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)

 

We have been made one new humanity in Christ.

When Paul mentions about the dividing wall of hostility, he may be referring to the Temple wall, which divides Jews from Gentiles in relational and social terms. However, Christ has broken down that dividing wall, which was the Mosaic law itself, through His finished work on the Cross. In doing so, He has replaced the Old Covenant, with its laws and rituals, with the New Covenant for both Jews and Gentiles alike. The two has become one in and through Christ.

Christ fulfilled His mission of reconciliation and unity when He became the peace of two opposing groups of people. As we have been fully reconciled with God, we must now learn to be fully reconciled with each other. This is not to say that as Christians, we are to try to forget or ignore our ethnic, economic, or social differences, but they should not turn into hostility in the form of personal antagonism, culture wars and racial divisiveness.

Our oneness with God and each other is already a reality waiting to be awakened from within us. Thus, we are not trying to be something that we are not, but rather allowing the Spirit of Jesus to work in our hearts and help us see ourselves as He sees us. Then, as a new humanity in Christ, we will learn to rise above the hostility and animosity that might divide us and strive to love one another so that the world knows we are His followers.