Can't We All Just Get Along? Ephesians 2:11-22

Welcome

Good morning Local Christian Church, if we have not met yet my name is Jacob Ward I have the honor of serving here as the Next Gen minister meaning I have everyone from middle school to college and I’m very thankful to have this opportunity to bring God’s Word this morning.

In this series we have been going through the book of Ephesians written by a man named Paul to a church in Ephesus. If you have not had a chance to go listen to the other sermons we’ve had on this book I encourage you to do so we’ve been given some excellent sermons by both Bruce and by Chris Stanley all of which are up on our website or our app.

Last week we heard about some bad news and some good news and how we should act in light of that good news this week will be similar but with an extra focus on unity which has been a common theme in this book.

Before we do anything else I’d like to just read the passage and then pray.

Ephesians 2:11-22

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

PRAY

Far from God

Now I’ve broken this passage up into little chunks so that its easier to talk about so the first little chunk is 11-12 so I’m going to read that again.

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

So the people Paul is writing are part of whats called “the uncircumcision” Or not part of the circumcision or Israel. They were gentiles. The word gentile is used a lot in this Bible just meaning “not Jewish” so I would wager to say all of you in this room. You may have a few specks of Jewish heritage in your DNA due to us all being genetic mutts at this point, but that does not mean you are Jewish and they were not seen as Jews and were not able to get the blessings of the Messiah or of God.

This passage says this about the Gentiles but we can also apply these to nonbelievers even if they have Jewish heritage which we will get too later.

So Paul says this about where we were.

We were all far from God

Alienated from the family

Without hope

That’s where we all were, and where some of us still are. In a hopeless spot. I remember what it was like to be in that spot, coasting through life, slave to sin, not having purpose or direction. It’s a bad spot to be in. What Paul is calling us to do here is very uncomfortable. He’s calling us to remember what we were like before Christ. If you are like me you don’t want to revisit that time. Memories of sin and anguish come flooding back in and make me feel lonely and afraid again.

But

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The blood of Christ brings us near

Remember where you were

He reminds us that the blood of Christ, the blood spilled on the cross, which all throughout the OT blood is equated to life, so the life of Christ and His sacrifice brings us near to God.

What Paul is calling us to do here is very uncomfortable. He’s calling us to remember what we were like before Christ. If you are like me you don’t want to revisit that time. Memories of sin and anguish come flooding back in and make me feel lonely and afraid again. It’s important however, because then we get to remember the but, we get to remember what Christ has done for us. How much freedom Christ has given us.

The reason this is in here is to preface us for the next bit of instruction he has for us. He is building up a case for grace, God saved us from so much and once you realize that, theres no excuse to not forgive others. Now that doesn’t mean others wont cause us pain or that itll be easy to forgive or that you have to stay in abusive situations, please hear me on this we want you to be safe and if you or someone else is in a dangerous situation please reach out and well get you help. But honestly if we are to hold the crimes others have done against us to the crimes we have done against God they fall short. We have been forgiven of such a debt that requires eternal punnishment, how is it we can hold onto crimes that are lesser?

This premise is building the argument he makes going forward so lets read on.

He is Our Peace

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

It is no secret that we live in a world full of hostility, and Christians are no exception. We are constantly throwing up these dividing walls in our culture and worse in our churches.

Remember that prince of the air from last week? The devil, see he knows that if he were to face the church head on the church would only grow and become stronger. We see that throughout all of Christian history that when the church is being persecuted we spread like wildfire. So instead he deices its best to sow dissension in the Church and split it up from the inside. A house divided against itself can’t stand.

I’m going to give a real life example of this.

One afternoon at a Bible study with my friends when I was around 19, we got to the part in the Gospel of John where Jesus is baptized. That’s a beautiful story that shows all three parts of the Trinity in action and sets up the importance of baptism and a few other things. However, it says in one Gospel that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, but in another Gospel it says the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove. Now i remember saying “that’s so cool that it looked like a dove.” When one of my best friends Jacob Allard (husband of our very own Sarah Allard right here) pipes up and says something to the effect of “I don't think it was physically looking like a dove but rather the author is using descriptions for a graceful movement like a dove.” Now this is my best friend, I’m 19, I’m not gonna let this challenge slide. So we begin to argue, and we do for several minutes. Now I don’t remember if we had Non-Christians there or if it was just believers but it was certainly a waste of time, and honestly a bad look. We had a few of our friends tell us how annoying it was and so we dropped it. However later we talked about it on our own time and he concluded that I was actually right. I’m just kidding I don’t remember the actual conclusion and that guy is way smarter than me so I probably was wrong. but that is the time to have this sort of conversations.

This is kind of a silly example, but were seeing this all the time, even right now in very public areas. Christians fighting over the he gets us commercials in very public spots being nasty to each other, Christians fighting over politics, theology, what musical style should be in church etc. There’s way too many examples. I’m not saying these conversations can’t happen or shouldn’t happen, but they need to happen with respect.

If we remember the grace we’ve been given, and we are truly relying on God and after His own heart, Christ will come in and tear down our walls.

He breaks down walls between us

The Great Equalizer

His blood unifies us

Citizens and Saints

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

One Spirit, One Faith, One Baptism

Baptism