IN CHRIST - Reconciled.

Ephesians 2:11 CSB

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.

INTRO—

Ephesians 2…

Continues!

“So, then...” [v. 11; speaking words of encouragement to primarily his Gentile audience…but with importance to his Jewish audience as well]

Who were we? Who are we? Where are we?

ALIENATED. [Ephesians 2.11-12]

“So, then...” (v. 11; All that BEAUTIFUL truth on which we just focused—in 2.1-10–has a significant implication and consequence!)

EXCLUDED

…by Prejudice (v.11)

…by Truth (v. 12)

Without Christ

Excluded from Israel

Foreigners to Covenants of Promise

Without Hope

Without God

The Message of Ephesians 1. The Portrait of an Alienated Humanity, or What We Once Were (Verses 11–12)

And we ourselves in our pre-Christian days, it is necessary to add, were in exactly the same plight. We were alienated from God and from his people. Worse, there was in our hearts the ‘enmity’ to which Paul refers later, so that we rebelled against the authority of God and knew little or nothing of true human community. Is it not the same in today’s world without Christ? Men still build walls of partition and division like the terrible Berlin wall, or erect invisible curtains of iron or bamboo, or construct barriers of race, colour, caste, tribe or class. Divisiveness is a constant characteristic of every community without Christ.

[Usually I find myself significantly impacted by one commentator alongside the others I study in preparation to preach. This time around that theologian/commentator is John Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011; ministry from 1945-2011 [66 years]). He was an English Anglican priest and theologian who was noted as a leader in the early days of the worldwide evangelical (biblically, missionally focused) movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974 (alongside other notable faithful Christian leaders as Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer, Carl Henry, and Ralph Winter).]

Galatians 6:15 “For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation.”

RECONCILED. [Ephesians 2.13-18]

“But now...” (v. 13; Paul has said to the Gentiles, “You guys were cut off, excluded, alienated from hope…AND tension existed between you and God…AND between you and your fellow man [which, by the way, also held true for their Jewish counterparts])

RECONCILED (to make things right with/between)

Ephesians 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.”

“But now IN CHRIST!”

Through his blood (v. 13)

In his flesh (v. 14)

Proclaiming Peace to those near (Jews) and those far (Gentiles) (v. 17)

Reconciled to the Father by the Son through the Spirit (v.18) [AND to each other!!!]

Colossians 1:19–23 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.”

ASSEMBLED. [Ephesians 2.19-22]

“So, then...” (v. 19)

FITTED (built together)

…together in him (v. 21)

Everyone together (v. 19)

On the foundation of apostles & prophets (v. 20a)

With Jesus as the cornerstone (v. 20b)

For God’s indwelling (v. 22)

Ephesians 4:16 “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.”

A word about this new holy temple (v. 21)…and a reminder of the importance of the diversity within this blessed unity.

Think about it like this—if a building was all the exact same shade of one color (say blue), it would be difficult (to nearly impossible to navigate throughout…without major headaches or knee aches or toe aches! We would also have a difficult time seeing the functionality and beauty if we could not see contrasts within the construction. Such is true of the people of God…the Church.

Revelation 7:9–10 “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

CONCL—

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.”

INVITATION

Salvation [God’s remedy for who we were]

Reconciliation [God’s requirement for who we are]

Interconnection [God’s placement of us in where we are (together)]

Ephesians 2:22 CSB

In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.