Abolishing Barriers with His Cross2
Abolishing Barriers with His Cross
Ephesians 2:11-22
I learned a long time ago that fences can hurt. As a young boy, I used to play at my grandparents house. Grandpa is an old cowboy. He always had horses around the place. He had a barn and a pasture with a white wooden rail fence around it.
One day I ran out the front door on my way to the pasture to play. I jumped up on the wood fence and prepared to climb over into the pasture. In all my excitement I forgot a very important detail. About 24” above the wood rail fence was a strand of wire which circled the perimeter of the pasture. It was connected to a low voltage transformer. In Oklahoma, we called them “hotwire fences.” About the time I raised up to climb over the fence, the hotwire caught me right across the forehead. Next thing I know, I am on my back looking up at the fence. That fence stung me and hurt me.
Since then, I have learned that there are certain kinds of fences which are much more painful than even a hotwire fence. They are fences made not of wood and wire, but of charged attitudes and shocking actions. These fences are much more damaging and have longer lasting consequences than any hotwire.
These barriers are made of anger, bitterness, prejudice, and many other expressions of sin which come from within our hearts. We construct these fences thinking that they will protect us from certain undesirable people or unwanted heartaches. In reality, these barriers only serve to isolate us from God and from others.
Such barriers were well known to the Apostle Paul. He had once been an active fence-builder himself. But now, by the power of the cross, Paul had been freed from these fences. In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul writes about the ultimate destruction of these barriers by the cross of Jesus Christ.
I. The Barriers of Alienation (vv. 11-13).
A. Alienated from God.
1. Gentiles alienated from God.
a. separate from Christ who is the Messiah.
b. alienated from Israel the people of God.
c. strangers to the covenants of promise.
d. without hope in the world.
e. without God in the world.
The hopelessness of life without God was echoed by the Roman poet Catallus who wrote: The sun can rise and set again but once our brief light sets, there is one unending night to be slept through.
This alienation from God was further captured in the way the Gentiles were described in v. 19 – strangers and aliens.
Not only were we separated from God, we were separated from one another.
B. Alienated from others.
1. Man separated from fellow-man.
a. Jew/Gentile hostility.
b. Privileged & pure vs. pagan & polluted.
In the temple complex there was a wall that stood between the court of the Gentiles and the temple proper. On this wall was an inscription which read, “No Gentile may enter the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”
The Jews referred to the Gentiles as dogs. They were not allowed to help a Gentile woman in childbirth lest they assist in bringing another pagan into the world.
Of course, the Gentiles had their hatreds and prejudices also. They waged war against the barbarians. Plato said the barbarians were his enemies by nature.
APP: Our sinful condition without Christ results in all kinds of fences, prejudices, and barriers. Think about the world we live in right now. There are racial prejudices. There are social prejudices. There are religious prejudices. Sunnis fighting Shia in the middle east. Protestants fighting Catholics in Ireland. No doubt there are still the vestiges of racial prejudice right here in our own country. Sin results in alienation. We are alienated from God and from one another.
TS – Next, we see how God has addressed our alienation.
II. The Cross Destroys Barriers (vv. 13-18).
A. We are reconciled by the Christ’s death on the cross.
1. Note the language of reconciliation with God.
a. We have been brought near (v. 13).
b. We are reconciled to God (v. 16).
c. Through Christ we have access to the
Father through the Spirit (v. 18).
2. Note the language of reconciliation with each
other.
a. Christ our peace has made us one (v. 14).
b. Christ creates one new man in place of the
two (v. 15).
c. Christ reconciles us both to God in one body
which is the church (v. 16).
3. Note that all of this is done through the cross.
a. By the blood of Christ (v. 13).
b. In his flesh (v. 14).
c. Through the cross (v. 16).
B. Christ’s cross shattered the wall of division.
1. A wall of hostility existed both vertically and
Horizontally.
2. Christ’s death broke down that wall by abolishing
the law of commandments and ordinances.
a. This certainly does not mean that the law
ceases to have any usefulness or influence
for the believer. After all, Paul alludes to it
in 6:2. In other places, we are told that the
law is good, holy, and just. Nine of the ten
commandments are clearly gathered up in
the NT as binding upon us. The law still
reveals the character of God and serves as
a guide for our sanctification.
b. I think what Paul has in mind here is that
Christ’s death abolished the law as a covenant
by which men relate to God. That covenant
brought separation between Jew and Gentile.
Christ abolished it to replace it with a new
Covenant by His death.
C. Christ established a new humanity by His cross.
1. He made us both (Jew/Gentile) one.
2. He created in himself one new man in place of the
two.
3. The idea here is that in Christ, the barriers that once
separated people are now destroyed and they become
a new entity of blood-bought, redeemed people.
D. This new humanity is summarized in vv. 19-22.
1. Fellow-citizens with the saints.
2. Members of the household of God.
3. A spiritual temple in which God dwells by the Spirit.
John Oxenham captured this thought when he wrote: “In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North; But one great fellowship of love, Throughout the whole wide earth.”
We experienced this again last week while in Mexico. We have different customs. We have different pigmentation in our skin. We have different languages. Our lifestyles are quite different. But, when we worship with our Mexican brothers and sisters, when we sing together, when we read God’s Word together, when we minister side by side, there is a very real sense in which we are part of one body reconciled to God by Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION:
We must not rebuild barriers which Christ has destroyed with His cross. This is true on a larger scale and on a smaller scale. On a larger scale, we must not allow racial or social prejudices to create division among believers. We do insult to the cross of Christ when we look down on others because of their skin color or socio-economic status.
On a smaller scale, we must not allow conflicts to go unresolved and erect barriers between ourselves and other believers in this fellowship. Now I realize that we will build closer relationships with some here than others. I understand that different interests and personalities will draw us toward each other sometimes. But we must never use these things as excuses to hold grudges. We must never use these things as excuses to keep other Christians at arms distance.
When we hold feelings of anger or bitterness toward other believers, it is sin. When we refuse to be reconciled it is sin. When we allow differences of opinion on non-essential issues to divide us and isolate us from one another we do insult to Christ and His reconciling work. Dear brother, dear sister, don’t you dare rebuild the walls that Jesus Christ poured out His blood to destroy.
We must pursue reconciliation and friendly relationships with all Christians. All those who are truly redeemed are our brothers and sisters. Regardless of their skin color, their language, their culture, their food, if they are saved by Christ, they are our family. Do you believe that? The same holds true on a smaller scale. Every person who truly belongs to Christ in this church is your brother or sister. You may not agree on every fine point. You may choose to listen to different kinds of music. You may make different choices about how to educate your children. You may live in different neighborhoods. But you are family. The same cross and the same blood reconciled you to God. The same Holy Spirit lives within you. You are connected in the most powerful way through Christ.
So, we need to act like it. We ought never to allow petty disagreements to divide our fellowship. We ought never to treat one another rudely or unkind. We ought never refuse to help each other when we are able. We must rather pursue friendly and helpful relationships with one another. When we fuss, we must reconcile. When we get hurt, we need to resolve our issues.
In addition, we need to get in the harness together and work side by side in kingdom work. We need to pray together, sweat together, laugh together, and cry together. Why? Because Jesus Christ made peace for us through His cross. His cross was the hammer that demolished the walls of separation. His blood washed away all our reasons for prejudice and division.
So, in the name of Jesus and His precious cross, be reconciled to God and to one another.