One in Christ - Tewantin

Anglican Church Noosa July 21, 2024 Ephesians 2:11-3:13 Ephesians - the Gospel of Grace | One in Christ Rev’d Lynda Johnson The end of the 1980s saw this signi cant world event. Video of Berlin Wall. This event changed the world. It marked the end of the Cold War. It was so signi cant, and even though it’s only 35 years ago, that signi cance has been sadly forgotten by a generation that doesn’t know its history. This happening in November 1989 is etched in my mind, because of the grief I felt that my brother, who had lived and worked in Germany, would have been so overjoyed at the sight of the Berlin Wall coming down. We had had conversations about the potential of it since Reagan’s speech 2 years before, but sadly, Malcolm missed seeing it come to fruition, as he tragically died in Melbourne just 3 weeks prior to this happening. The main theme of Ephesians is unity. Unity in Christ. The fall of the Berlin Wall has been called the peaceful revolution. But, it has nothing on what the Lord Jesus achieved through his mission in coming to this earth. This part of chapter 2 that we read today, goes into the detail, but Paul rst brings up the unity issue in chapter 1 vv.8-10 "With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their ful lment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." To bring unity under Christ. And Paul’s part in this is clear - he was called by Jesus to be the apostle to the Gentiles. To bring unity under Christ, to Jew and Gentile. The Jews were that race, chosen by God in history to be the ones who would shine God’s light to the rest of the world. The Jews were to be - 'a light to the Gentiles', 'a light to the nations' as it says in Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 60. It was ALWAYS God’s plan that every nation, tribe and tongue would belong to him, and the way he wanted that to come about was initially through the Jews, brought to the pointy end in Jesus Christ, and then, this good news being spread through the apostle Paul. As Paul says in Acts 13:47 - "The Lord has commanded us, saying "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." which is a direct quote from Isaiah. Ephesians is about this unity which we nd only in Christ. fi fi fi fi fi fi Page 1 of 5 And Paul comes to it again in chapter 4 vv3-6 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians is all about unity. Being One in Christ. Which is our speci c topic for today. Paul describes the issue using the language of 'citizenship’. I suspect that most of us would be Australia citizens, or at least have a certain type of visa that let’s us live here and bene t from living here. There are many across our world today, that don’t have the privilege of citizenship in any country. There are those who are stateless; those who are displaced, those who are refugees. What Paul is saying here, is that everyone can be part of the citizenship of heaven. Everyone can be transferred into the household of God and have a relationship with God in Christ. What this means is that the outsiders have become insiders. Paul also uses language of 'before and after', 'then and now', 'once … but'. In verse 12 Paul says to the Ephesians: "you were... separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world." But by verse 19 this situation has been reversed: v. 19: "you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and also members of his household." Something radical has happened. The Gentiles have experienced a change of status. They were aliens... now they are citizens and members. The verses in between v.12 and 19 are about how this change of citizenship has taken place and what it means, not just for the Gentiles but also for the Jews, in fact, potentially for the whole of humanity: v. 13: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near..." Paul makes it very clear, doesn't he, that it wasn't anything the Gentiles did which helped them to meet the conditions of citizenship. The one and only cause of the radical reversal of their relationship with God was the death of Jesus Christ on the cross: v. 13: "by the blood of Christ" v. 15: "in his esh" v. 16: "through the cross" Citizenship in the people of God is now available to anyone, anywhere; far away or near; to anyone who is "in Christ" – whether Jew or Gentile. Paul tells the Ephesians that through the death of Christ, the dividing wall of hostility has been torn down. And not only the dividing wall between humanity and God, but also the dividing wall between people - between the Gentiles, who were the outsiders, from the Jews, who were the insiders. fi fi fl Page 2 of 5 Notice how often Paul refers to Christ as a peacemaker: v. 14: "He is our peace" v. 15: "thus making peace" v. 17: "he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" The result is one new humanity: In our prayer time yesterday morning, Chris and I were following the prayers from the Bible Society, and yesterday it was prayers for the Middle East Region. This was the prayer point 'Please pray with Dina, Director of The Arab Israeli Bible Society who shared, "We live in an unsafe place where things might escalate suddenly … The land of Christ is screaming from pain. There is a great need to build a culture of peacemakers, and a community of forgivers. Pray that God would sustain and strengthen his people amidst the Middle East con ict, as they seek to be his peacemakers and to live out the forgiveness his word teaches. The letter to the Ephesians speaks into that very situation. vs. 14-16: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his esh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. And I also remind you of what else Paul said in his letter to the Galatians making it clear that this reconciliation applies to other relationships, not just Jews and Gentiles. In Gal 3:28 Paul says: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (NIV). It seems to me that Paul doesn’t want the Ephesians to forget …….. to take their citizenship for granted. And it’s equally as important for us to not forget what our status would be if Jesus had not died on the cross, if our sins were not forgiven, if we were not 'in Christ'. v. 12: "remember that at one time you were without Christ and without God in the world." Paul then goes on to talk about the imagery of a building. He says that we are (v.20-22) 'built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. In the ancient world a temple was the dwelling place of God, not just a place of public worship. God's own household is the place where God lives. Here Paul calls the church – that is the people, not the building – a holy temple. The church is now the place where the living God displays his presence in the world – a living house created by the Holy Spirit. The foundations are the "the apostles and prophets", that is the people who preached the good news about Jesus. But the cornerstone is Christ; who supports the entire building. Now, Paul says, the Gentiles are part of the building – God's house continues to be "built together spiritually" upon the foundation and cornerstone of Christ. Our own church is part of that holy temple, part of that spiritual building, through whom God does his work. fl fl Page 3 of 5 Now I have to take you into chapter 3, because these verses at the beginning of chapter 3 are a mid-sentence thought. And this mid-sentence thought is an extraordinary declaration of what we, as the church, this new united humanity, are to do. Did you notice that ch 3 starts with a thought stop? For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles ……………….. and then he stops mid sentence. It’s as if he’s suddenly had this profound thought that he must share. And he shares it through until v.13. And v.14, he gets back on track and repeats "For this reason…" And he continues with what he was going to say. But in this thought stop - back in verses 1 & 2, he says …. surely you have heard …. In these intermediary 13 verses he’s so excited by the thought of this new humanity, that he wants them to see just how important this unity is to the proclamation of the Gospel. Now there’s a huge amount in vv1-9, but I can’t go into all that right now. I want to take you to v. 10-12 "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and con dence." What he's saying is that this bringing together of opposites, this new unity, is so we can proclaim the gospel. The Church is actually the means by which the wisdom of God is made known to the rest of creation; even including the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places! Did you know that that is your role? Did you know that this is our role together? We have been built into a Church in order to make known the wisdom of God in all its richness. If you think about our Vision statement - I think we could be on track if we live it out…. Living to love and proclaim Jesus. We’re here to continue Paul’s ministry of sharing the grace of God with people. Telling them what Jesus has done for us. Teaching people what God has shared with us in the Bible. How are we going with that job? How are you going with that job? Listen to v.10 again … "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known. So how is God’s wisdom seen in our life together? Well, I believe it’s as we build community that re ects God’s love, that we begin to demonstrate the glory of God to the world. Like we heard last week in 2:10 'for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. It’s as we build community around the unity that God gives us in Christ, that the wisdom of God in all its richness can be seen by others. That’s why we call ourselves family. That’s why we say, when we come here …. 'welcome home'. Paul was made the apostle to the Gentiles and proclaimed the Gospel, declaring the unity we now have in Christ. fl fi Page 4 of 5 Yes, it’s a mystery, says Paul, but the mystery has been made known. We have the privilege of being members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. The world so desperately needs the hope and the peace which we have, and which we are called to share. Will you join with Christ, with your fellow citizens, your brothers and sisters in Christ, to make known this manifold wisdom of God? Amen Page 5 of 5