Jesus' Blood Creates Unity for the Human Race — Ephesians 2.13

What hath the blood of Christ wrought? We have seen so much, but we are not finished. The blood that Jesus shed, His atoning suffering, has restored unity to the human race (Eph 2.13).

Sin destroyed that unity in the Garden (Gen 3) and in the Plains of Shinar (Gen 11). Upon their sin, Adam and Eve hid from God. They “hid” from each other, too, by covering their nakedness to protect themselves from each other. The unity of the first family, that made up the entire human race, shattered.

After the horror of the Flood, God renewed His promise of blessing for the race (Gen 9.1). But the unified race gathered in Shinar refusing to accept the blessing. Their goal? To avoid “filling the earth” (cp. Gen 1.28), to maintain their unity in rebellion against God. So God sundered human language. Their unity, now characterized by open rebellion, meant that no form of rebellion would be impossible With the sundering of language came the shattering of the race. From Genesis 12 to the death of Christ, God required Israel to remain distinct from the nations.

The reason for this separation was to preserve the nation as the source through whom blessing would come to all nations (Gen 12.3; 22.28; 26.4; 28.14; 39.2-5, 21-23; 41.38-40; 45.8; 47.13-26). But Israel never really took that destiny seriously. By the time of Jesus they sought, not merely distinctness, but separation. They despised the other nations. No one sought their blessing.

To remedy this, God sent Jesus. Ephesians 2.13 addresses this issue. It is the work of Jesus that reunites Jew and Gentile. This work begins the restoration of the race. If God’s plan is to bless the whole human race, the work of Christ sets in motion the  fulfillment of the plan. The Church, then, is the first step in bringing God’s blessing to all humanity, all set in motion by the blood of Christ. And this we celebrate, taking the cup at the Lord’s Supper.