What is more attractive than God’s family?
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What is more attractive than God’s family?
Those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus are given a new family.
Series: What is more attractive?
Than God’s family
Than corporate worship
Than serving together
Than learning at the feet of Jesus
Than the gospel
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—
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.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
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,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
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.
Main Points:
1) Walls exist between people (Gentile & Jew)
Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
2) The divisions were removed (By Jesus flesh, or death)
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
The illustration of the dividing wall of hostility is a reference to the balustrade in the temple/. A sign there was posted: “No foreigner may enter the sanctuary and enclosure, Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” This is like the signs people sometimes hang that say “Trespassers will be shot”. At the temple, non-Jewish people could not enter past the wall. Even if they went through all of the rituals to become a proselyte Jew, they could not enter. Even if they chose that system of faith as their own, and committed to it fully, they could not enter the inner temple.
And that would be something like if today, a person not born into a church attending family were told that they could not enter this sanctuary. Imagine if we had a sign on the door that said “No one who was not born into this church may enter the sanctuary.” Well, this would make us the most popular church in town, I am sure of it! Visitors must remain in the foyer, but cannot enter the sanctuary. As strange a thought that this is to us, this is what Gentiles who worshiped Yahweh were told.
No matter that you have committed yourself fully to God, you cannot enter. You shall not pass.
But now, saving faith in Jesus Christ has broken down that dividing wall. So think for a moment what that would be like. Imagine there were some in this community that were not born in the church, but put faith in Christ and desperately sought to please God, and wanted to be part of the church family, and loyally attended, but were never let into the sanctuary. But one day, they walked in and everything had changed. The wall was gone! And before you get worried about whether it is a load bearing wall, forget that. Focus on the emotional change that would happen for those who had been beyond the wall.
However, we are still flawed humans. The day that this happened, surely some of those who had already been on this side of the wall would feel some loss of special status. There perhaps would be some grumbling among that group who felt like the elites and now the place was opened to anyone who wanted to believe. Think of the response of those who have memberships at an expensive country club, and were used to the place being their own to enjoy, on the day the gates were opened to the general public and suddenly anyone could come in, and it got crowded, and people were not wearing the right clothes, and they didn’t all smell right, and some of them didn’t speak in the sophisticate language of the club. Those members would be outraged because they had paid their dues and this new group had not. They had old money that gave them status, and now that status meant nothing. And inevitably, in a situation like that, there would be more than mere grumbling, there would be outrage.
It should not be so in the church. The dividing wall has been removed. Now, we know that Paul was speaking of Jew and Gentile here. But if it was true that in Christ, Jew and Gentle should be one, how much more should this be true for us today, who have never known what that dividing wall of the temple was all about? And yet, often there is an arrogance amongst those who see themselves as the wise and good Christians, who imagine themselves to be better than others because they understand more, or spend more hours doing service, or simply because they have been around longer., and yet scripture clearly warns in many places against this attitude.
do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
This is a clear warning against arrogance, and it comes from the other angle. Paul in Romans was saying to the Gentile believers that they should not look down at Jews who had not believed in Jesus. They needed to remember that it was not they who supported the root, but the root (Jesus) supports all who are in him. And yet it often happens that there are some among the saints who feel quite superior over those who either are not believers, or to younger or newer believers, and this should never be the case.
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
And so it should now be clear that scripture leads us down this path of self-examination and warns us not to feel superior in our faith, and also that if we want to be wise, we would be meek, and pure, and peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy (And mercy is often reflected when rather than rebuke someone, we encourage them.), good fruits, impartial and sincere.
This breaking down of the wall is part of our reconciling, we are reconciled to one another in Christ, but Paul’s theology didn’t stop there, because we are also reconciled to God. We are reconciled to God individually in the forgiveness of our sin, and as a group of believers we are also reconciled to God as one unified people.
3) We are one (Through him)
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
a) one Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:13
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
b) one nation Philippians 3:20–21
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
c) one building 1 Peter 2:4–5
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
d) a dwelling place for God 2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Our main text from Ephesians was a letter Paul sent to that church, and this would have been illustrated to them well in Ephesians 2:22
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
In Ephesus, there were many temples. These temples were built to house the pagan gods. So this analogy to the Ephesians would have brought to mind a visual understanding. In a temple to a pagan God, stones were used to build, and artisans would make it beautiful, and there people would bring their sacrifices and worship that dead God, but those saved by Christ instead become themselves the temple, the dwelling place of God by the Spirit.
And note that Paul does not say this in past tense or future tense, but he carefully words this so that believers can understand this is an ongoing work, in the present. “You also are being built together.”
Now, what could be more attractive than that?
Main Points:
1) The Dividing Wall of Hostility
2) The Dividing Wall is Torn Down
3) We are one
a) one Spirit
b) one nation
c) one building
d) a dwelling place for God
The dividing wall of hostility is broken down. What could there possibly be to divide us in God’s family? We all come from different types of families. Some families are very close and tight. And some of you came from families that were extremely dysfunctional. Families can be messy. More than one family has split apart over an argument over who gets which plot of land, and sometimes families are broken over something even more petty.
But in Christ, we are given a new family, and in fact, Jesus said this:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
So now I will say something radical, but it isn’t me saying it, it is what scripture tells us. That in God’s kingdom, our closest family is not through relations, but through blood, and not our own earthly bloodline, but the blood of Christ, so that the Christian who was blessed to be born into a believing family has an even better relationship with their natural family, but those who find Christ are given a family much better than the one they grew up with. So our family loyalty in the church is first to other believers, and this comes before our unsaved family members.
I realize this is a little jargon to some ears, but remember that Jesus himself pointed out that following him would result in families being broken up, because choosing to follow him will often put us at odds even with those we love. In some cases, for the sake of sanity and safety, the natural family must be left behind. Ask anyone who was saved out of a drinking family and now serves Christ and has chosen to stop drinking how that is going for them.
Ask anyone who grew up with brothers telling dirty jokes and now walks away from those conversations how that relationship is going for them. Ask anyone who came from a business family, where work and earning is the god, and who now chooses to put their faith first how that is going. I could go on and on but you get the point.
If you have chosen to put faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, then you have made a choice with eternal consequences, and a choice with responsibilities now. Jesus said if you love Him you will keep his commands. He makes clear that following him may mean persecution, and often this persecution comes form one’s own family.
Now, I don’t say that we should abandon our unsaved family, or reject them entirely because they are not saved. No, we should teach them the gospel, we should try to influence them in positive ways, but there can be a great danger if we allow ourselves to be influenced by anything other than God’s word, including our families if they are trying to cause us to trip up in our faith. But when it comes down to it, our new family loyalty is superior, for it comes from God through Christ, and that is the family we find ourselves in as
a) one Spirit
b) one nation
c) one building
d) a dwelling place for God
This is radical thinking, but our faith is in a radical savior. If it bothers you to think that your loyalty in life is first to your new family in Christ, even over your natural family, then I tell you, go and search the scripture to see if this is true. If it bothers you, spend some time thinking about why it bothers you, because Jesus said we should count the cost of following Him, and for some, this cost includes putting unsaved family behind the family of God.
And finally, when we serve others in this world, that service is to be focused more on our fellow believers. This may also be controversial for you to hear, but it is true. Our good works should first be done among fellow believers. I realize this goes against many ministry models out there, and maybe you don’t think this is true, but hear me out. We can and should do good outside the church when we can, but our first love should be Christ and His church. Paul said
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Clearly Paul believed that while we are to do good to everyone, our priority should be in the church.
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Who are members of our household? Other believers. The early church prioritized in the same way:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
So in the church, our first focus of ministry of good works should be inward, and suddenly many would say “But the church must be outward focused!” And this is true also, but I tell you, that based upon the scripture I just gave you, that the first priority in giving and helping others and service to others should be in the church. Now, in God’s economy, this does not mean we are limited to only serving each other, but I believe that as we serve each other and help each other, our Capacity to minister to those outside increases.
There are many ministries today that are entirely based on giving out things in hopes that people will hear the gospel. Our deacons have a general policy about using the benevolent fund. You see, we were helping an awful lot of people who had no connection to our church. We found that someone will even show up to church one or two Sundays if they are hoping to have their gas tank filled or be given some other help.
And we do love to help people, but we decided that we would only consider requests that came from all of you. So our priority is needs inside the congregation and to those who are at least connected to the congregation through relationship to someone in the church. And this isn’t because we don’t love helping people. It is that we felt it was important to focus first on the needs inside our congregation. And sometimes we do get a request from outside, and we always consider those, and sometimes we help.
Now, if we are taking care of each other, and serving each other in various ways, then naturally we will have increased opportunities to serve others. For one thing, one who has been shown mercy is more likely to show mercy to others. And for the outsider, if the church is showing this love to each other inside and they are looking in from the outside, then they are seeing the truth of the gospel.
In John 17, where Jesus said in his prayer that unity in the church is proof to the world that Jesus was sent by God. So we must first love and serve each other in the church, and this will be better evangelism than simply writing checks all day to fill gas tanks and things like that. When Jesus said to the least of my brothers in Matt 25:40, we can see who Jesus said were his brothers by looking at Jesus’ own words.
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.
But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
So what is more attractive than God’s family? In this family,
2) The Dividing Wall is Torn Down
3) We are one
a) one Spirit
b) one nation
c) one building
d) a dwelling place for God
We are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. And the evidence of this will be that we are one, that we are unified, that we see this family, our spiritual family, as the best and most important part of our lives because in this family we are helped, we are taught, we are encouraged. In this family, we should find love and acceptance. In this family, there should be no arrogance or judgement, but instead mercy. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
And so, my friends, this family ought to hold great attraction. If we serve one another, and love one another, and live in unity, we will not be able to contain the gospel inside of these walls. In my first year of ministry, I remember a meeting where a group of angry people came to the elders and said this is not an evangelistic church anymore! And I was puzzled. I came to understand that what they meant was that we were focusing more on discipleship, but the sad part was that some saw this as an either or proposition. You either do evangelism OR you do discipleship. This is what is called a false dichotomy.
You see, it isn’t one or the other. And the proof is in the early church, which at the end of Acts 2, we are told they devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship (which is an inward focus) and they sold possessions and distributed to those in the family (which is an inward focus). And they attended the temple day by day, and breaking bread in their homes (Which is an inward focus). And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
I will close with this. I contend, based upon all of the scriptures I have preached this morning, that the family of believers should be largely focused on each other, in the same ways as the early church. Devoted to the apostles teaching (that is, biblical preaching and teaching from scripture, which was given to us through the apostles) and to fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. To attend church together and break bread in the homes. I believe this results in the praising of God and having favor with all people, including those outside the fellowship, and I believer that if we are focused like this, we would not be able to contain ourselves from sharing the gospel with others, and seeing numbers added to us.
You see, so many ministries put the focus almost entirely outward, and their motives I am sure are good, but focusing entirely on outsiders at the neglect of the family, is not a good proposition for the long-term health of the church. Instead, our focus must be first on those in the body. Our concern should be first for those in the body. That doesn’t necessarily mean all who attend church, for many attend and keep an arms length from the church. They are missing out, and if you are one who merely attends and never gets too close, I encourage you to take another step inward in the church. Attend Sunday school or a bible study. Get together with others in the church. Share your prayer needs.
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
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