Ephesians 2:16 (NKJV)
and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Bible Commentary
Ephesians 2:16 is a Bible verse from the New Testament where Paul is describing how God brings people together through Jesus Christ and destroys the devil. The devil’s tool of hostility is very apparent in current events. People and groups are pitted against one another, anger and opposition are stirred up and hostility reigns.
It is easy to fall into this trap of being offended by our neighbors. After all, they speak and act against our views and values that are so important to us.
Be aware, there is a powerful air of hostility that has been stirred in the spiritual realm, and it is easy to get swept away with it, like a great angry tornado. We must recognize the lie of hostility when we see it or feel it, and choose to stand fast in the rock of Jesus Christ.
God already reconciled us to Him and to one another through the cross of Jesus Christ. Note the past tense of the verbs “has made” in verse 14 and “abolished” in verse 15 below.
Ephesians 2:14-16, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
The devil is desperately trying to hang on to the territory he lost to Jesus Christ. He screams out lies and deception to us. Ephesians 4:14 says, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”
Don’t let the tornado of hostility and offense, with its trickery and deceit, sweep you away with it. You have the mind, will and emotions of Christ within you. Use them and stand firm in the rock solid absolute of Truth.
Unlocking the Truth – Bring Christ Back!
Look again at Ephesians 2:16, “and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
God the Father accomplished a great feat through the body of Jesus Christ on the cross. Not only did He reconcile His children back to Him, but He made the way for us to be reconciled with one another, if we’ll only believe it and stand firm in it.
The last part of Ephesians 2:16 tells us that God put to death the enemy. The word “enmity” in the Greek means: hostility, opposition, hatred, an adversary (especially Satan). We don’t have to live and act like the devil.
Do you believe it?
See past the hostility in a person or group, which is nothing more than the sound of lies and trickery of the devil that has been stirred up. When we unite in faith in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our enemy is routed.
Ephesians 4:13 says, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”
As we unite in faith—believing the truth that we are victorious in Christ and the devil is defeated—we live in the knowledge of the Son of God, a perfect man. Then the fullness of Christ rises through us. We have the power to bring Christ back! He lives in us.
As we unite in believing the truth, God’s peace and righteousness reign. The power of the cross put the devil to death, but we keep him alive by being swept up in his lies and tricks.
Know the Bible, your guard and weapon. It keeps us established, strengthened and settled in Christ. Believing it, speaking it and thinking it is the key to living forever in the victory and freedom Christ won for us. Study the Bible verse of Ephesians 2:16, and when the winds of hostility and deception try to carry you away, stand firm in the truth of the cross.
