A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the first half of the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus and we saw those sweet words, “But God” that D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said were in a sense the gospel itself. We talked about how despite our sinfulness and our separation from God, that He restores us through the work of the Triune God; chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. In essence, that is the past, present, and future for mankind. We fell and were separated from God, Christ’s death changes that, and our future is to be delivered to glory through the work of the Holy Spirit. However, we have to remember that in Paul’s time, there is an entirely different argument that was going on. You see, we live in a time where we understand that anyone can follow Christ and that it isn’t the exclusive right of one nation, i.e. Biblical Israel. However, that is exactly the problem that Paul makes mention of in our text today as we look at the past, present, and future of the Gentiles (but also there is news for us as well). I guess if I were going to describe it in something that makes sense to us, it would be like a citizen of another country coming to America and committing a crime, yet finding themselves afforded all the rights and privileges of the American justice system without being a part of our country. We would be upset because our Constitution applies to American citizens and not to those of another country. Yes, I know this happens, but it isn’t really supposed to. Also, keep in mind that we are talking about the Bible and God versus America and the U.S. Constitution. One of these is infallible, while the other is very much prone to error. Israel had a problem with the Gentiles claims to God and Paul was to setting the record straight on this matter.
Much like the first part of the chapter, Paul starts off by telling these Gentiles just how grim their position with God really was before Christ. Of that he says a number of things. Paul says that they were separated from Christ, alienated from Israel (God’s chosen people), strangers to the covenants of promise, hopeless, and without God. None of those paint a pleasant picture for the Gentiles (or the uncircumcised as they’re referred to here). In fact, it sounds a lot like what Paul had to say previously about us being dead in our trespasses and sins and being children of wrath. I know that we just glossed over the list here, but think about what it really means to be separated, alienated, hopeless, without, and a stranger. Paul has been preaching and teaching about the fact that in order to be saved you have to be in union with Christ and yet he’s saying that these Gentiles have nothing connecting them to God at all. That is, they didn’t until the time of Christ. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” How much does that reverberate the sentiment of the previous phrase “But God”? In other words, despite the Gentiles having no claim to be part of God’s chosen people, because of Christ, they can now come to God; we can come to God.
Paul goes on to add, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 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, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing hostility.” Alright, there are a couple of things in there that I want to expand upon for just a moment. The phrases “has broken down…the dividing wall” and “created…one new man in place of the two” both speak to what Christ did in terms of opening up salvation to more than just national Israel. If we were to look at a picture of the ancient temple, we would see that it looked kind of like a square target. With each ring or wall, the number of people who could continue inward became fewer and fewer. Now, the very center of the temple was the holy of holies, the symbolic dwelling place of God, which was raised above all other levels. Next, came the levels for the Jews. There were levels for priests, men, and women of various statures. Then, a few steps down from this level were the levels for all those who were not Jews, not part of the nation of Israel. There was always a great distinction made between Jews and Gentiles, even when they both professed faith in God. Well, Christ has knocked down those walls and he’s leveled the steps to where there is only God and man. There are no longer subclasses of mankind, just people. We think of the great racial and social walls that have been torn down over the last several generations. Some of them are worthy of celebrating like the abolition of slavery and the fulfillment of women’s right. Others are not as glorious; the changing of the definition of marriage most recently. However, this tearing down of the exclusivity of the covenants and promises of God is the most celebratory of all wall destructions. In Christ, we are all new creations, none of us more rightful recipients of God’s grace than the next one.
You see, what God has done through Christ is to create a new humanity. In this new humanity, we may still look very different on the surface, but in reality there is no difference amongst all of mankind. We are all children, made in the image of God, we’re all fallen, and we’re all in need of his saving grace and mercy. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” No longer strangers or aliens, but fellow citizens and members of the household of God. Now, the Greek word that is translated here as “household” is a word that could be translated as family. However, it doesn’t mean biological family, but it encompasses all peoples that one might think of when describing or thinking of family, even servants and hired workers. I look at it like this, have y’all ever been to a family reunion…a big one? I mean one of those that you don’t know but about a quarter of the people there, if that many. Now, I can say this is true for both my family and Amy’s, but you start looking around the room at one of these events and you start thinking that there’s no way you’re related to these folks. There is nothing externally that shows any commonality between you; however, there is no other word to describe them other than family, part of the same household. The household of God, the kingdom of God has gone from national to international. It has gone from national Israel to the international Church, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” A life, a relationship, and a church (Church) all must be built upon Christ in order to withstand the trials and hardships that are bound to happen. Amy and I got to watch last Saturday as one of our friends pledged to his bride to build their home upon the foundation of Christ, which is exactly as God commands us to do. Christ must the foundation for all that we do.
Now, I’ll come back to the analogy of a marriage resembling the church when Paul gets to it later on in this epistle. So, for now let’s move on and look at what this has to do with us as we sit right here. As I’ve said over and over again, Paul is talking about the Church here in this epistle. And as we just said a moment ago, the Church, like our lives, must be built upon Christ. Christ must be the foundation and cornerstone of what the Church is built upon. However, there is still more that Paul wishes for his audience to know, and it is specifically about the role that individuals play in the life of the Church. “In [Jesus] 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.” I want to use Peter’s words in 1 Peter 2 as a commentary on Paul’s language here. Peter writes, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Well, what do these two verses mean? You see, because of Jesus, the living stone that was precious and chosen by God, we are the living stones of God’s temple and priesthood today. We hear all the time statements like “The church is much more than brick and mortar” or “it’s the people that make the church, not the building.” One that I’ve said for years is that “the strength of the church isn’t in the pulpit or the property, but in the pews.” You see, Paul and Peter’s words are telling us that the Church’s foundation is Christ, but the walls, the infrastructure, and all else are to be the people of God carrying out the commands of God. That is the charge that is being made to us this day and it is the charge that was being made to the Ephesians during this time. Yes they all came from different backgrounds just as we do today. However, we are all a new creation, one new man in Christ Jesus. And being this new creation, our focus is to shift from being focused on our own interests to being aimed at fulfilling the will of God.
The gospel is not exclusive. If ever there was something that would seemingly be exclusive, this would be it. However, because of Christ, the gospel isn’t the right and privilege of one nation, one race, or one people group. The gospel is the good news for all mankind. It is the news that regardless of who you are or what you have done, you can have a relationship with the Creator of the universe. And when you do have this relationship, you become the instrument of God working in this world to carry out His works. These words of Paul’s about the gospel being for all and not a select few might even mean more to us today than they did to the Gentiles at the time. Think of how distraught we would be thinking that we had no standing with God simply because we were born to certain parents. That would be terrible wouldn’t it? “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
No comments:
Post a Comment