Christ our Peace

Christ our Peace

Ephesians 2:11-22

If I were given just one word to use to describe the current situation in our country, I would use the word division. We are a country divided. There was a time when despite all our differences we could get along as a people but not anymore, and I’m watching families being torn apart because they are divided along political lines on every issue.

We live in a world of division; Republican, democrat, white, black, pro-choice, pro-life, and many times this division leads to violence because we are so divided by racial and cultural differences.

I believe our greatest need is to have peace. We need the peace of God in our lives. The opposite of peace is war and that’s what we have in this country, we are at war with each other, because we are at war with God, and that’s a war we cannot win.

The good news is God has offered us a peace treaty. Through the blood shed by His Son on the cross we can have peace. We can come to the cross and the cross can come to us and when we do we become a part of the family of God.

That’s what the apostle Paul teaches us in this passage. He teaches us that the war can be over, and we can have peace with God that allows us to live in peace with each other. (Read Eph. 2:11-22)

In our passage this morning Paul is describing the conflict that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles, and he explains how God has brought peace between them by uniting them as one people in Christ Jesus.

In fact, He brought peace to all of mankind through the cross and established the family of God, the church. That’s what we learn from this passage we can have peace with God that allows us to live in peace with each other. I want to show you three things Paul says we need to remember in this passage.

Number 1, We need to remember who we were, Vs. 11-12. Notice Vs. 11, Paul says, “Therefore remember.” The word “therefore” refers to the previous verses where Paul was telling us that we were saved by grace through faith. And he says, we need to remember that. Don’t forget that.

The word remember is not a suggestion it is a command. We are never to forget the desperate situation we were in before God saved us. We are to never forget, that was gift that we didn’t earn, but God gave us.

Why is it so important that we remember? So that we don’t think we are special. So that we don’t begin to think we are better than anyone else and that we are incapable of acting and thinking just like the lost people of this world. Without Christ we are just as depraved and sinful as the next person and capable of anything. So, we are to remember who we were.

Paul says, “that formerly you Gentiles in the flesh.” Who are Gentiles? Gentiles in the ancient world referred to anyone who was not of Jewish descent. So, you and I are Gentiles. In fact, I would think it’s impossible for anyone to trace their heritage directly back to one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So, everyone would be considered a Gentile today.

Which is exactly what God wanted. He wanted unity among men. All men were created in the image of God and all men have access to God the same way through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice the sarcasm in Vs. 11. The Gentiles were call “Uncircumcision by the so called “Circumcision.” Paul is describing the racial prejudice that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles in the ancient world.

Circumcision was a covenant that God made with the Jews. For two thousand years, from Abraham to Jesus, God chose to work exclusively through the Jewish people. The Gentiles were excluded from it.

If you were a Gentile, the only way you could know God and have your sins forgiven was to be circumcised and begin to live like a Jew. To practice the ritual and the sacrificial system. But even then, you were a second-class citizen. You were not even allowed to worship with the Jewish people. You could go to the temple but there was a wall that separated the court of the Gentiles and kept them at a distance. But now, Christ has broken down the wall, and allowed all of us access to worship God together.

I can’t help but think about how Christians in America remind me of Jews in the first century. We have such a privilege to worship freely. We are saturated with bibles and Christian literature, yet we take it all for granted. The ancient Jews didn’t realize the privilege they had until they lost it. Today there is no real Judaism because there is no temple in Jerusalem. There is no sacrificial system so, there is no worship of God the way it is prescribed in the Bible.

That could easily be Christians in America tomorrow, and we are well on our way. But not because we are losing our freedom to practice religion, but because we have lost our desire to worship God. It’s not going to be because someone takes away our right to go to church, it’s going to be because we choose not to.

Notice those two little words in Vs. 11, “so called.” You can hear the sarcasm in Paul’s voice as he refers to these Jews as the “so called” circumcision. In other words, they were circumcised in their flesh, but their heart was unchanged. They had the outward signs of religion but there was no difference in their life. Well, that describes a lot of Christians in the church today and we need to remember who we were before God saved us.

In Vs. 12 Paul tells these Gentiles there are three things they need to remember. He slaps them in the face with this in staccato fashion. It’s like he is beating a drum.

1. He says, you need to remember, you were separated from Christ. In other words, they were separated from forgiveness. They were separated from grace. They had no Savior. For these Gentiles living in the first century, it wasn’t that they had failed to accept Christ into their life, they were denied access to Him. They had no Messiah because God came to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. Today we all have access to the Savior, but, we choose to be separated.

2. He says, you need to remember, you were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. In other words, they had no community of faith. No support system. No church, and no fellowship of believers.

I don’t think we realize the privilege we have today. We belong to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, we don’t take advantage of it. We should be praying for each other. We should be confessing our sins to each other. We should be able to come to one another and receive forgiveness and grace that heals our soul. These Gentile didn’t have that because they were excluded from it.

3. Paul says, remember you were strangers to the covenants of promise. God is a God of covenant, and He made a covenant with the Jewish people that He would be their God and they would be His people. The Gentiles didn’t have that.

There were several Old Testament covenants; there was the Abrahamic covenant, there was the Davidic covenant, but all of those are made complete in the New Testament by the blood of Jesus. That is the promise we have today that all who call on the name of Jesus will be saved.

Paul goes on to tell them in Vs. 12, the results of all of this is, “you were without hope and without God in the world.” The Gentiles had a multitude of gods they worshipped, they were pagans, but they didn’t have the one true God.

What is amazing to me is they recognized the superiority of the God of Israel. They recognized Jehovah as the God of heaven and earth. The question is, do you? Because there was a time when you didn’t, and you need to remember that.

The greatest rivalry in all of sports is the Michigan, Ohio state football game every fall. For the last two years we have beaten the pants off that team down south and they are shocked by it. But the only reason the Buckeyes are so shocked by it is because for the last twenty years they have dominated that game. They thought they were special and that they couldn’t lose. Why? Because they have forgotten they were just like everyone else.

Well, as Christians we need to remember that at one time, we were just like everyone else. We were full of sin, selfishness, and pride and the only thing that makes us different today is the grace of God.

The second thing Paul tells us in this passage is; We need to remember what Christ has done, Vs. 13-18. What is interesting about these verses is they are a mirror image of verse 1-4. The only difference is, Vs. 1-4 Paul was speaking about who we were personally before we were saved and now in Vs. 11-13 Paul is speaking about who we were corporately before we are saved.

Again, Paul is emphasizing the racial, and religious hostility that existed between the Jew and the Gentile. And the point is, Christ has made all of us equal through the cross, and He has brought us together as one people known as the church.

Notice Vs. 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus.” In Vs. 4 Paul wanted us to know our salvation was from God and God alone, and here in Vs. 13 he wants us to know it’s because of Christ and Christ alone. The point is, we cannot fully appreciate who we are, until we recognize where we came from. We can’t scratch the surface of salvation without exploring the depths of sin.

In essence Vs. 13 is an explanation of the gospel. It describes what God has done in our life and how we have become a new creation in Christ. Vs. 13 explains who we were. We were formerly far from God. Then it explains how we got here. By the blood of Jesus and it explains what we have become. We have been brought near to God. Today, if you are a Christian, you have been brought so near to God that you are called a child of God. What a privilege. What an honor.

This is what we refer to as reconciliation. We were once at war with God but now the war is over. When we think of reconciliation we think of a husband and wife restoring their marriage. Well, That’s the picture here, our relationship with God has been restored, and it is all because of the blood of Jesus.

Notice Vs. 14 as Paul begins to explain to us how this reconciliation took place. “For He Himself is our peace.” Notice how it’s not Christ and anything else. It’s not Christ and ritual. It’s not Christ and religion. It is not Christ and following the rules. It is Christ and Christ alone.

He doesn’t just give us peace; He is our peace. Why? because He has made peace between us and God, and that is the greatest need we have. The world is searching for peace in so many ways, but they can never find it because they are at war with God. It’s not until we know Christ that we can know peace.

Notice the truce Jesus brought to the people, Vs. 14, “who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.” The two groups here are the Jew and Gentile. They were two people separated by the Mosaic law. There was a distinction made between the two that created rivalry and prejudice. The Jews looked down on the Gentiles and the Gentiles hated the Jews. But now, because of the death of Christ Jesus there would be no more division between them.

What does that mean for us? It means the peace of God in Christ is so complete it not only allows us to be reconciled to God, but it allows us to be reconciled with each other. The vertical relationship we have with God should affect every horizontal relationship we have in the world. There is one body, one bride, one children of God, and we should live in peace with each other.

When we come to the cross, the cross comes to us, and we all find equal ground. There is no one who is elite. No one is better than anyone else. The Pastor is not above the usher. The singers are not above the sinners. In fact, we are all sinners saved by grace. Jesus has abolished all the walls of separation and we are now all one people of God.

Notice Vs. 17 Jesus is not only the source of peace but He is the messenger of peace. “And He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” This is a quote from Isaiah 57:19 and the idea here is that Jesus, the prince of peace came and proclaimed peace to the world.

When I think of peace, I picture a massive hurricane raging across the ocean. On the surface there are violent winds that create waves of chaos and destruction. But 25 feet below the surface the water is clear and calm, and the fish go on living their lives like nothing is happening. That’s because where there is depth there is peace and when we have a depth of Christ in our lives we live at peace in the world.

The third thing Paul tells us in this passage is We need to remember who we have become, Vs.19-22. In these verses we have the foundation of the church. God in His amazing grace has given us the privilege of being a new community.

Now, Paul doesn’t use the word church in these verses, but it is obvious that’s what he is talking about, and he elevates our understanding of what the church is. It’s not a building, it’s a body. It’s not something we belong to but it’s what we become. You are the temple of God.

Notice Paul uses the words with and together three times in these verses. In Vs. 19 he says, we are “fellow citizens with the saints.” In Vs. 21 he says, we are a “building being fitted together.” And in Vs. 22, we are “being built together.” Paul is talking about the unity of God’s people. We are not only connected to God, but we are being synced together as Christians. And then Paul goes on and he uses three metaphors to paint a picture for us of what we are supposed to be.

First, he says we are citizens. In other words, we belong to a whole new society. A kingdom if you will. Think about how important that would be to these Gentiles Paul was writing to. They were no longer second-class citizens trespassing on someone else’s territory. They were full members of the kingdom of God.

When you are a stranger in a strange land you don’t feel safe. The natives know you don’t belong there. You don’t look right; you look out of place. You don’t feel comfortable. But when you are a citizen, you have rights and privileges. That is the idea here, we belong to the kingdom of God. The church is a place where we are comfortable and at ease. It’s a place where we belong.

Second, Paul says, “We are family.” Vs. 19, “we are of God’s household.” Think about what a shock this would have been to the Jews and the Gentiles to hear. They hated each other. They might be able to accept worshipping together but the idea of being a family would have been stunning. I mean these people refused to eat together and now they are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, think about the implications of this for us. We are all different. We come from different backgrounds and different walks in life and each one of us brings our own baggage to the church. But God has brought us together for a purpose. And if the Jews and the Gentiles can put aside their differences and become a family so, should we. We are the adopted sons and daughters of God, and we need to remember that.

The church is not a building we go to attend, it is a family on a mission. The church is not supposed to be a hotel we visit occasionally, and we leave a tip if we have been served well, but it is supposed to become our identity, and our home. Each one of us has a role and a responsibility in the household of God.

Third, Paul says, “we are stones.” We are being fit together into a temple. Think about how important the temple was to Jerusalem. It towered over the city. Everything that took place in their life and community revolved around the temple. Now there is going to be a new temple and it is going to be made up of people.

Notice what this temple is built on. Vs. 20 says, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone. In other words, the church would be built on the Word of God and centered on Jesus Christ. That’s the idea of the cornerstone. The corner stone holds the whole building together.

These are the two most important things to the church. The church stands or falls on it’s faithfulness to the Word. Luke tells us in Acts 2:42 the early church devoted itself to the apostles teaching. That was the foundation the church was built on.

But what were the apostles teaching? They were teaching about Jesus Christ. They were teaching about His life, His death, His burial, His resurrection. He is the cornerstone. He is what makes the building possible.

So, Paul emphasizes the teaching of the apostles and the work of Christ because that is what produces growth and unity in our lives.

So, what we learn from this passage is, if we are going to have peace in a world that surrounds us with chaos, confusion, hatred, and division, there are some things we need to remember.

Number one; We need to remember who we were. 2. We need to remember what Christ has done. 3. We need to remember who we have become. Christ doesn’t just give us peace He is our peace, and we need to remain connected to Him.

The opposite of peace is war and there is no reason for us to be at war with each other when we have peace with God. And God has offered us a peace treaty, through the blood shed by His Son on the cross. We can come to the cross today, and when we do we become a part of the family of God.