Is there something between us?

thank you for your prayers for my family and especially my son saw God truly work in His way, protecting my son.

review last week

we saw how Paul reminded the Gentiles what Label they had, just in the first 3 verses.... Paul was telling them to remember… because these were Gentile Christians now.

the struggle in life when words are spoken over people

whats the answer to that...... is to take on the label that God gives us, not what the world gives.

people of God, holy nation, royal priesthood, son and daughter of the King, bought with a price, cherished, apple of His eye, beautiful, forgiven…etc. what does He call you?

and as we realize who we are in Christ, we can also think about who the One is that is calling us these names. Who is God the Father? Who is this Father that calls you by name?

He is the everlasting One, the Creator of all things, He is sovereign over all, He is love, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He is the Alpha and the Omega and we can call Him Abba, Father.

this week

we will finish the text.

got a question for you....

ever had trouble with someone? ever felt divided from another people group? ever experienced hostility?

before I go any further....let’s define hostility.

what is hostility? being hostile. the definition is a deep-seated usually mutual ill will. or overt acts of warfare. this is probably a good depiction of Jew and Gentile. there was a hatred between them. maybe a good picture of people you know! maybe even in your own family!

this trouble between to groups is where we go today, and Jesus doesn’t have the answer for it, He is the answer! verse 14

Ephesians 2:14 ESV

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Ephesians 2:15 ESV

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,

Ephesians 2:16 ESV

and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 2:17 ESV

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

Remember, this is Paul talking with the Gentile believers.....about both groups. the Jews who were considered close or near to God and the Gentiles who were far away from God and they were very separate people in the day.

If a Gentile did want to become a Jewish God worshipper in Judaism, there was a long road ahead of him. really he would go through a process of disowning his old life to the point of being dead. breaking fellowship with his family and friends completely.

So, do we see in Christianity that all Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism? that means Judaism wasn’t the way either.

that means Jews needed this new way just as much as the Gentiles did.

it wasn’t converting to one groups religion or the others, it was all new.

I have a friend, a dear friend, that started studying Judaism, with the interest of Judaism to almost practice. He is missing it. We have Christ and Christ fulfilled the Law so He could form the New Covenant for us. Not to discredit the O.T. because we draw so much truth of God from it and we see how history, His story has worked itself out. We see prophecies of Jesus. We learn God’s sovereignty through it. Read the O.T. and you will see the same God in there as you see in the N.T.

Also, there had to be law for Christ to fulfill, and also law for mankind to break.

Ephesians 2:18 ESV

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

So we see both Jew and Gentile have access to the Father by one spirit. there aren’t two ways to heaven, there is one. there aren’t two ways to God, there is one.

then Paul uses a figure of speech in this last portion about building a house.

Ephesians 2:19 ESV

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

Ephesians 2:20 ESV

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Ephesians 2:21 ESV

in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 2:22 ESV

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

I don't know alot about building houses.... there are some people here today that could teach me exactly how to do it, I am sure. some have built many houses. So when we talk about this, maybe they can relate, alittle.

building a house is best on a foundation. the foundation give the house a proper base. it can cause it to stand or fall, I mean a foundation that is not level, plumb or square is going to cause all kinds of problems for the rest of the house. good thing Jesus in our foundation, yes church?

We are not a leaning tower of Pisa church, right?

We don't start building the house from the top, we start with the foundation. the foundation is key to the rest of the house.

Jesus, being the chief cornerstone like we said, keeps the entire house plumb, square and level. He keeps it true. He keeps His house right. And we are being fit into the house. we are a part of the house. a part of it with Jesus, the prophets, the teachers, the evangelists, all the people of God. DO we get what we are?

We are His house, filled with Him in us all! this is an identity thing.... and our identity plays a major role in our lives. because whatever we think our identity is, that will have a major part in what we do, what we say, and how far we will go. that is why God is so interested in us understanding that for Christians, He has changed our identity.

we needed changing, church..... before we knew Him we were not His church, we were bound by sin, blind and dead, and worst of all, we didn’t even know it!!!

now, in Jesus, we are His, we are living in reality with God always present, we are protected by the Creator of the universe, we are filled in our spirit with His power and we are guided by His spirit to do what He has called us to do.

In His house there are different parts, pieces and thingamobobies..... we are all different but we all make up one house. God's house. and it is for something much bigger than you and I, it is for Him. To bring glory to the One who created all things.

as we think about who we are

and who He is.....remembering that He has called us to live here and also to live in heaven for all eternity with Him, the saints and what ever else is up there that we will find out!

I can only imagine.