Saints & Aint's: REALIGNMENT

Ephesians 2

A letter from Paul to the church in Ephesus around 60 AD.

Paul writes this letter, this 6 chapter sermon essentially, on the Power of God, the Authority of God in the life of the believer – the one who has already committed him or herself to Christ – and how the reconciliation power of and authority of God requires us as believers to live a life worthy of the salvation we have received.

Ephesians is a deep dive into the deliberate and distinctives of a Christ-follower.

Essentially, Ephesians intentionally identifies what makes a saint of God, and who it ain’t.

But you can’t fully understand who, what, when, where, why is a saint until you know HOW we is a saint.

From here we acknowledge the One who hold the universe in His hands, He who flung the stars into their places, He who has counted and numbered our days, He who seats in heavenly places, and He who sits upon His own Throne and who will judge every tribe and every nation and to whose Name every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess – the LORD our God, He is ONE – eternally existing in three persons namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It's in Him we move and have our being and Ephesians starts off like this:

Ephesians 1:3-5 3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him., 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, [1]

Blessed is our God. And blessing flows from Him. He is blessed in perfection, holiness, and purity. He is blessed being the essence of pure love and pure truth. Our God is the Ultimate Visionary, carrying out His vision, and you and I are in it!

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Eph 1:3–5.

Unified in Christ

Eph 2:11 “So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.”

Remember - a form of thought, mindful of what was; appreciation for what is, hope for what will be; an intentional posture of comparison.

Us - Past tense

We, being we who believe and follow Christ, were “at one time” one way and now “at a new time” are a new way.

We’d been labeled by man, dependent upon what man could or could not do

We were without Christ - that is without salvation, without hope, and spiritually dead

We were excluded and disconnected from real relationship and thus community

We were unable to understand a reality of what it would mean to have communion with God.

Communion - Present

Eph 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

But NOW, “at THIS PRESENT TIME”, In Christ Jesus

We are no longer distanced from God, but have been brought near

The Kingdom of Heaven has been brought near to you and me

A work has been done by Christ Himself, the embodiment of His Word - God gave us His Word -

Heb 9:12 “he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Christ is personally invested in the salvation process, the spiritual development process, and maturity of those in Christ Jesus to become more like Himself.

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.””

God, through relationship, completes His Work enabling a mutually beneficial common union between He and us, allowing peace and NOT enmity between God and man.

Because of His Peace instilled in us, we have been made one - we who were one way, being united with those of the Way - tearing down the walls of hostility between God and us as individuals, and the “us” and “them” as the body of Christ

He bound us together through His work as the atonement for our sins.

1 Cor 12:13 “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.”

Eph 2:16 “He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.”

One Body, One Church

Eph 2:19-21 “So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”

*with the saints* - holy, consecrated, ritually clean

*members of God’s household* - family

*with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone* - holy and accepted with Christ; to happen; to be positionally; to be similar; to be alive; to belong; to exist; to have meaning and purpose; to be translated as his likeness translated to us; to consist of

You and I are inseparable in Christ Jesus

Individually we understand our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Cor 3:16 “Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

But also together, being we are one body in Christ, are also collectively a temple of the Holy Spirit

Every time we come together, the Spirit of God is at work in our midst.

Every time we come collectively together, one heart, one accord, dwelling together in Unity - we see God at work in us individually and corporately

Living Stones

I love the reference of us being living stones, continuously being built upon the Cornerstone that is Christ Jesus, and we hold one another up, working together, standing should-to-shoulder.

1 Peter 2 4-5 “As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Eph 2:20-22 “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”

Interconnected, through relationship, and the building one another up preparing a place for God’s dwelling in the Spirit and His glory shown to all who are knitted together.

This Church is built

This Church is stacked

She’s a BRICK…HOUSE.

Woah to anyone who says then that I don’t need the Church. The one that says I don’t need the fellowship of the brethren; I don’t need the correction and development from those over me in the Lord; I don’t need Pastor’s counsel, I don’t need the Elder’s insight, I don’t need fellowship with my fellow believers. Because that one already misses the point, of God glorifying the body of Christ so that the body of Christ (us coming together) may glorify God!

2 Thes 1:11-12 “In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why this then? Why is this important? Why do we need to preach this and know this?

We are the living extension of the Father’s hands to the world that does not yet know Him.

We are the living stones of a temple built for the refuge and safety of those who find Him.

We are the ecclesia - the Church - the God’s holy temple wherein His glory dwells, meaning He gets to show Himself to all those who hide in Him.

Essentially - you need to know this and live this so that God can reveal Himself to others and we get to behold His glory

Every time we behold God’s glory, we see an attribute of Himself and become more transformed into His likeness.

Every time we behold God’s glory, we see something happen.

Every time we behold God’s glory, the miraculous happens.

Every time we behold God’s glory, we take one step closer to His holiness and know Him more.

Every time we behold God’s glory, we are strengthened in our inner being through His Spirit, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that we would be rooted and firmly established in love; and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the FULLNESS OF GOD.

You, oh Church, this gathering called Refuge Aviano, you are a temple wherein His glory dwells and there’s nothing that our God can’t do!

Eph 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—”

Eph 3:21 “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”