… and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Summary: The history of humanity is littered with conflict. The power of God restores peace between men.
I love reading the Bible! It is not just a “book,” but it’s THE book. When I read the Bible, I hold in my hands a letter from God explaining everything I need to know about life.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 12:1)
These words are a simple but factual statement of how the earth, and all that is in it, came to be. Then it says, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
God created us. We are not a random collection of nucleotides that accidentally ordered themselves into DNA. We are created beings. We were designed by our Creator (John 4:24) to be spiritual beings (John 3:5).
Unfortunately, humanity was tainted by sin (Genesis 3:6-7). Before we had so much as begun to enjoy the beauty of God’s Garden, humanity was cast out and placed under a curse (Genesis 3:16-19).
Thus, hostility was born, and immediately, it raised its ugly head.
Eve gave birth to her firstborn son, Cain, and later to another son, Abel. As an older brother myself, I understand the responsibility that goes with having younger siblings. They are both a burden and a responsibility. But Cain was jealous of his younger brother, and he thought he could cure the pain of jealousy by eliminating the source of the pain. He killed his brother (Genesis 4:8).
Cain was older than Abel. He had the advantage of being first. He should have known better.
As Christians, our “big brother” is the Jewish nation. Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of God’s people (Genesis 12:1-3). God blessed Abraham, and through Abraham, he blessed the world.
God’s blessing is not just idle talk. When God blessed Abraham and his descendants, he imbued their DNA with advantages that the rest of God’s creation does not have. To be a descendant of Abraham is to be blessed with a mind and body that is better than the average human.1
To be blessed with superior abilities must be a wonderful thing. Yet, imagine what a person could do if they had superior abilities but were not subservient to God. Imagine having to choose between being a good “big brother” and a bad one.
Paul is a “good big brother.” He devoted himself to serving us Gentiles. When he speaks of “reconcil[ing] both of them to God through the cross,” he is explaining how God, through his Son, Jesus Christ, removed any excuse for hating our brothers and sisters in the faith. As he affirms many times, in Christ, there is no Jew or Gentile.2
Application: Be careful how we care for all of God’s creation.
Food for Thought: What is required to “kill” hostility?
1 “Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates. Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.”
(Brooks, David (January 11, 2010). “The Tel Aviv Cluster”. The New York Times. p. A23.)
2 Colossians 3:11, Galatians 3:28, Romans 10:12
The cross. Jesus put the hostility between Jew and Gentile to death by the cross. The work has already been done – we just need to apply it.
Rich,
I wonder if we thing of your words “apply it” as “work.” The real work was what Jesus did on the cross. The “work” we do is not really work in that sense, it is choosing. We choose to follow Jesus or not, and in that choice we sometimes feel like we are making an effort…
I’m not sure where I am going with this thought but it is interesting. Thank you for your words this morning! 🙂
04-23-2023, What is required to “kill” hostility?
Submission to God’s will as Jesus did for us, as we die to sin, in submission to God through through the power of the Holy Spirit kills all hostility between ourselves and our God as well as our hostility toward others of this world.
Ephesians 2:16 And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Colossians 3:1, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Ron,
Thank you! When you write “as we die to sin” you are pointing us to the killing ground for hostility. Hostility within us towards anyone is literally sin! What are the great commandments? Love God above all else and our neighbors as ourselves. (Matt 22:37-40)
Before we can hope for the hostility around us to diminish, we have to allow the hostility within us to be killed.
Interestingly, you point to the secret to killing hostility within us.
As we live mindful of, focused on, growing in the great commandments, we simply do not have the time or the desire to allow hostility to take away from our growing relationship with our God.
Amen!
That is a good “self check” if we ever want to know how we are doing in our Christian walk. 🙂
What is required to “kill” hostility?
Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding…..
So many different ways come to mind from loving your neighbors, forgiving because you’ve been forgiving, being humble, we are made in the image of God, fruit of the spirit, being equipped to kill with the full armor, knowing what we are fighting against and trying to kill in this battlefield, and Understanding that there is a time and place to kill.
Tim,
Thank you! Your thoughts on hostility remind me of Ephesians 6:12 —
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”