God’s plan to unite

His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body, to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility: Ephesians 2v14-16

Our society remains deeply divided along lines of race, gender, language, tribe and socio-economic class. News reports, and even our own daily experiences, frequently confront us with tales of anger, racism, xenophobia, hatred and other manifestations of prejudice.

At times, we may be driven towards discouragement and despair, but the message of the Bible is one of hope. It tells us that this brokenness and division stems from humankind’s sinful rebellion against its Creator.

Our rejection of God’s loving rule has alienated us from Him, and the severing of this basic relationship has led to the breakdown of all other relationships.

Nowhere was this hostility, division and alienation more evident than in the relationship between 1st century Jews and Gentiles.

The Jews looked down on the Gentiles, regarding them as “unclean” and even referring to them as “dogs”. However, the book of Ephesians tells the story of God’s great plan of restoration, and His purpose “to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ” (1v10).

Central to this plan is Christ’s work on the cross, where the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile was destroyed, and as a result of which God has now made one new man out of the two, uniting them into one body, the Church: a body that is united not only in itself, but also to its Creator. This is the good news of the gospel, and the message that our nation so desperately needs to hear: that in Christ, and through faith in him, we can be reconciled to our Creator which, in turn, enables us to be reconciled to our fellow man. Bryan Marx, Grahamstown Baptist

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