Breaking Down the Wall of Hostility

Breaking Down the Wall of Hostility

By Pastor Matt Black

31 December 2006
Lord's Day morning
Ephesians 2:15-16

Open your Bibles to Ephesians 2, and let’s read verses 11-22. The title of this morning’s message is “Breaking Down the Wall of Hostility”.

We will be looking specifically at Ephesians 2:14-16, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:”

Introduction: We’re going to learn this morning that Christ comes into this world to set it right! In Adam the whole world fell into a world of iniquity, but when Christ comes into the world, He begins to recreate it one heart at a time!

Our outline this morning is simple.

I. Recognize the hostility in your heart.

II. Respond with the humility that is in Christ.

III. Rest in the hope that is in Christ.

I. Recognize the hostility in your heart. We read in verse 14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us: 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity…”. Christ came to deal with this “enmity”.

A. What is “enmity”? It means hostility or hatred. When you think of hatred and hostility you probably never think of yourself. You might think of criminals and people with bad marriages, or people at war. This enmity is something we all deal with. It manifests itself in various ways. For the Jews and Gentiles, it was the fact that the Jews lived so differently. This enmity is always a pride issue. It’s responding with a proud spirit to a situation. It manifests itself in a wide spectrum. It may simply show up in your life as frustration. Frustration with job, kids… frustration with a friend who hurt you… frustration with an illness, a trial or a tragedy. It may show up as a spirit of unrest. It may show up as an irritation, or it may be stronger. It may build and build. It may turn to bitterness, anger, hatred, or even rage. It may show itself as jealousy or envy. It may even be malicious and deceitful. The truth of the matter is that on a human level, all conflict, bitterness, envy, hatred, and strife—the enmity that Paul is talking about here—is not a battle against the person who hurt you or who you are unhappy with, or with your current trial or unhappy circumstances.

B. Where did this “enmity” (or hostility) come from? The hostility began with Adam in the Fall. We read in verse 15, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances”. The hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles

Remember Ephesians 2 begins with the depressing realization that we are all by nature spiritually dead to God—absolutely no relationship with God is possible in that condition. With death all relations cease. You can’t go to your great great grandfather’s for New Years can you? Why? Because you are separated from any relationship with him by death. In the same way we are all separated from God because of our sins—“dead in trespasses and sins” (verse 2). The first man Adam had wonderful fellowship with God and then he did something that destroyed all fellowship with God and Adam’s race. Isaiah said, “your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you” (Isaiah 59:2).

Adam’s rebellion plunged the whole human race into utter turmoil. It wasn’t like the angelic race in heaven. There were some angels who remained holy. With Adam, our whole race became the enemies of God. Verse 14 reflects this. It says there was a great “wall” of hostility between us—not only between ourselves and others, but as verse 16 says, there is a wall between the entire human race and God. There was a time when every one of us was completely defeated by sin and living as slaves to the Wicked one. At that time, we walked in total blindness, unaware as to who God truly was and is. We lived as slaves to sin and Satan as verse 3 says, “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (verse 3). We were hopeless! Our baptism, our church, our good works—none of that helped us. None of that took down the wall that was between us and God!

C. Who is this earthly hostility against? You must recognize that every conflict you have with others is really with Christ! How you respond to others is directly related to your relationship (or lack of relationship) with God.

Obviously, our text makes clear that our hostilities normally manifest themselves in our relationships with other people. Verse 15 tells us that this “enmity” between the Jews and Gentiles stemmed from
“the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace”.

So, again, how you respond to others is directly related to your relationship (or lack of relationship) with God. This principle is found in Matthew 25. According to this passage, we will all be judged by this standard on the Day of Judgment.

Listen to the words of Christ:

Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Anything we do to others shows our relationship to Christ.

The opposite is also true!

Matthew 25:45, “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

Recognize this hostility in your heart! Every frustration, every day of unrest rises from your lack of trust in God. It rises right from the depravity of your perverse heart. Your heart is out of order. You will never come to right relation with Christ unless you first see the “wall of hostility” not just between you and your fellow man—not just Jew and Gentile—but ultimately between you and God.

This is seen in the illustration of the “wall of hostility.” Look again at verse 14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”

There various walls outside the temple that separated various peoples. The priests from the people, then the people were divided Jews first and then Gentiles. Jews were separated Male and Female. One thing was in common though. They were ALL outside of God’s presence! None were allowed! This wall of hostility may separate us from our neighbor, a family member, a boss, but ultimately the wall separates us from who? From God!!

So we need to recognize this enmity—this hostility—in our hearts.

II. Secondly, you need to Respond to your circumstances with the humility that is in Christ. How can we do this? We must identify with Christ’s death on the Cross. Look again at our text in verses 14-16, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:”

How should we respond to the frustration that rises in our souls? How should we deal with the wrongs that are against us?

Christ has conquered our hostility “in His flesh”, “by [His death] on the cross.”

A. The wall of enmity is broken down “in His flesh” (verse 15) and “by the cross” (verse 16). This is significant. What is it that removes the hatred and hostility in our human relationships and that great wall of pride between us and God? It is to enter into the Cross and humiliation of Christ. We must come to God “by the Cross”.

It is in His flesh and by the Cross that Christ abolishes the hostility in our hearts. Christ “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). The Creator lived… and DIED as a creature. He created Mary’s womb and then inhabited it and put on human flesh. Then He subjected Himself to life as a creature. The Self Sufficient Creator of the world became subject to hunger and need, sleepless nights of prayer, fleeting and changing emotions… joy, love, indignation, anger, peace, laughter, and sorrow! The Son of God lived as we live, yet without sin! And then “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

To come to God is to lose all your pride and dignity and be united with the humility of the Cross of Jesus. It is to imitate Christ. We can see the humility of Christ so clearly in Isaiah 53. Turn over there. We come face to face with the humanity of Christ in this amazing chapter. We learn:

· There was “no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2)

· “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (verse 3).

· “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (verse 7).

We need to respond to all hostility around us and say with Paul in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

B. All walls of hostility in our life will be by coming into right relationship with God and imitating Christ.

Christ is our peace! Jew and Gentile are reconciled to each other where ever salvation has occurred. Paul marveled at this unity! How does this happen? Humility!!! Andrew Murray says “the relation of the creature to God could only be one of unceasing, absolute, universal dependence.”[1] Murray is right when he calls humility “the place of entire dependence on God”.

III. Finally, we need to Rest in the hope that is in Christ.

A. In Christ we have a new vision. Christ came to destroy this—“the enmity”. I want you to notice that Christ did something to abolish the enmity. What did He do? Verse 15, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Christ came to take away the ceremonial law that was just a shadow and a figure, and He came to fulfill the moral law for all men, both Jew and Gentile. Turn over to Romans 8. The hostility that comes from all of us comes from trying to live life ourselves! We need to not attempt life on our own, we need to depend on and rest in Christ! Look at Romans 8:3, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Christ has done it all! Christ has come and abolished the hostility between you and God. You can’t fulfill the Law, but Christ did! You cannot live holy without Christ! If you want to be reconciled to God you must turn to Christ. If you want to be reconciled to men, you must turn to Christ!

Look at the hostility in your heart. Your hope is not in yourself! You’ve gone astray. You cannot bring peace! Christ is our peace! The Bible says Christ “abolished in his flesh the enmity”. We see that we ourselves cannot remove that hostility in our hearts. Christ must remove it. What does that tell us?

B. In Christ there is a new Creation.

A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST!

Christ came to make Verse 14, “One new man” Verse 16, “reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross”

We see in these verses that the human race is re-created in Christ! Remember what Paul told the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15:22? “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Every one in Adam dies. Humanity is lost. All mankind is destroyed. But all who are in Christ “shall all be made alive.” The Bible expresses this concept of new life in various ways.

Ø Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

Ø Paul said if we are in Christ we are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

You say, “Great. I’m glad Christ will do that. What’s that got to do with me?” Perhaps you think your problem is that you need a better job or a better marriage. Friend, a new job or some new person in your life is not going to set things right in your soul. This world is not secure. It will fail you. Once you think you’ve solved one problem, a new one will have replaced it. Sin is a complicated mess! It destroys so much—families, marriages, livelihoods, nations.

Application: Christ alone can set things right in your life. Your ultimate problem is not your job or your health or your family! Your problem is your sin! Your heart strays far away from God. Your greatest problem is that your heart is inclined to love the world and to ignore and even at times despise and resent God.

Can I let you in on a secret? You cannot set your life aright. You must look to Christ.

Christ stands ready to reconcile you to Himself.

Christ stands ready to reconcile you to your worst enemy.

Christ stands ready to destroy every single one of your sins.

What ever disaster you are facing, Christ stands ready to make it new

Conclusion: This is an important message. Tonight we will have the Lord’s Table. We need to get things between ourselves and others right. We need to ultimately get things between us and God right. There out to be nothing between your soul and the Saviour!

Closing Hymn: 428 Nothing Between My Soul and the Saviour