Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Thought:  To me, God has resolved our spiritual human-need crisis very well, and very simply:  it's all "in Christ."

Question:  Do I fully appreciate what God has done when He embodied every solution to my soul's needs in His Son?

Scripture:  Ephesians 2:14 (NIV):  "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,"

Paul of course refers here to Jew and Gentile people.  "The two" differing groups are made one "in Christ."  There's that phrase again:  "in Christ."  Everything good and valuable is in Jesus Christ.  Christ Himself is "our peace", our salvation, our joy, our life, our everything.  The only way we can have any of these qualities is to be, to exist, live and thrive, IN CHRIST.

Christ has "destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility."  Peace eradicates hostility.  The barrier that divided Jew and Gentile, to me, consisted of several things.  First of all birthright.  To be a Jew and thus know God at all required that you be a descendant of Abraham.  This was an unresolveable problem for most gentiles.  Circumcision was a second barrier.  And on and on we could go.  All the Pharasaical laws and rules piled up into an insurmountable barrier wall that excluded Gentiles.  Apparently Jews were convinced that no Gentile could possible know God because they were not blessed with all that the Jews were given.  How tragic!  But whether or not this was justified, the barrier stood and was insurmountable.  Only God could begin to break it down.  Only Christ could "destroy" it utterly.  Hostility of men is an unresolveable, non-mediateable, immoveable barrier, that only the touch of God can help.  God's touch is the gift of Jesus Christ.  Jesus embodies peace because He dissolves hostilities.  He does so by eliminating the need for rule-keeping as a way of salvation.  He improved rule-keeping by keeping all rules Himself and covering us when we all fail to keep the rules.  Thus the Jews needed no longer to vainly glory in their rule-keeping, (which was a lie anyway.  No human can truly keep all rules.)  And thus the Gentiles needed no longer to worry about their failure at rule-keeping:  a new standard was raised--Jesus Christ, the only authentic Rule-Keeper.  Entering vicariously into Him is our way to "keep the rules"!  Entering into Him is our only way of peace because He is our peace.

Prayer:  I am so glad, Lord God, that all my needs are met in Christ!  Help me to remember this at every point of want.  Amen. 

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