Daily Devotions
Ephesians
"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."
Text: Ephesians 2:15
BROKEN DOWN AND ABOLISHED
A very powerful word was employed to describe the significance of the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. The word “abolish” (“katargeo” – to destroy, to do away with) was used in conjunction with the word “broken down” (“luo”) in the previous verse (Ephesians 2:14). Taken together, the picture painted is a very striking one indeed.
The word “abolished” extends the meaning of the idea of “broken down”. Not only had the wall of separation been effectively destroyed, it was also abolished. Never more would that wall exist ever again.
Great authority and power had to be exercised if any law was to be effectively abolished or repealed. There was only One Person who could abolish the Law. The Lord Himself would have to abolish the “law of commandments contained in ordinances”.
“IN HIS FLESH”
The significance of this phrase must not be underestimated. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews correctly expounded the significance of Christ donning flesh. The following text highlights this significance.
“Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a Body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come-
In the volume of the book it is written of Me-
To do Your will, O God.'”
HEBREWS 10:5-7
1. All within God’s Profound plan
God did not send Jesus to offer “burnt sacrifices and sacrifices for sin”. The Levitical priesthood did that work.
2. God planned to give Christ a human body
God’s plan was for Jesus to be given a human body. Did Jesus understand the significance of His Father’s plan?
3. Perfect understanding of God’s Plan
The Lord Jesus Christ fully comprehended what the Father had planned. Immediately and fully, He yielded Himself to do His Father’s will (Cf. Hebrews 10:7; Psalm 40:8)
4. Christ would be the Lamb of God
The phrase “in the flesh” was a veiled reference to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would become that one and only “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”. Through His death on the Cross of Calvary, Christ would also do away with the ordinances of “burnt offerings and sacrifices of sin”. The old system would be abolished forever because of the Perfect Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In and through His death, in the flesh, Christ abolished the enmity that had separated Jews and Gentiles.