8/14/11

Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace. This word means more than just the absence of conflict. Shalom conveys the idea of well being. It describes a person at peace in every dimension of living.

At any given time we may be wishing for peace to replace our fears, or peace in our family, or peace at our job. We might be praying for peace in our nation, or in the world. Or we might be wishing that we could have peace with God and with ourselves.

Sometimes we settle for an uneasy peace. Husbands and wives choose to let their disagreement simmer for the sake of the children. Sometimes people groups live in a peace enforced by soldiers. This morning we want to consider a peace made possible by Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-22 speaks about alienation and peace. And the question I want to ask today is, are you living in the peace made possible by Jesus Christ?

I. APART FROM CHRIST THERE IS ALIENATION. Eph.2:11-12

I think it might be helpful to point out that there were no Jews until Abraham. Adam and Eve were not Jews. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered into the world and from that point on everyone was born with a sin nature.

The first promise of a Savior is found in Gen.3:15 where God says to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is a word of hope for the world. The Jews did not exist. As we move along in Genesis we find some who believed lived in obedience to God. I’m referring to men like Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Methuselah. But increasingly we also find mankind sinking into ever deeper levels of rebellion against God. God calls Noah to build the ark and then sends the flood of judgment upon the earth. So we begin again, and again we find mankind in rebellion against God.

In Gen.12 God calls Abraham, and through Abraham God brings forth a nation, Israel. The mark of belonging to the nation was the circumcision of every male. Israel is a people chosen by God to be the recipients of his loving kindness. God’s intent was to establish a nation in the world that would stand as a beacon of God’s goodness. Israel, God’s chosen people became the focus of God’s blessing. So God miraculously rescued his people from slavery in Egypt. God generously gave Israel a land to live in, a land flowing with milk and honey. God gave good laws to his people to enable them to live peacefully in such a way as to honor God and others. God gave many promises to provide for and protect his people. God established parameters and boundaries for how to approach him and worship him, and have their sins forgiven. But let me also say that God gave promises of just punishment if his people turned away from him. In addition to this there is the continual promise that God is going to send a redeemer, a Savior. We learn that that Savior would be born as a Jew, one of the chosen people of God. In Zech.3:9, we find a reference to this Savior and there we read, “See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ’and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. Again in Zech.13:1, we find another statement about the Savior to come. It says, “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. The blessings of God were upon his chosen people.

In Ps.147:19-20 we read, “He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD."

Let me suggest three reasons why the Gentiles were alienated, separated from Christ and the people of God. First, they were alienated because of their sinful rebellion against God. They were given to idolatry, unbelief and sinful living. Second they were alienated because of ignorance. When Paul was speaking to the Greeks in Athens he made mention of an altar he had seen in the market place dedicated to an unknown God. He makes the point that we are God’s offspring, created by God. In Acts 17:29-30 Paul says, “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."

A third reason for why Gentiles are alienated from God and his people is because the Jewish people let their privileged position before God make them proud and arrogant. They disdained Gentiles, calling them dogs and, the uncircumcised. Instead of being a light to the nations, Israel actually became like the nations, rebelling against God in idolatry and unbelief.

So Paul says to the Gentile believers in Ephesus, “Remember your plight before hearing about Christ.” Men and Women, the reality is that all of us were in this plight. Not only were we separated from God and his Son, Jesus, but we were separated, alienated from the people of God and from the blessings of God, bestowed upon his people. I believe Paul is telling us to remember this so that we are ever grateful to God for the salvation found in Jesus Christ. And it may be that someone here today is living in this same alienation. You don’t know God and you are not a part of God’s people found in his Church. You need Christ.

 

II. IN CHRIST THERE IS RECONCILIATION. Eph.2:13-18

We already read about the new life that God gives in Christ in v.1-10. But now we see that God works reconciliation through Jesus Christ. And notice how v.13 begins: “But now!” It’s very much like v.4. God has done something amazing. Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God has worked reconciliation. Those who were alienated and excluded have now been brought near. And this work brings reconciliation that is far reaching in its effect.

At the temple in Jerusalem there were three courts. There was the court of the priests, the court of Israel which was for the men, and the court of women. These courts were separated by gates and walls, but they were all on the same level. Fourteen steps below the court of the women was wall, almost five feet high. On the other side of this wall was the court of Gentiles. From this court Gentiles could look up at the temple but could not approach it and could not see in. The wall was designed to block Gentiles from coming to the temple. On this wall were signs that basically said, “Trespassers will be executed.” The message could not have been more clear. “Gentiles worshippers of God are not welcome to come any further. Many believe this is the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility that Paul refers to in v.14.

Paul tells us that Christ destroyed this wall of hostility. How did he do it? Well, Paul tells us that he did it by abolishing the law with its commandments and regulations. Now let me point out that Christ did not abolish the law. In Mt.5:17 Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. It is suggested that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is referring to the moral law of God and in Ephesians, Paul is referring to the ceremonial laws, the religious rules and regulations. Stott points to circumcision, the sacrifices, dietary regulations, the rules about ritual cleanness and uncleanness, and rules regarding the sabbath. These rules built a significant barrier between Jews and Gentiles.

Now these laws had to do with approaching God in the correct way. When Jesus died on the cross he provided a new way to approach God. Jesus himself is the way. Through his death the ceremonial laws were abolished. The sacrifices of bulls and goats were a temporary measure until the death of Christ, who is the final sacrifice for sin. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Look at v.15. It says, “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace. Here Paul is referring to Jews and Gentiles. Even though Israel was God’s chosen people, over and over again, Israel turned away from God in idolatry and unbelief. Through the death of Christ, reconciliation with God was made possible for Jews and Gentiles. And through Christ reconciliation was made possible between Jews and Gentiles. From now on, Jews and Gentiles who embrace Christ would enter into the body of Christ, the church. From now on Jews and Gentiles would come to God in the same way, by faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone who repents and believes on the name of the Lord Jesus enters into an eternal relationship with God. It’s not an automatic thing. This is only for those who surrender their lives to Jesus Christ in faith.

This is why in v.17-18, Paul says, “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. Peace with God; peace with one another! What could be more profound than this? Have you entered into this peace made possible by Christ?

In v.15 Paul says that Jesus was creating in himself one new man out of the two (Jew and Gentile). So let’s move on to explore the significance of this new humanity.

III. THROUGH CHRIST THERE IS A NEW HUMANITY. Eph.2:19-22

The Gospel has a profound effect on our relationships with one another. When we embrace Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives, we enter into a new humanity or society created by virtue of our relationship with Christ.

In these verses, Paul give three descriptive metaphors describing this new humanity known as the church. In v.19 Paul says that we are fellow citizens with God’s people. Well citizenship has to do with the Kingdom of God. We are citizens of God’s kingdom, living under the rule of God and his Son, Jesus.

Again, in v.19 Paul says that we are members of God’s household. This household is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and Christ is the chief cornerstone. So everyone who knows Christ has been brought into the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Then in v.21 we see that this new humanity or society is like a temple that is being built in the Lord. A temple is a place of worship and service to God.

The fact that God has reconciled us to himself and one another in Christ, creating a new humanity, a new society, implies a new way of living. These pictures help us to think about how we live in this new society. Clearly we live under the rule of God. Just as God gave his laws to his people, Israel, so he has given us rules and commands governing our life in Christ. These rules are found in the New Testament. As citizens of God’s kingdom we want to live in a way that honors Christ. In Christ we have been set free from sin, not set free to live as we please. We read the Bible and find out how to live a life that pleases our King, Jesus Christ

As members of God’s household, we have the privilege of expressing the love of Christ to each other. Christ has removed the barriers erected by the sinful thinking of this world. Race and culture, ethnicity and gender may define much of who we are as individuals, but these things must not separate what God has joined together in Christ. Racism, racial discrimination, bigotry, prejudice and segregation has no place in the church of Jesus Christ, and it has no business being part of a Christian lifestyle. Are there differences between ethnic groups? Of course! We all grow up with different cultural influences and ways of talking and being. But as Christians we seek to appreciate and understand one another before we criticize and write one another off. When we talk about races and ethnic groups we must be careful that our words are seasoned with the grace and kindness of God. And when we are hurt or mistreated by a member of another ethnic group, we must not stereotype that behavior to all the members of that ethnic group.

After all, Paul says we are being built into a holy temple in which God lives by his Spirit. Why would we do anything to dishonor God and one another?

The Iron Curtain has been down for quite some time, but things haven’t changed for everybody. In a Wall Street Journal article from 2009 we learn that for years the Iron Curtain (actually, a fence) separated two populations of red deer living in the forests encompassing the border between Germany and what is now the Czech Republic. When government officials began to dismantle the fence in 1989 (around the time the Berlin Wall fell), the physical barrier between those populations was removed. But when wildlife biologists began studying the deer in 2002, they quickly realized that the deer living in Germany were not migrating into the Czech Republic, and the deer living in the Czech Republic were not migrating into Germany. In other words, both populations of deer were still behaving as if the fence remained intact.

One deer in particular has become a microcosm of the entire population. Her name is Ahornia, and her movements in the forests of eastern Germany were tracked for several years by a GPS collar fitted to her neck by biologist Marco Heurich. During the time she was monitored, Ahornia’s location was tracked more than 11,000 times in Germany-but not a single time in the Czech Republic. She was tracked at the border of the two countries several times, but she never crossed over.

Two elements of Ahornia’s story are particularly noteworthy. First, she was born 18 years after the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the fence that comprised the Iron Curtain. She has no physical memory of the fence’s existence, and yet she is still blocked by it. Second, the land formerly occupied by the fence and its guard towers has now been turned into a large and thriving nature preserve. In other words, the land beyond the fence has become a haven-the perfect home for deer like Ahornia and her family-and yet she will not enter.

Marco Heurich and his team of biologists have come up with several explanations for the deer’s strange behavior. Most deer travel across traditional trails, for example-ones that are passed down through generations by modeling and repetition. It’s possible that Ahornia and the other members of her herd simply haven’t ventured beyond the beaten path. But wildlife filmmaker Tom Synnatzschke, who often works in the area, has a different explanation. According to Tom, “The wall in the head is still there.”

Christ has torn down the wall of division between us and God. He has torn down the wall of division between one another. Are we living in the peace of Christ? If you don’t know Christ in a personal way, you need him. He is your peacemaker with God. For those of us who do know Christ, how important it is that we walk in his peace day by day, having our minds set on the things of Christ found in his word; having our hearts filled with the love of God through the Holy Spirit. Are you living in the peace made possible by Jesus Christ?