The school district where I teach has several construction projects underway. They need to bring down older buildings in order to create something new and better suited for its purpose. When I see a site in development I’m reminded of how this is also true with people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you are like most people there are walls in your life which you need God to bring down in order for you to progress and thrive.
We build walls or encounter walls for various reasons. Sometimes we face the outside of a wall and other times we hide on the inside of it.
Internal Walls
As a coping mechanism people build walls due to trauma and hurt. Understandably they seek to protect themselves from further harm and vulnerability. People also construct walls to hide shame and wrongdoing. Some attempt to secure themselves with walls of self-reliance and self-righteousness. However, these walls are only partially effective. They treat a symptom, but they don’t cure the cause. Jesus, God the Son, became a man to live, die, and rise again in order to break down these internal walls and provide abundant, lasting freedom and life for all who trust him to save them.
Here are a few examples of Jesus breaking down people’s internal walls for their benefit. Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector hated because he exploited his community to prosper the ruling Romans and himself. A wall of his own making isolated him from people. He wanted a better life. Jesus tore down that wall by accepting, forgiving, and saving Zacchaeus. In joyful response, Zacchaeus gave half his possessions to the poor and repaid all whom he cheated (Luke 19:1-10). Behind a wall of unworthiness, fear, and shame Peter the fisherman, tried to send Jesus away and later even denied he knew Jesus. But the love of Jesus reconciled and transformed Peter who went on to lead many others to find and follow Jesus (Luke 5:1-10; John 21:1-9). The pious religious leaders of first century Israel ruled behind walls of self-righteousness. Pridefully they despised Jesus even though he was perfectly righteousness. Jesus confronted their hypocrisy calling them white-washed tombs—having walls which looked good on the outside but hid rot and death on the inside. A few Pharisees took Jesus’ rebuke to heart and repented. Their walls came down. But many hardened the walls of their hearts. They continued to seek honor and status and serve themselves above God and others. One final example is the tower of Babel. After the great flood and before Jesus came to earth as a man, God told people to spread out and inhabit the world. Doing so would require relying on him. Instead people decided to defy God, gather together, and build a towering wall into the sky. They desired to ascend into heaven through grandeose effort and make a name for themselves or their false gods rather than worshipping the one, true God. Jesus along with the rest of the triune Godhead judged their rebellion by stopping their wall, confusing their language, and dispersing them to live in various parts of the world (Genesis 11:1-9). Whether you have built walls of desperation, fear, security or pride, Jesus wants to eliminate them so you can become all God has created you to be.
External Walls
In addition to internal walls, sometimes we face external walls beyond ourselves. Formed by others or by circumstances, they are walls of opposition, oppression, difficulty, rejection, and guilt which paralyze our progress. Fortunately, Jesus also knocks down these walls or provides a way around or through them.
For instance, Jesus liberated Mary Magdalene and the man in Gerasenes who each suffered immensely as a vilified captive behind walls of demon possession (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus healed many who faced walls of infirmity. He cured the sick, made the lame walk, gave sight to the blind, and even raised the dead to life. When his disciples feared for their lives aboard a boat in a violent squall, Jesus calmed the winds and the waves. When crowds hungered for food, Jesus provided. When a woman caught in adultery was about to be stoned to death. Jesus dismissed her accusers and forgave her instead of condemning her.
In all this Jesus sought to teach people a much deeper spiritual truth—that he himself is the answer to their every need. Only he can bring down walls which we hide behind and which hold us back. Most importantly he eliminates the wall of sin which separates us from knowing God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). No burden is too heavy, no temptation is too strong, and no sin is too egregious that Jesus cannot bring it down (Romans 3:21-24; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 John 1:9). Anyone who trusts and obeys him can experience victory, restoration, freedom, and real life (John 10:10).
Through Jesus God desires to level any wall to bring about your restoration, growth, and freedom. Many more bible passages show how God can be your rock and refuge. He can be your strength, power, motivation, and purpose. He can be your peace, rest, comfort, and sanctuary. He can be your greatest love, joy, and fulfilment. Will you let him?
Conclusion
My younger brother served in the Army. At boot camp he experienced a leveling. The military purposely tore soldiers down in order to build them up, so they were fit to serve under the pressure of battle when people’s lives are on the line. The same is true in knowing and serving God. He needs to level any internal or external walls in your life so he can build you up. Your life and the welfare of others is at stake. It can be a painful process, for you must die to yourself and yield to God in order to truly live (Luke 9:23-26). Yet as you do God promises to bring all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). That’s why Jesus died and rose again for you. All power and authority has been given to him to bring down any wall so you can be reconciled with your loving, heavenly Father in every aspect of your life now and forever. What walls do you face? What walls have you constructed between you and others or between you and God? Ask Jesus to level them. Have other believers pray with you and for you. Then trust and obey Jesus and his transforming power. Work alongside him as he tears down your walls or provides a way through them.