How We Are Designed

Ephesians 2:17-22

INTRODUCTION

Our memories enable us to understand life and the reality within which we live. We remember pain, enjoyment, people, information, and events to make appropriate choices for the present and future. Some memories we choose; others are burned into our minds by the sheer force of the event. Memories can be paths to success or scars that disable. Sometimes, we decide to forget painful parts of life, but often, we only succeed in repressing the memory until a later, possibly more difficult, time. We also make choices in remembering how much attention will be given to particular painful or enjoyable events. Remembering is how we name and process the past and structure our minds to know how to live today to prepare us for the future.

In today’s scripture, Paul asks that we remember the life-determining change Christ has brought to us all. That is, the radical movement from being dead in sins to life in Christ, from being excluded to being included, for this movement is still at work in our lives every day. Such remembering gives attention to the continuing change at work in us. Remembering is, therefore, the key to loving and worshiping God. Remembering is the key to understanding how we are designed to be in community, specifically the church.

The church is not an institution for perfect people. It is a sanctuary for sinners saved by grace, a nursery for God’s sweet children to be nurtured and grow strong, and a place of refuge for all. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep, the home for Christ’s family. The church is the dearest place on earth because we are designed to be here.

Ephesians 2:17–22 (ESV)

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

In chapter 2, Paul contrasts the believers' former state of spiritual death due to sin with their new life in Christ. Paul goes on to emphasize unity between Jewish and Gentile believers, explaining that Christ has broken down the barrier walls of hostility, creating one new humanity reconciled to God through the cross, establishing peace for all. To set the environment here, the racial divisions between Jews and Gentiles are intense and have many consequences that rival what we have seen in our country over the past 200 years. Amid such hostilities, Paul says the Christian community needs to be unified.

V17-18

Paul has been talking about Jesus, so “he” refers to Christ in this transition. Christ is our peace, makes peace, and proclaims peace. Paul seeks to connect Christ and peace as comprehensively as possible. Jesus is the one who makes peace possible, who announces its availability, and in whom peace is enjoyed. Peace is not merely the cessation of hostility but a comprehensive term for salvation and life with God. The background to this word peace is the Old Testament concept of shalom, which covers wholeness, physical well-being, prosperity, security, good relations, and integrity. The New Testament adds very little new content to shalom, but it accurately describes its extent and location. Jesus is where peace is found. Jesus Christ does not bring a new concept of peace; rather, he is shalom.

The emphasis in verse 18 is that oneness which Paul has been stressing: all of us, Jews and Gentiles. This oneness is the demonstration of the fact that Christ came and preached the Good News of peace, that is, the news of the complete reconciliation between the two groups, Gentiles and Jews.

The phrases “you who were far off” and “those who were near” refer to “Gentiles” and “Jews,” respectively. Paul’s wording is drawn from Isaiah 52. Jesus Christ, in his death and resurrection, identified with and represented all humanity. God’s grace connects us to God through Christ and connects us to each other. The gospel message is a proclamation of peace between God and fallen humanity and between humanity and itself.

V19-22

In the Old Testament, the only division in the temple was between priests and laity. However, in Paul’s day, architects had added barriers for non-Jews and women. Paul says these barriers are abolished in Christ. Some other Jewish writers spoke of God’s people as his temple, but only Paul and other early Christians recognized that this new temple included non-Jews.

Around the time Paul was writing these words, arguing for racial unity in Christ, Jews and Syrians were massacring each other in the streets of Caesarea, a city where he had been recently. Here, Paul does not simply mimic a common stand against racism in his culture; he condemns racism and segregation of a religious institution even though he has to challenge his culture and his people to do so.

In the Old Testament, God’s “dwelling” referred to the nation of Israel or the Tabernacle or the Temple. But in the New Testament, this dwelling is the whole body of believers, the church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles. There would not be two “churches,” one made up of Jewish believers and one of Gentile believers. Instead, there should be no barriers, no divisions, no basis for discrimination. We all belong to Christ and share fully in his blessings. He lives in us by his Spirit.

Paul proclaimed Christ Jesus as the cornerstone of the foundation. “Cornerstone” holds an entire structure together. In ancient structures, it was placed at a right angle, joining two walls, with the royal name inscribed on it to signify the ruler who took credit for the building’s erection. Jesus is that cornerstone, and His name is inscribed. Jesus is the key aspect of this unity and is appropriately described as the cornerstone. Thus, the previous message preached by the prophets and fulfilled in Christ is fitted together with the message of the apostles, which is offered to all. Paul concludes his discussion of the implications of the peace established by Christ as he details how various disjointed people are brought to unity and what this means for the future. Jesus allows and enables a fitting together that is necessary to function as the temple of God. Paul explains that Christ fitting the pieces together allows for the growth of the building into the temple it was intended to be. Thus, through Christ, the people of God are joined together and continue to grow together in order for them as a whole to function as a holy temple.

Today’s Key Truth

The peace of Jesus unifies all relationships, especially in the church community.

APPLICATION

As Paul speaks to the Ephesian church, he reminds them they were once strangers and foreigners. They were not part of the family of God. Between Jews and Gentiles, there existed a rigid line of demarcation regarding religion. The temple at Jerusalem had a special court for the Gentiles, separated from the “court of Israel.” The Gentile worshipped in his area, and the Jew was in the great sanctuary. Paul reminds the church of where they once were, but now he confirms that the believers are no longer tied to their previous area. We no longer stand as strangers and foreigners to Christ or each other. We now stand as fellow citizens with the saints, those of the body of Christ, and are brought into the household of God. Now, both the Jew and gentile have left those buildings to form one great spiritual temple, whose chief cornerstone is Christ.

God’s grace gives you life and unites you with him and the people you are alienated from. The cross is the place where all barriers are destroyed. No one has a higher value than anyone else. The ground at the cross is level. Our standing is God-given, not something that inherently makes us better than others. The ground at the cross is level.

All believers are citizens of God’s Kingdom and members of his household. Many barriers divide us from other Christians: age, appearance, intelligence, political persuasion, economic status, race, and theological perspective. One of the surest ways to suffocate Christ’s love is to be friendly only with people similar to us. Christ has knocked down the barriers and has placed all believers into one family. His cross should be the focus of our unity. The Holy Spirit helps us look beyond the barriers to the unity we are called to enjoy. The world can see that God is love and that Christ is Lord if we live in harmony with each other and follow what God says in his Word.

The problem is that modern Christians, especially in the United States, seem to know only individualism. This passage confronts our individualism and asserts our involvement with Christ and with those in him. We cannot separate our relationship with God from our relationship with other people. Scripture outlines how all relationships, especially with fellow Christians, are to function. We don’t have to guess and wonder how we are to interact with others. Scripture gives clear guidance. We are not simply in Christ as isolated individual persons. Since Christ is the head of the body, which is the church, all who are in union with Christ are also related to one another in his body. This joining together makes us “one body in Christ.”

The attitude of this world is best expressed in the phrase, “You’re different from me, so I resent you for that.” We, humanity, create barriers between races, nations, religions, genders, social and economic classes, denominations, schools, communities, teams, and families. Differentiation is necessary for identity, but the human tendency to create barriers is a distortion and a sin. Distinction and uniqueness do not have to lead to division. The erection of barriers results from how we attribute value; that is to say, in our insecurities, we often devalue those who are different.

Even before being in Christ, humans have more in common than they do differently. All are made in the image of God, have the same needs, and all experience the same disorientation from sin. But in Christ, no ground exists for barriers or divisions—not along racial, gender, cultural, or any other lines. Whether we like it or not, we are one with all others in Christ.

Churches must demonstrate that all human barriers are down. Church members must show they care about others in Christ, even if they differ culturally, economically, politically, or socially. We are designed to show the world an example of a place without barriers. A monolithic church in a multicultural context is a failure. When our churches are divided like the world, then we look no different from the world. Churches need to demonstrate unity with Christians of other cultures, to seek justice, and to evangelize across cultural and racial lines. We have to show the barriers are down. We are designed to show that in Christ, the barriers created by man have to be demolished.

The peace discussed in this text is not about good inner feelings but about relationships. Far too many people have distorted ideas about religion, that religion is what they do when they are alone, quiet, and thinking of God. They forget that the vertical relation with God is bound to and expressed in horizontal ties with people. Note, too, that in Ephesians Paul does not say, “He is my peace”; it says, “He is our peace.” A church is a group of people who know this and embody peace in anticipation of that day when God establishes peace in all his creation. In the church, God’s work of peace has to be evident to everyone the church interacts with. Christians, by definition, are people of peace. That does not mean we are passive or dormant. On the contrary, as people of peace, we, by necessity, struggle for justice and speak against cruelty.

In the different branches of the military, numerous schools for war exist. Few people study peace. The church should be a place where people study and practice peace. In American churches, peace is rarely given value. We have assumed our culture’s insecurity to such a degree that peace is relegated to lofty theological discussions and end-time eschatology. Inseatd premium value is placed on “doing it my way,” “our traditions and preferences,” and “believing everything as I do.” Christians are marked more by division than peace. But if peace was a criterion by which Paul solved problems, then peace should also have a commanding force for us. It should rule both our hearts and our churches. In the church, peace should not just get a chance, but it should be a driving force.

The peace of Jesus unifies all relationships, especially in the church community.

CONCLUSION

Modern evangelicals tend to focus on Christianity as an individual religion. The failures of the church have often driven people to this option, but the New Testament knows nothing of “lone ranger” Christianity. The individual and the individual's faith are both important, but the Christian faith is a corporate, community based religion.

When one is baptized into Christ, one is baptized into the body of Christ. This part of the reality of faith should not be neglected. People do relate to God as individuals, but the focus is community. In the horizontal relation, the vertical relation is lived out. The gospel needs to be presented so that people realize its sociological dimensions. The division of the church into so many groups is a scandal. Far too often, Christians are more interested in their brand of Christianity than in Christ. The goal of the church is to live unified in Christ.

To focus on unity has nothing to do with being weak on doctrine. Unity is itself a profound foundational theological doctrine and necessity. Christians cannot sacrifice the essence of the gospel to attain unity, for that would not be Christian unity. Most of our divisions, however, occur without theological justification and are usually accompanied by non-Christian attitudes and acts. We must be willing and ready to tolerate disagreement and different preferences to enjoy unity. Unity is a foundational doctrine of our faith. Unity cannot be sacrificed on the altar of individual personal preferences. Unity only succeeds when we are focused on Christ and not ourselves.

The peace of Jesus unifies all relationships, especially in the church community.

Communities can exist for a variety of reasons, but the Christian church exists only because of Christ and his mission. Christianity is a religion centered on one person, Jesus. The Christian community has no other reason to exist other than Christ himself. He is our peace, the one in whom all are united, the one who gives access to God, and the cornerstone on whom the building grows.

Consequently, a church's activities should reflect this central focus on Christ. Only then can believers fulfill their mission. The Christian community has no other reason to exist than Jesus. He is our peace, the one in whom all are united.

The peace of Jesus unifies all relationships, especially in the church community.

Throughout life, most of us have some sense of not belonging, and we feel unaccepted and inferior. The drive to identify with someone, some group, or some cause deemed important, even if it is only a sports team, is enormous. Such identifications make us feel important. We need to belong to have some sense of fit in the world, and the ability to relate and accomplish things comes from a sense of belonging. Our own families are, of course, primary in giving us a sense of belonging.

This text says we do belong. Christ brought us home to God. We live in God’s house as members of his family, and at the same time, we are a house in which God lives. We belong with God and are involved in what he is doing. The other people in the house are family with us. This home defines us. Christ has given us a place in his world, and from that sense of belonging comes a growing ability to relate and accomplish the tasks to which we are called together. This text asks that we remember where home is: We are all at home with God.

From here, all else in the Christian life flows. As a family of faith, the church should have the feel of family. Family members care for each other, are committed to each other, confront each other, and sustain each other. A sense of family should shape our worship. Worship should not be like a production we watch; instead, we need the comfort and freedom of being involved in a family experience, joining together to communicate with God as one family. No one should be allowed to feel like an outsider in the church; all people need to know they belong. We are to be much different than our divided world. There are to be no man-designed barriers. Everyone should feel at home. That’s how we are designed.

God’s grace gives you life and unites you with him and with people from whom you were alienated. The cross is the place where all human barriers are destroyed. No one has higher value than anyone else. The ground at the cross is level.

The peace of Jesus unifies all relationships, especially in the church community.