Berlin Wall Anniversary

It has been 20 full years since one of history's most symbolic moments captured the gaze of the entire globe. It is a story of heartache, struggle, death and finally victory!

On November 9, 1989 one of the all-time great examples of tyranny began to crumble - literally.

It was the Berlin Wall. The structure had separated more than just scores of German families and the country’s most notable city. It separated the opposing principles of freedom and bondage and simple good versus evil. It was a line that had divided, in many ways, the civilized world for 28 long and painful years. The 96 mile long span was also the site of the 136 deaths of those who thought it important enough to risk their lives rather than live in bondage.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that "the ideals that drove Berliners to tear down that wall are no less relevant today." And Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber told the congregation at the Gethsemane Church, "We remember the tears of joy, the faces of delight, the liberation."

His words rang true, but only those who personally experience a Berlin Wall, or something like it, can truly relate to its devastating and lingering effects. All others must try to imagine what that specific form of suffering might be like.

The existence and tearing down of the Berlin Wall carries a deeply significant spiritual illustration. There is a wall that separates God from all men. It begins at birth. It affects all the same. But it does not come through the typical treachery of some earthly entity. Scripture teaches that man is born in sin, separated from God, and without hope in the world (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:11-13). Even so, the Apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear that these effects of this grim reality are reversible when man’s faith is linked with God’s grace. He condenses the matter down to just a few powerful and profound words in Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

A few verses later Paul reveals some of the spiritual mechanics of how God accomplished this miraculous and eternal task. He uses language similar to that often used of Berlin’s wicked wall. Ephesians 2:14-17 reads, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 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, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

Scripture is clear that man is born into sin, separated from God, and without hope in the world (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:11-13) Fortunately it is equally clear that sin’s dreadful effects need not reign supreme since there is a way to flatten this most destructive of all walls. Romans 5:8 provides the foundational reason for God’s tearing down of the relational wall between Himself and those He made. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It was that unique love that caused Christ to fully smash through the wall of sin that divided all humanity from Himself. The route of escape has been fully cleared. That is all about God’s grace. But each and everyone must chose to walk it to arrive at the place of spiritual freedom. That is all about man’s personal faith.

It seems highly symbolic that Bishop Wolfgang Huber addressed his congregation from a church called Gethsemane – the name of the place where Christ prayed just before becoming the divine target for the sins of man. No doubt many in Huber’s flock recalled the building and tearing down of Berlin’s wall of woe. Some there maybe lived behind it until escaping its destructive grasp. With that said, those and likely many others still live today behind a self –imposed ‘spiritual’ iron curtain. Perhaps they recall well that moment of great national freedom. Some will remember vividly gaining their own physical release, but unaware that they remain captives from birth in another realm on this great anniversary.

Some will be forced to live in physical bondage for part or all of their earthly lives. That is just a tragic part of life in a fallen world. Then there are those who are blessed enough to never experience that brand of suffering. But both share equally in something far more serious and infinitely deadly.

All who will ever draw a single breath are born spiritually captive and in desperate need of escape. They face together a serious universal flaw but have access to the solitary universal cure. That exclusive repair is quite simple in its requirement (2 Corinthians 11:3) but beyond stunning in its impact. (Colossians 1:13) It requires only a sincere act of faith in response to God’s sacrificial act of grace. And when that great wall of separation is broken down by God’s greater act of grace, then will the great words in the Bible writer become the equally great testimony of the Bible reader!

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

Bill Breckenridge