A New Era (Eph 2:17-22)

Okay. So let's turn in our Bibles to Ephesians. We're continuing our study in the book of Ephesians. We are covering today Ephesians chapter 2 verses 17 through 22 seasons is the book in the New Testament. It's after Romans willax Romans 1st and 2nd Corinthians Galatians, and then you have a fusions. So if you've gone to see here at Philippians are Colossians Thessalonians, you need to make a left but it is also on our on our screen sermon title today is a new era are we see in these verses is that?

Is that Paul is? Is describing to us a new era? I want to take I want to give you a moment and I want you to read these verses on your own. So go ahead and read verse 17 through 22 on your own. And then in a minute, read these verses for us.

together Verses 17 through 20 to the perfect word of our God says and he referring to Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to you who are in the world 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 and him you also being built together into a dwelling place for God by his Spirit. May God bless the reading and the preaching of his word. 2020 has been a difficult year. That is an understatement piece has evaded this year. Let's just talk about some of the events that have happened in 2020. You remember that there were fires that were ravaging Australia. It happened in 2019. And in 2020 in America killed Iranian General soleimani Iran responded back by launching to ballistic missiles at American bases injuring Two Soldiers and then shooting down a Ukrainian international flight from Tehran flight number 752 killing all 176 passengers on board. There was the impeachment and then the acquittal of President Donald Trump. We realized that coronavirus was not going to be like stars or Ebola limited to one continent rather coronavirus spread. We saw a lockdown in Wuhan and we saw a nationwide lockdown and Italy we saw awful pictures in Italy and Spain. And then we saw those pictures come to New York.

We ourselves experienced our own lockdown for months. We have now seen half a million deaths from coronavirus worldwide just a couple of days ago nearly 10,000 confirmed cases in California. Now, obviously a margin of error. But anyway you slice it that is a lot of cases and soon. It is very unfortunate. We will see death tolls rise in this nation. There are other problems that we've seen in 2020. We saw Democratic Democratic caucus in Iowa facing its own problems. We saw the beginning of what would be a pandemic recession of volatile stock market the postponement of the Olympics the postponement of the MLB.

So many sports franchises in sports leagues now, we're seeing a food crisis in Africa. And we are seeing perhaps hundreds of protesters in Hong Kong being sentenced to life in prison. for protesting China's new policies Racine The Death of George Floyd and societal unrest in our own nation in our own backyard. It will be in July. This is been 20 20. Peace has evaded 20/20. And that's why I am so amazed about God's sovereignty because look at verse 17. And he came and preached. Peace.

We talked about peace last week named lean verse 14 Christ is our peace and we're going to talk more about peace now. We are high. I need Beast. Even though I'm a Child of God. I need to be reminded. That Christ is my piece of he came to make peace. And he has come to preach peace and we need to be reminded of the same thing brothers and sisters. It is no accident that we are preaching in these verses today. The main idea of these verses is that the church and we are the church, even if we can't sing even when we couldn't meet together. We are still the church the church is New Creation. We are the new era. That all of creation points. We live in a new era and we are that new era. We are new creation and fall describes us in a amazing ways. First of all, he says our community is characterized by piece. We need to know that second our community right here in our church is characterized by peace and access to God. Because we are a new reality. And we relate to God in a new relationship our society loans for new creation. And it's right here. We are that creation to let's look at verse 17 through 22 in detail and learn about how our church you and me are in fact New Creation in verse 17. Paul says that our community the church is characterized by piece. As I've already said we learn in verse 14 last week that Jesus himself is our peace because of who he is and because of what he does and verse 14 we learned that he broke down the dividing wall of hostility and made it himself one new man. That's the church. That's us all of us being united in Christ. Amid. God glorifying diversity Our God has done that. He has made peace and then we learn in verse 17 that he not only made peace At The Cross by he made Peace by coming. Jesus came to this Earth according to verse 17 to make peace and noticed what he did. He preached peace and what it said. He preached peace to those who were far off which means Gentiles and those who are near that means juice. But when you look at the Earthly Ministry of Jesus you realize he's not preaching peace to gentiles. He's only preaching to Jews and occasionally at a Phoenician woman or a Canaanite Woman by he does not have a Ministry to the Gentiles. We see at the beginning of his ministry that the angels in Luke to announce peace on Earth and we see that when Jesus enters into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the people announce peace in heaven and glory on the highest.

Jesus ministry is a Ministry of Peace. It's a Ministry of peace to juice. So what does it mean then when it says he preached peace to those who were far off. It means a very very significant truth. It means that when you and I preach. Peace. Jesus preaching

when you and I preach the gospel Our World Hears the voice of Jesus. That's what the Great Commission is all about in The Great Commission. We have Jesus. Dying on the cross doing a Ministry of reconciliation a Ministry of Peace have any commissions his disciples to take that Ministry of peace to the ends of the Earth. I didn't Luke the author of the book of Acts. He writes the book of Acts very intentionally. He makes several connections between Jesus ministry and the ministry of the Apostles. Why? Because what Luke is saying is that the people of God you and I extend the ministry of Jesus himself to the ends of the Earth. Brothers and sisters when you and I preach the gospel of peace. Jesus preaches. Peace

Our society needs. Peace.

I need peace. I mean any list of the things I just got done talking about fires in Australia or Stoneman of sporting events. The spread of coronavirus racial tension is enough to bring chaos, and I didn't even mention the personal things. We've gone through loss of jobs. marital strife

disobedient children

introduction of a puppy in your family

reborn puppy and we're glad we bought the puppy is great for our kids, but we're tired. I'm wondering what were we thinking? On the other hand, we know exactly what we were thinking and you guys could all related to puppy. We are in a season on the both of societal level and a personal level where we need. Peace and what we need to hear what our community needs to hears the gospel. I need to hear Jesus.

In Jesus Jess is at the right hand of the Father in heaven, but he is also with us that when we speak the gospel of peace when we say you are lost friends and Neighbors when they talk to us about the chaos. They're feeling and we saved them something like brother. Where is your hope and they say I have no hope and you say something like brother in the midst of turmoil. I hope in Jesus Christ, and you can to Jesus live the life. You were called live inside your death, but if you would trust in him you could have life. Would you trust in him when we do that? We preach the Gospel of Jesus speaks. Peace. And Jesus makes Peace So brothers and sisters. The Christian Community is a community have characterized by piece right now you and I in the midst of all of the chaos in this world, we do have peace. It is not just an ideal to achieve. It is a reality. We have Jesus is our peace not he will be our peace. He might be our peace. He is our peace there for We need to spread this message to our lost friends and are lost Neighbors. First thing we learned about the Christian Community is that it is characterized by piece. The second thing we learn about is found in verse 18 you learn that it's also characterized by access. Let's read again Verse 18 amazing verse 4 through him. We both have access in one Spirit to the father. Okay, what an amazing verse could take the rest of our time just discussing this one thing. We have access. To God the first thing I want to learn about this is that our access to God is dependent on the Trinity each person in the godhead the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit operates in order to give us peace. So first of all, it's just put a footnote. What kind of God do we serve? The Argon with operate on our behalf to give us peace. That is the God we serve. In each person of the Trinity functions and works towards this end. So let's learn about this first Paul tells us in verse 18 that we have access through Jesus. Now if I had a highlighter and I was into taking notes in my Bible and I am a little bit and I highlighted every time that Paul said in Jesus are with Jesus or through Jesus. That should be all highlighted. This is just another example, we're Paul underlines the importance and necessity of Jesus Christ Our peace with God is through Jesus and what he did on the cross you see it's tempting to think we have access to God by other means right isn't it tempting for you? And I to think that we have access to God based on our good works are good decisions are noble efforts that's demonic. None of that gives us access to God. Our access is through Jesus what that means is how do we have access? because of Jesus the next thing we learned is that our access is in the spirit. In other words. The Holy Spirit himself is the person who creates the unity we experience in Christ. Now that is such a humbling thing cuz my last week might sermon title was unity in the midst of God glorifying diversity a Hallmark of our community is that we experience unity in Christ. That means we are equal in Christ. We all have equal dignity in Christ. Although we're very different unity in the midst of diversity Universe 18-wheeler and that it's the spirit who creates that Unity Not me. Frozen sisters it doesn't matter how good I preach how awful I preached know. I hope the breach well because God uses means like breaching but Alta Mere at the end of the day, I can't create the unity of our church. Nutria feeder can it's the spirit who create this Unity. That isn't it tempting. I used to think this that somehow. Your Unity with God is dependent on your feelings ever since that before that if you feel like you're holy you somehow think more. Yeah, God listens to my prayers and I somehow have closer access to God, but if you feel far from God isn't attempting to think while we are no longer United to God isn't it tempting to think that our access to God is dependent on our feelings and on our performance. This verse says not a chance our access to God is through Jesus and it's a reality created by the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit Works to create our unity in Christ. How other verses say he can fix us of sin. So why have you believe the gospel? It's because the spirit convicted you of sin, and nope didn't open your eyes and this brought you into Unity with Jesus and Jesus brought you into the presence of God. It's the spirit who creates this access and then thirdly notice what are access to our access inverse 18 is to the father. So do you notice that the Christian Community is characterized by access to God and we have each member of the Trinity the Father the Son and the spirit operating and working toward the end of giving you and me access. Praise be to God. There are so many implications here. First of all in the midst of Chaos.

You can still dwell in the reality of Peace because you have the Triune God working in unity for your peace. In the midst of chaos of our society you have God himself working for your peace there for brothers and sisters right now in the midst of chaos a new puppy. Let's not make it right. Some of you are experiencing a lot more suffering than me. 10 minutes of job loss You don't know how you're going to pay next month's bills. In the midst of family members you have Cove in.

And you don't know if they're going to make it.

This type of suffering is going to propel you for refuge in something where you going to see Kate brothers and sisters. I might know what I'm I feel like it's chaotic. I might think you know what? I really want to work out. That's one way. Another way could be all I really want to buy something means. Let me just go buy something some of you might think let me just drink alcohol or or do drugs. Some of you might say let me just get super super angry, right? There's lots of responses that we can have. Heather reality that we're not in control Courage and you brothers and sisters today is not turn. Do any of those things that turn to drugs or alcohol?

Archie fantasies are social media and turn to the Lord. He has me peace. He himself is our peace. He came and preached peace. And right now if I'm doing this, right Jesus is preaching peace to you. Turn the midst of this chaotic. We cannot guarantee. There will be chaos this week. Turn to Jesus. An experience that piece that is the reality of yours. Jesus gives peace. Jesus gives access to God so the first thing I wanted this to learn is that the Trinity each member of our God is at work to give us access the next thing we need to learn is that Reverse aging for Paul to say that we now have access.

fixes one of the major problems in Scripture

That means your problem is that all of us have been exiled from God's presence because of sin in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit. And what they did is it grab for themselves autonomy. I will be my own God make my own decisions based on my own site independent of what God says and that decision ushered in all of the chaos that we are experiencing right now. But more than any of that that decision led us to be exiled. From God's presence sin separates us from God so that we are now far from God. But what is Verse 18 say we now have access to God in the Old Testament. The Jews had some access to God they had access through through several limited memes about then one day year one person and a very ritualistic way had an intimate access to the father. Through sacrifice known as the day of atonement, but it was one person one day of the year and it was access that was covered with fear. In the Old Testament if you were a gentile you had no access to God. So the option in the Old Testament was very very limited access to God or no access at all. So when Paul says you and I have access to God what that means is we now live in a new era. A new creation has come the old creation is gone that old self that all creation is gone. We now live in New Creation. When we have access to God as what it means is that we have returned from spiritual Exile back to an a picture of a Garden of Eden. That is us because the Garden of Eden is the place before sin where people had access to God and now you and I in the Christian Community have access to God doesn't that tell us what our identity is, this is New Creation. So let's live like it in a world of dead old riding creation. This is Who We Are So this new creation is characterized by peace and access to God. It's also characterized by a new relationship to God noticed verse 19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens that you are fellow citizens and Saints of the members of the households of God. We now relate to God in a new relationship. We were once strangers and aliens. Chapter 2 verse 1 says that we were once dead in our sins verse 2 says we once followed the devil verse 3 says we were children of Wrath and then in chapter 2 verse 11 pieces. Sorry for 12 years separated from Christ. We Were Strangers to the covenants of promise. We had no hope in the world and we were without God that is overwhelming. The reality we previous had was overwhelming but now in verse 18 verse 19. It says we are no longer strangers and aliens. We are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God. This is our God our God loves to take. Foreigners medicine and he loves to take those who follow the devil and make them followers of himself. He loves to take the spiritually orphaned and make us his children brothers and sisters because we have the Triune God fighting for us. We are now called his children and citizens in his kingdom doesn't that evoke peace, even in the midst of chaos and brothers and sisters when you and I walk in this piece even in the midst of chaos what it screams to our world. Is that our God satisfies. Right now a lot of things that satisfied or ripped from us. A lot of things Financial Security ripped from all of us doing a degree health risks from all of us to a degree political and certainty political unrest so much satisfaction ripped from us and yet when you and I can still walk satisfied and delighted in God because we are in this new reality. It's screams to the world that Jesus satisfies and gives Delight even in the midst of chaos, and that is the powerful picture. That our community needs to hear. This week brothers and sisters. Let's live in peace and let preach. Peace. The last thing you learned is that this new creation. This new era is also described in terms of a glorious new reality. We learning verse 20 through 22 that we as the church are the temple of God. He says that Jesus is the Cornerstone now the Cornerstone of any any any structure and in the ancient near East, especially the Cornerstone was the most important Stone in a structure. That's where everything depended upon Jesus. Is that Cornerstone. Our community depend on Jesus is the foundation is the apostles in the prophets. Those were the people who first preached the gospel and people in the Ephesian Church of God saved the apostles in the prophets are the foundation and the church itself is the structure

Church family. We are the temple of God. The temple is be placed in the Old Testament where God resided. And we ask the church not the church building because we don't even know if the Ephesians were meeting in a church building when Paula preach the gospel you off and went down to the creek the river. We are the temple of God. We are the place in this world were God dwells in a special and unique way and what that means is something different is happening here. New creation is here. This hasn't happened since the Garden of Eden when God walked among his people in the temple Garden, but it's happening now again in the church. We are the Fulfillment. Black history, so we should live like it. Burn Notice he says he emphasizes in verse 21 in verse 22 the unity that the people of God experience in the church. He says in verse 21 in whom referring to Jesus The whole structure being joined together grows into a holy Temple in the Lord and him you also being built together into a dwelling place by God by the spirit. Do you notice the phrases in verse 21 joined together and then the phrase and verse 22 built together.

The church is a place where people from diverse backgrounds Jews and Gentiles in the context of the book of Ephesians are built together by the spirit. And when that happens it says we grow into a holy Temple of the Lord church family. Do we want to grow? Do we want to be light to our society to we want to be salt to our society?

Do you want to mature for the glory of God? Well, then we need to be a community that embodies that joining togetherness and the built togetherness of the temple of God. So let's talk about that for a moment. Any attempt in our church to squash diversity for the sake of unity. Works against the spirit of God if we had any attempts in our church to squash diversity for the sake of unity. We're actually working against the spirit of God. We talked about this last week. How can we do that? Well one way we could do that is when a brother or sister comes to us and tells us something we did offended then and we get defensive and we say you shouldn't have been defensive. We are squashing diversity for the sake of unity. You know, I I can be very transparent in this I have done this on multiple occasions, but here's one example where your pastor squash diversity for the sake of unity. I was at a previous church and there's no need to be even joking about this. I was at a previous church and I had a vase and my wife had put out and we put cotton in it and we got some Hobby Lobby and I had something come up to me and say that might be offensive to our African American members, and I said that's ridiculous. That is squashing diversity for the sake of unity cuz you see what I did. I can't even listen. I got defensive and I pushed my perspective on to everybody I said that's ridiculous. That is not the Christian Community the Christian Community listens the Christian Community understand and if I've offended somebody because of a fake cotton flower. For the sake of my brothers and sisters are going to throw that away. We have to be a church that doesn't squash diversity for the sake of unity, but also we can't smash Unity for the sake of diversity. That's what our society is doing right now. We fall on the temptation of saying diversity doesn't matter all unified in Christ. So it's not a big deal that we are tempted to do our world where there is Unity. There is no clear all diverse and that ends in absolute chaos. How long now have school's been teaching diversity in our curriculum happening for decades and has it been much change know why because when you teach people about diversity, but you don't teach them about the equality. We all have as image bearers of Christ you breed division what's needed for our society is for them to know that there is unity in Christ a mid God glorifying diversity when we embody that as a church, we are built together into a holy Temple for God and it's by the spirit if we try and do either extremes that I just explained. We're actually working against the spirit of God. Are you and I are church family. We are in the new era. We live in New Creation right now. The love we have together the fact that we didn't sing when we want to sing indicates. Something different is happening here the love we show to one another constantly the love you have shown to me the patience gave you have shown to me the kindness indicate that this is New Creation. This is the new era brothers and sisters and our society needs to see it. So I am really begging you this week. Live in light of this reality and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ because when you do Jesus preaches and when you do the spirit is working through you unite all things in Jesus things in heaven and things in Earth and when that happens, we will see our new community spread New Creation will spread throughout our community until the kingdom of God is completely present and what a glorious reality that would be. So let's live for the glory of our God for the joy of the loss and farro enjoy this week brothers and sisters like bread.

Oh God, we we are so weak and I'm so weak. I know my own finitude. I feel my own finitude right now. But we rely on you and you are not finite you are infinite. Your knowledge is not limited. You are omniscient. Your power is not limited you are on nipotent. So I pray that you would Empower us to be a church that is Unified in the gospel that respects diversity that lives in light of our peace and knows that regardless of what happens in this world. We have access to you because you fight for access to you. So praise be to your name God we praise your name in Jesus name. Amen.