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. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to
those who were near. Ephesians 2:14-17
Peace comes
through a resolution over a conflict.
One side claims victory and the other side claims defeat. Only one can be right. Our hostility with God began over our sinfulness. We think we know what’s right so we fight
over it and demand it and want God to bow to our demands. He refuses because, well, He’s always right
(it’s called holiness and righteousness).
In this case, Jesus did all that was necessary to end the conflict by
accepting death to die for those who were hostile to Him. He wrote the peace treaty, did everything to
create the peace, and now Jesus just waits for us accept the terms. In the end, we accept that God was always
right and we were always wrong (aka repentance). We accept defeat but the crazy thing is we
actually receive victory and eternal life.
No other peace treaty is quite like it.