2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Have you ever just felt off—like you were missing the mark as an employee, coworker, parent, spouse? Ephesians acknowledges that reality. While I would like it to tell me that I am good and to, “Be me!”, Ephesians says that on my own, I miss the mark. Here is the even more disappointing thing; I don’t just miss it a little bit, I am FAR OFF.
But thankfully, Jesus takes our broken reality and brings us back in a way that only He can. His perfect love, demonstrated by the blood of Jesus translates our failings into righteousness, our errors into opportunities for grace. He did it all by laying His life down on our behalf.
2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Sometimes I overlook how much His love overcame in my life. Ephesians calls the barrier that my sin has created a “dividing wall of hostility.” What was able to take down this dividing wall between us and the life God wants for us? Verse 14 says that it was Jesus’ physical sacrifice on the cross that provides peace to those who find themselves “far off.”
So when we celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross on Good Friday, and His resurrection on Easter Sunday, remember that what we celebrate is Jesus’ amazing act of bringing us back in relationship with God. Where there was once hostility between us and God, now we have peace, reconciliation, and a reason to rejoice!
