Ephesians 2:11-21 A new humanity in Christ

Ephesians 2:11-21

Isaiah 57:14-21

       A new humanity in Christ

Left                                            Right

Albo                                          Dutton

Red                                            Blue

Vaxers                                     Anti- vaxers

Trump                                      Martin

Aboriginal                            Non- aboriginal

Black                                        White

Israeli                                       Palestinian

Presbyterian                      Pentecostal

We humans are a tribal lot.

And don’t get me wrong, those tribal identities can be really good things……………….

If you are in the female tribe- that is good, celebrate and enjoy being female.- stay in that God given tribe.

If you are in the male tribe- that is good also- celebrate and enjoy being male- stay in that God given tribe.

However, often our tribal differences are really bad things, we humans have a tendency to fortify our own tribe, defend our tribe with all our might and at the same time, attack and destroy other tribes.

Other tribes are quickly demonised and our own tribes are quickly declared as divine.

Perhaps today, more than ever we are a tribal world, who cancel, destroy other tribes that don’t act like us, think like us, look like us- agree with us on everything….

There seems to be no peace in this world.

There is always some tribe fighting against another- this is how it has been throughout history.

If only we could all get along, if only the world knew peace, if only all tribes could just get along.

What is the answer?

Hitler thought he had the answer.

He thought if there was just one dominant tribe in this world, a tribe full of blonde hair and blue eyed blokes, and a world in which the Jewish tribe didn’t exist, then world “peace” would be possible.

Hitler, like many other dictators, thought that if all tribes just looked the same way and pledged their allegiance to the same dictator then world peace would be possible.

Dictators like Hitler, built barriers which didn’t bring peace, but instead caused war.

When the Roman Empire was at the peak of its powers, it had a motto “Pax Romana” which means “Roman Peace”. But instead of bringing peace, it brought division and chaos and war.  No more so, than fighting within.

You can understand why tribal rivalries are so intense, as families have been destroyed, homes have been wrecked and wounds run deep.

As one tribe kills another, revenge and retribution continue in a violent circle.

So what’s the answer?

How can this cycle of violence ever stop?

How can we truly have world peace?

Well, without overcomplicating matters, as we often like to do, the answer is found in Jesus and Jesus alone.

Yes- the kids church answer is often the right answer.

Just listen to how Jesus will eventually bring peace to this world.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:10 that at the fullness of time, all things…..all things, will be united in Christ,things in heaven and things on earth. And that unity which we will have in Christ one day, is described in more detail in book of Revelation.

Look at this vision of heaven that John describes for us in Revelation 5:8-10:

 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 

9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll    and to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God    from every tribe and language and people and nation,10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,    and they shall reign on the earth.”

Just listen to this:

One day, people from every tribe, black people, white people, Israelites, Palestinians, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, people from every language, aboriginal people, non- aboriginal people, will be gathered around the throne of God, around the Lion of Judah- Jesus, around the lamb that was slain-also Jesus and they will all be singing a new song to God……..

There is nothing like a good sing along to bring people together…..

And notice what John says in verse 10, where shall these people reign, where shall they be singing praises to God? On the earth.

One day friends, as John tells us in Revelation 21, Heaven will meet earth, the new city of Jerusalem- heaven itself will come down and peace will reign on the earth.

Peace, everlasting peace.

No more bloodshed, no more violence, no more tears, no more pain- just peace…

Everyone will be united under one head- Christ.

By the way, this doesn’t mean that all will be saved. The bible never teaches some wishy washy universalism. Those that don’t repent and believe in Christ will be condemned to eternal death, and yet those who have repented and believed will be altogether, singing praises to God- together.

And here is the thing about that future everlasting peace….we can actually have a foretaste of that peace now in and through Jesus.

We actually have a taste of that peace now!

As God’s church, his local and global church, we can actually show the world a glimmer of that future peace now, as the church, both local and global is made up of people of different tribes and languages, different backgrounds, different political allegiances and yet all united in Christ…….under the reign of Christ as we sit under His word.

No wonder, Paul labels the church the manifold wisdom of God, which not only is a witness of God’s grace to this world, but also as a witness to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

We know that Christ has broken down all man-made walls that tribes have built, and we know there isn’t a wall too big for Christ to tear down,

since he has already torn down perhaps one of the biggest man-made walls in history- and I am not talking about the great wall of China, but the wall that was erected between the Jews and the gentiles,

the walls that were erected between the Israelites and all other nations.

The Israelites took the wonderful gifts that God gave them, and instead using those gifts to bless other nations, as God intended them to be used for, they used those very gifts and built walls which kept people out of God’s kingdom, instead of welcoming them in.

Paul explains in this passage that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus broke down the man-made walls between the Jews and the gentiles.

Look at verses 11-12 with me:

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— 12 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.

Paul is writing here, particularly to the gentiles (the non- Jews) in the church in Ephesus.

He reminds them that they (the non- Jews) were in the uncircumcised group, they were in a tribe that didn’t have the symbolic physical sign that their sin had been cut away.

They were in a tribe that was separated from the common wealth of Isreal.

They were in a tribe which had no God- given land- no promised land flowing with milk and honey.

They were in a tribe that didn’t receive the promises of God, the promise of a king, the promise of a saviour.

They were in a tribe that hadn’t  been given the 10 commandments.

They were in a tribe that had no priests to act as a mediator between them and God.

They were in a tribe that were far, far away from God.

They were in a tribe that had no hope, no God, because God was working through his tribe, the Israelites.

They were in a tribe that were simply not the Israelites.

God dwelt in the world, but he had a special dwelling amongst the nation of Israel.

But, and here is another glorious but……but….. Jesus came and changed all of that.

Look at verses 13-16 with me:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Friends, this is great news for us, for us non- Jewish people.

Paul tells us that through Christ, we too have been brought near to God, we too have peace with God and with one another. Jesus is our peace.

When Jesus came and lived on this earth, he fulfilled the requirements of all of God’s law on our behalf, and so now, the law of God no longer condemns us to eternal death, because Jesus has fulfilled the law for us, we get his pass mark, we get his righteousness.

This is why Paul is able to write that Jesus abolished the law for us.

Yes, we keep God’s law, we live by it, but it no longer condemns us to eternal death when we fail to keep God’s law, because Jesus has not only fulfilled the law for us, but he has also took the punishment for when we break the law- he took the death we deserved.

God’s law was given to us through Moses, as an act of grace.

God’s law is good, it shows us how we should live and yet sadly the leaders of those who received God’s law, the Israelite leaders such as the scribes and pharisees, received the law of God, received his grace and turned it into a man- made-wall.

They took God’s laws and built so many man made fences around God’s laws, that it no longer was a gracious gift, but a work of keeping people out.

Friends, I pray that the church continues to learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Let us not put up unnecessary walls to keep people out of God’s kingdom.

You don’t have to speak in tongues to be part of God’s kingdom

You don’t have to read the king James only version of the bible to be part of God’s kingdom

Heck, you don't even have to be Presbyterian to be part of God’s kingdom.

We are part of God’s kingdom through and only through the cross of Jesus and this is for all people,no matter what tribe you belong to, you can only enter into God’s kingdom through the cross of Jesus.

Even Jews can only enter into God’s kingdom through the cross of Jesus.

Just look at verses 14-16 with me again

For he (Jesus) himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh (His body that was laid down on a cross) the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he (Jesus) might create in himself one new man in place of the two (no longer a separate Jew and Gentile tribe), so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both (Jew and Gentile) to God in one body through the cross (of Jesus), thereby killing the hostility.

Notice…..There is only one way to true peace, only one way to salvation, and that is through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

There is not one way of salvation for the Jews and another way for the rest of the world- no- all come to the father through Jesus- the son.

God has not rejected the Jewish people.

God has not side blinded the Jewish people either.

From the very start, God promised the Jewish people that a king and saviour would come from their own people, and he did- the Jew-Jesus.

From the very start, he promised the Jewish people that this saviour, this king, would be saviour and king, not just for the Jews but for all nations across the world.

The best things we can do for the Jews, is pray that Jesus will save them.

Perhaps the worst thing we can do for the Jews is to help them build a temple for them in Jerusalem, because we are giving them false hope, hope that they may find salvation in a man-made temple and man made sacrifices.

Salvation is found in Jesus and Him alone.

Sadly, many Jewish people have rejected Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and sadly they too, like all others who reject Jesus will be eternally condemned. And yet, we just as the apostle Paul did, should pray that Jews would come to know Jesus as Lord and saviour. We should pray that not only Jews, but all people, from all tribes and nations would come to know Jesus, because it is only through Jesus that we are saved- it is only through Jesus that we have peace with God and peace with one another.

Just look how Paul emphasises the unity of the work of the Trinity, God the father, God the son, God the holy Spirit, in our peace with God.

Look at verse 18 with me:

For through him (Jesus) we both have access in one Spirit (The Holy Spirit) to the Father (God the father). 

Friends, once you have received this peace from Jesus, once you have received the gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus, you belong to a tribal family which trumps all other tribal affiliations you may have.

You have a heavenly citizenship which trumps any earthly citizenship you may have. Your heavenly citizenship is eternal, your earthly ones are temporary. Once you receive the gift of Jesus, you also receive the gift of a global and local church family.

I know members of our church families in Wingham, Krambach and Old Bar, who are thankful to be part of this local church family, because they literally have no peace in their own biological family. They experience the peace of Jesus, through their brothers and sisters in Christ.

When a Muslim receives the peace of Jesus, they literally have a new family in Christ, because their Muslim families cut them off, reject them, shame them, kick them out of their family.

Jesus once told a man that to follow him, to be part of his tribe was even more important than burying his earthly father. Peace is not found in burying the dead, but peace is found in Jesus and Jesus alone.

Finally, I want to finish with a conviction, that I have, that I pray you have or that you will have and this is a conviction that will be tested again and again.

Our unity in Jesus, our unity in this church is based upon the unity of the bible alone, it is built on the scriptures alone.

Look at verse 19-22 with me:

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.

The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.

The prophets are the ones, who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote what we now call the books of the Old Testament. The apostles are the ones who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what we now call the books of the New Testament.  The prophets and apostles represent the bible- the scriptures.

And what do the scriptures write about? Jesus.

The church is built on God, who is Jesus, who told what the prophets and apostles should write and they wrote about Jesus.

What I am saying is essentially this.

Trust that we have all we need in the scriptures.

There is no knew revelation that we need, there is no Jospeh Smith or Mary white or any other so-called prophet that we need to hear from, no other script we need, no book of Mormon, no writings of Ellen white, not even the Westminster confession of faith, which is declared fallible at the start of the confession anyway-

No, for us to know who God is-we know whom God is- His name is Jesus and He is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. He alone. We don’t need the prophet Mohammed to teach us who Jesus really was, no- we trust that the scriptures are sufficient.

Sometimes in this life, for the promotion of peace and unity, it is good to pick a tribe and stay clear of other tribes.

Sometimes you just have to pick a tribe, and sometimes that can be a good thing.

In 1977 when Church union formed in Australia, and the uniting Church was born, the Presbyterian tribe decided not to join the uniting tribe. And for many we were considered “pig-headed”, we were considered trouble makers who just didn’t want unity.

I mean how can you not join a church that is called Uniting?

Titles can be so deceptive at times can’t they- like “marriage equality”- who doesn’t want that right?

Anyway why did we, Presbyterians, distance ourselves from that uniting tribe?

It was all down to the authority and sufficiency of scripture.

The uniting Church do not believe that the bible is actually God’s word, that Denomination don’t believe the scriptures were actually breathed out by God, by his spirit to the prophets and apostles and so they have no firm foundation of what to live by.

There is no sexual ethic foundation, no marriage foundation, no firm foundation what so ever since they believe that any extra revelation can change the truth of the scriptures at any time.

Ironically when a church dedicates itself to unity by abandoning the authority of scripture- they actually promote disunity.

When a church gathers around the authoritative word of God we bring unity, we are all united under the teachings of the bible, we are all united under the teachings of Jesus, we are all united under the rule of Jesus.  As we gather each week around the teaching of God’s word, we experience a foretaste of the greater reality of unity to come, when all tribes and all nations will be gathered around the lamb that was slain- Jesus.

Let us pray.