Sealed as the Temple (8:30)

Sealed – Week 2 – 8:30

Sealed as the Temple

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship! It is so good to be with you in the house of the Lord and to worship with you joining online.

We are in the second week of our new series “Sealed” where we are looking at our identity in Christ. Last week we looked at the fact that we are Sealed, we are marked, we are identified in Christ by the Spirit. We talked about the fact that if our identity is in anything other than Jesus Christ, we are missing the point, when our identity is in Christ and we are fully devoted followers of Jesus, then we are living the abundant life we were created for.

It is all based on Ephesians 1:13

Ephesians 1:13

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

When we are part of the Body of Christ, when we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are marked with a seal, we are identified so that all can see… in other words, we are his witnesses far and wide.

Sermon slide

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be working our way through Ephesians looking at our identity in Christ and what it means to our daily life. Today, we are in Ephesians 2, with a focus on verses 11-22. So, open your Bibles to Ephesians 2 as we begin considering what it means to be identified as the Temple. So often, we think that My Body is the Temple… but I think Scripture tells us that it isn’t “my body,” I think scripture reminds us that collectively we are the Temple of God. So let’s dig in and see were Scripture leads us.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time 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 now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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 flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself 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. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 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.

<Prayer>

Sermon Slide

As we get started thinking about this passage, it feels like we are missing something. Of course, we have the “Therefore” at the beginning, which refers to what Paul, the author, wrote in the verses before – “that you are saved by grace through faith, and not the result of anything you have done.” In other words, our salvation is in God’s hands, there is nothing we can do to gain or earn or receive salvation apart from the work that Jesus Christ did on the Cross. That’s a pretty big thing to miss, so now we’ve got that nailed down, but what else is missing?

Paul is alluding to the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem and all the Synagogues built all around the communities of Israel. The Temple had a specific construction with specific rules for each area, like who was allowed and who wasn’t.

Holy of Holies

The most holy place was called the Holy of Holies. Even the Holy of Holies was divided. The Holy Place was the innermost portion of the Temple where only the Priests could enter. Then, within this area, there was a Veil, a Curtain, that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. It’s believed that the Ark of the Covenant rested in this place. It was such a holy place, that a priest was elected annually to go in and offer sacrifices for the people. That priest offered 2 sacrifices, one for his own sins, then one for the sins of all the people of Israel. There are stories that the priest would have bells on his robe and a rope tied around his waist so if he quit moving and died in the presence of God, the other priests could drag him out of the Most Holy Place.

Court of Israel

Next was the court of Israel. This was the men’s court. Only Israelite Men who had completed the appropriate purification rituals were allowed into this area. Even though it was called the “Court of Israel” Israelite women were barred from entering this place, it’s the next most holy place in the Temple.

Court of the Women

The Court of the Women was outside of that. It was an open-air area surrounded by a walled porch that had gates where any ceremonially clean Israelite, male or female could enter and worship. At the gates, there was a warning sign to the Gentiles, that any Gentile entering that area would be responsible for their own death.

Beyond the court of the Women and farthest from the Holy of Holies was the Court of the Gentiles.

Court of the Gentiles

The court of the Gentiles was intended to be a place where any could come and worship the one true God. If you’ve read the Gospels, you know of this place. Do you remember in Matthew 21, Jesus came to the Temple with the Disciples and found Money Changers in the Temple? Well, they were set up here in the Court of Gentiles, turning this area into a marketplace where they were selling animals to be offered as sacrifices and exchanging money so the people could have their Half-Shekel to pay the Temple Tax.

Not only were the Gentiles barred from accessing the most holy places of the Temple, in 1st Century Judaism, the only place the Gentiles were allowed to worship had been turned into a marketplace for the Jews… So Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple, declaring that “The Father’s House was to be a House of Prayer.”

Sermon Slide

Now, that brings us back to today’s passage. We Gentiles – the ones the Jews called “The Uncircumcised” because they were “The Circumcised”, have been separated from the holiness of God. Even the design of the Temple was meant to keep us far from God.

The Jews were to be a light to the nations drawing others to God, but in 1st Century Judaism, they became exclusive and worked to keep people away from the Holiness of God. There are many reasons why that was the case, and in their mind, all the reasons were holy and righteous.

But regardless of what they thought, when Jesus died on the Cross, Matthew 27:51 tells us that the Temple Curtain, the area that separated the Most Holy Place from the people was torn from top to bottom. In essence, what that scripture was saying is that God is not contained behind the curtain and in the Temple. The presence of God was not limited to a place… Instead, through the salvific act of Jesus on the Cross, God’s presence is available to all.

The Israelite men and women and the Proselytes and the Gentiles all have the same access to God now as the Priests did.

In Jesus Christ, the barrier between people and God is removed, we are one in Christ, Jesus is our peace… Jesus is our uniter.

Think about the implications of that in the world today. If powers and principalities around the world would acknowledge the saving act of Jesus Christ and the fact that we are united in peace under Jesus, we would have no war. We would work together to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We would work together to heal the sick.

But instead, we live in a society, a world, that seeks to place our identity in our nationality, in our politics, in our race… we seek to place our identity in anything but Jesus Christ and live in a world of hostility when Jesus came to offer and bring peace.

Verse 18 tells us that “through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” It is through Jesus’ act on the Cross that both Jew and non-Jew have access to the Father. What was a physical barrier has been removed, now we all have access through the Holy Spirit.

Then, Paul started sharing a common theme in his writings, that we are the Body of Christ… that we, the Body of Christ are God’s Temple now.

Ephesians 2:21-22

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.

When Jesus is the cornerstone of our building, we are the body of Christ, the very dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. You and I no longer need a physical Temple to go to in order to encounter the presence of God… when we gather together… anywhere… we are the Temple of God.

Sermon Slide

Jesus told us, “Where 2 or 3 are gathered, I am there in your midst.” When we, the assembly of believers gather together in worship… and study… and fellowship… and reach out in mission and ministry… when we gather, we become the very presence of the Holy Spirit. We are the Holy Place of God, the Most Holy Place, where the Spirit of God dwells!

Let me ask you this… when you gather together, at Timbers, or at The Bottle Cap, or at Brick Streets, or Marshalls, or even at the Warehouse… when you gather together, do people experience the Peace of the Body of Christ?

I guess another question is, do people recognize you as the Temple, the dwelling place of God?

Where you place your identity has an eternal impact. Your eternity and the eternity of the people you are called to reach… but that is a sermon for another time.

Would you pray with me?