The Barrier Breaker

By Danny Saavedra

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” — Ephesians 2:14–16 (NIV)

There’s a lot of division in our world. All around the world, barriers, borders, walls, and labels are created to divide and destroy.

The color of your skin

The language you speak

Your nationality

Your gender

Your political affiliation

Your religious affiliation

Your activism, stance on certain issues, lifestyle choices, favorite sports teams, favorite comic book publisher...There’s so much at work in this world to divide us and create walls of separation and hostility between us. All around us, every day, for even the most insignificant things, these barriers cause us to wage war against one another.

Today’s verse speaks of this division, of a barrier between humanity: the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. In Ephesians 2:12 (NIV), Paul explains, “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

This is incredibly important. Why? It identifies the only true division that really existed in humanity: the distinction between Jew and Gentile. Of all our human distinctions and divisions, this is the one that really counts, because it was made by God. He made the distinction, but it’s a covenantal distinction, not a racial one. The children of Abraham were under the covenant of God, as His nation and His people. But God made a promise to Abraham long ago that “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 22:18 NIV). And that offspring was Jesus who came to reconcile us to God and to one another! He came to make peace between all humanity and God, which also brought down the walls of division between us.

And now because of Jesus, Ephesians 2:13–14 (NIV) declares, “In Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” He further emphasizes this point in Galatians 3:28 (NIV): “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” and in Colossians 3:11 (NIV): “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

Jesus came to tear down every wall and unite us as one people under one accord with one heart and one mission! So, your neighbor who is a different race, your coworker who holds different political beliefs, your family member whose lifestyle you don’t agree with...they’re not so different than you. They are those whom Jesus came for, died for, and called you to make disciples of. They’re not your enemy! Erase the lines in the sand, reach across party lines, and share the good news of Jesus, because “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience [...] And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12–14 NIV).

Pause: What are some dividing labels that have been placed on you or that you have bought into as it pertains to you or others? How have these divisions impacted you?

Practice: Today, pray for unity and peace in our world...the kind of unity and peace that is only provided through the work of Jesus in our hearts. Pray for revival in our churches and an awakening in our cities.

Pray: Father, I thank You today for tearing down the wall between You and me. Thank You for Jesus, who made it possible for me to come into Your presence, receive Your grace, and be adopted into Your family. I pray You would use me, God, to be a peacemaker and barrier breaker in the world as the Spirit works in and through me. Amen.