Well, good morning. Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2 again.
So last week we did the first part of the chapter.
And this week we'll. Finish it up.
So if you go back to the beginning of the chapter. The the first 10 verses, he's basically looking at things.
From an individual perspective. And the rest of the chapter, he's looking at things from more of a corporate perspective, as a group.
So just go back a little bit to the beginning of the chapter and it's basically a reminder.
And he makes that point in verses 11 and 12. Remember.
And. Remember what you were, what you were called, and the beginning of the chapter, he's essentially doing the same thing as well.
He reminds them you were dead near trespasses and sins. And you walk that way, we 2, we Jews all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh.
We indulge the desires of the flesh of the mind. We were by nature children of wrath.
And then he brings in the contrast. But God. And he's going to do that again in the second half.
Remember what you were. But things have changed. You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
You walked this way. We Jews were no different. But God! Change things.
Being rich in mercy because there's great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive, he raised us up, he seated us with Christ.
And then he reminds them. You didn't earn this. You didn't deserve this. This is something God did.
For you. It is by grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.
So beginning in verse 11. He does the same sort of thing and and this is more of a a corporate perspective because he's gonna get into the household of God and and the 2 being brought together into one body.
So he makes this due gentile distinction again. And he made it back in chapter one. If you just take a look.
Back in Ephesians one. He makes this distinction.
And he says. Yeah. The beginning of the chapter, for example.
Just look at verse. 11. We have obtained an inheritance. I've been having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the council of his will to the end that we who were the first to hope and Christ would be to the praise of his glory.
We, we, And then he says in him, you also. You Gentiles! After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of salvation, Having also believed you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of Promise.
We, you! And then in chapter 2. The beginning of the chapter. You did this!
You did this! We, Jews, weren't any better. And now he's gonna do it again.
Verse 11, remember that you The Gentiles in the flesh. Who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision.
So. And, and it's kind of interesting, you know. Okay, like the Philistines.
You know, yeah, just call them Philistines. Why do you always have to bring up the uncircumcised Philistines.
Just call him Philistines. We don't need to get so personal. But Paul! He's reminding the Gentiles this, this description was a very derogatory.
And you see it a lot in the Old Testament. Especially in, first Samuel with Saul, with David.
They looked at the Philistines in a very derogatory manner. The uncircumcised.
And Paul. The way it's translated in First Corinthians 12 verse 2.
The Gentiles, they were the pagans. They were the idolaters, the The little G God worshippers.
So Paul is reminding them, remember what you were called?
You were the pagans, you were the Gentiles in the flesh, you were the uncircumcision.
Remember At that time, you were separate from Christ. So he's saying, okay, don't forget what you were what They used to call you.
On the one hand and don't forget what you were On the other hand, they called you this and you were this.
You were separate from Christ.
You had
No claim to the Jewish Messiah. You weren't entitled to him. He was the Messiah.
He was the anointed one of the Jews. You were separated from him.
You were excluded. From the Commonwealth of Israel. You had no claim. On Israel, you had no claim.
Religiously, civilly, and and even you know in the Gospels. And it, it sounds harsh.
But Jesus even makes this point as well. Matthew, 15, for example. He goes up into the region of Tyre and And there's this Canaanite woman.
Who's pleading with him to cast out the demon from her daughter. And he says, I was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The Gentiles. We're excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel. They were they were separated from Christ.
Any and he goes on and don't forget you were strangers to the covenants of promise The covenant said God made in the Old Testament.
We're with specific peoples. And their descendants. So the Abrahamic Covenant.
Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob and then the 12 tribes. Not the Gentiles.
Though the Gentiles would be blessed. Through those descendants, but it wasn't made with the Gentiles.
Well, kinda. If you look at Romans 4, Abraham was still a Gentile.
But it was his descendants, not the Gentiles as a whole. Mosaic Covenant.
Made with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. Not with the Gentiles. The Palestinian covenant in Deuteronomy 30, God is promising Israel the land.
And in fact, he was going to drive out the Gentiles. The Davidic covenant, David and Solomon.
Again, made with that nation. The new covenant, even the new covenant. If you look at the institution of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 He says I'm going to make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the house of Judah.
And then, you know, so the beginning he's talking about this divided kingdom and as you work your way down through the covenant, it becomes the house of Israel.
So the divided kingdom becomes the United Kingdom. But there's no mention of Gentiles in here.
No, when we look at the new Covenant, we get to share some of the blessings of that covenant.
Even though it wasn't made with us. We share the blessings. Because we've been brought together.
Under the Jewish Messiah. So you're strangers to the covenants of promise.
And you have no hope.
And the reason they have no hope is because they've rejected the one who has hope. So the Gentiles.
There's no hope because they don't have God, which is his next point. You're without God in the world.
And, and it's kind of interesting in in the Old Testament, especially in Jeremiah.
One of the names of God. Is the hope of Israel.
So the reason we Gentiles had no hope is because we didn't have the hope of Israel.
And we were without God in the world. Now, The Gentiles had all sorts of little G gods.
I mean. Quite literally. Hundreds of millions. Of them.
And, and that is not an exaggeration. The, the Gentiles.
Throughout history and even present day. Worship hundreds of millions. Of God's.
Paul is saying, yeah, that's all finding good, but you're without the big G God.
And that's the one that matters. You know you go through especially Isaiah. I'll just read a few passages.
Isaiah 43. Besides me, there is no God form. And there's not going to be any after me.
He says Isaiah 44. I'm the first. I'm the last. There is no God besides me.
45, 46. He goes into the same thing. Yeah, you Gentiles have all sorts of little G gods.
But you're without God. You're without the one that matters. And so when the Gentile sacrifice, what are they sacrificing to?
Well, Paul tells us in First Corinthians tan the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrificed to demons.
And not to God. So throughout the Old Testament and and even in our modern world where you've got idolatry.
The sacrifices made to these idols are going to demons.
So all of the bales and Yeah, Molec and Chimosh and all the gods. You know, Ga and Nebo and the the gods in the Old Testament, there was a demon behind them.
And so Paul is trying to get this across to the. His Ephesian readers, don't don't forget from where you came.
This was you. And even later on in Ephesians, he says, just take a look at Ephesians chapter 4.
He reminds his Christian readers!
Not only remember from where you came from, but don't go back there.
So he says in Ephesians 4 17. This I say, and affirm together with the Lord.
So we're in agreement here.
That you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk. You, you are Gentiles, but.
You're now in the body of Christ. Remember from where you came, but don't go back.
Being darkened in their understanding excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them.
You were without God, you were excluded from the life of God because you were ignorant. Now you know better.
Don't go back. Take a look at Romans chapter 9.
Here he's He's kind of flipping this around in Ephesians. He's looking at things from the Gentile perspective.
And from the Gentile perspective, you were separate, you were excluded, you were strangers, you were without hope and without God.
In Romans 9, he's looking at things from the Jewish perspective.
So in 9. Verse 3 I could wish that I myself were cursed. Separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh.
Think about that for a minute.
I don't think I would ever say something like that. Ever. I mean basically Paul is saying I could wish to spend eternity in hell.
If my kinsmen according to the flesh became believers. Yeah, I'm not, I'd not, I wouldn't do that.
No, no, I love people, but.
I'm not sure I love them that much. But then he goes on that his kinsmen, according to the flesh, they're Israelites.
To whom belongs the adoption as sons. And the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh.
Here he's telling the Gentiles, you have none of that. The Jews have all of that.
Back in Ephesians. Here's the contrast. So the first part of the chapter had a contrast.
You had the negative. In verses 1, 2, and 3, and then but God. First 4.
So here you've got the negative. And versus 11 and 12. But now.
I was gonna bring a prop up here, but I forgot it. Anyway. But now! In Christ, things are different.
So remember what you were called, remember what you were, but now.
In Christ? Things are different. You who formerly We're far off. You were separated.
You were excluded. You were strangers. And even Peter in X chapter 2 uses that same, same terminology.
All of all of those who were far off.
Have been brought near. So the excluded, the separated, the strangers, they've been. Brought near.
Yeah. By the blood of Christ.
And that's the reminder. So the blood of Christ is what took. Us from being Far away separated, excluded strangers.
And brought us near to the Lord. It's what brought us into a relationship. With the Lord.
And as we go on. It brings us in verse 19 into the household of God.
But when you look at that idea, the blood of Christ in in the New Testament, it did so much more than that.
You know, we think of Paul is only emphasizing a couple things here. It brought us near. It brought us into a relationship.
It made us part of the household of God. But sometime just do. A study on what the blood of Christ did in the New Testament.
And I'm just gonna give you a read off a few things. Cropitiation.
Paul says in Romans 3. God displayed Christ publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith.
So propitiation simply means that God is satisfied. So when Christ shed his blood on the cross.
God was satisfied with that sacrifice. He was propitiated.
Nothing more needed to be done. Jesus says in Matthew, 26. This is my blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many, for forgiveness of sins.
So God is satisfied through the blood of Christ. We have forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Peter says we've been redeemed with precious blood as of a lamb unlemished and spotless the blood of Christ.
Romans 5 9. Justified by his blood. Colossians 1 20. Reconciled all things to himself having made peace through the blood of his cross.
Hebrews, he sanctified the people through his own blood. First John. Chapter one, the blood of Jesus's son cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews tan. We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. Revelation one, he released us from our sins by his blood.
Everything that we hold dear.
Goes back to the blood of Christ.
And that's the point Paul is trying to get at here. Things are different. Not only have we been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Not only are we part of the household of God, but we've got all of these other things.
Based upon the blood of Christ. So remember, he says, don't forget. Don't forget what you recall.
Don't forget what you were, but now things are different.
Remember what he's done. So he says, and this is where the corporate idea comes together. First 14.
He himself. Is our peace. No. When he's talking about peace and he's talking about The opposite an enmity.
In this context, he's talking about the enmity that existed between Jew and Gentile.
Now, there are other contexts. Where we were enemies of God. Romans 5 talks about that.
Collisions, one talks about that. But here he's talking about this separation, this enmity between Jew and Gentiles.
He himself is our peace who made both
Some Bibles italicize. Both groups. And he's talking about Jews and Gentiles.
I, you can leave out the groups. He made both. Jew and Gentile, one.
In Christ. And broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. So now. The Jews and the Gentiles have been brought together and he says in verse 15 into one new man.
The body of Christ.
We Jews and Gentiles are now one body in Christ. And he broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
Oh, no, he's gonna explain what he means by that in verse 15. But There's this barrier and back in the temple period.
There was a literal barrier in the temple. So the the temple complex. You've got the temple and and there was a barrier.
It was it was a wall. That's separated. Where the Gentiles could be and where the Jews could be.
And if the Gentiles cross that barrier?
They did so on pain of death. You, you cross that barrier. You could. You could be put to death.
You know, so you, there's this barrier that's separated the Jews from the Gentiles.
This barrier of the dividing wall and he says Christ broke it down. So here's how we did it.
Verse 15. By abolishing in his flesh. The enmity.
The law of commandments. In ordinances and a new American standard adds some other words in there that Frankly, I don't think our necessary.
The enmity. The law of commandments contained or in ordinances. You know, you think about.
Some of the things that that said in in the New Testament. You know, Peter. When God wants him to go to Cornelius.
Well, Peter's got a lot of Jewish baggage that He's got to deal with. And so he's up on the rooftop.
In in Japa and He falls into this trance and He sees this giant sheet coming down and it's got all sorts of Nasty critters in it and The voice says, arise, Peter, kill and eat.
Snakes and alligators and mice and Oh no Lord, nothing unclean has ever passed through my lips.
And happens again and then happens again and he's pondering like. What in the world was that?
And then. Hey, we're looking for Peter. Who are you? We've been sent from Cornelius.
Gentile Centurion. Oh, that's what that meant. And he goes and without reservation and when he gets to Cornelius he says, do you have any idea how unlawful it is for me being a Jew to even associate with you?
That was that law of commandments in ordinances. And throughout the Old Testament, you look at the Mosaic, the Mosaic Law.
God told Israel, do not associate with these people. If they are in your land, you drive them out.
Don't associate with them. Don't intermarry with them, stay away from their idols, don't give your daughters to them, don't take their daughters for yourself, you stay away from them.
Drive him out! And if anyone a linger? Hello. I do not want them in your land.
Now, obviously, Israel didn't obey that. Because they were still there and that's what caused the problems throughout their history.
But the loss said drive them out. Do not associate with them. And that mindset just carried over on and on and on.
All the way into the New Testament. That's that's what was going through Peter's mind.
I'm not even supposed to be talking to you. Now, what I find Amusing. Is.
The Apostle Paul. What was, what was his occupation besides being a tent maker?
He was a Pharisee. These were the conservatives. All news the law backwards and forwards.
Peter, he's just . A redneck fisherman Where does God send Paul? To the Gentiles.
Sends the redneck fisherman for the Jews. You'd think it would be the other way around?
Nope, but God has a sense of humor. I'm gonna send Paul the guy who knows the law backwards and forwards.
To the Gentiles. I'm gonna send Peter. Redneck! To the juice.
Yes, God has a sense of humor. So here, Christ above in his flesh. The enmity.
And if you take a look at Romans 10. Verse 4, this is, this is. Basically what he did.
He says, Christ is the end. Of the law. For righteousness to everyone who believes.
So he abolished this enmity between Jews and Gentiles, the law of commandments and ordinances.
When he died on the cross. When Christ died, the law ended.
The law didn't end when he was born. The law ended at his death.
And now that he's risen and ascended into heaven. We're not under the law anymore.
And it always amazes me when I when I encounter people. And in in Montana and I'm sure they're, they're here, but.
In Montana there are people who still Christians Who's still insist on being under the law. Why would you do that?
Does your Bible not have Galatians? Are you missing a chunk of Romans? Why would you put yourself under the law?
Christ is the end of the law. Why would you go back and put you yourself under something that he ended?
He abolished in his flesh the enmity that law when he died on the cross. And so all of those things that separated Jews from Gentiles, that's done.
Paul is trying to convince these the the Gentile Ephesians everything that's separated. Do you in Gentile?
It's been done away with. When Christ died? It's done. And the reason he did this So that in himself.
He might make the 2 into one new man. Thus establish a piece. He ended what's separated us so that he could bring us together.
Jews and Gentiles into one new man. Establishing peace. There's no longer this separation.
And you see this, Galatians talks about it and Romans talks about it and Even in Hebrews, there's a couple of places in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 8.
Hebrews chapter 8 he's talking about the law the laws obsolete. It's growing old.
It's ready to disappear. In Hebrews 10, he takes away the first.
The old covenant in order to establish the second, the new covenant.
Colossians, he's canceled out. The certificate of debt. He's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
He's the in. So that he can bring these 2 together into one new man. And then he goes on verse 16 and might reconcile them.
So not only did he bring them together and establish peace, he reconciled them. In one body.
To God. So there's a reconciliation between Jew and Gentile. There's a peace between them, but there's now.
A reconciliation. To God. There's peace with God. We're no longer enemies.
God and Romans, 500, and 10. Paul says, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God.
Through the death of his son. And, and again, he didn't wait for us to get our X together.
When Christ died, he opened the door for reconciliation. Between Jew and Gentile, between this new body.
In God Himself. And just like earlier when he talks about. The blood here, the end of the verse.
Through the cross.
Colossians, 1 20. Through him to reconcile all things. To himself having made peace through the blood of the cross.
We have peace with one another. We have peace with God. Through the blood of the cross by it.
Having put to death the enmity. And then Paul proves his point. And he goes back to the Old Testament and he says, You should not be surprised.
This this was planned. Hundreds and hundreds centuries. Earlier, he quotes a passage. Out of Isaiah 57.
Peace, peace to him who is far, and to him who is near. He came and preached peace to you, Gentiles who were far away, and peace.
To us Jews. Who were near. So he's telling these Gentiles. This isn't, you know, kind of an afterthought.
Oh yeah, hey, I can do this now. This was all planned. And you could you could take it back into eternity if you want God planned this course of action to bring 2 alienated and hostile groups together into a body and reconcile them to God.
And through him. We both do in Gentile. Have our access in one spirit to the Father.
We as a corporate body. And as individuals.
Can come into the very presence of the Lord. And we don't need an appointment. You know, remember Esther.
When Esther found out that you know, Haman was going to kill all the Jews. And she tells Mordecai and Mordecai says, okay, this you need to do something about this Esther.
You're the queen. You know, do something. Oh, I, I can't go into the Kings presence uninvited.
Well, if you don't, you're gonna die. She says, okay, well, if If I die, I die, but So she does and she's, you know, kinda hesitant and she's, you know, kicking around the doorway and The king recognizes her and you know extends the scepter and then she goes We don't have to do that.
We don't need an appointment to go before the Lord. I don't have to peek around the door to see if he's busy.
Or you know peek around the door and hope that I don't get struck down. You weren't invited.
All of us have been invited and when we come, we're welcomed. And I like the way Jesus describes it, and I don't remember off the top of my head which of the churches, but he says we get a white stone.
And that was a symbol of You're welcome. And, and a name is written on it, which no one knows.
Except him and me. You're welcome. I don't have to make an appointment. I can come anytime, anywhere with any problem.
He's not going to be surprised. I'm not gonna shock him with a confession. You did what?
He's not going to be surprised. I can.
And I'm welcomed. So we have. Access. Through Christ.
In chapter 3. Elaborates on that in verse 12. In whom we have boldness and confidence.
Access It's not just that we can, we can come into his presence. We can come boldly into his presence.
We can come confidently. Into his presence.
And again, Hebrews 4, let us draw near with confidence. To the throne of grace.
Romans, Romans 8 and Galatians 4.
We've received a spirit of adoption. And we cry out Aba, Father. And that's like.
It's a term of endearment. It's like saying papa.
So, Paul says, because of all of that, you are no longer strangers and aliens.
You were?
You were strangers. You were excluded. You were without God, without hope. But not anymore.
We're no longer strangers and aliens. You Gentiles, our fellow citizens with the saints.
Enter of God's house, household.
In chapter 3, verse 6. The Gentiles. Our fellow wares. Fellow members of the body.
Fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Everything that we once weren't.
We are now.
You're no longer strangers and aliens, your fellow citizens with the saints. You're of God's household.
You've been built on the foundation. Of the apostles and prophets.
Christ Jesus himself. Being the cornerstone.
So the apostles and prophets laid the foundation. Christ is the cornerstone. We've been built on that foundation.
God's household.
The church, essentially, is built on that foundation. Now. In First Corinthians 3.
All is talking about. Building on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw.
And I think we misinterpret that passage. As, you know, this is what I do in my normal everyday life.
That's not what that passage is about.
That passage is about how we build on the foundation that was laid. It's a passage that is dealing with.
What we're doing with regard to the church.
Am I building upon the foundation with regard to the church gold silver precious stones or am I building on that foundation would hand straw.
So chapter 3 is dealing with a corporate. Building the corporate temple of God, if you will, which he's gonna mention later on.
Chapter 6. In First Corinthians is dealing with. Us in. As the temple of God.
So keep those 2 thoughts separated. Chapter 3 is a corporate thing. Chapter 6.
Is an individual thing. Chapter 3. The temple is the church. We're building on that foundation.
Chapter 6. We individually are the temple. So. Paul goes on in whom the whole building, the church.
Is being fitted together and is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. And he mentions this again.
Slightly different terms. In Ephesians 4 16. He says, Christ from whom the whole body the body of Christ being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part.
So the context. There is spiritual gifts. So each individual part. Each one of us has a role in building.
This body. In building this temple and if one of us doesn't do our job the entire structure suffers.
So if I've got a guy coming along, you know, I'm building my house and.
The plumber comes along and he just starts sticking pipes together but doesn't use the PVC cement.
You know, soon as the water goes through the pipes.
I was helping a friend. Do some plumbing in the basement and that's exactly what he did.
He put, he put some copper pipes together, but forgot to solder one. And we turned on the water.
Man, there was water spraying everywhere. We had to finally, you know, get these things apart and get some solder in there, but.
I mean, that's basically what Paul is getting it. If one of us isn't doing our job, The entire structure suffers.
The entire body suffers.
So the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also.
Are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
God is dwelling. Corporately in the body of Christ and and by the body of Christ I'm not talking about the building.
We are the body of Christ.
And he is dwelling in us. Individually, but also corporately. And Paul is trying to get his readers to grasp.
Their new situation. Remember what you were? What God changed things. Remember what you were, but now things are different.
You were separated, you were excluded, you were alienated. You had no hope you were without God, but now You're a structure!
With the people from whom you were alienated. You've been brought together into a body. And you're growing.
And so he's, he's encouraging them in that and in in the next chapter he's going to go in even more detail your fellow citizens with the saints your fellow heirs your and so on and so forth.
So he wants them to remember.
And see where they're at now. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for your word.
Thank you for reminding us. What we were. And for reminding and encouraging us. As to what we are now.
Thank you for bringing us. All together. Into a relationship with you. Into a structure.
A holy temple in the Lord. Help us father to exercise the gifts you've given us.
To build up that temple, to build up that household. Help us to be diligent in that.
And we pray this in Jesus name.