Our Corporate Identity

Introduction: Ephesians 2:11-22

Recap Series

The Gospel is God’s Answer

The Gospel is the we have been chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son and Assured by the Spirit

It should be the desire of every believer to see everyone grow in that knowledge

Because you individually were once dead… Now, in Christ, you are alive!

Today - Our Corporate Identity

Up to this point in Paul’s letter, it has been to the individual

In the OT we know that God chose a people, the Jews

he would bless the world through them

he would give his law to them

they would be his possession

but we are not saved collectively, we are saved individually

meaning, I cannot take my relationship with Christ and just put my kids name on it, they have to have their own

the same for your family

But… at the same time, God has saved us individually to be a part of a collective, corporately worshipping and sharing Him.

Ephesians 2:11–22 CSB

11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

PRAY!

Alienation: Who We Once Were

Alienation - the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity

we have all experienced this at one time or another

we understand the feeling of being isolated, or left out of a group

this might have a been a bigger deal when you were younger…

cliches in school, maybe you felt it was important to be a part of the right one

might not be as big of deal to you now, but at the same time, we all like to feel accepted by the group we are in

Many people when asked why they do not go to church, will say that it is because they feel judged

I believe that this is the adult way of saying that they do not feel accepted

feeling like when they come in the group is looking at them as an outsider

Ephesians 2:11 CSB

11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

Paul specifically wants his readers to remember that they were outsiders

remember the feeling of being outside

“So, then...” points back to the individual salvation we have in Christ

you, individually, were dead and are not alive

What are gentiles - anyone who is not Jewish, literally, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants

literally - this is true

but he is speaking of more than simply blood lines,

you were not God’s people

you were called, uncircumcised by the circumcised which is done by human hands

circumcision was the distinguishing mark of God’s people

Paul says this is done by human hands

meaning that this is mans attempt to get to God

this is what all our religious activity, good deeds and anything else that we do that are an attempt to earn our salvation, gain access to God

Paul describes the life of the alien, or being without Christ

Ephesians 2:12 CSB

12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

Excluded - Here are God’s people and you are left out

they have a citizenship that you cannot have regardless of how bad that you want

they have a citizenship that you cannot have regardless of how much you attempt to look or act like they do

even the gentiles that would desire to be saved, the Jews would then come behind Paul and tell them they could be saved, but they would have to do all the things that the jews have done

even at that point, they would not be fully excepted, they would still be considered unclean by the Jews

Foreigners to the covenants and promises

We have become so used to how to do things at the church that it is normal to us

if we were to go to a different country and worship Jesus it would look different to us

we can still enjoy it and get into the worship

why… it is the same God that we are worshipping

the difference is not the God that is being worshipped but the way that he is being worshipped

Paul is making note that the Gentiles were foreign to all of it

this was a different God than they had ever known

they did not know of his covenant, his promises that had been given hundreds of years earlier and passed down from generation to generation

This left them Hopeless and Godless

when I say Godless I am not meaning that they did not have a god that they worshipped, we all worship something

they had different pagan gods…

remember that Ephesus was home to the temple of Artemis, in Acts we know that the silversmith was mad at the believers because they were decreasing the idol worship and this was costing him money

Paul is saying that their life, our life, without the Lord God in it leaves us with a life without hope

This is not just individually who we were, but Paul is telling the Ephesians that this is who they were as a group, a collective people

lost, excluded, foreigners and hopeless without God

Reconciliation: What Christ Has Done

This is the second time in the chapter that Paul has thrown in a “but”

remember in v2-10, Paul says this is who you were

dead, following Satan, following your own sinful desires

then v4 comes and says, “but God, because he loved us, being rich in mercy made us alive!”

then he was writing to us individually, now as a collective

as a group you were alienated… then v13

Ephesians 2:13–18 CSB

13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Christ has brought us peace

Christ has brought us peace with God

this is what we think of most often when we think of the peace that Jesus brings

we know that we were separated from God due to our sin

that we have been reconciled individually through Jesus’ death on the cross and now can have peace with the father

any who confess and believe

Christ has brought us peace with one another

We love to be right…

when I visited Israel and Jordan, there were mosques everywhere

you would see big ones and little ones, some fancier than others

they would all play the call to prayer throughout the day

I remember asking, why are their so many

“just like churches in America, they split up over little differences and disputes”

Christ came, not just to reconcile the individual to God, but also to have peace with all other believers

Christ has made us one

we are no longer Jews and Gentiles,

the temple in Jerusalem had a sign with a special place for the gentiles

basically said if they passed this wall, entered into this part, they would be killed

Paul is saying that the walls are torn down

we are no longer divided by where we live, by our nationality, what language we speak

through the peace of Christ, we are one people

we have to stop ourselves from dividing ourselves up like this

we are not white christians or black christians, we are not American Christians,

we have not be commissioned to make new Americans, or to start American churches

we are now one people, the people of God

Christ preached peace

Romans 12:18 CSB

18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

this is something that we should be striving for

with everyone… notice how far reaching this is

not just with those who look like, sound like, smell like us

not just those who have the same political view, music preference

we can pray for peace everyday, for shootings and wars to end, but if we do not live it out, we do not truly desire it

Christ has given us access to God

it is those who take the message of peace to heart that now have access to the father

see how the trinity plays a part in this

just like in Chapter 1, you were chosen by the father, redeemed by the son, assured by the spirit

here, through Christ we have access to the father, by the spirit

Jesus made it possible for us to have access to the father by taking our sins and the penalty due us, upon himself, and transferring to us his righteousness

We can be in the presence of the Father! Someplace that we can only be if we are cleansed.

a place that we did not know existed, a place that we we excluded from we now have access to

How do we enter into his presence, by the spirit that dwells inside the believer

Identification: Who We Have Now Become

One of Satan’s favorite things to do it to divide people

the world right now is crying out for us to choose sides

divide by race, divide by sex (both real and perceived), by sexual preference (somebody cannot be saved if they are attracted to the same sex, because if you struggle with sin you cannot be saved) by political party (even so much that we cannot fathom somebody being saved if they are of a different political party)

we are being taught to divide and hate anything different

church, it should not be with us! All of those things are a worldly way of looking at things.

that is not who we are

Ephesians 2:19–22 CSB

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

Citizens of a Kingdom

There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, we are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians)

we are citizens of Heaven and should be excited about that

we can be thankful for where we live, that we live in a country where we can worship freely, that I will not be arrested today for hate speech because I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ

but there are some who claim Christ that would rather elevate the United States as if it is the heaven that all will be coming to at the end of time

as if the father is wringing his hands in worry of what he will ever do if we do not keep the USA a certain way

As if he is telling believers in the rest of the world, don’t worry, you will be saved, as long as you begin to make you country into the USA

In that day, there will not no more crying and no more pain, we will be his people and he will be our God

we will dwell with him in Heaven, not him with us in the USA

Members of God’s family

as such we are one family in Christ,

not different denominations, different races in different rooms in heaven

we will all sit down at one big family dinner, with people of all different colors and tongues, worshipping Jesus together

Stones in God’s temple

you are a part of the temple, the church that is being built up in which God will dwell

all based on Jesus, continued through the apostles and prophets growing into one church

Conclusion

Elevate the picture of the local church

it is not just somewhere we go when we have time, when it is convenient

this is where we join in along with the other citizens of heaven, joining the voices from around the world to worship the king

We include all of those who proclaim that Jesus is Lord and believe that by the power of God that he was raised from the dead

this is all possible only by Christ’s redemptive work for us individually that we could be brought together