Introduction-
Isn’t God good?
We, as believers in America, have the opportunity to gather in a place of worship and lift up the name of Jesus without someone breaking down the door – at least today.
We have a God who not only wants to save us, but a God who wants to free us, protect us, dwell with us.
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He is a God who will never leave us or forsake us, even when the going gets tough. Even when we are going through dry times and we don’t feel his presence. He says on the promise of his Word that He will be there!
That’s the God I want to hear about today! Amen.
Prayer-
Today Father, I want to have an open heart to listen to you. I want to hear through your word, I want to feel your presence through the indwelling of your Holy Spirit, I want to see Jesus in each one of us as we leave this place so that this community can experience Jesus! Let your word speak to us.
Read Ephesians 2:11-22
A few weeks ago, we were in this chapter discussing spiritual awareness.
We have the choice to be spiritually alive or spiritually dead and the difference is very simple… do we have Jesus in our lives or not?
This morning Paul goes further and talks about not only being spiritually alive but also spiritually one with Christ.
There are so many barriers that can keep us apart from each other.
The color of our skin (Nationality)
Where we live (demographics) (Were you born on the wrong side of the tracks? (By whose standard?)
Poverty level: classified by income
Religion
This is not new! It has been a problem ever since God brought people together, but Christ came to break down that barrier.
The apostle Paul is speaking to the church in Ephesus. Jews and “other people.” Unconverted Jews hated these other people.
In fact, verse 11 of the Apostle to the Gentiles says that you must remember;
That you are called uncircumcision by circumcision.
He tells them about the condition of the Gentiles before Christ came.
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You had no hope!
You had no Messiah or Savior
You were foreigners in Israel
Strangers to God’s covenant
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You were in this world without God
Gentiles (anyone who were not Jewish) were called “the uncircumcised” by Jews who thought they were special because they were God’s chosen people. Did they think circumcision simply by human hands had made them better than someone else?
So thinking that you are better than someone else would definitely qualify as a barrier.
They believed that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of hell.
That God only loved the Jews and no one else.
If a Jew married a Gentile, which was absolutely forbidden, they actually had a funeral for the Jew. They were disowned. Death was there sentence. As if they had died. (Samaritans) That’s why they hated the Samaritans.
The Samaritans were mestizos – Jews mixed with those people – the Jews wanted nothing to do with them.
If a Jew entered the house of a Gentile, they were considered unclean.
A Gentile woman could not be helped in childbirth because it would be to help bring another Gentile into the world.
Before Christ, the barriers increased; after Christ, the barriers must be broken down!
Illustration- (SermonCentral)
Once upon a time there was a subway car, almost empty, except for a Chinese and a Jew, who sat in their seats, silent, holding their newspapers up as they read. Suddenly the Jew stood up, rolled up his newspaper, walked over and hit the Chinese on the head.
“Hey! Cut it! Why did you do that?” said the Chinese, raising his arm to defend against further blows. The Jewish man sat up and said, “That was for Pearl Harbor.”
The Chinese man said, “It was the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor.” I’m chinese. We had nothing to do with it.”
But the Jewish man said, “Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, . . . . It’s all the same.”
They looked at each other for a moment, then went back to reading their papers and all was silent.
But then, all of a sudden, the Chinese stood up, rolled up his newspaper, hit the Jew on the head and said, “And that’s for the Titanic.”
The Jew said: “The Titanic? It was an iceberg that sank the Titanic. I had nothing to do with it! But the Chinese replied: “Iceberg, Rosenberg, Goldberg, . . . It’s all the same.”
Is it crazy how people think? Correct.
When the nation of Israel was right with God, they enjoyed the blessings of walking with God. When they didn’t follow God, they struggled and became tough and felt that they were privileged. But God called a man, the Apostle Paul, a Jew, to make it very clear that God’s invitation was for all nations, that Jews and Gentiles were called to be citizens side by side in the kingdom of God. Paul refused to accept this idea of Jewish privilege. All God’s blessings also went to the Gentiles. Jesus had died to end the separation. Paul dedicated his life to breaking down barriers and bringing Gentiles into the church. And we who are Gentiles owe a great debt to Paul for his fidelity to God’s call.
So what barriers need to be broken down in your life and what lessons must we learn?
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Remember who you are in Christ
(12) Remember that at that time you were separated from Christ.
You were without hope and without God. They were without God and had no savior.
Paul tells them to remember, it’s not something most people do.
They don’t remember that they were without hope and they don’t remember that Jesus was the one who gave them that hope. Because if they remembered, life there would have to be different.
He is saying that we must remember, it is part of the Christian walk. It is healthy for our walk with God to remember.
We can’t go to the victory verses of what Christ did until we realize what he did to save our lives and make us who we are today.
2 Corinthians 5:17
“So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed; behold, the new has come.”
Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, so that you may announce the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
What should we remember?
“Remember that (before Christ approached you through his death on the cross) you were separated from Christ, strangers to the citizenship of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.” The first thing to notice here is that salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22) For a non-Jew, a Gentile like me, to have any hope, I must stop being alienated from the community of Israel. to be a fellow citizen of Israel (2:19) and a joint heir of her promises (3:6) There is no salvation outside of the true Israel.
That’s why it says we are grafted into the family of God through Jesus Christ – remember that!
Christ came to break down the barrier and lay a foundation and a cornerstone
(13) “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, that he made the two one, and destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, abolishing in his flesh the law with his commandments and ordinances. His purpose was to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and in this body to reconcile both to God through the cross, by which he put to death his enmity. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Christ came to break down the walls of prejudice that divide us. (Repeat)
Jesus died on the cross for our sins! Who can brag after that! We all stand before God as sinners.
Our only standing before God is that Jesus is our savior and He paid the sin debt for us.
The barrier that prevented us from forgiveness is sin and the only one who breaks that barrier is Jesus Christ!
He is saying in this verse that the people furthest from knowing Christ are invited to God’s table.
Isaiah 59:1
“Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened to save; nor is his hearing so hard that he cannot hear.”
No matter how far you go, you cannot go further than the arm of the Lord wants to go to reach you.
There is peace in Him and the further you go from Him, the peace of God you will lose.
He says that no matter Jew or Gentile, there is a place for you on the cross because of Jesus (18 ) “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
We are no longer alien and alien to the things of God.
We are no longer strangers or second-class citizens in the kingdom of God.
Anyone who receives the gospel by faith can approach God.
The Holy Spirit of God brings us closer to the God who loves us. us.
The only Spirit that Paul speaks of is the Holy Spirit. It is He who infuses us with life when the powerful presence of God wishes to dwell within us.
You are fellow citizens… you are the people of God. You are part of God’s family of faith!
Citizen is someone who belongs there, who has certain rights that must be respected.
You stand on the foundation laid by the apostles and the main cornerstone is Jesus Christ himself!
The angular stone
the last stone
the most important stone
The cornerstone which is the most important part of the building
Psalm 118:22
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
The world should expect to meet God when they see the church.
God’s people gather to listen to the Lord.
God’s people come to worship with a heart of expectation that God will manifest Himself with His presence.
Closing-
“And in it you also are built up together to be a dwelling in which God dwells by his Spirit.”
Once hopeless sinners, slaves of our own. carnal desires, away from God, hating one another… now you are called to be united, strengthened and guided by the Spirit of God to be the end times, holy people of God.
Once we realize what Christ has done, it will affect the way we live our lives!
That should motivate us to want to be like Christ
Come Lord Jesus! May we be found faithful and in the business of the kingdom!
Prayer-