The new man is of the two peoples-the Jews and the Gentiles. This is the reason Paul in Ephesians 2:15 speaks of Christ’s creating “the two in Himself into one new man.” The word “two” in this verse refers to the Jewish and the Gentile believers.
Ephesians 2:16 says, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, slaying the enmity by it.” The word “both” refers to the Jews and the Gentiles. Not only the uncircumcised Gentiles but also the circumcised Jews needed reconciliation to God through the redemption of Christ accomplished on His cross.
Originally, we were not only sinners but also enemies of God. Enmity is the greatest problem between man and God. Through the redeeming death of Christ, God has justified us, the sinners, and has reconciled us, His enemies, to Himself. We were reconciled to God when we believed in the Lord Jesus. By faith we have received God’s reconciliation.
Ephesians 2:16 says that the Jews and the Gentiles have been reconciled in one Body. This one Body, the church (1:22-23), is the one new man in the previous verse. It was in this Body that both the Jews and the Gentiles were reconciled to God through the cross. We, the believers, both Jews and Gentiles, were reconciled not only for the Body of Christ but also in the Body of Christ.
We usually regard reconciliation as an individual matter; we do not often think of corporate reconciliation. However, the proper and genuine reconciliation is in the Body. The Body is the instrument, the means, by which we were reconciled to God.
This corporate concept of reconciliation pervades the New Testament. Our concept, however, is that we were reconciled to God as individuals. But in the sight of God, we have been reconciled to Him in the one Body. The exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt is a clear picture of this. In Egypt the children of Israel were, in a sense, far off from God. After they were brought out of Egypt and had passed through the Red Sea together, at Mount Sinai they were reconciled to God as one congregation, not as individuals. That was a type of our being reconciled to God in the one Body. We need to have this corporate concept. Instead of thinking that we have been reconciled individually, we need to see that we have been reconciled to God corporately in one Body.
Because the Jews and the Gentiles have been reconciled to God, they have been brought into peace. By Christ’s abolishing in His flesh the separating ordinances and creating the Jewish and Gentile believers into one new man, peace was made between all believers. For this reason, in Ephesians 2:15 Paul speaks of Christ’s “making peace.” Christ has abolished on the cross all the differences due to ordinances. In so doing, He has made peace for His Body. Now this peace should bind all believers together and thus become the uniting bond (Eph. 4:3).
Before Christ was crucified, there was no peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. According to 2:15, by Christ’s abolishing in His flesh the separating ordinances and creating the Jewish and Gentile believers into one new man, peace was made between all believers. Furthermore, on the cross, Christ dealt with all the negative things between us and God. This means that He also made peace between man and God. Now there is no longer a separation between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers nor between us and God. However, at the time Ephesians was written, some of the Jewish believers still held the concept that they should be separate from the Gentile believers. For this reason, Paul said that the middle wall of partition has been broken down and that the Jewish and Gentile believers must be one. Otherwise, there can be no oneness, and without oneness there cannot be the one Body. If we would be brought into peace and stay in the peace, we need to realize that the differences between the Jews and the Gentiles have been abolished on the cross.
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