Ephesians 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
Peace is a strongly debated concept in our interconnected yet greatly diverging world. It would appear that all you need for a recipe of disaster, hatred, and blame is two differing ideas. It seldom matters whether these differences exist between two individuals, countries, or hemispheres. Unrest and selfish pride is no respecter of the rich and the powerful, or the weak and the poor; all that is needed is a number measuring greater than one.
Possibly the largest illusion concerning this concept is the idea that peace finds its only enemies in hatred and war. Before there is hatred, all love and compassion must die. Before there is war, all sense of hope must first be abolished.
Ephesians chapter two reminds us that Jesus Christ is our peace. It is only through His love that our salvation was established. It is only in our hope of His return that we will experience eternal peace with God the Father in heaven. If love and hope must rule the human heart for the existence of peace, I can think of no other avenue than the name of Jesus Christ. “Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). It was only after Jesus entered into your heart that peace was even a possibility. Now you must ask not, “Is peace possible,” but rather, “Do I desire it?”
I challenge you to look first to your own homes and community before you set your eyes on our world? You are a child of God and it is your responsibility to carry His name and His message to a fallen world. At the center of Christ’s existence is love and hope. Outpouring from this should be a peace with your family, your neighbor, and God. “He Himself is our peace,” yet we live our lives in hatred and contempt towards those around us. Before their can be peace with your family there must be love in your heart. Before their can be peace with your neighbor their must be a hope in Christ Jesus. Father and son, black and white, Muslim and Christian will never have peace without Jesus Christ indwelling inside each of their hearts. You are half way there if Christ is lives in you… now you must take the message of Christ to those living without Him. We have not been called to sew seeds of hatred and war, but of love, hope and peace. It’s your decision.