Day 21: Christ Himself Is Our Peace
Bible passage: Ephesians 2:14–18
The Final Day
Today is Friday 21st of January 2022. Welcome to Day 21, the final day of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Thank you for seeking God with us. We finish where all true peace begins and ends: at the cross.
Paul is writing to a church made up of Jews and Gentiles, two groups who had been divided for centuries by history, culture and religion. In the Jerusalem temple there was even a wall that Gentiles were forbidden to pass.
Peace Is a Person
He Is Our Peace
Paul does not say that Jesus taught peace or negotiated peace. He says, “For Christ himself has brought peace to us.” Ephesians 2:14 (NLT) Peace is not first of all a feeling or an agreement. It is a Person.
The Wall Came Down
In His own body on the cross, Jesus broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did two things at once. He reconciled us to God, and He reconciled us to one another. Through Him, all of us now come to the Father by the same Spirit (Ephesians 2:15–18).
You cannot have the first without the second. If the cross has brought me to God, it has also brought me to everyone else He has welcomed.
One New People
A New Identity
Paul says that out of the two groups Jesus created one new people. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone and a new life has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17).
That means my identity in Christ comes before my nationality, my generation, my background and my opinions. Psalm 100:3 says that we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
A Church for All Nations
Our name is All Nations Community Church. That is more than a name. It is a calling. Wythenshawe is home to people of many cultures and backgrounds. Does our church family reflect that? Is there anyone we are leaving out without meaning to?
Search your heart. Are you holding hostility towards another Christian? Repent of it, and bless that person by name today.
Cross the room. This Sunday, sit with someone you do not know well. Invite someone from a different background to your home.
Pray for unity. Pray for the churches of Wythenshawe and Manchester, that we would stand together and show our city what the cross can do.
Our 21 days end today, but the journey does not. Carry His peace with you into the rest of this year.
Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, You are my peace. Thank You that at the cross You broke down every wall between me and the Father, and between me and my brothers and sisters. Forgive me for any hostility I have held on to. Make our church one family from many nations. Thank You for meeting us in these 21 days. Send us out as people of peace. Amen.
Keep going
See every day of this guide on our Prayer & Fasting page.
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