Reconciliation Through the Cross

Scripture — Ephesians 2:14-16 (NRSV)

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

Devotion

This Friday Christians will commemorate the death of Christ on the cross in a special way. Good Friday, as we call it, is a day for sober reflection as we consider what it cost God to deal with our sin. Usually, and quite appropriately, we think about how we have been personally touched by the cross. We consider how Christ took not just sin in general but our own sin upon his shoulders. We are struck once again by the awesome grace of God for us personally. As we survey the “wondrous cross,” we remember once again that “love so amazing, so divine,” which “demands my soul, my life, my all” (“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” by Isaac Watts).

Yet there is another dimension of the cross that we sometimes overlook. We see this dimension clearly in Ephesians 2:14-16, where the death of Christ on the cross brings reconciliation not only between people and God but also between alienated people groups. According to this passage, Christ is our peace in that he has destroyed “ the dividing wall of hostility” between hostile peoples, in this instance Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14). Christ sought to “reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross (Ephesians 2:16). Yes, the cross enables reconciliation between human beings and God. But it also enables reconciliation among human beings.

This makes sense when we remember what happened when sin first entered the world. In Genesis 3, the very first thing human beings did after sinning was to cover up themselves and hide from each other. From a theological point of view, we would rightly say that the immediate result of sin was a breach between people and God. Yet in the telling of the story in Genesis, the primary evidence of this is a breach between formerly unified human beings. Therefore, if the death of Christ deals with the fundamental problem of sin, we would expect one implication of this to be actual reconciliation between people.

In thousands of workplaces today we sense a deep need for reconciliation. Coworkers are divided against coworkers, workers against management, executives against other executives, and so on. In many cases, systemic injustices divide people according to race, ethnicity, gender, age, or class. We have a desperate need to experience true reconciliation that doesn’t just gloss over problems but rather embodies the fullness of God’s peace and justice.

The death of Christ doesn’t instantly bring reconciliation to divided workplaces. But it does lay a foundation for true, deep, lasting reconciliation in every sector of life. Moreover, it enlists those of us who have experienced reconciliation with God through Christ to be agents of reconciliation in the world, including the places where we work. If Christ gave his life to bring reconciliation to a broken world, surely those of us who follow him will seek to bring reconciliation to the places in the world to which God has sent us, including our workplaces.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: God’s Grand Plan: A Theological Vision (Ephesians 1:1–3:21).