Ephesians

“Things prepared for the person in the purpose of God”

Ephesians 2:1

“The way we were (part a)”

Introduction
Vs. 1 Twice dead

Introduction

Paul has just come off the mountain top experience as he prayed for more of God in the lives of the Ephesians. How can we know that more of God will be enough for our lives now? I mean mountaintop prayers are wonderful even exhilarating but we don’t live on the mountain we live in the valley, don’t we?

In 2003 they celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic climb of Mt. Everest in Nepal. T.V. crews came to see if the people still regarded him as a hero. What the reporter found was that it was not what he had accomplished on the top of the world that had stood the test of time but rather what he accomplished when he came back down into the valley. Sir Edmund Hillary had spent the last 50 years helping to build schools, hospitals, and bridges for the people who lived in the valley below Mt. Everest. Such is the case in our lives as well. It is not what we rejoice in on the mountaintop but rather how we live in the valley that will determine the quality of our lives.

So far in Ephesians Paul has spoken of God’s work for us (4-14), then prayed for our continual comprehension of those truths (5-23) now Paul moves to our application of it, (1-10). These verses break apart by way of looking at His work in three segments of time:

1-3 What we were: “What God has done for us”
4-9 What we are: “What God has done in us”
10 What we will be: “What God will do through us”

It is never a pleasant thing to really look at oneself, is it? Most of the time we have selective memories as it relates to our past and we would just as well forget what we truly are. Confession is a very healing part of our Christian experience; in fact, it holds the key to our present life. Simply put confession is where we present our true self to God, the self that we spend so much time trying to make more presentable. To do so requires us to be honest and express before the Lord, not what we think we are, nor what we hope to be but rather who we really are! As one author put it, “We invest so much in the appearance of holiness that we miss the substance of it. We are so preoccupied with saving face that we fail to live in God’s saving grace!”

Vs. 1 Twice dead

Vs. 1 The words “He made alive” are italicized because they do not appear in the original Greek though they are implied in the text. Thus, this would read, “And you who were dead in trespasses and sins”. Paul is writing to believers and he starts this section by reminding them of what God’s work has already accomplished in us. And what is that work? It is resurrection power as He has raised us from the dead! One of the reasons we Christians fail to appropriate God’s power in our lives now is because we have forgotten what His power has already accomplished. We have conveniently forgotten where we have come from. Paul here reminds these believers that they were not merely, “sick or injured” no they were dead! To understand this death we need to look at what death is on a physical plain and we need to understand what death is on a spiritual plain.

“You were dead”: The bible speaks of death from three perspectives:
There is eternal death spoken of in 2 Thess. 1:9 “who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might” speaking of those who refuse the gift of Jesus and will therefore receive what they wished for, life forever apart from the face of Jesus.
Physical death, which is often debated among medical professionals recognizes two types of physical death:
“Brain death”: When there is no longer any activity in the central nervous system for a certain period of time.
“Biological death”: When all our vital bodily functions permanently cease to operate.

In either case, physical death has two main parts:

The inability to respond to any stimulus: In other words, the person who has died will not respond to light, sound, smell, taste, or touch. There is simply no function on any level that deals with our senses a dead person can not and will not react to anything.
They quickly slip into a state of decay: That which was healthy begins to rot and slip into ruin.
Spiritual death is like the physical and carries the same two main parts only on a spiritual level:
Inability to respond to any stimulus: Those who are spiritually dead do not respond to any stimulus that God brings to them. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:14 that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” Paul described this same condition in Rom. 1:20-21 where he said, “since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God”.
A state of decay: Furthermore, because of this spiritual death man’s life is in a state of ruin and decay. Wait a minute now, you say your life is fine! Well, your life may not be completely falling apart yet but give it time it will. Some have just been dead a little longer than others or if been exposed to the elements more than others. Some have perfected the art of spiritual embalming where their spiritual state appears alive but inwardly it’s still decaying! There is a phrase that I think best describes those folks who are presently “spiritually dead” it is a prison term used for those who are sentenced to death as they are moved about the corridors of the prison the guards watching them say, “dead man walking”! That is what the entire world apart from Jesus is doing right now, they are merely “dead men walking”!
“In trespasses and sins”: Paul moves on now to give us two ways in which we all were dead spiritually speaking. Before I do so look down there in verse three and read with me Paul’s description of what mankind is (and what we were apart from receiving Jesus’ work ). Paul says that we “were by naturechildren of wrath”. You see there is a false perception by most people that we are only spiritually dead if we sin, but that is backward to what Paul says here. You see we are not “sinners because we sin” No we sin because we are sinners! The unsaved person is not dead because they commit sin they are dead because they are IN sin, that is what Paul says right here in verse 1 where he informs his readers that they were “dead IN trespasses and sins”! Because they were by nature sinners their choices were in sin, which Paul describes two ways:
Trespasses: The word in Greek means to go in the wrong direction especially as it relates to a boundary. We have all seen the signs that say, “No trespassing” which are used to keep people from coming across onto their property. The simplest way of describing the word is to say “crossing the line”! Paul says that our being sinners by nature led to us continuing to “cross the line” and deliberately stray away from God’s clearly revealed boundaries. I was watching a program on the History Channel about Christopher Columbus’ ship that sank off the coast of Hispaniola (Haiti). What interested me was that Columbus had to leave some of his crew on the Island and being Spanish they were deeply religious and the natives were not. he Spaniards quickly began to take advantage of the natives, which caused the tribe to rise up and kill the men. Why? Well, the religious Spaniards “crossed the line” of normal decency, which even the natives, had!
Sins: Here Paul uses yet another word and this one comes from the hunting world as it means to “miss the mark”. They have gone their own way if you will and as such are way off course. Now here again as we human beings have a tendency to look at others who have “missed the mark” and as long as we have come a little closer to the target than them, we tend to think that we are on course. God does not evaluate us based upon how close we got to the target compared to another person who has also missed the mark. Eternal life is not a game of horseshoes where the one closest to the pull wins. No, only the person who hits the bull’s eye is the winner everybody else has missed the mark. The truth is there has only been One who has hit the center and that is Jesus!

Now don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not suggesting that we have all “crossed the line” and “missed the mark” to the same degree. No, what I’m saying is that whether you can say that you just barely crossed the line and just missed the mark doesn’t matter as you are still “dead IN trespasses and sins”. Clearly, there are different states of decay in death. You can look at Jesus resuscitating the dead in the gospels.

There was Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5 who had been dead only a short time why she may have still been warm to the touch, but she was nonetheless dead. She had not yet had any visible signs of decay even though the process had started. I think there are a great many folks like that today they are like Jairus’ daughter. They are still warm, like little china dolls but there is no life in them. Make no mistake they are just as dead as anyone else and over time they will suffer the same effects of death.
Then in Luke 7, we see that Jesus arrived in Nain as they were carrying out a widow’s son for burial. He had probably been dead for a day or two at the most. I imagine he looked like it as well. His color was starting to change, he was cold to the touch and stiff as a board. You will see these folks around who are spiritually dead this way as well. They are a bit more obvious, aren’t they? You can see it in their behavior as there is a very definite absence of life a discoloration, a graying and coldness that has come upon them! After meeting them we will describe our encounter by saying they were cold or an Ice Princess!
Finally, we are told of Lazarus’ experience with death in John 11 where his decay is described by his sister in verse 39 with the words “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” There is yet another more obvious state of decay and you can smell them coming. Their lifestyle has become rotten and putrid as death is all over them. Things are just fallen off of their lives and it is obvious to all that they are dead spiritually.

What amazes me is to see how the other dead justify their state of death as being alive even though they are just as dead. Yes, indeed, you can’t see (or smell) the obvious signs of death, but they are just as dead spiritually. Many times it is those who have an odor that are the easiest to bring back to life isn’t it? You know what else? The state of the decay didn’t matter to Jesus, did it? There is no mention of the stench of Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead, why he was as good as new! We know this is true spiritually as well as Paul declares here that this spiritual death was what they “were” not what they are.

Perhaps you are wondering why all the time spent on what we “were” why not just move on to what we are and what we will be? The keys to those things as they relate to appropriating God’s work in our lives are hinged on our understanding that our condition was helpless and we were helpless. If we are going to grow in God’s grace, then we are going to have to be honest about our present condition and realize that God is still in the business of raising the dead! It is as Paul said in Romans 6:13 “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” The hope of this in our lives now is because He has already done so for us in the past!

Ephesians 2:2-3

“The way we were (part b)”

Introduction
Vs. 2-3 Three reasons we stay dead

Introduction

Paul has painted a very grim picture of the “way we were” hasn’t he? He told us that we were “dead” spiritually, not just sick or injured but DEAD. Unable to respond to any stimulus and in some state of decay or ruin in our lives. He made sure that we understood that our condition was not the result of wrong actions we had taken, no we were born that way. Why does he tell us that by nature we were sinners before telling us that we sinned by choice as well? Well, so we would realize that our being in the state of “crossing the line” and “missing the mark” was not a result of us just being uninformed, we had a nature that was predisposed to this. Simply put we were born missing the mark and crossing the line and as we grew up we just started doing what was natural to us.

In verses 2-3 Paul continues to paint a grim picture of the “way we were” by revealing that there are three entities that worked together to keep us in the state of “spiritual death”. Again Paul brings us his readers to this place so that he can spring upon us the “But God who is rich in mercy” of verse 4. In other words, if God can overcome such great obstacles to our salvation then we can surely trust Him in our present circumstances. In Matthew 19:23-26 “Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Vs. 2-3 Three reasons we stay dead

In these two verses, Paul speaks of three great enemies that apart from God’s intervention would have forever kept up separate from God:

The course of this world: In which we all once walked.
The prince of the power of the air: Who works in the sons of disobedience.
The lusts of the flesh: In which we are told we all conducted ourselves in.

Paul wants us to realize that our spiritual condition of DEATH was not going to improve over time given a better environment or proper education. There was a hold on us that we could not break free of which made us “by nature children of wrath just as the others”.

The course of this world: Again, notice that Paul alludes to the fact that this enemy that once held us is past tense as it says we “once” walked according to the course of this world. It was not something that they were presently doing. Something had gotten them off the track that had sealed their fate. There is an interesting point Paul makes about the course of this world and it is found in the word that indicates that we were all at one time living on this course. He says that we “walked” according to the course of this world, and the word here in the Greek means to walk around without any direction or goal. The words “course of this world” are equally interesting in the Greek as well as the word course is a word rendered elsewhere as “age”. Combining the thought here is that the environment in which we live or the age in which we live is designed to cause us to just meander around without any goal or clear-cut direction. We are on what we all call the “treadmill” of life. We are purposeless living just for the moment with never a thought of what lies ahead. The fascinating thing about this to me is that the “course of this world” is designed not to look like a course at all. We are meandering around the track seeing the scenery change so we forget that we are still going in the same direction. In the gym I attend they have a room full of “stationary bikes” The room is dark so that they can show pictures of the countryside while you peddle along. Yes, but it’s a “stationary bike” which means that though my arms and legs are moving I’m going nowhere. That’s how I picture the course of this world, just an illusion that gets my heart to race, and my legs and arms to move while my mind thinks I’m in the countryside! Paul warned the Church at Rome of the dangers of this world system in 12:2 when he said, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” That’s what living in this world is always after isn’t it just trying to get us to peddle and watch the screen! Three such courses are the most recognizable today:
Humanism: This places man above all else, and he is the sum and total of everything. He is, according to this course, the captain of his ship and as such individually is the final authority upon what is good. It is this course that has come up with some of our popular ad campaigns, “If it feels good do it” and “If it works for you, it is right”. The amazing thing about “humanism” to me is how it purports to champion self-expression and individuality all the while restricting anyone who does not conform to its course. When I was in high school “long hair” for guys was cool and it was how you showed your individuality and rebellion against the mainstream. Yet if you dared not have long hair you weren’t cool, so much for individuality!
Materialism: This places the acquisition and accumulation of things above all else. Here we have coined the popular phrase “keeping up with the Jones”. Making lots of money and spending it on self-indulgence in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. People have sacrificed everything to maintain outlandish lifestyles. I like to watch the travel channel and now and then they show hotel rooms for 20,000 a day and such. I always wonder who can afford this room. There is little doubt that the materialistic course has many peddling while watching its illusive pictures that promise a life of ease and comfort.
Hedonism: This places the pursuit of pleasure above all else. It is this course that has caused the ruin of so many young lives. Again, we turn to the ad world that describes things in terms of “sinfully delightful”. There is a reason by design that things physically pleasurable given to excess outside of God’s design are often seen as pleasurable.

Looking at these three courses of the world we can see how often they intertwine into the same course. One may start on the course of thinking they are the captain of their own ship and demonstrate that by the pursuit of material things and further express this by seeking all things pleasurable. It is the course of this world, which helps to keep us trapped in crossing the line and missing the mark.

The prince of the power of the air: This statement concerning our enemy is a threefold description of him as well as where his most effective work is being done. This description does not mean that every unsaved individual is “demon-possessed” nor is satan actively doing something in every nonbeliever’s life. What I am suggesting is that he has influence over the world system and in conjunction with fallen man kinds flesh causes them to “disobey” God.
Prince: The word here is a military term meaning first in rank or authority. The word also suggests organization as rank always does and offers us insight into the spiritual realm of the underworld. Satan is not some buffoon that can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, he is highly organized how else can a created being achieve what he has without being everywhere at once and not being all-powerful or all-knowing. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not praising him for his power what I am saying is that we have a highly effective enemy whose sole ambition is bent toward continually causing all of mankind to disobey God’s word!
Power: The word here carries several ideas “authority, ability, force” all of which although far under God’s power are still quite effective to accomplish keeping mankind dead in crossing the line and missing the mark.
Air: Now the word here not only describes a sphere in which he moves but also gives us a picture of his stealth. You see the air is something that you and I don’t see and yet it is nonetheless real. Satan can move around without detection for the most part the world does not believe he exists. Yet we can see by the statement of Paul that he “now works in the sons of disobedience”. Satan is constantly working to cause fallen mankind to disobey or disregard God and His truth. As we have already noted he does this through his direct influence throughout this world. The prophet Isaiah spoke of this influence in 5:20 when he prophesized “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” That’s the influence of the prince of the power of the air who is always trying to change what reality is to keep us on his course and off of God’s.
The lusts of the flesh: Finally we come to the third of the great enemies that keep us dead spiritually. There is a centrality of all of mankind and it has to do with our conduct, which as we have already seen operates according to its fallen nature. By the flesh, Paul does not mean the body but rather our fallen nature. The pull of our fallen nature operated in the realm of our conduct which was being pulled by “lusts” which in the Greek has to do with strong inclinations where whereas “desires” have to do with acting it out. A person engages in an act of disobedience because he seeks the pleasure gained from it and in the end, it becomes a habit. It has well been said, “Sow an act, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, reap a destiny!” The man given over to “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” knows the price of everything by the value of nothing. This works in the fallen flesh not just in our fallen nature but in how we think as well.

Paul finishes up all of this by telling us that our nature as well as our environment and the choices we made in light of those things made us “children of wrath”. It is this course of the world influenced and powered by an unseen enemy that works in conjunction with our natural fallen nature that has left mankind in a state of doom. That is what we “were” just like everybody else who has been born on this planet. It’s a pretty bleak situation and impossible for us to recover from apart from God’s intervention. Again the purpose of bringing this up is to demonstrate the power available to us now. Remember the words Paul wrote in his prayer of 2:19-20, “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” The first place this “exceeding greatness of His power” was seen by us happen when we were made alive when we were al one time dead and held that way.

Ephesians 2:4-7

“Lost in God”

Introduction
Vs. 4-5a From sin by love
Vs. 5b-6 Three things God’s love changed
Vs. 7 Trophies of His grace

Introduction

The first three verses of this chapter focused upon man’s depravity; Paul made sure that his readers understood that they were sinners by nature as well as choice. Furthermore, they were hopelessly bound in that state as they had three things constantly working against them:

The course of this world: In which we all once walked.
The prince of the power of the air: Who works in the sons of disobedience.
The lusts of the flesh: In which we are told we all conducted ourselves.

Having just concluded verses 1-3 and “What we were” where the focus was “What God has done for us” we now move into verses 4-9 What we are and “What God has done in us” and then on to verse 10 What we will be as we see “What God will do through us”.

These verses reveal to us something very interesting about God in reference to his dealings with mankind. What is the common denominator in each of these three things? Our transformation! God’s plan for our lives is solely about our transformation and it has well been said:

“I’m certainly not what I ought to be”

“And I’m definitely not what I will be”

“But thank God I’m not what I used to be!”

The transformation has occurred and will continue of which we can be certain as Paul said in Philip. 1:6 that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.

Vs. 4-5a From sin by love

The great Bible teacher Vance Havner once made a very powerful observation about the human heart when he said, “We don’t normally reach the place where we realize that God is all we need until we first reach the place that He becomes all we have!” Ok, now that hurt didn’t it? It is the “But God” of this verse that unveils the truth of this, isn’t it?

Vs. 4 These two little words “But God” show us whose initiative it was that provided the power for our salvation. Despite our nature of crossing the line and missing the mark, God chose to intervene on our behalf. What a contrast these words reveal especially when we realize that when He looks upon us He sees us “dead in our trespasses and sins”, the condition in which God found us was dead. Go with me back to Genesis 1:31 and right after He had created man he declared what He had made was “very good.” So that which God declared was very good had become dead and no longer functioned according to the way He had designed it. People are all the time blaming God for their broken lives, someone dies, or their spouse runs off with someone else and they yell, “How come God….” Well God didn’t make you and I broken, what He created was “very good” It is mankind that has caused this whole mess. It is here that we see that God didn’t just see His broken creation and discard it and throw it away. No, our ruin and our dysfunction brought out His initiative. Oh, how different God is in us, isn’t He? We live in what is commonly called a “throw-away society” where if something doesn’t work, we just toss it aside and get another one. Not God, no he saw that what He had created alive, in fellowship with Him, function as He designed was dead and it motivated Him to do something on our behalf.

Just how was His motive directed? Paul tells us God “who is rich in mercy” that’s how His motive was directed in rich mercy! Mercy is not getting what one deserves and in light of our being dead in sin is very remarkable. You see God sees us broken having made wrong choices, yet our misery brought forth His mercy. Now those of us who are parents will often react the same even when our child has done something willfully wrong. You think about this and you become extremely grateful because God looks down at that which He created and was very pleased with and it’s broken. Why the more He observes it the more He sees that it just kind of meanders around aimlessly without purpose or direction. He sees us as we just try to conform to the passions He gave us and there is the constant destruction waste and ruin of lives. And because of His rich mercy, He gives what we don’t deserve. I look at my life sometimes and just see such an ungrateful person; I’m so spoiled that when things don’t work out to my expectations I get all upset. I heard this saying the other day and it’s brought conviction in every sense, “You will be a grateful person when I want what I get instead of get what I want!”

There is another great word here and it is the word “because”! “Because” always speaks of reason doesn’t it? “How come Johnny gets an ice cream and I don’t?” “BECAUSE!” Here we are told that God didn’t give us what we deserved “because” of His great love with which he loved us. Here we learn that God gave us what we didn’t deserve because of that which is inherent in Him and not something that is in us! You see that love is a verb it is not just a nice sentiment. Love has to go out and do something for someone else without any strings attached and that is how we see God’s great love He went right out and met us in our deadness bringing with Him not what we deserved but rather what we did not deserve!

Vs. 5a Just in case we might tend to think that His motive of love was drawn out by some “goodness” in us Paul adds the phrase, “even when we were dead in trespasses”. Did you notice the little word “we”? That means that Paul was including himself along with every other human. Paul wrote in Rom. 12:3 “There is none who does good, no, not one.” We have given God no reason to love us, and He did it anyway. You know what this means then don’t you Christian? You can stop pretending to act a certain way to make yourself more lovable to Him, He doesn’t just love you when you are trying to be spiritual, read your Bible and pray. How do I know? Well because this verse tells us that he loved us when we were dead in sin. It is nothing we do that makes us lovable it is what He has done that causes Him to love us. If you aren’t taking notes start now, because I just gave you the secret of the Christian life, it’s called, (are you ready?) GRACE! In fact, this is the only requirement that people have to meet to be saved, they have to recognize that they are dead and are completely unworthy of His love!

Vs. 5b-6 Three things God’s love changed

In these two verses, Paul lists three things that God’s love has changed in those who have received it. You will recognize them by the little word “us”. Furthermore, you will notice that every one of these things is in the past tense which tells us that they are things that have happened not will happen after years of effort, practice, and hard work:

5b “Made us alive together with Christ”: Gave us a new identity
6a “Raised us up together”: Gave us a new activity
6b “Made us sit together”: Gave us a new position

5b “Made us alive together with Christ”: Gave us a new identity This makes perfect sense doesn’t it the first thing a dead man needs is to be made alive isn’t it? But look at this carefully as we are told that our new birth is not just “in Christ” rather it is “with Christ”. Yeh so? Well in John 14:3 Jesus told us “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” We didn’t merely come alive and stay in that old box that they placed us in. Neither did we just come back as we once were. No, we have been made alive together WITH Christ, which means that we are with Him now. We’ve moved not only from being dead to being alive but from this world to where He is! We are forever joined WITH Him, I may look like some old smelly thing but in reality, I’m WITH Him! Paul again doesn’t want any misunderstandings concerning our being “made alive With Him” so he says, “By grace, you have been saved”. Mercy is not getting what you deserve and grace is getting what you don’t deserve! So Paul is saying that this new identity is us getting what we don’t deserve. Also, pay attention to the words, “been saved” Do you see that? Paul does not say, “being saved” which tells me that my saving is a settled thing as far as God is concerned! There are certain signs of His making us with alive Christ:
We are no longer afraid of God, and we will want to be where He is at. No more of those words, “Hey, if I came to Church the walls would fall down”! If we are truly alive, then we are not afraid of any old walls coming down upon us, as God is not our enemy instead, He is our Father, best friend, and savior.
We don’t mind at all being identified with Him since we are alive with Him. We would want everybody to know us as being with Him that’s why we wear those Christian shirts and have those bumper stickers on our cars. Our life has become a part of His and His life has become a part of ours.
6a “Raised us up together”: Gave us a new activity Now here we can understand this by looking at Jesus after the resurrection you see Jesus was not the way he was before death. The things that he couldn’t do before He could now do. The same is true of us those things that in our dead state we couldn’t do we can now accomplish “in Christ”. Those two words are the key to our new activity though aren’t they? Where we weren’t able to forgive when we were dead in sin now since we have been raised together in heavenly places in Christ we can. You are being made alive naturally changes our activity, doesn’t it? I mean if you are “Superman” why take the bus when you can fly? Christian, are you living in the truth that you have “been” raised up together in heavenly places in Christ? The way He acted you can now act because of this; did you know that? Yes, it is only in Christ, but you ARE in Christ, so if you are not acting like Jesus what’s the problem? This pastor’s conference God really spoke to me and I want you all to pray for me, so write this down. Pray “That I will be transformed by the message I teach!” You see I’m convinced that teaching that has no effect, no power is because it has not first transformed me!
6b “Made us sit together”: Gave us a new position What this speaks of is a ceasing of effort. You see when a person is sitting down, they are not working. So, Paul tells these Christians that God’s mercy and grace have changed our position we are working from a seated position, a resting position instead of one that is constantly trying to appease God. All that religious effort is over with because we are seated with Jesus! We are at work only in His strength and not our own. We overcome by trusting in Him not our effort and because of this, we have His power at our disposal. We have come to where Solomon declared that “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” We have been seated at His table and as such we have been given a new position. What I love is though we have not yet experienced this practically, positionally it is true, and God calls us to live this way! Why stay in the graveyard when He has already declared you to be sharing a new home with Him in heavenly places? The self-life (called death) with all scraping and scrapping to get what we think we deserve is over with now, we are sitting together with each other in a new position in a place that belongs to the One who has brought us there. All we have belongs to the Father and we are in our Father’s house called to enjoy Him and share our love with all.

Vs. 7 Trophies of His grace

Vs. 7 “But why did He do this for us?” Here we are told, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” That we would forever be a display, a trophy of His mercy and grace! Throughout all eternity God will be showing us off as what He can do through someone so lost. We were once “lost from God now we are lost In God”! One day we are going to look at each other and worship God because of His incredible work in each other! I confess to you that I love to watch those fellows make the choppers and hot rods on T.V. It is the beautiful creation of what would otherwise be just scrap metal. We are all hand-crafted by the master and He is so confident in His work in you even though you are not completed He wants to show you off right now. But you know what we try to do, don’t you? Well, we say, “Hey God not yet I’m not ready, I’m not finished don’t show me off like this!” Or, “Oh God let me help you a bit you haven’t finished your work on my fender and I need some paint!” When we do this, we look like some kids have finger-painted on the Mona Lisa! Dear Christian, we are “His work of art” not our own, let Him show us off just as we are because a “half-finished work of art by the Master” is always better than a finished copy painted by our hands. Remember all of this is His act of kindness in His Son. We may be the canvases but the paint He is applying has been squeezed out of His own Son and as such He has earned the right to use the color and portrait of His choosing!

Ephesians 2:8-10

“From sow’s ear to silk purse”

Introduction
Vs. 8-9 By grace through faith
Vs. 10 A walking work of art

Introduction

Throughout the first ten verses, Paul focuses on God’s work in our lives, which is always centered on our transformation! As I said last week we can all say:

“I’m certainly not what I ought to be”

“And I’m definitely not what I will be”

“But thank God I’m not what I used to be!”

But why has God done this for us? We saw the first answer to that question in the words of verse 7 “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” We are to be forever a display case of God’s grace and kindness. Though it will never be questioned in heaven God could pull one of us out at random and say, “You want a demonstration, an example of my grace towards undeserving man? Well then take a look at Dale!” Each of our lives serves as a living example of God’s character of grace.

I think each of us could spend eternity thanking God for saving us from what we deserved but that is not all God does for us. You see God does not just save us from destruction He saves us to something as well, “good works”! Think of that a moment and you will realize that your redemption has as much to do with what you and I are saved TO as it does with what we are saved FROM! I’m sure you have heard that old saying “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear!” Well I’m here to tell you in Christ he does so in every one of our lives but make no mistake about it you can’t claim that His doing so had anything to do with anything in you!

Vs. 8-9 By grace through faith

The emphasis in the first two verses is found in the 9^th verse where Paul says, “not of works”. Yet the emphasis of verse 10 we read that we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. This appears to be a paradoxical statement wouldn’t you agree? How can we on one hand have no works “least we should boast” and yet on the other hand be created in Christ Jesus for good works to which we are to “walk in them”? That is what is before us this morning “not working at working”!

Vs. 8-9 First I want you to see that Paul says, “by grace you have been saved” not “being saved” or “eventually will be saved” but “have been saved”. In other words, what Paul has to say concerning our salvation is a finished act it is already true in every born-again believer.

There was a fellow who had wanted to hear a famous evangelist speak but got his times mixed up and when he finally arrived the evangelist and all the people were gone except those who were cleaning up the place. Distraught, the fellow went over to one of the guys stacking chairs and asked, “I came to hear the evangelist so I could get saved what can I do now?” The workman, without looking up responded, “You can’t do anything it’s too late!” The fellow getting more upset cried out, “What do you mean it’s too late, what can I do to get saved now?” The workman’s response was simple, “Not a thing don’t you know the work has already been done all you need to do is trust in His work?”

Several years ago, when I was in Peru I was invited to speak and after I was done a fellow who had been traveling with me pulled me aside and asked a question, “Dale, did I hear you say that we have to have faith in grace?” To which I replied yes, but my friend corrected by this passage it is not “faith in grace that saves” it is “grace through faith!” What’s the difference? Faith in grace gives me something that I had to start with and God is always the initiator. We are not “saved by faith” according to this verse we are saved by grace (unmerited favor) and even our faith is a gift. You see if you place “faith” in front of grace you make our salvation dependant upon “how” we believe but when you have grace in front of faith then the emphasis is not upon how we believe but rather on Whom we believe! Our savior is not our faith our savior is Jesus and our faith which is given to us by grace lays hold of Him!

Now most of us Christians would have no problem saying that we are saved by grace but here Paul brings us to an even more startling truth and that is that even our ability to trust in His unmerited favor is a gift. “Well, what if God doesn’t give me the gift of trusting His unmerited favor does that mean that I can’t be saved?” Look at what Paul wrote to the Romans in 10:17 “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Do you get it? God grants us trust as a gift when we hear the word of God, but refuse the Word of God and you will never be granted the gift of trusting in it!

Now the next part of this verse tells us why doesn’t it? You see God loves us so much as John 3:16 informs us that “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But He loves His Son so much that He will never permit anyone in heaven or earth to ignore the sacrifice He made on our behalf! So here Paul stresses the reason God’s work is totally by grace, “not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” There are two things which, if we could we, would brag about:

Character “Not of yourselves”: Paul points out that God has done it this way because mankind loves to claim some inherent goodness in our nature. “I may not be as good as I should be but I can still claim that there is something I can do”. To which Paul points out, “No it is not of yourselves it’s the gift of God”. There was nothing in me that caused God to so love me and desire to save me, I mean He just went out and did so without ever consulting me! You don’t hear folks complain too much about God’s blessings upon their lives, in fact, they never seem to give Him any praise or acknowledgment for it all. Oh, but if something goes away from the script they have written then they blame God and curse His name. Job responded to all the trials of his life and a wife who encouraged him to just “curse God and die” by saying, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” This is what I find lies behind most of my unhappiness, I often equate God’s grace as being given to me based upon something “good” in my charter or nature thus He is just rewarding me for being ME! So then when I don’t get what I think I ought I’m bummed at God, but it’s not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, and if He rewarded me for me, then I would be in big trouble!
Effort “Not of works”: Here the point is self-effort, “Hey I may have not had anything of value in my nature but I have made up for it by effort!” Not so says Paul, as it is not of works least anyone should boast. Suppose you were really in debt; I mean you owed millions and some rich stranger came and wrote you a check wiping out all you owed. Now it would not take long before everybody who knew your plight would begin to come to you and let you know how fortunate you were to have such a generous benefactor. But what if your response to them was, “Oh come on now He didn’t do all that much why you should have seen me reach out and take that check from His hand!” “I mean it was some kind of effort I had to put forth to take it from Him and then I had to go down to the bank and all.” “You want to hear how I had to wait in line at the bank and then sign the back of the check?” Why everybody would think I was totally ungrateful and rightly so, but you know what? We do this all the time with the Lord, don’t we? We constantly tell people about all the things we are doing for God boasting in all our effort and how difficult it is just to be us, all the while downplaying that it was all the resources of God which has made everything possible! It is the greatness of God as seen in His grace that has saved us, is it not?

Vs. 10 A walking work of art

So we see that we have been saved “from” and that it is totally by grace now we see that we have not only been saved from but “to”!

Vs. 10 We’ve answered the “how” now we answer the “why” and Paul tells us in the 10^th verse the reason for this transforming grace. The first thing Paul does is to focus upon God’s transforming grace by saying, “we are His workmanship”. The word “workmanship” only appears one other time in the Bible in Romans 1:20 where the English render it “the things that are made” which is in reference to His physical creation. The word in Greek is where we get our word “poem” in fact it is a transliteration of the Greek word. The word means a “work of art or masterpiece” and we can see how what God created in the physical realm is a masterpiece even after the fall. But here we are told that born again mankind is also His masterpiece. Look at this carefully and you will notice that it doesn’t say I’m a masterpiece but rather that I am HIS masterpiece. I spent many years as a goldsmith creating jewelry and I can tell you that an artist seeks to express themselves through their work and it is the same with God. You see a “poem” is a work of art in words and it is what we are as His Word transforms us into one of a kind redemptive masterpiece!

The second thing Paul tells us is that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. I find something here that makes me realize how incredible God’s grace is when I realize, as Paul told us in verse 2, that all of us at one time walked and worked in total disobedience, I mean we weren’t people with potential, we were utterly ruined. What’s my point? Well, you can further appreciate an artist’s talents when you see what they have created and what they had to start with. The other point this verse brings to light is that though it is true that we are not “saved by good works we most certainly saved unto good works”. Our salvation is NOT faith plus works but our salvation is very much faith that works! God’s design is “in Christ Jesus” for “good works”, now what this tells us is that God’s transformation is always active and always has the same aim “good works”. Now there are a great many people who will not be very impressed after they meet me, in fact, they may say, “You know what Dale you’re not all that impressive there are some pretty big inconsistencies in your life”. My response will always be the same, “You know what you are you are right but you should have seen what God had to work with when He started!” Compared to what I was when He started I’m a work of art even though I’m very much unfinished!

Paul goes on to tell us two things concerning those works that we are saved to:

Good works: First Paul says that they are “good works”? God’s saving us by grace was unto good works but just what makes them “good works”? I mean how can I know that operating according to His design?
Firstly, a good work won’t be a work that is disobedient as that is what we once were. There are a great many people in the world doing a lot of things but if they are still living a disobedient life then they are not engaged in “good works”. So many people think that if they are living a life apart from God, doing something “good” will make up for a disobedient lifestyle.
Second Paul wrote in Romans 14:23 that “whatever is not from faith is sin.” In other words, whatever we do that is not based upon total trust in God cannot be considered “good works”. Or to look at it another way, Paul wrote to the Philippians in 2:13 “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” You see what makes them “good works” is our trust and surrender to God who works in us both to will and do according to His “good pleasure”. Do you mean pastor that I can’t claim “good works” as coming from me now that I’m a believer? Nope, it is God who works in us both to will and to do and that according to His good pleasure. Where is the boasting in that? There isn’t any if it truly “good works” all we can talk about is what He is doing and not what we are doing!
Prepared beforehand: The second amazing thing is that these “good works” are prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now pay attention here, we don’t have to go turning over every rock looking for “good works” God has prepared them for us beforehand. Just as we go about every day there are countless “good works” that God has prepared for us. I wonder sometimes just how many “good works” He gives us every day, little things like holding the door open for someone to picking up trash so someone else doesn’t have to. Up to speaking His name to a hurting heart. Jesus said in Luke 16:10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much”. I think God has a way of not only preparing good works” for us but also preparing us for “good works” don’t you? I can think of three ways He prepares me for “good works”:
Teaching: Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 2:13 “when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” God teaches us through His word and teaches us not to be self-serving but rather to be self-sacrificing. In John 13:13-14 Jesus told His disciple “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
Talking: In this very book in the 3^rd chapter verse 20 Paul says, “to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”. I believe God prepares us for good works through our prayer life as we ask Him not only “to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think” but to do so “according to the power that works in us”. Never underestimate the need for prayer to accomplish the “good works” He has prepared for you.
Trials: Finally look at what Peter said in 2^nd Peter 2:19 “let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” Suffering causes us to recommit our lives to doing good unto the Lord. Why? Because trials tear away the things we have attached value to and replace them with a faithful creator that will never leave us or forsake us!

God by His grace has saved us from ourselves, and to good works, and His design is that we “walk in them” That’s a natural thing, isn’t it? I think far too often the Church has emphasized “good works” that we do before the “good work” He has done. The truth is the only way we walk in good works that He has prepared beforehand is that He has already done a good work in us, and we are continually allowing Him to do a good work through us!

Ephesians 2:11-13

“No more strangers in the night”

Introduction
Vs. 11-13 Why can’t we all just get along?

Introduction

Paul has been speaking about the work of God that has so impacted our lives:

1-3 “What we were” where the focus was “What God has done for us”
4-9 What we are and “What God has done in us”
10 What we will be where we saw “What God will do through us”

I must say that this section of scripture has been a source of great worship in my heart as I see afresh God’s work on my behalf as He has brought me to Himself. If we stopped here we would have enough truth to worship God for all eternity as we are His “walking work of art” his visible “poem” on this dark hopeless planet! I have become increasingly aware personally that our heavenly Father is not content with just our spiritual birth into His kingdom (as glorious as that is), no He is committed to my continual transformation! Such transformation is brought out by Paul’s words in verse 11 where we are told that as “walking works of art” we have been created for “good works” in Christ Jesus.

There is yet another work that God has done on our behalf and this one has to do with:

11-22 “What God has done among us”

The truths, that Paul is about to unfold, speak of another aspect of God’s redemptive work.

The first one we have been looking at is God reconciling sinful mankind back to Himself. Paul made it very clear that we all were sinners by nature and choice, our condition was further enhanced because we live on a planet whose whole philosophy is geared to keeping us in our fallen condition. We also have an enemy whose sole purpose is to oppress us and manipulate us into his dark world. Finally, we don’t naturally resist this system with its aggressive enemy because we are naturally drawn to the things that they suggest. Yet despite this God, because of Who He is was able to break through and bring us back to Himself, not through our “goodness” or because of some “hidden potential” but solely by trusting in the finished work of His only Son.
The second act of reconciliation is before us now and it is God reconciling man back to each other. You see God not only brings us to himself, but He also returns us to each other no matter what your background His work unifies mankind into one family!

Vs. 11-13 Why can’t we all just get along?

Vs. 11 The words “therefore remember” has to do with God’s creating us for “good works”. What we are about to see is in what arena these “good works”, which He has created us to be His “walking work of art”, find their expression. An overview of these verses shows that these “good works” are to be in the arena of our dealings with our fellow man and this is why we have been reconciled into one “new man”.

The other thing Paul tells us is that we Gentiles were completely apart from God as well as separate from God’s chosen people the Jews. Now notice that Paul says that we were “once” Gentiles in the flesh who were called the “Uncircumcision”. Simply put our trust in Jesus’ work has brought to an end this condition. As far as God is concerned He has brought all those who have trusted in His Son into His family regardless of what they once were. Yet with that said Paul wants these Gentile believers to understand how incredible this work of God is on our behalf. Paul uses words that we don’t grasp today but that those Ephesian Gentiles very much understood, he says that they were called the “Uncircumcision” by those who are “called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands”. To understand this we need to look at what Circumcision was and what it stood for.

First Circumcision is the cutting away of the foreskin of the male sex organ.
Second and more importantly what it stood for was the cutting away of the fleshly passions which dominate mankind. If you look up the word pagan in the dictionary you will find that the definition means “one who delights in sensual pleasures”. God gave the Circumcision to Abraham in Gen. 17 as a sign of the agreement He had made with Abraham that the relationship with Him is based upon trust (faith) and not works. Moses also instituted this as a sign for the nation that they were to be “cut away from the fleshly passions” that once dominated who we are and how we live.

But the trouble was that Israel forgot what Circumcision was supposed to represent and started thinking that it made them superior then their neighbors the Gentiles. You will notice Paul’s words here to distinguish this “made in the flesh by hands”, as their Circumcision was just an outward showing of self-righteousness. You can go throughout the Bible and hear God’s word to the nation such as Jer. 4:4 where God says, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem”. Or Deut. 10:16 “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” What had been originally an outward sign of separation to God through faith had elapsed into a self-righteous wall that caused division between people. The truth is Circumcision was to keep Israel out of the world and not to keep the world from knowing God. In fact, God said through Isaiah 42:6, “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”

Vs. 12 But make no mistake about it we non-Jews were completely apart from God. I believe Paul gives a perfect definition of what a pagan is and as far as God is concerned and what effects this condition produces in our lives. A person who is dominated by sensual pleasures is “without Christ”. Now a pagan can be a very intelligent person, they can have great talents and education, they can be very civilized in culture yet still be dominated by sensual pleasures. A pagan can even have a belief of God as long as it is not in God as James said, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble”, not a big thing to have a belief that there is a God! This condition we were in “without Christ” led to four other realities as to our existence as it relates to God:

Stateless “Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel”: Paul uses a very vivid picture here that we can understand of being an “alien”. The word simple means “unable to participate” which is exactly what happens if you are not a citizen of a country that you are in, you don’t have the same rights and promises as a citizen of that country. So, before we trusted in Jesus, we had no citizenship in the Kingdom of God. In Exodus 6:7 God told the nation “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.” The rest of the word was outside of this “commonwealth” and as such did not have the same benefits as the Israel.
Friendless “And strangers from the covenants of promise”: Furthermore, since we were not citizens, we were strangers from the agreement full of promises, living in the world without promises and guarantees. If you have traveled as I have and you find yourself in a country that does not share your language or culture and you walk the streets you feel very much like you are an island all to yourself without a friend in the world. That is what we were apart from Jesus just strangers without any certainties in life.
Hopeless “Having no hope”: This condition brought about a sense of hopelessness in life. The Greeks even with the high education and pantheon of gods still wrote on their tombstones “hopeless”! Life soon settles into a meaningless existence with no purpose other than the here and now which may be taken at any moment. Life apart from Jesus is lived in black and white while in Christ it is in living color!
Godless “And without God in the world”: Finally we are simply without the presence of God. I did not say that they weren’t religious as they were extremely so, but in all their devotion to their gods, there was no presence of them only statues and shrines. And reminded of this every time I go into a Chinese restaurant and see a Buddha statue there with a piece of apple in front of him. I have yet to go by and see him take a bite out of it; there is no presence of Buddha just his fat statue.

Vs. 13 That being what we Gentiles were, Paul says, “But now” oh how I love those words don’t you? We who were born apart from God, people who were without a country, without family, without any hope, without the presence of God in our lives, who were as Paul says, “were far off” “have now been brought near by the blood of Christ”. Our citizenship did not just happen dear Christian it was won by the blood of Jesus, and it is His blood that has been used to write our citizenship papers.

Ephesians 2:14-22

“No more strangers in the night part 2”

Introduction
Vs. 14-18 Tearing down our walls
Vs. 19-22 Man, the dwelling place of God

Introduction

Have you ever noticed, as far as people are concerned, that there are only two races of people? It does not seem to matter where on the globe people reside, what language they speak, their income bracket, education, or age there are only two nationalities, US and THEM! Furthermore, it seems as though US and THEM can’t get along, I’ve noticed that as far as I’m concerned, I’ve always been an US, yet but to the THEM’s I’m a THEM. Today we will discover yet another nationality where we are told that God has made out of US’s and THEM’s those who Paul describes as “fellow citizens, members of the household of God and a holy temple”. How has God accomplished this joining into one new man? Well, he has done so by placing the US’s and THEM’s into a new race called the “In HIM’s”!

Vs. 14-18 Tearing down our walls

We now move to what Jesus has done in reuniting mankind to each other and is that every needed today. Nations have tried to establish peace treaties only to see that the peace they so desperately sought fall apart. Why with all of mankind’s ingenuity can’t we just get along? It only takes a quick glance at history and we can see that we have been unable to live in harmony with each other, we simply don’t know the way of peace. I’m not suggesting we have not tried but I think you will agree that it has never lasted long. Religion’s have tried to secure peace and have only made it worse causing wars and hatred. So, what is the answer? It’s right here before us in this passage and part of God’s reconciliation plan.

First, I think we have set the definition of what peace is way too low. We have tended to think of peace as the mere cessation of hostility towards each other. Certainly, that is preferred over violence but that is not how Paul describes it here. Peace that is only the agreement not to fight will never last. What then is peace? It is oneness, harmony, and sharing life with each other, and anything less than that will never last. How is that accomplished? Paul gives us three keys to peace between people in these verses. You will notice that Paul uses the word “peace” three times in these verses and each time it describes an aspect of how God has reconciled man back to each other:

14 “He Himself is our peace”
15 “so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace”
17 “He came and preached peace”

Right away you will notice something about “peace” that has escaped almost all of those people committed to seeking and maintaining it. Peace as Paul describes here is not to be found in some treaty or accord neither is it described in terms of compromise or programs. Instead, Paul says uses the words “He and Himself” to describe what peace is all about. Now these words refer to verse 13 where Paul declares that “in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” So, then the “He and Himself” of verses 14, 15, 17 all point to Jesus. Peace then is a Person who is none other then Jesus, and what is before us is how three ways in which Jesus becomes the keys to peace and harmony with your fellow man. Let’s look at them.

14 Origin “He Himself is our peace”: Look at this and you will understand even with all the effort people have given to the peace process why it never works, as they have sought peace in programs trying to clean up the results of the conflict. All that happens is that those who are tired of the conflict retreat to reload and rearm so they can go out and battle some more. You all have seen that bumper sticker that says, “Keeping honking I’m reloading”, well that is what treaties and accords have often led to. Peace is not to be found in creative problem solving or compromise it is to be found only in a person. Simply put, if you want peace you have to go to the source the “Prince of Peace” and that is Jesus. Peace is not just the cessation fighting or the ending of hostility it is much more, it is “oneness” the breaking of all things that separate us so that we can join together. The only way that can transpire is when we are united to Someone greater than that which divided us. Think about it, “sin always divides but Jesus always multiplies”, so then when we go to Jesus, He is going to multiply Himself and peace will ensue. All to often the Church has sought to be like the world to bring about peace and harmony in the world but the truth is that it is only when the Church is least like the world will be able to do the most for the world. I have yet to see any conflict between two people that didn’t have its central problem in not having a right heart towards God. When you and I come to the Prince of Peace He always starts by showing us what a mess we are and how we need to get our heart right before Him. When we do so we will find that the problem we have with our fellow man is at least half solved. Jesus brings about peace towards our fellow man by “making both one” that’s the key. Jesus does not just go after ending the conflict, His goal is to make two one, He is after unity. How does He do so? He breaks apart the middle wall of separation. Now in the temple in Jerusalem, there was a dividing wall that was around 3 to 4 feet tall to divide the temple into two sections one was where Gentiles could go the other was only for Jews. The Gentiles were only allowed into the court of the Gentiles and no further. In fact, archaeologists in 1871 were excavating in the temple area and uncovered the sign that marked the wall with words in Hebrew and Greek that said, “No man of another race is to proceed within these walls, anyone arrested there will only have themselves to blame for their death.” Needless to say, Gentiles hated Jews and Jews hated Gentiles but Jesus broke down the wall by making the two into one. Jesus becomes what we have in common you see; He is our peace not our self-righteousness!
15-16 Process “so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace”: The second discovery we make concerning Jesus being our “peace” is found in this verse as we see a threefold aspect that Jesus does to break down the walls of separation between our fellow man described as “making peace”. The process is discovered in the three phrases, “In His flesh” “in Himself” and “through the cross” so this is how Jesus makes peace in Himself.
End of hostility: “having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances”. Jesus ended hostility by abolishing in His own flesh what Paul calls the “law of commandments contained in ordinances.” What is Paul talking about? We need to understand first what the original purpose of the law was:
First, they were to keep Israel from becoming polluted by the world.
Second, they were to show Israel that they could not be made right by keeping the law, as Paul expounds in his letter to the Galatians.

What’s wrong with that? Well, what happened is that Israel used the law to proclaim their superiority over all other peoples. What Paul tells us is that Jesus’ death on the cross places all people both “good ones” and “bad ones” on the same level. In other words, we are all guilty as we are all sinners not just your enemy. The truth is we don’t have to be right instead each of us needs to “get right”! I’m not any better than you, I need to be forgiven, and cleansed by Jesus, so what do I have to fight over with you? You see the truth is we are the worst sinners we have ever met, and we have no one to blame for this condition but ourselves! “Hostility” between people will end when we have realized our own guilt and need for personal cleansing and forgiveness above the THEM’s.

Unity in Christ: “so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace”. Jesus ends our hostility by showing us that our greatest need is to get right not be right. The next step is to unite the two warring people into one. How does He do that? He creates in himself one “new man from the two”. Here’s how it’s done, when we come to Jesus seeing our own need to get right, we are made “new” and it is that “newness” in Christ that we now have in common with the people we were separated from. Get it? The emphasis is now upon “Who” we have in common and not upon “what” we don’t have in common! The “Who” we have in common is always going to be greater than any differences we may have with each other! In other words, as we approach God’s word with a heart that says “show me Lord who I really am even though I may not like what I see” then we pray “Lord show me who you really are” Then you and I come together we are not going to have any differences that will separate us. That is exactly what Jesus said in Mark 9:50 with the words, “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another”. As we make our own lives the greatest place for repentance and restoration then we will have peace towards all others.
Death to self: “that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” The final thing that Jesus does to reconcile us to each other is to place the other person (the THEM’s) above ourselves. You see the cross is where He went to die to reconcile us back to each other and it reminds us that we need to die to self as well. This will ensure that we have not just temporarily stopped fighting but will never take up arms again because as Paul said in Philippians 2:3 we will “in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” The truth is there has never been, nor will be in this life an area that I do not need to be forgiven for, so it ought to make loving the THEM’s a whole lot easier.
17-18 Proclaim “He came and preached peace: There is one last thing Jesus does to reconcile us back to each other and it is twofold.
17 “He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.” Talk to others about our continual need for Jesus ourselves. It doesn’t matter whether we were those who were “afar off” or those who were “near”, the message of Jesus and our need for Him is the same. The gospel always relates to us personally of our need for Him, so how does that relate to our being at peace with each other? If when we talk to each other we do so with the attitude that we are the person with the greatest need for Jesus you have ever met and not just before coming to Him but even today at this very moment then there will be nothing in us to divide fellowship. True, humility is always a great peacemaker don’t you think? When we come across as humble to those that we are talking with (The THEM’s), in a manner that relates that as far as we are concerned, they are better than us they will see nothing in us that will cause division.
18 “Through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” Talk to God about other’s continual need to grow in God’s grace. In verse 17 the emphasis was upon our conversation with each other and here it is upon our conversation with God on behalf of others. You see we now have access through Jesus by the Spirit to the Father and we can bring up those who we have been separated from to God and ask Him to change our hearts as well as theirs.

Here then is the simple plan:

I will endeavor to talk to others about Jesus’ work in my life and my continual need for Him to transform me.
I will not talk to God about other’s need to grow in grace unless God allows me to speak to them in brokenness about how He changed me!

Vs. 19-22 Man, the dwelling place of God

Vs. 19 Look at Paul’s words here “Now therefore” and you will see that what he is about to share has a direct standing upon what he has just related to his readers. In other words, Jesus’ work in reconciling man back to man by taking the US’s and THEM’s and making the two into the IN HIM’s is going to be illustrated by a threefold picture of what oneness looks like. You will notice in this threefold description a progression of intimacy, as this is what Christ has done.

19a Same country “Fellow citizens with the saints”: To start with Paul uses a negative so that he can emphasize a positive by saying, “you are no longer strangers and foreigners”. In verse 12 Paul had told the Gentiles that they were at one time “aliens and strangers” but God has forever transformed them. I was with some fellow pastors in Murrieta, CA a few weeks back at a restaurant getting a bite to eat when a fellow and his wife came up to us and asked if we knew how to get to a certain store. We were all strangers just as he and his wife were to the area and because of this we did not know our way around either, that’s what it means to be a stranger isn’t it? When we are strangers, we don’t know the advantages of the community we are in, we don’t know the cultural possibilities or even how to navigate the streets. That is what it was like for us before we were given new life in Jesus and became fellow citizens, we didn’t know our way around the Kingdom of God. It appeared to me that a great many Christians live their entire Christian experience on a passport that gives them access to their faith instead of becoming a permanent citizen where they can have all the rights and privileges to the community of faith. Normally when one becomes a citizen of a country, they have to learn the history of that country, then they have to learn of all the rights and responsibilities of that country. I think that is what the Spirit of God does through the Word of God as we learn of what it is to be a child of God in the Kingdom of God. The first picture of what “oneness” looks like deals with the unity that we have with those of the same country where all our differences are placed under the commonality of us being citizens of the same kingdom.
19b Same family “Members of the household of God”: With that said, just because we are the same country does not necessarily guarantee our oneness though we may all share the same rights and responsibilities we won’t necessarily get along with each other. So, the next progression shows us that unity goes even deeper than being of the same country, as we are also from the same family members of the household of God. A child always outranks an everyday citizen, correct? If someone calls during my study hours Nancy will tell them I’m studying, but if one of my kids calls, she puts them right through. The old saying is that “blood is thicker than water” and there is a closeness we share as family members of God’s household that is greater than sharing something in common with a fellow citizen.
20-22 Same building “Being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit”: Now just because we are of the same family doesn’t mean that we will have oneness, does it? That leads us to the final illustration of oneness in Christ and here it is a building (the holy temple in the Lord). Paul points out four things about this temple in the Lord:
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets”: The first thing we notice about this building is that the building has been established on truth. A unity that disregards truth will never last, so here we see that our oneness is established on truth.
“Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone”: The second thing of note here is that the central truth that binds us all together is the person of Jesus. Simply put, our oneness is centered upon the person and work of Jesus. The cornerstone was that which held the whole building together thus all other stones were tied to that stone for support and stability.
“In whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple”: Here we see that the building is built upon Jesus, but the stones are as Peter described in 1 Peter 2:5 “living stones, are being built up a spiritual house”. In other words, as “living stones” we are not only connected to Jesus, but we are also interdependent with each other.
“In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit”: Finally, we see that the building is not about the living stones rather it is all about Him who dwells in us. We are being built together for the specific purpose of being the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In all four of those points, Paul pictures a oneness that is literally a part of the same building, thus no division can be possible without the whole building coming to the ground!

Isn’t the work of God reconciling us back to each other a glorious work?