Ephesians 2 - The Change of Relationships - July 30, 2006
Good morning. Join me in turning to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. We have been going through this letter of Paul the Apostle, written to Christians in the town of Ephesus, the capital city of Turkey or Asia Minor as it was known back them. Paul writes to those who have left idol worship -- as the town was the center of the worship of the goddess Diana -- to those who have come to trust in Christ for salvation.
We mentioned that chapters 1-3 deal with doctrine, and chapters 4-6 deal with duty. 1-3 deal with who we are, and 4-6 with how we live. We look at verses 1-4 and we see the key idea: we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly realms. We see that we live on a spiritual plane, and we look beyond just the blessings of health and money and family. We see that on a spiritual, supernatural level God has given us every possible blessing.
We see that the Father chose us for salvation. The Father is the one who initiated our salvation and made it possible. We see it is Christ who has redeemed us, offering us forgiveness by dying in our place on the cross. We see the Holy Spirit seals us, identifying us as a Christian. The Holy Spirit is also our guarantee, our downpayment, our security that we WILL receive all that God has promised we will receive. And because of all of these blessings, our response is to give praise to God. To load him down with our praises.
In the end of chapter 1, Paul has seen the faith and love of these Ephesians believers put into practice, and so he prays all the harder for them. He doesn’t pray for them to GET anything new, because they have already received every spiritual blessing. Paul is praying for the believers to KNOW what they have already been given.
Paul’s prayer is that we would KNOW God on an experiential basis, more and more; that we would ANTICIPATE with hope the calling we have received to salvation; that we would understand the glorious inheritance we have been given; and that we would know the incomparably great power of God. So powerful, that the only thing that comes close to helping us understand it is that this was the power that raised Christ from the dead after he died for our sins, in our place.
In chapter 2 and see Our Position in Christ. In verses 1-10, we see ourselves positionally. We see who we WERE - dead in sins, led astray by the world, the devil, and our flesh, our sin nature. But Paul reminds us we have been given victory by God. We have gone from being a corpse to being made alive, to becoming a masterpiece, a great work of art, showing God’s glory, and we are to do good works so that God may continue to get more and more glory as others see our good works and glorify the Father in heaven.
Today we want to look at the end of chapter 2, verses 11-22. We want to see today RELATIONALLY who we have been made to become. Let’s stand and read the passage together. READ 2:11-22. PRAY!
We mentioned in verses 1-10 we see POSITIONALLY who we have become: a masterpiece of God’s glory. Then we come to verse 11, and it says “therefore” - because we are created to be a masterpiece of God’s glory, how should we live out these good works which we are called to do. And there’s just one problem - we always have to live our lives in a context, in relationships with others. “Being good” wouldn’t be that hard if we didn’t have to put up with other people! But let someone cut in line in front of you, take your parking spot, pass you on the interstate and cut in front right before the two lanes go into one at the construction zone - you’ll quickly remember how HARD it can be to deal with people.
Paul deals here in chapter 2 with relationships. And once again, he uses the same format he does in the first part of the chapter. In verses 11-12 he deals with WHO WE WERE before our reconciliation; verses 13-18 deal with the IMPACT of Christ’s reconciliation; and verses 19-22 deal with who we ARE TO BE after our reconciliation. First, Relationally . . .
1. Remember Who You Were
Paul writes to the Ephesians, residents and citizens of Turkey, Asia Minor, and he uses one key word to describe them: Gentiles. Basically it is a general word to describe any people groups. It is the word ETHNOS - from which we get our term “ethnic”. Basically he calls them an ETHNIC GROUP. But the key is the opposite of being a Gentile. It was being a JEW! And to any unconverted Jew, being a Gentile was a great disgrace and dishonor. The Jews saw themselves as the chosen race, the people of God. The Jews had this mistaken view that “Gentiles were created by God to fuel the fires of hell.” In fact, there was one key characteristic about every Gentile that showed the Jews that Gentiles were “second-class citizens: circumcision. Every Jewish male was circumcised on the 8th day. It was a ritual that went all the way back to Abraham. The cutting away of the foreskin on the male genitals was a sign of their identification as being set apart for God.
Paul makes reference in verse 11 to that derision - that the Jews who considered themselves better, who considered themselves the “circumcision”, looked down on the Gentiles as the “uncircumcised”. Throughout the OT the uncircumcised are those who are looked upon as the outcasts.
Now note in verse 11 that Paul does make note that these Jews who call themselves the “circumcision” are only those who have had men cut a piece of their skin off. In Colossians 2 and other places, Paul talks about the difference of an outward identification compared to an internal heart change. Paul talks about how these Ephesian believers, looked down upon by the Jews, had been separate from God. Psalm 148:14 mentions the Jews as “Israel, the people close to his heart.” But the Gentiles were far from God. Paul mentions how.
•without a past hope - separate from Christ - Remember the word “Christ” really is the word for Messiah. The Jews for centuries had a hope of a promised Messiah, the anointed one of God, who would come and one day deliver them from all oppression and bondage; who would come and set the captive free; who would bind up the broken-hearted, who would proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, who would proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, who would comfort all who mourn, who would provide for those who grieve, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
The Jews had hope - they had a past heritage - a promised Messiah. But not the Gentiles. They were . . .
•without a present hope - excluded from citizenship in Israel - The Jews of Paul’s day saw themselves as being the chosen people, the people that God’s favor rested upon. They viewed anyone of another race as a second class citizen, because they were not a part of Israel. The Gentiles were . . .
•without a future hope - foreigners to the covenants of promise. Paul looks back upon the history of the Jews, and remembers that the forefathers had been given many promises for their nation. Promises of the future prosperity and blessing of the Jews. The Jews were looking for that future hope. That’s why they asked Jesus, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? The Jews knew that their hope was in a future king who would come and restore the prominence of the nation of Israel. But the Gentiles were excluded from that future hope. They were also . . .
•without any hope and without God - without hope and without God - The Ephesians had their worship - but it was worship of idols of wood and stone that could not hear, that could not help, that could not save. And so they had really no hope at all. Apart from a relationship with God, there is no hope at all.
So many people HOPE to get to heaven. You ask them if they died today if they would go to heaven and their answer is “I hope so!” But when you ask them how they plan to get there, they have no clue. Without a personal relationship with God, without faith in Him, there IS NO HOPE!
So, relationally, Paul reminds the Ephesian believers who they were. They were without a past, without a present, without a future, without hope, and without God. But Paul moves on to his second point. We need to
2. Realize What Christ Has Done For You - Verse 13 says But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Paul writes in other letters that we have been “RECONCILED” to God through Christ. It says starting in verse 14 - For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Three things Paul says here that Christ has done for us. First,
•He has broken down the wall of separation. This phrasing had a special significance in talking about the Jews. In the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem, Gentiles were not allowed in the inner parts. They were allowed in the outer areas, called the Court of the Gentiles. But past that area they were not allowed to go. There was a wall there as a barrier to keep all Gentiles out of the Temple. There were signs posted in various languages to warn any careless Gentile that if he passed to the other side of that wall it meant certain death.
The Jews understood the barriers that separated them from the Gentiles. But not only was it the physical wall, but it was a symbolic wall as well. Paul identifies it in verse 15 - the OT law with its commandments and regulations. Jesus never go “hung up” on the OT law. The Pharisees certainly did. They focused on minute little points of the law. They created a whole code of interpretations of the law, and a whole commentary on the rabbis views about the interpretations. And they argued constantly about the minutia of the law.
But Jesus, while he kept the law, was not enslaved to it. He healed on the sabbath, and when questioned and accused, said that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. When his disciples were hungry they picked grain on the sabbath, and once again, Jesus argued for the purpose of the sabbath, not the minutia of the OT law. In fact, in dying on the cross for us, we have been freed from the bondage of the OT law. It says in verse 15 that Christ “abolished” the OT law. We are under no obligation or compulsion to keep the OT law.
Romans 8 tells us, Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do . . . God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. . . in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Christ has broken down the walls that separated Gentiles and Jews. Think about the barriers we put up today. In many countries there is constant fighting over ethnic lines: Bosnia, Iraq, Pakistan, Ireland, Sudan. Think about the barriers we put up in our society: skin color; yearly salary; neighborhood we live in; cars we drive; education or lack of it; did I mention skin color?
The message of the gospel is that in Christ the barriers between brothers in Christ have been done away. The ground is all level at the foot of the cross. There is no room for racial prejudice as a Christian. There is no room for social or financial or educational prejudice. We cannot let sinful, man-made barriers keep us from loving our brothers and sisters the way God intended. God has BROKEN DOWN the separations between us.
•He has brought peace - when there is no hatred or prejudice or envy, we live at peace with one another. The ethnic hatred and strife that existed before has been abolished by Christ. Verse 15 says God’s purpose was out of two peoples, out of the Jews and out of the Gentiles, to make one new man, a new society, the church, the body of Christ. And third,
•He has brought access to God - The term here “access” refers to an Oriental courtroom where one would seek audience with the king. Access refers to when the petitioner would be granted a hearing in the presence of the king. Remember the story of Esther, where anyone who came unbidden to the presence of the king would be killed. They could be saved only if he extended the royal scepter. Access means we have been granted audience with the king of kings. Hebrews 4:16 tells us Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Through Christ, Jews and Gentiles together become one body, the church, and there is no separation between us. Verse 18 reminds us, For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
So, here in chapter 2 - we see positionally who we were and are, and we see RELATIONALLY who we are and were: Paul tells us,
1. Remember Who You Were - They were without a past, without a present, without a future, without hope, and without God - then secondly he says,
2. Realize What Christ Has Done For You - He has taken Jews and Gentiles and destroyed the prejudice and discrimination between them. Third,
3. Become What You Are Meant to Be - Paul ends the chapter by giving us 4 “word pictures” that show us how we are to live, who we are meant to be:
•one people - we have already looked at this one: Gentiles and Jews become one in the church.
•one kingdom - look at verse 19 - Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people - Congress has been arguing for months about what to do with all the illegal aliens in this country. Do we legalize them all? Do we send them back? Do we build a wall between the USA and Mexico? Do we grant all the illegals here free health and medical benefits?
What I struggle with in this whole debate is an illegal alien who marches in the streets to protest his not being given the rights of true citizens! Paul understood the difference. He said, in Christ, you are no longer foreigners and aliens. A foreigner was a short term visitor to another country. We have taken weekend trips to Toronto, CA, and as such we were foreigners, we were just visiting for a short time. Aliens were those who were long-term residents in a country, but were not true citizens. They had houses, they had jobs, but they had no rights of citizenship. But Paul declares that while we were foreigners and aliens, in Christ, we have become fellow-citizens with God’s people.
All the rights and privileges of being a Christian come to every single person who accepts Christ as Savior. Each of us is given the Holy Spirit. Each of us if given an inheritance that makes every sacrifice and trial worthwhile. We are all members of one kingdom. Third, Paul uses the example of
•one family - verse 19 again - we are members of God’s household - I used to get calls all the time from phone solicitors, salesmen - but since I signed up for the “do not call” list, they can’t call me up any more. Why? They’re salesmen - they’re not family. There’s a law against their calling me anymore.
When I’m in a meeting or doing counseling, if one you calls, maybe Amy will interrupt my meeting and maybe she won’t. She’ll make that decision. But when Ronda calls and says she needs to talk to me, Amy puts her through. Why? She’s family.
In Christ, we have become family. And as such, there are certain commitments and responsibilities we have to one another. If you want to see what they are, go to the concordance in the back of your bible and look up the words “one another.” You will find a whole list of responsibilities that we now have because we are family.
In your wallet you probably have several cards that identify you as a member of a select group: I have a Sam’s Club card, you need one to get in the doors to buy. I have a zoo membership card, it lets me in free to hundreds of zoos; I have an American Express card - their motto is “membership has its privileges” - well, that motto is true in the church as well: membership has it’s privileges.
In the body of Christ, we are family, and we need each other. We each have been given access to God directly. We need not go through a priest or mediator: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Instead we have been made a kingdom of priests.
And the fourth picture, is that we are
•one building: a holy temple - Paul sees us as one people, one kingdom, one family, and now one building. Verse 20 tells us we have been built on the foundational teachings of the apostles and prophets. Christ is the chief cornerstone, the stone that was laid on the corner that kept the walls together, that kept them from falling down. And it says we are becoming a “holy temple.” What is a temple? It’s a place where people meet with God. It says that we are that temple: God lives in us.
Individually, our bodies are the temple of God, because He lives within us, but corporately, as a group, we as the church are the temple of God. And we are to be a holy temple.
This morning, what kind of temple are you? Are you a temple that brings glory to God, or are you a dirty temple, a temple that God would be ashamed of. What has your life been like this week? Are there unconfessed sins that you would be ashamed of if Christ would talk with you face to face? Remember that God is present with you. What kind of temple will you be?
What kind of prejudice are you dealing with in life? Are there groups of people you still look down on? Are there groups or individuals that you choose to avoid because you feel you are better than they are? Are you refusing to show this world the love of God because you still are struggling with accepting others?
Remember Who You Were- Realize What Christ Has Done -Become What You Are Meant to Be
