Our Peace

Ephesians 2:11-22

Our Peace

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Pastoral Prayer

You O LORD are the only sovereign. It is you who rules over the heavens and the earth. It is you O great God whom we gather this morning to honor and worship. LORD, indeed we do thank you for the freedoms we have here in this nation. But Father, we pray that we would see that we are not primarily Americans as we gather as the church. Help us even this morning to be reminded that our primary citizenship lies not in this world and in this kingdom, but in your Kingdom! That we are first and foremost Christians marching under the banner of the cross. O Sovereign LORD, let us cherish your rule more than any other. Even to help our hearts father in this, LORD, we pray for our brothers and sisters who are part of RAK church in the United Arab Emirates. We pray for our brothers and sisters there who belong to the same kingdom we do in Christ. Father we pray for them as they have already gathered to worship you on this LORD’s Day they looked towards your Kingdom and were equipped and mobilized to advance it to the ends of the earth. We pray, O LORD, that your rule would come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May your Sovereign rule reign supreme. Including our hearts this morning. So LORD, would you soften our hearts and give us eyes to see and ears to hear your glorious word of truth this morning. Would you renew our minds on the things of you.

Introduction

Imagine some of the most hated rivalries in sports. There is the Auburn and Alabama rivalry, a rivalry so heated that one Alabama fan was so consumed with hate, stating there was too much Bama in him that he poisoned some historic oak trees on the University of Auburn’s campus, trees that would be rolled with toilet paper after a win. A rivalry closer to home is the rivalry between Central division foes, the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. A rivalry where there is certainly no love lost between the two teams. Rivalries are everywhere, but even as heated as these various rivalries are, they fail in comparison to the hatred that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles.

This morning, we are continuing our study through the book of Ephesians. The purpose of gathering here this morning is to not focus on this kingdom, but God’s greater kingdom. As Americans, we can be thankful for our nation, but as Christians, we know that we are not living for this kingdom, but the Kingdom to come, the Kingdom that even now is advancing through the advancement of the gospel. And our text this morning of Ephesians 2:11-22 shows us just who is being built together to make up that kingdom. Last week as we considered Ephesians 2:1-10 we saw how we all were dead in our sins and trespasses, but how those who have been united to Jesus by faith have been made alive in Christ. That a reconciliation was possible because of God’s rich mercy. This morning we continue with the idea of reconciliation, but with a different look. Ephesians 2:1-10 dealt completely with a reconciliation between man and the LORD who is holy, this morning we again look at that reconciliation, but also the reconciliation of those who were previously divided as they are united in the one man, Jesus Christ. Hear the word of the LORD then from Ephesians 2:11-22….

Our main idea is: Both those who were near and far from the promises of God have now been brought near through the one man Jesus Christ who has now established a new people, the church. We are going to unfold this in 3 points, (1) remember the division that was, (2) remember that Christ is our peace , and (3) remember our new status in Christ.

Remember the division that was

Notice how verse 11 starts, Therefore remember. The Ephesian Church having just been told that it was by God’s grace that they had been made alive and seated with Christ, are to remember this. Specifically that they as Gentiles were separated from God. This is what Paul continues to emphasize here in verses 11-12…..

We need to first emphasize what they are to remember here. They are to remember that previously that they as gentiles were previously and formerly separated from Christ and the people of Israel. That they were alienated, that is isolated, from God’s promised covenant.

The Church of Ephesus was a church full of gentiles, that is those who were not of Jewish bloodline. Before Christ, while they were dead in their sins and trespasses, they were without the hope of God’s promises. For God’s promises had been given to Abraham and his descendents. The covenant was not established with the gentile nations, but the covenant of promise was given to Abraham. And that covenant was given a sign, the sign of circumcision.

Males 8 days old were to receive the removal of foreskin, that of circumcision. This was the sign given to remind the nation of Israel of their covenant promise with God. But the gentiles, the gentiles did not have this sign, hence why they were called the uncircumcised by the circumcised. For the two were separated. One had the promise, one did not. And because of this separation, there was no small love loss between the two. For indeed, the Jews and Gentiles might have been the greatest of rivals of all time.

It has been said that Jews were forbidden from even helping a gentile woman in labor from giving birth in not wanting to aid another heathen child from entering the world. A rivalry where a marriage between a Jew and a Gentile would result in death. These are the two groups that were previously separated.

But not only were the two separated, the gentiles were without hope, they were said to be without God. Now, this is a bold statement, because the gentiles in Ephesus prior to their faith in Jesus most would have thought to be very religious people. They would have had many gods in which they worshiped, including that of the goddess Artimus. So, Paul saying here that they were without God aims to make a clear statement, that though they supposedly had previously had their religiosity, that apart from knowing and worshiping the only true God, they were atheists, those who did not believe in God, for they did not believe in the one, true God.

This is who they were and they are called to remember this former state of theirs. But then the question is why? They are called to remember so that they may not boast and remember how it is they were brought near. They must remember that it was Christ who made it possible for them to come near the promises. It was nothing of their own efforts, leaving them no reason to boast. They had no boast over the Jews in now being included. They had nothing to offer except a life of thanksgiving and praise to the one who brought them near and gave them life. This remembrance should then lead them to a deep, heart-felt, lasting worship of God.

And the same could be said for those of Jewish background. For Paul here does not leave them without a reminder here. For there in verse 11 where he states that the gentiles were called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, make note of what description follows, which is made in the flesh by hands. Circumcision, though a sign of the covenant, was done by human hands representing the need of something greater, that of the circumcision of heart which both Jeremiah and Ezekiel write about coming under the new covenant of Christ.

Forgetfulness of what we once were will lead us to a cold worship and arrogant hearts. The temptation was there for this early church in Ephesus and it is a danger to every Christian and every local church if we fail to remember that we too once were far off. The shed blood of Christ is what has made it possible for us to have been brought near. Verse 13….

The shed blood of Christ is what has brought us near! The great Doctor Maryn Lloyd-Jones here writes, “There is only one way whereby Chrict can bring me nigh unto God, and that is by his blood, by his death, by his broken body, by his shed blood, by his life poured out.”

It is by our faith in that spilt blood covering our sins that we now have hope. And it is when we remember this, that we rightly are humbled and drawn to a true worship of God. A worship that declares awe and thanksgiving and praise for what he alone has done for us in Christ! For our peace with God comes through Jesus. And that is where we turn in our second point this morning.

Remember that Christ is our peace

Verse 14….

Christ is our peace with one another. In the temple, there was a wall that separated the court of Gentiles from the inner courts and the sanctuary where only the Jews could enter. It was in this outer court where the money changing tables were flipped over, as well as the animals driven out. A place intended for the gentiles to come to the outside of the temple and worship. But they were still separated, they were still kept out. Until Jesus that is. For in Jesus coming, he makes peace. He makes peace by tearing down the wall that divided the two. And the announcement that this dividing wall has fallen is a more shocking call than the infamous down goes Frazier call of 1973 where an up and comer George Foreman knocked down Joe Frazier in the first round. Because no one would have expected these two to ever be brought near one another. And yet in Jesus they are. For Jesus made peace between the two by making a way for the two to become one. Verses 15-16….

Jesus brings peace and breaks down the wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances. Now, we must be careful here. For we must grasp what law is being abolished. For the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew 5:17 says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

One thing we should know about the Bible, Scripture never contradicts Scripture. That means that Paul in Ephesians 2:15 is not contradicting Jesus in Matthew 5:17. Instead, we must understand that they are not contradictions, but clarifications. For the best way to read and study and interpret the Bible is to allow the Bible to interpret the Bible.

Therefore when Paul here writes about Jesus abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, he is talking about a different law than Jesus was there in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus there preached on the moral law, a law of righteousness. Matthew 5:20 later adds, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Paul, however, is talking about the ceremonial law being abolished. A law that dealt with circumcision and ceremonial practices that would have separated the Jews and the Gentiles. This is the law Paul is speaking of being abolished. And it is important to understand here what is being abolished in understanding that in Jesus, the two are no more to be separated. Those in Christ, whether of Jewish or Gentile background, are to be one new man in place of the two. There is reconciliation for the two in Jesus, for he is our peace. He makes the two, one, together.

Christ labors to preach peace. Peace to those who are far and those who are near. Verse 17….

Christ came to shed his blood for the Jews and the Gentiles. He came to bring peace. By making the people one in him, bringing both to reconciliation to God in the same manner, by faith in Jesus. Jesus alone is our peace, and he has come to preach peace to us, so that both Jew and Gentile can both have access to the Father. Verse 18….

The way to the Father is through Jesus and the Spirit he gives to us. Christian, if your faith is in Jesus alone for your salvation. Rest knowing that peace has been made. Friend, if you are here this morning because you are searching for peace, friend here me now, that peace will not be found. You cannot clean yourself up and find peace. You cannot find peace with you and God by simply acting better and showing up to church. The only way for you to have that peace with both God and your fellow man is through the one man, Jesus Christ. You need to turn from your sin in repentance and come and trust in Jesus for your salvation. For only then can you find that peace you are searching for. Friend, make today the day you find salvation and hope in Jesus. I’d love to talk with you more following our time this morning, helping you to embrace the peace that comes only in Jesus. And see how you can stand anew in Christ.

Remember all, that Jesus is our peace, for it is he alone who brings us access to the Father through his cross, through his suffering for us. And in that, he makes us new in him. And that is now where we turn in our third and final point this morning.

Remember our new status in Christ

Because Christ has made us one, because he has broken down in his own flesh the dividing wall of hostility, because he is making peace, because he is killing hostility, a new people, a new body is being created. The church. Verses 19-22…..

This new man in place of the two is first called fellow citizens. Previously they did not belong to the same people. There were the Jews, then there were the strangers and aliens, those that might be dwelling in Israel, but were not of Israelite descent. They were citizens of different tribes. But in Christ, peace is made. Those previously separated are now fellow citizens. Citizens of the same kingdom, a citizenship given to all who are united to Christ by faith. This is our new identity in Christ! We must remember that this now becomes our primary identity as Christians, that we are citizens of the same Kingdom, the Kingdom of Christ!

That means that we are not primarily Central Citians or Centralians or Tennesseans as Christians. Nor are we primarily Americans. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and we share that with all who are of the same faith in Jesus! Those from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, China, Russia, Ukraine, Uganda, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, Burma, Laos, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, and on and on. As Christians we have more in common with our fellow citizens of God’s kingdom than we do with the other citizenships we have. And while we will celebrate, in two days, our mutual freedom with our fellow Americans, see that we have an even greater freedom in Christ, a freedom we share with our brothers and sisters around the world from the various nations and people groups. Therefore, remember this new identity of ours in Christ! Remember that it is now our primary identity!

But in Jesus we aren’t merely just made fellow citizens with one another. The second half of verse 19 gives us a second new status we have in Christ, members of the household of God. In our union with Christ, we are made members of God’s household, of his family. Which means, we as Christians are all part of the same family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Ever wonder why I unashamedly overuse brothers and sisters, this is why. It is part of our familia identity in Christ Jesus. In particular here in the context of Ephesians, those previously separated by the wall of hostility aren’t just brought into the same city, into the same room. They are united together now in Christ as one family. There is to be a togetherness.

Church, what if churches were to recover this understanding of our identity in Christ? To understand the church as a family? My guess is that many in the church would say we do think of the church as a family. Maybe, in certain circles it is that way. But consider with me for a moment the various clicks within the church, is the same family feeling shared outside of those clicks, outside of those groups? What about the way we speak to one another? Do we speak to each other as family? Or are we too busy back-biting and gossiping and slandering one another to act as family? Are we showing the same grace and patience with one another as we do our biological family members? Or are we short in temper and patience with one another in the church?

The local church must recover the family feeling within itself. A family relationship that stretches across gender and age. Relationships that stretch beyond mutual interests and hobbies. Relationships that stretch across cultures if we are to thrive and be a light to the world. For when the church is a family and remembers this identity, the church shines brightest and the watching world is drawn in as they look and see something strange, a people in a relationship that looks different from how the rest of the world pursues relationships.

The final thing we need to remember about our new status in Christ is to see that we are being built together into a dwelling place for God. We see this in verses 20-22. And to make it plain, this holy dwelling place is referring to the church, particularly the local church.

The foundation of the local church is to be that of the apostles and prophets. In saying this, the apostles and prophets themselves are not the foundation, but their teaching. For their teaching is that which they heard from the Lord Jesus himself and now are passing on and teaching others. A true church must be built on the teachings of the apostles and prophets. A church not built on the foundation of God’s word is not a solid church. This is why God’s word must be taken seriously and held front and center. This is why we want to be a people who gather to read the word, pray the word, sing the word, preach the word, and then see the word through the two ordinances of the church in baptism and the LORD’s Supper.

May God’s word always be the foundation of the church. But the next imagery of this holy temple being built is that of the cornerstone. The cornerstone unites two intersecting walls and holds it together. And in this holy temple we see that Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. And as added there in verse 21, joins the whole structure together to be built together. For again, Jesus is our peace. It is Jesus who unites the church as one body, as one sound temple. This means that in this imagery we are to see that the path to church unity isn’t us all agreeing on the same color of carpets or whether or not to keep stained glass windows or the type of music we prefer or what podium is up here. The path to church unity is centered on Jesus! Do we keep him front and center? If the church is to be a people unified and brought together in a godly manner, then Jesus must be what unites us. A mutual faith in him as the Son of God, the Son of Man who came to live a righteous life, fulfilling the law, and then to die as the spotless sacrificial lamb to take away our sins. A mutual faith believing that he did not remain dead but rose on the third day and then ascended and is now seated at the right hand of God where the earth is being made his footstool. It’s this faith in this Jesus that is to unite us and join us together.

But there is one last part of this imagery of the local church. The local church is a place that in Christ we are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. The local church is the place where we commit to one another to grow in love towards God and one another. A place where we are laboring to strengthen one another to ensure the holy temple of the Lord is strong and standing firm. Brothers and sisters, this is why we want to both guard who comes in and who we affirm in the administering of the LORD’s Supper. If those who have not repented and truly believe enter in and dwell freely among us, then they weaken the church, they weaken the temple of the LORD. For if there are unregenerate members of the church, they respond not like Christ, but the world. They labor more to tear down the body instead of laboring to strengthen the body. They create conflict where conflict should not exist. Why else would both the Lord Jesus in Matthew 18 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 teach about there being times when members needed to be removed from the church and cast out in church discipline? Was it not to this very point to show the need for a strong church to be built together and not destroyed by unrepentant sin?

The church truly is the loveliest place, because the church is the bride of Christ. And this bride is to be adorned. And to do that, each local church then needs to ensure that they are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and their teaching. Each local church needs to ensure that what binds us together is Christ himself. And the local church needs to ensure that the body of Christ is being built together by the Spirit into a strong temple for the LORD. Because he by the Spirit dwells and works in us as the body of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, see what Christ has done for us in bringing us near to God and one another. Remember these truths. For in remembering these, we can begin to strive together and work to strengthen one another and equip one another as we press on to live a new life in Christ. Let’s pray…..