Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:14–19
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
There is tension everywhere—both outside and inside. We face friction and fights at work, divisions in the church, and unrest at home between husband and wife, and between parents and children. Why? We fight and get angry with people, thinking, “They did that to me! How can they behave like this?” Sometimes we get angry with our situations, or even with God.
Why do we keep blaming others for our tensions? Because we think the problem lies with others. We fail to realize that our fundamental problem is a lack of peace within ourselves—a peace that would enable us to endure whatever people do to us. If even small things people do can disturb us so easily, it shows that we do not possess true peace. If we are to live at peace with others, we must first have peace within ourselves. In a way, all our internal and external problems can be traced back to a lack of peace. Mental health experts agree: true inner peace is the very foundation for us to reach our highest potential and achieve great things.
The great question is: why don’t we have peace in our hearts? Finding the root cause is critical. If we diagnose the wrong root cause, we will run after temporary, wrong remedies. Only when we know the right root cause can we find the permanent remedy.
The truth of God’s Word reveals that the true root cause for all lack of peace is a guilty conscience. All our restlessness is due to a guilty conscience. That guilty conscience is caused by the burden of sin and the realization that we do not have peace with God. We feel an enmity between ourselves and God. The problem is not outside; constant inner turmoil is the voice of God in your conscience warning you, sounding alarm signals: “You are doing wrong… you are walking down a path of self-destruction.” That is what causes all kinds of restless minds, tension, depression, and a hundred other psychological problems. A person may smile in public, project happiness to the world, perform well in life, and enjoy time with family—yet still feel deep inward unrest when alone. Why? Because the conscience knows what the lips may deny. The only way to solve that is to lay aside all your pride and arrogance, come truly, sincerely, and humbly to the cross, repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as proud sinners, we will do anything except that.
Instead of addressing this spiritual reality, we misdiagnose the problem and turn to worldly remedies for a cure. We turn to worldly entertainment, distractions, or friends; or, as depression deepens, we turn to psychiatrists who offer a convenient lie as a temporary patch: “There is nothing wrong with you; everything is wrong with the world, your situation, your parents, or your spouse.” They teach you how to suppress your guilt and harden your conscience, telling you, “Come on, your guilt is just because you hold to outdated, old-fashioned Bible standards—those stupid Ten Commandments, sin, law, and hell. This is the 21st century! Look at everyone else—they are doing far worse things and are so happy. Don’t measure yourself by the law or how God will judge you; measure yourself against others. You are so good, so much better… actually, you are the best! You have so much positivity. You can do it!”
This secular advice flatters our pride and hardens our conscience. Hearing all that, you temporarily feel good, and so you walk down a blind path, calling darkness light and light darkness. Then God gives such people up to a depraved mind. His Word unchangeably declares in Isaiah 48:22: “‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’” So the world has tried a hundred different ways for thousands of years, yet finds no peace. Can there be true peace within our hearts and in our homes when we do not have peace with God—who not only governs the outside world and the providence of every minute detail in our lives, but is also the only source of peace within our hearts?
You cannot heal a deep spiritual wound with a cosmetic, worldly band-aid. The distraction eventually wears off, reality strikes, and the inner turmoil returns with a vengeance, even more powerful than before. Isn’t that the problem with some of you? Are you trying to solve spiritual guilt with worldly remedies? What if the greatest problem in your life is not around you, but between you and God? The truth is, the deepest problem of our lives is that we do not naturally have peace with God. Until that vertical problem is solved, horizontal peace will always remain temporary.
When your sins against God are genuinely dealt with at the cross, the heavy burden of guilt is lifted, granting you a clean conscience. Divine joy flows into your heart, unlocking your potential to live and achieve things effectively. When we have peace with God, we will have peace of mind; then there will be peace in the home, and peace in all our relationships. When you are right with the Creator, His providence marvelously turns to bless your life, pouring supernatural, lasting peace into every horizontal relationship around you.
That is why in today’s passage in Ephesians, Paul—after speaking about the enmity between Gentiles and Jews—goes on to address the enmity between man and God. All of man’s fundamental problems are rooted in his enmity and alienation from God, and Paul shows us how the Lord Jesus Christ removed that barrier.
After contrasting our former state and present state as individual sinners in verses 1–10, Paul introduces a second contrast from verse 11 onward. After telling us to remember our former state as Gentiles, Paul says we were brought near, and he then elaborates on how we were brought near. We want to grasp verses 14 to 22 so that we understand Paul’s complete line of thought. We can remember this passage through five points beginning with the letter P:
- Person of Peace (The Origin)
- Procurement of Peace (The Process)
- Proclamation of Peace (The Announcement)
- Participation in Peace (The Experience)
- Privileges of Peace (The Consequences)
We first saw the Person of Peace in verse 14: “For He Himself is our peace.” He is the Prince of Peace. He is the center. Without Him, there is no peace for us personally, in our families, or among the nations. If you remove Him, you remove the entire basis for peace.
Next, let us look at the Procurement of Peace (The Process).
To purchase peace, two barriers had to be removed: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal barrier was between Jews and Gentiles, and the vertical barrier was between sinful man and God. Verses 14 and 15 describe how He accomplished peace between Jews and Gentiles, while verse 16 focuses on the peace established between the sinner and God.
We previously saw three hindrances to peace between Gentiles and Jews: the wall, the enmity, and the commandments. The ceremonial law had become a tremendous barrier between Jew and Gentile. What did Christ do? Verse 14 tells us, wonder of wonders, that He “has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.” That is how He procured peace between Jews and Gentiles.
Today, we will focus on two things: the procurement of peace between sinners and God, and the proclamation of that peace.
1. The Procurement of Peace Between Sinners and God
Let us ask two questions: First, what hindrances existed between sinners and God? Second, how did Christ remove them and bring peace?
What were the hindrances?
Verse 16 implies two things: separation, and the enmity that caused it. Notice the text: “And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
The deep problem is embedded in the word reconcile. Why did Christ need to reconcile us to God? If you came to me and said, “Pastor, I want to reconcile you to your wife,” I would answer, “I appreciate your love, but I don’t need help because we are not alienated.” Whenever the word reconcile is used, the baseline assumption is that two parties are separated and need to be brought together.
To bring them together, we must identify the cause of their separation. Imagine two close friends engaged in a brutal, chaotic brawl—punching, kicking, and rolling in the mud in a blind rage. When the dust settles, they spit out bitter words, turn their backs, and vow never to look at each other again. That is when reconciliation is needed. You need to unclench their fists so they can shake hands, turn their frowns into smiles, replace the hatred in their hearts with love, and bring them back together as close friends walking arm-in-arm. To do that, you must find out why they fought and solve the root problem. Unless the root issue is addressed, true reconciliation and peace cannot happen.
So, if there is separation between God and the sinner, what is its cause? The end of verse 16 points to it: “And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” There is a separation, and that separation is caused by enmity between all men and God.
Who possesses this enmity? Scripture shows that the enmity and separation exist on both sides.
From man’s side, Romans 8:7 states that “the carnal mind is enmity against God.” What is the cause of this enmity? The verse continues: “for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Man’s enmity is directed against God’s law. God says, “You are My creature, created in My image for My glory, to live in loving fellowship with Me. You can live in close fellowship with Me when you obey My law.” But fallen man in Adam, being totally depraved, will not submit to God’s law. Thus, there is active enmity in man’s heart toward God.
This does not mean every sinner consciously goes around from morning to night saying, “I hate God! I hate God!” Outwardly, he may go to church or even pray that God will hear him and bless him; yet he hates God in his lifestyle, his choices, and his overt actions. He hates submitting to God’s law and desires to live in opposition to it. His attitude reflects that of Pharaoh, who asked, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?” By nature, every unregenerate person stands with a clenched fist raised against God. He runs away, wanting to live far from God, crying, “Leave me alone!” Mankind has been doing precisely what Adam did after he sinned: hiding from the presence and the law of God.
Colossians 1:21 provides a clear commentary on this truth: “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled.” The Apostle states that enmity exists in the mind and evil works of the sinner himself.
Ask your conscience today: Why do you lack peace? Isn’t it because of a natural enmity toward God’s law? Even though you come to church and hear His Word, is there a deep resistance to His commands? Does your will rise against God’s will every day—doing the very thing He forbids? That is where your problem lies; that is the reason for all your lack of peace. If your entire life resists God’s rule, can you honestly say your deepest problem is merely about money, other people, or external circumstances? How long will you deceive yourself and make excuses for your sinful condition? That is man’s enmity.
Is this enmity present only among Gentiles? Notice verse 16: “And that He might reconcile them both to God.” Both were at enmity with God. In Romans 1, Paul demonstrates with great wisdom that Gentiles—despite God revealing Himself in nature and conscience—provoked Him through idolatry and refused to submit to His law; they are without excuse. In Romans 2, Paul shows that Jews—despite receiving special revelation—angered God through mere outward religiosity. They obeyed externally, but broke God’s law inwardly in their hearts. They taught others not to steal while coveting in their hearts; they taught others not to commit adultery while committing adultery in their hearts. Therefore, both Jews and Gentiles stand at enmity with God. As Romans 3 summarizes: “There is none righteous, no, not one… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Man’s enmity is universal.
However, the primary focus of verse 16 is not man’s enmity, but the enmity from God’s side. While both Jews and Gentiles set themselves against God’s law, how did Almighty God view that? When people continue to live in hostility toward Him, how does God feel about them? Was He indifferent to the sins of Adam’s children? Did He view them as a lenient grandfather, thinking, “They will turn out fine as they grow up, I love them anyway”—viewing man’s hostility with bland, stoic indifference? Absolutely not.
Scripture uses solemn language to describe God’s enmity and righteous anger toward sinners. His pure and holy nature burns with infinite wrath and holy indignation toward sin. Isaiah 59 addresses those who wonder why a powerful God isn’t working on their behalf: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” The face of God is hidden from evildoers. God stops His ears to the self-centered cries of sinners. Scripture affirms that the face of the Lord is set against those who do evil.
Not only is the face of the sinner turned away from God, but God’s face is turned away from the sinner in holy anger. Psalm 7:11 tells us: “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 5:5–6 declares: “You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the deceitful and bloodthirsty man.”
Someone might say, “Oh, that is all Old Testament! That has all changed in the New Testament.” Not if we read the Scriptures correctly. John 3:36 warns that for the one who rejects the Son and refuses the gospel, “the wrath of God abides on him” right now—hanging over his head like a sharpened sword. Romans 1:18 declares: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Though it may not result in immediate physical destruction, His anger is manifested in the severe spiritual judgment of giving people over to a depraved mind, dark desires, and lusts—leaving them unable to change themselves.
So we see the hindrance between man and God: a separation caused by enmity on both sides. The root cause of this separation is the breaking of God’s law, which is sin. We have an unholy enmity against God as sinners, and God has a holy, righteous enmity because of His pure nature. The primary focus of our text is on God’s holy enmity toward sin, which rested upon both Jews and Gentiles.
My friend, on the authority of Scripture, I tell you: the reason you lack peace is that you are separated from Almighty God, your Creator, and His holy wrath rests upon your head. What could be more terrifying than to live comfortably while the holy God’s face is set against your sin? What could be more dreadful than to wake up suddenly and face the full wrath of God in hell for all eternity, completely devoid of peace? If God is truly holy and you are truly guilty, on what basis do you expect peace with Him?
How did Christ remove this enmity and procure peace?
Here were two parties with their faces turned away from one another, separated by enmity. What was needed? The root cause of the enmity had to be settled to reconcile them into a loving relationship. Verse 16 tells us that this is precisely what Christ accomplished. The primary focus here is how He settled God’s enmity; subsequent verses show how He addresses man’s enmity.
An amazingly, infinitely profound event transpired on the cross. The same Christ who broke down the middle wall to make Jews and Gentiles one is the same blessed Lord who removed every barrier in God’s righteous nature. He removed all of God’s enmity toward us so that God can now joyfully and willingly accept us into loving fellowship and friendship—even adopting us as His own sons!
How was this problem resolved? Verse 16 says: “And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
He did not achieve this simply by living a good life for us, teaching us how much God loves us, or praying for us. Notice the central phrase: “through the cross.” By the perfection of His finished work, He reconciled both unto God in one body. The word body here does not refer to Christ’s physical body, but to the entire body of God’s elect—comprising both Jew and Gentile—joined together in Him.
He took all their past, present, and future sins upon Himself. All the penalty, debt, and wrath due for their sins He bore on the cross. In doing so, He satisfied God’s justice so completely that verse 16 declares He put to death the enmity of God against us as sinners. He destroyed it; He drained all the life and power from that enmity so that no wrath remains in God’s heart toward His people for their sins. Thereby, He reconciled us to God.
Paul explains this glorious truth of reconciliation even more clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:18–21:
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ… that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…”
We must not misunderstand this: it is not as though God the Father was angry and unwilling, while Christ forced Him to be reconciled. It was God the Father who initiated this work and sent His Son! How did He do it? By not imputing our trespasses to us. He did not charge the punishment of our sins to our account.
Verse 21 explains how: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
How was reconciliation accomplished and the barrier between God and the sinner removed? It was accomplished through the Great Gospel Exchange. God did not impute our sins to us; instead, He placed them upon the Lord Jesus Christ—the sinless One in whom the Father saw not a single spot of sin, whom the Father eternally loved, and from whom He was never separated for even a moment.
Yet, when the sinless Son hung upon the cross as our representative, the text says that He who knew no sin was made sin for us. In His agony on the cross, our Lord entered into the closest proximity to our sin. He did not merely carry it externally; He identified with it and its defilement so completely that He became the sin-bearer, the surety, and the substitute for His people.
When the Father beheld Him in that position, bearing our sin, what did the Father do? The Father turned His face away and hid Himself from the Son. It was this holy turning away that broke the heart of the pure Son of God, causing Him to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Our Lord experienced the full agony of that alienation.
And what is the blessed result of it all? He who knew no sin was made sin for us, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him! Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. By slaying and forever putting to death that enmity, we are reconciled to God through the cross of Christ in a completely just and righteous way. There is not a single drop of wrath left in God’s heart toward those for whom Christ died.
The emphasis of this text is on the objective accomplishment of God’s enmity being removed: “He has reconciled.” The subjective enmity in the sinner’s heart is overcome when the gospel is proclaimed and applied with power—which we see in the following verses. Christ has objectively procured this peace in both dimensions: horizontally between Jew and Gentile, and vertically between sinful man and the living God.
2. The Proclamation of That Peace
Verse 17 states: “And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.”
Let us consider three key elements here: the Proclaimer, the Message, and the Recipients.
The Proclaimer
Notice who proclaims this peace: “He came and preached peace.” Who is the “He” in this text? It is the Lord Jesus Himself! He came and proclaimed to the Ephesians the very peace that He had procured. Christ is not only the Person of peace and the Procurer of peace; He is also the great Proclaimer of peace. It is not enough for peace to be purchased; it must be proclaimed and applied, or else the procurement profits no one. It is like an effective cure for a disease: a medicine locked in a cabinet helps no one unless it is announced and administered to the sick.
Two important questions arise: When and how did Christ come to Ephesus and preach peace?
Jesus never left the region of Palestine during His earthly ministry. How could Paul say that Christ came and preached peace to the Ephesians who were far off?
- When did He preach? Christ preached to the Ephesians after His earthly ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension—not during His three years of earthly ministry.
- How did He preach? Did He physically descend from heaven to preach, or is there an unrecorded biblical event? No. This unveils a glorious truth of Scripture: Christ came and preached at Ephesus through the instrumentality of His appointed servants, who came in His name and under His authority.
In Acts 1:1, Luke writes that his gospel recorded all that Jesus began to do and teach in the flesh. The book of Acts then records what Jesus continued to do through the Holy Spirit working through His ministers and the church. The spread of the gospel and the building of the church from Acts onward is the ongoing work of Christ Himself through His Spirit, using His servants as instruments.
That is why, when sending out His apostles, Jesus repeatedly told them that they went in His name and under His Authority to preach His message; how people treated them was a direct reflection of how they treated Him. He said in Matthew 10:40: “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” Rejection of His servants and their words was a direct rejection of Christ Himself.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” They stood in the very place of Christ—their lips speaking His words. How then did Christ preach at Ephesus? When Paul came to Ephesus in Acts 18 and 19 and preached, Christ was preaching through Paul to those who were far off. Paul did not preach his own ideas, philosophies, or opinions; he preached the message of Christ, and Christ Himself spoke through him.
We must stand in awe and gratitude for our own salvation! Our Lord Jesus Christ not only left the glory of heaven, humbled Himself, lived, suffered, died, and rose again, but even after ascending to heaven, He sought us out in our spiritual lostness. He came searching for us and used human instruments to preach the Good News directly to our hearts!
Do you see the absolute grace of God at work here? God Himself does everything from start to finish. While we were spiritually dead, unable to save ourselves, and living restless, peaceless lives, He accomplished salvation, procured peace, came searching for us, proclaimed peace, and made us alive—raising us up and seating us with Christ! Even in this passage, where the physical preaching of the gospel is done by human beings, all the glory is directed away from human instruments and given entirely to Christ, because it is His work from beginning to end.
The Message
Christ is the Proclaimer, and what is His message? The text says He came and preached peace. He could have rightly come preaching judgment and just condemnation for sinners like us—announcing that God was grieved with our sin and idolatry. But wonder of wonders, He preached peace!
What is this peace? It is the proclamation of the gospel—the Good News. Why is it called peace? The gospel of Christ is a glorious, multifaceted message. It is a message of forgiveness, grace, and divine love. It is like a beautiful, finely cut diamond with many facets: every time you turn it to the light, you see a new dimension of its brilliance. All eternity will be an exposition of the rich depths of the gospel!
In this context of hostility between Jew and Gentile, and between man and God, Paul highlights this specific facet of the diamond: when Christ came preaching the Good News, the primary element proclaimed was peace. Peace holds such a prominent place that the gospel itself is called the “gospel of peace.” Peace is the very essence of the gospel, and it inevitably brings peace wherever it is received and believed.
That is why throughout Scripture, peace is synonymous with the gospel message itself. As quoted from the Old Testament in Romans 10:15: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
As it is written in Ephesians 6:15: “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
What is this message of peace that Christ preached through Paul? Paul summarizes the core message of his three years of preaching at Ephesus in Acts 20:21: “testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the apostolic gospel, and it is the only true gospel that brings real peace. In other words, there is no way to have peace with God and man until you repent toward God and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. That is the only biblical way to preach peace. It is only the genuine gospel of the apostles that can bring true peace.
If the Good News of the gospel is a message of peace, it implies that the world desperately needs this peace. Most people do not realize their deep need and instead run after false gospels.
Consider an engaged couple: while still in the honeymoon phase, they do not yet fully know each other’s flaws. If you tell them, “You need marriage counseling on how to live together in peace,” they might say, “Oh Pastor, we don’t need that!” But once they get married and live together for a few years, counseling on how to live in peace becomes wonderful news! They realize their true need. In the same way, natural men and women do not know the way of peace between themselves and God, or between themselves and others.
Notice that Paul did not come to Ephesus saying, “Let us hold peace talks with the Gentiles and solve our issues through humanism.” He did not say, “Let us try liberalism and agree on everything so we can just be friends.” Nor did he tell them to turn inward through mysticism, perform meditation for peace, stop negative thoughts, practice positive thinking, or preach a prosperity gospel for peace. No! The only way to preach and accomplish true peace—between man and God, and between man and man—is to preach the gospel of repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. The problem is not outside you; it is in your sinful heart.
Until you repent toward God, acknowledge the offense you have committed against your Creator, confess that you have failed to honor His rights as your Creator, turn to Him, and believe that through Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven and you are brought near by His blood—you will have no peace. You can try anything you want in life and listen to all the world’s solutions, but it will only harden your conscience and bring more restlessness. Until you have peace inside, you cannot achieve anything of lasting value outside, nor can you truly enjoy life. You will always find yourself in conflict with others. The problem is not external; it is the guilty conscience in your sinful heart.
So the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, keeps blinding people with his lies so they cannot see the glory of the gospel. He whispers: “Try this… try that… your problem is a lack of money… try another remedy… but whatever you do, never try the Bible’s gospel!” People conclude that the gospel can never bring peace or solve human problems, saying: “Don’t let any Bible-thumping preacher come and claim that the gospel has the answer to man’s alienation.”
So God says, “Alright, if you are so smart, you great ones of the earth, feed upon your own folly.” He gives them over to depraved minds, deeper darkness, depression, alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, self-destruction, and ultimately, eternal hell. What a sad situation we see in our country and across the world today, where fighting is everywhere. This is the judgment of God upon people who refuse to listen to the message that humbles human pride. We do not say these things harshly, but with a heavy, weeping heart for what the world is doing to billions of people.
We see this tragedy even inside churches today. Many have abandoned the apostolic gospel of peace. Even churches are putting cosmetic band-aids on deep spiritual wounds, following false teachers just as in the days of Jeremiah, where Jeremiah 8:11 warns: “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.” They fail to realize that the greatest need of all is the apostolic gospel of peace.
Having seen the Proclaimer (Christ) and the Message (the gospel of peace), let us consider the third element: the Recipients of Peace.
The text states that He came and preached peace to “you who were afar off and to those who were near.”
- Afar off refers to the Gentiles.
- Near refers to the Jews.
When Christ preached during His earthly ministry, and when He preached through the Holy Spirit after Pentecost in the book of Acts, the gospel came to both the Jews who were near and the Gentiles who were far off. There was no difference in the message proclaimed to Gentile or Jew.
Yet Paul, with great wisdom, gives proper recognition to the historical privileges of the Jews; they were near to all the promises and covenant blessings. But to the Gentiles, he reminds them: “Realize that you were far off, living in ignorance and idolatry, separated from the one true living God.” Although this was humbling to the Gentiles, Paul maintains this distinction to emphasize that Christ came and preached peace to both groups in the exact same way. Though their backgrounds were vast, there was only one message for both.
As Paul states in Acts 20:21, he testified to both Jews and Greeks “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Different audiences, but the identical message! His contextual approach may have varied—using Old Testament Scriptures to prove Christ to the Jews, while using natural revelation when addressing the Gentiles—but the core content of his message remained unchanged.
Application & Takeaways
Having looked at the Procurement of Peace between sinners and God, and the Proclamation of Peace, let us draw two vital applications: The Comfort of Peace and The Warning of Peace.
1. The Comfort of Peace
First, the fact that Christ Himself is the Proclaimer of peace should bring tremendous comfort to the weak, struggling believer.
You have trusted Christ for your salvation, humbled yourself, repented, and rested in His finished work. Yet, if you are honest, your soul feels exhausted today. You sit here haunted by a guilty conscience. There are times when the accusations of your conscience and old memories of sin haunt you. You face temptations, or perhaps you stumbled this past week, and Satan stands right beside your ear—whispering every failure, every wicked thought, and every secret shame, even while you try to worship God. The gospel promises of forgiveness seem distant and unreal, and you struggle to experience the peace and rest Christ promised when He said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
You wonder: “Did Christ really forgive all my sins? Do I truly possess eternal life?” It all feels like a shadow. The physical pain and daily stress of life seem to cloud the spiritual blessings of Christ. You try to pray, but the heavens feel like brass. You look at your Bible and think: “Is this really for me? Did Christ actually forgive all of my filth, or am I just fooling myself?”
You think to yourself: “If only Jesus could step out of the pages of history. If only He would come down from heaven, walk into this room, stand three feet away from me, look directly into my tear-stained face, and say: ‘My child, I know all about your sins. I know everything that troubles your conscience, plus ten thousand times more than your own memory can recall. I know how broken you are… and yet, I chose you. I carried every single one of those heavy, ugly sins on My shoulders to the cross. I bled for them and washed them away in My own blood. Through the cross, I put the enmity to death. I reconciled you to God. It is a done deal, once and for all.'” You feel that if you could only hear such a certain word of promise directly from the lips of Christ Himself, it would give you full assurance, calm all your fears, and drive away every doubt.
My friend, you do not have to wait for Him to physically stand three feet away, because He is speaking those exact words to you right now!
Christ speaks to your conscience through His infallible Word and by His Spirit from heaven, saying: “My child, I not only left the glory of heaven, humbled Myself, lived, suffered, died, and rose again—I ascended to heaven and came searching for you in the gutter of your lostness to preach peace to you and save you. And today, I am speaking to you from heaven to assure you of your salvation.”
How does He do this? When your pastor stands in Christ’s name and accurately proclaims His Word, declaring to the repentant believer that their sins are forgiven in Christ, that is not a mere human opinion—it is a divine verdict! It is as rock-solid and sure as if Jesus Christ physically materialized in this building, placed His pierced hand on your trembling shoulder, and whispered directly to your conscience: “I have forgiven all your sins. Go in peace.”
When Paul preached to the Ephesians and they repented and believed, Paul declared that their sins were forgiven, baptized them, and received them into the church. It was Christ Himself working through Paul to invite and reconcile them to God. Never forget that. Even as a weak preacher struggles to preach His Word accurately, Christ is personally present, speaking through a human voice, calling His sheep to Himself.
As Jesus said in John 10:16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice.” How do those other sheep hear the voice of Christ? Through the faithful preaching of His Word of truth!
Brothers and sisters, if you have been brought to believe the gospel of Christ, it is because you heard the voice of Christ and believed His promise. When you are tempted to doubt the validity of that promise, remember: it was Christ who came to you through the preacher. Believe and rejoice in this great truth: Christ has not merely set aside, but forever put to death every drop of wrath in God’s heart toward your sins, reconciling you to the Father. When you approach the Father through Christ, you do not meet an angry face, but the welcoming face of a reconciled Father. Oh, the joy of reconciliation with God! Learn to live in that light.
Spend time each day thanking Christ that He Himself is your peace. Do not seek the empty, fragile peace of the world. Jesus clearly warned us in John 16:33: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
When our Lord departed this world, He did not leave behind a perishing earthly inheritance; He left an inheritance of infinite spiritual wealth—His peace. It is the birthright of every child of God to live in that peace. John 14:27 says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Think of the supernatural peace Jesus displayed amidst the accusations of the Pharisees, the friction among His disciples, the pressures of the crowds, the false trials before the Sanhedrin, the mockery and scourging by the Romans, and the agony of the cross—a peace so profound He could pray, “Father, forgive them.” That very peace is gifted to you! What can you not endure with such peace? How poorly we often draw upon it! Ask God to fill you with His peace daily.
If you are a believer living in constant anxiety and relational friction, you are leaving your inheritance unclaimed. Stop living like a restless spiritual orphan; the Lord has promised you His peace. Remember the pathway to experiencing that peace when anxiety strikes, as written in Philippians 4:6–7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The question today is not what is happening around you; whatever happens, are you abiding in the peace of Christ amid the world’s chaos?
When you possess the peace of Christ within, it becomes so much easier to live at peace with everyone around you. Ask God to show you where any unrest in your horizontal relationships is connected to an unrest in your heart before Him. This week, when you feel irritation, conflict, or inward anxiety, do not stop at the horizontal problem. Ask first: “Lord, is my heart resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me?” That is the comfort of peace.
2. The Warning of Peace
If Christ is our only peace, if He procured this amazing peace by putting to death the enmity in God’s heart through the cross at such a tremendous price, and if the ascended Christ speaks from heaven through weak instruments to proclaim this peace—then listen carefully: this truth ought to produce solemn fear in those who listen carelessly and walk away indifferently.
When a pastor stands in all his human weakness, faltering words, and limitations to preach God’s Word accurately to you, commanding you to repent and believe, you are not merely dealing with a frail man. It is none other than Christ—the King of kings who rules the universe—preaching and calling you to come in faith! When you reject this message in unbelief to hold on to your sin, you are rejecting the very voice of the Son of God.
Perhaps you have attended church for years—regularly hearing the call to repent and trust Christ—yet you dismiss it, comforting yourself with the thought: “I just rejected the words of a simple man who gets overly excited about the Bible… just my regular pastor.”
My friend, listen to me: your dealings are not with the preacher. Your dealings are with Jesus Christ, who holds your life and eternal destiny in His hands based on how you respond to the message He sends you from heaven!
That is why Jesus said in Matthew 10:14–15: “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
Think about the sheer terror of those words. Jesus declares that it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the person who hears His Word and casually walks away. Do you realize what that means? The people of Sodom—grossly wicked, shameless in their sin, whose rebellion brought down immediate, supernatural fire and brimstone from heaven—will receive a lighter sentence on Judgment Day than an ordinary, well-behaved, respectable churchgoer who sits in a pew and calmly ignores the Gospel!
Sodom never had a pastor open the Scriptures to offer them Jesus week after week. You do! Your casual indifference is a deeper, more damnable sin in the eyes of God than the rebellion of Sodom!
Look past the weakness and stuttering of any human preacher. When God’s Word is declared line-by-line, the preacher’s voice is merely the microphone—Jesus Christ is the One speaking through it. When you sit there yawning, checking your watch, or thinking about where you will eat lunch, you are not disrespecting a mortal man; you are treating the cosmic voice of the Son of God like background noise meant for someone else! You are yawning in the face of the King of kings while He is actively issuing you a personal command to repent!
Consider the terror of accumulated guilt. Some of you have sat in church chairs for years, thinking you are safe because no immediate judgment has fallen upon you. You think: “Well, I’ve ignored a hundred sermons before, and I’m still fine.” Do you not realize what you are doing? Every single Sunday you leave unrepentant and unchanged, you are piling up mountains of terrifying evidence against your own soul for the Day of Judgment. The more clearly and accurately this Word is preached to you, the more inescapably guilty you become if you reject it. The pulpit is either drawing you closer to heaven or hardening your heart for hell!
Jesus said in John 12:48: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
Picture that terrifying courtroom scene. You will stand before the Great White Throne, and you will not be able to plead: “Nobody told me! I didn’t know!” At that exact moment, the very words of the gospel messages you heard will rise up from the grave of your memory. The headings, sentences, and warnings spoken to you will become living witnesses. They will stand in the courtroom of heaven, point their finger straight at your face, and testify: “He heard this message! He knew the path to peace, and he deliberately chose his sin instead!”
This is why faithful ministers labor over the text. This is why we do not offer cheap stories, superficial outlines, or entertaining jokes to make people laugh. If a preacher distorts His voice, God will hold him accountable for your blood. But if the message is preached accurately, clearly, and faithfully, and you still walk out those doors indifferent—the preacher’s hands are clean of your blood. The weight of eternity and the blood of your soul falls directly upon your own shoulders. As you hear His Word, you are dealing with Christ Himself. Deal with Him now, before you step out of this room and into eternity!
Do not take the Word of God lightly. If you sit here today in impenitence, let your heart consider the solemn reality of your state. We are not playing games or engaging in religious rhetoric; we are dealing with the eternal King who sits in heaven and rules the universe. The message brought to you is a message of sovereign grace, displaying the wonder of His saving work for sinners. He comes preaching peace to you—surrender to Him before His wrath is kindled!
- If the Son of God had to die to remove this enmity, how serious must your sin really be?
- If Christ was forsaken under divine wrath to make peace for sinners, how will you escape if you refuse the only peace God has provided?
- If God is holy and you are guilty, what madness makes you think you can stand before Him in your own peace?
- If Christ has borne that wrath, removed the enmity in God’s heart, and made peace through the cross, why would you look for peace anywhere else?
Repent toward God and place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will receive eternal peace!