. With one another, we are not just coexisting, but are being built into a holy Temple, as interconnected as bricks in a wall.
You and I, brothers and sisters, are part of Jesus’ master redemption plan. Christ has brought us together in Him and brought us to God, that we could be a glorious choir, singing His praises in perfect harmony. Real unity has been secured by Christ, and if we will recognize it by faith and all lean into Him, we will experience the blessings.
Discussion Idea: What areas in our society need reconciliation? How does the gospel apply to those areas?
Prayer Focus: Lord, help us to recognize the reconciliation You have already accomplished by the cross and help us to live worthy of it.
