Reconstructing the Vision.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If this is your first time with us, my name is Steve. Our church is made up of about 20-25% [0:09] young single people and none of them are here. So that kind of shows you the crowd that is [0:19] most affected by Daylight Savings Time and also the people that stay up till like 3 a.m. watching [0:25] Real Housewives marathons or something. They’re wasting their lives. Pray for them. Pray for them. [0:32] Because if somebody like, you know, they’re not here, why aren’t you here? I just, I was so tired. [0:40] What were you up doing? I don’t even know. They’re wasting their lives. If you have your

[0:48] Bibles, Ephesians chapter 2, we’re going to continue in the series through the book of Ephesians. [0:54] We’re going to start in verse 17 today. But to catch you up, what’s happening in chapter 2 is that [1:02] Paul is fleshing out more and more as to what it looks like to walk into the good works that God [1:11] prepared beforehand for us to do. That’s how he kind of begins this chapter and he’s going to end [1:20] it very similarly to the way that chapter 1 ended with this vision of what the church is [1:27] and what the church exists for. Now when Ephesians was originally written, when the whole scripture

[1:32] was written, it wasn’t in chapters and verses. And sometimes you’ll be reading a chapter and [1:38] you’ll be like, why in the world did that chapter end mid-sentence? I have no idea why they did that, [1:43] but in some places it makes really good sense to me. And the book of Ephesians is one of those [1:48] where the chapters seem to end and kind of flow together to make great sense in the way that [1:55] they’re structured. And chapter 2 and chapter 1, they’re structured in this sense for us to see [2:01] what God is doing in our lives and what God has done in the gospel and then what the outcome of

[2:08] that is going to be. And so what took place last week is we talked a little bit about that God has [2:14] torn down through the work of Jesus the barriers of sin in our lives that separated us from him [2:21] and he desires for us to be with him in relationship with him, unrestrained, no barriers, [2:28] nothing between us, and that we sometimes in our lives there will be barriers. But the fact of the [2:34] matter is that in the gospel those barriers are not there because God is putting them there. [2:39] Those barriers are there because we oftentimes will construct barriers and we need to live our

[2:45] lives in really true faith. What it’s going to do to us is it’s going to make us not those [2:50] barriers of sin and guilt and religion and any dozen of other barriers. If you were in your [2:57] community group this week, I hope you really addressed that and talked about all the different [3:02] barriers that we have in our lives to the work of the gospel in our lives. But what I want to talk [3:07] about today and I want to pick up in verse 17 is that once God has deconstructed the sin that [3:17] really does beset us, it constrains us, it can become habitual at times, once Jesus really knocks

[3:25] those barriers down, what is left? Because all of that is really what we enjoy about faith. [3:34] And if you talk to people all the time about Christianity, what you’re going to hear is a [3:41] great deal of what it shouldn’t be. And the reason for this is because Christianity is first about [3:49] barrier breaking. It’s about knocking down walls. It is about deconstructing the lies that we’ve [3:55] believed our entire lives. It is about going from death to life. It is about killing the hostility [4:00] of sin in our lives. So it’s like God is taking this great sledgehammer to the lives that have

[4:05] been built around us in sin. But once that sledgehammer knocks those barriers down, [4:13] deconstructs all of that, then begins the painful and oftentimes difficult process of reconstruction.

[4:24] And that is what oftentimes becomes very difficult and that is what oftentimes [4:29] becomes the hardest part of our lives and really the hardest part of our faith. And that is why [4:34] the scripture will constantly tell us that we must persevere, that we must endure in the faith.

[4:41] Because rebuilding is difficult. So oftentimes what we will do is we will make this rebuilding [4:50] process of what it actually looks like to be alive in Jesus, we will make it somewhat subjective. [4:57] Is that, well this is what it looks like for me. And oftentimes what it boils down to is like you [5:04] and God get together and you form a plan. There are compromises. There are negotiations. And then [5:10] at the end of the day you write half the contract. He writes half the contract after the negotiations [5:15] are over and you kind of give this, but I don’t really want to give that into what faith really

[5:20] looks like. And that’s kind of off basis for you. You can’t really have that. And so then we kind [5:25] of sign the contract and we’re like, okay, here’s the negotiations that took place between me and [5:29] God. This is what he can have. This is what he can’t have. This is what I’m willing to give over. [5:32] We’re like, good, that’s what I’ll walk into. We do not have that privilege because that [5:43] kind of matter is it wouldn’t be a privilege. There is nothing in you apart from the work of God [5:52] that is not death. We talked about this at the beginning of chapter two,

[5:59] that deep down inside you are born into sin. You are born spiritually dead. No part of you [6:09] brings God glory. No part of you compared to God’s amazing goodness compares at all. Isaiah says, [6:19] our righteousness is as filthy rag, that popular verse. [6:23] But what we do in redemption and what is often tempting for us to do in our lives of redemption [6:29] is to deal with our life in Christ as if it is some sort of existential spiritual reality that [6:36] is taking place outside of our lives without really affecting every part of our lives.

[6:45] That’s not true Christianity. That is not what God has called you into. God has called you with a [6:55] specific calling. God is drawing you towards a specific mission. God has redeemed you for a [7:05] purpose. The only aspect of that that will be subjective is that which you create and nothing [7:14] that you create is of the gospel. The only thing that you create is that which is self-centered, [7:22] that which is self-wrought, that which is consumed with death. Faith is not trusting in yourself. [7:29] Faith is trusting in God. So what I want to do today is I want to help us

[7:37] reconstruct or rebuild the vision that God has for us and not so that we can just kind of say, [7:43] well, all right, I guess that’s the way it is. That’s the way I have to do. No, [7:49] that is not what God is drawing us towards. That is not what God is calling us to. [7:53] God is calling us to take joy in His Word. God is calling us to take joy in what He is [7:59] reconstructing in our lives. And here’s how it starts. Ephesians chapter 2 starting in verse 17. [8:05] At the end of 16, we see where He has killed the hostility of sin. He’s called us to Himself.

[8:10] Verse 17, and He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those [8:16] who were near. For through Him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [8:27] And understand, point number one today, and I’m going to blaze through a lot of this, [8:30] is that being reconciled to God, which is what we saw in verses 15 and 16, what it does is it [8:36] brings the identity of belonging to God. You understand that when man was created, [8:43] he was not created to just be unto himself, to live a life for himself, but rather he was

[8:49] created to live life towards God, with God, and for God. And when we are reconciled back to Him, [8:57] that is what we are called into. That is what redemption looks like when we live it out. [9:04] But in that, there is a specific and explicit nature as to what that is going to look like [9:11] in your life. And the thing that I want to kind of point your attention to is simply the term [9:18] that Paul uses in verse 18, when he says, you have access in one Spirit to the Father. [9:27] Here is where Paul is going to begin a theme that is really going to command

[9:33] chapters three and four of the book of Ephesians, and that theme is the theme of unity. [9:39] Okay. And what he is doing here is he is revealing to us that when we are redeemed, [9:45] Jesus came and he preached peace. Peace with what? Peace with God. And how did he bring that? [9:51] Well, through the cross, through the resurrection. But what is very important is not just the work [9:57] of Jesus, but also the person of Jesus, excuse me, and what he revealed in his life. And when [10:05] Paul writes that we have access to the Father, this relationship with God, he focuses in on

[10:10] something that is very important because it draws us back to a few things that Jesus said [10:15] when he was on earth. He says that our access to God comes through one Spirit. There is one [10:22] channel through which we have access to God, and that is God the Spirit. We often refer to as the [10:30] third part of the Trinity. And what I want to do is I want to draw your attention to what Jesus [10:35] said about what would happen through the Spirit in our lives. Because it is something that often [10:40] times we don’t focus on, and if we don’t focus on it, we will miss the whole picture. In John

[10:45] chapter 14, Jesus says this, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Okay. You see the [10:53] specificity there? See how specific Jesus is as to what love with him is going to look like? [10:59] So we have a view of love that it’s kind of this give-take thing and this idea that, you know, [11:05] it’s that there are going to be falling outs and some of it’s going to be based on us. Jesus says [11:09] very flatly, if you love me, do what I say. There’s no other translation. Just do it. [11:18] But he doesn’t leave it there. Here’s what he says. He says, and I will ask the Father,

[11:24] and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, [11:31] whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, [11:36] for he dwells with you and will be in you. So Jesus here is saying that once he leaves, [11:43] and we see at the end of the gospel accounts that he ascends into heaven, he intercedes with the [11:48] Father on our behalf. He says, you are not going to be alone in this journey. I’m going to tell [11:53] the Father, I’m going to ask him, send the Spirit. And we see throughout the book of Acts that that

[11:59] is exactly what happens to the followers of Jesus. So if you’re in here and you’re a follower of [12:04] Jesus, God has not left you alone to understand his calling on your life and his will for your [12:10] life. He has given you that which he describes here, one name of the Holy Spirit, the helper. [12:17] And he’s saying the helper will actually aid you and he will actually guide you and the world will [12:22] not have him, but you will. So we see that this is getting a little more specific, [12:28] that this is something that is going to be peculiar about those who are followers of Jesus.

[12:34] Only followers of Jesus will have the Holy Spirit guiding them, leading them, helping them, [12:40] and directing them. And what is he helping you to do? Let’s go back to grammar class like elementary. [12:48] He’s helping you to obey the commandments of Jesus, which reveals your love for Jesus. But [12:56] Jesus doesn’t stop there. In verse 26 of John chapter 14, he says this, but the helper, [13:01] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to [13:09] remembrance all that I have said to you. So he’s getting even more specific. Not only is the Holy

[13:17] Spirit there to bring about obedience in my life, but he’s also there to teach me the things of God [13:24] in my life, more specifically the things that Jesus said and what has Jesus said. Well, he said a [13:32] great deal when he was on earth, but he said more than that. Scripture describes Jesus in John chapter [13:39] one as the Logos or the ultimate revelation of God. So everything that we see in the person and work [13:45] of Jesus is the greatest revelation of who God is for all time. But the book of Colossians also [13:51] says, excuse me, that in him the fullness of deity dwells, in him the fullness of who God

[13:57] is dwells, and through him all that has ever been created was created. And then back in John chapter [14:04] one, it says through him were all things made. In the Old Testament, we even see specific places [14:11] where Jesus appears to people like Joshua. But not only that, but the entire Old Testament comes [14:19] through the work of God, through God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and the entire New Testament [14:25] comes through the work of God, God the Son, God the Spirit, God the Father. So what is the Holy Spirit [14:32] existing to remind us of? That which God has revealed about himself, his word. Then skip over

[14:41] to John chapter 16. Jesus says this, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot [14:48] bear them now. Jesus looks to his disciples and he says, there are things that I am about to do [14:55] and that I am about to partake in and implications of that, that you are not ready to hear. You won’t [15:02] be able to bear it, you won’t be able to understand it. And then he says, when the Spirit of truth [15:07] comes though, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, [15:14] but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

[15:20] He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. And all that the Father has [15:26] is mine, therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Jesus is presenting [15:33] here this great unity that takes place within the Trinity. And he’s saying the Holy Spirit [15:38] doesn’t speak on his own authority. He’s not saying that to demean the Holy Spirit, but what [15:42] he’s saying is, is that the Spirit has no path, no motive, no purpose, and no mission that is going [15:50] to be different than the mission, purpose, and work of Jesus Christ. And then he goes to the Father

[15:56] and he says the same thing about the Father. That which comes from me is going to come from the Father, [16:02] because the Trinity is engaged in this mission towards us to draw us towards it. [16:11] And so the Spirit exists to draw us into this great work of God and to redeem us for the specific [16:19] task of following Jesus into the work of his mission.

[16:27] Your life in Christ will have a specific nature to it if you are following Jesus. [16:36] And that nature is not determined by you. It’s determined by God and it is towards the purpose [16:45] of God. The key here is are you aware of it or are you ignorant of it? In other words, [16:53] do you know God’s Word? Do you know that which he’s revealed? And also, are you hostile towards it? [17:02] In other words, do you not want to do it? Do you think you have more wisdom? Do you think you have [17:08] a better idea? In that case, true repentance is necessary and inventory of whether or not your

[17:15] faith is real is required. So as you can see, Paul is not just kind of giving us something to make us [17:25] comfortable when he says you have access in one spirit to the Father, to God. What he’s saying here [17:32] is a very important reminder back to the very words of Jesus who had a very specific nature as [17:39] what redemption would look like in him. But let’s keep going down in verse 18. So through him, [17:47] we have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, [17:54] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Now,

[18:04] what Paul is doing here is he’s making it more and more narrow. If you notice back in verse 10, [18:12] he said, you’re created in Christ Jesus, God’s workmanship created to walk in him to works that [18:20] were prepared beforehand. Okay, that was a terrible memorization work there, by the way. I think I [18:26] just dyslexically got the entire thing out of order, but that’s not important. [18:32] I shouldn’t have even said that. Now you’re like, I’m gonna look that up.

[18:38] Then he goes on to explain what happened before that, that God’s killed the hostility. [18:45] Now he’s fleshing out specifically what it’s going to look like in your life to actually [18:52] walk into what God has prepared beforehand. And he starts by saying there’s a specific nature [19:00] what access to God looks like. And now he’s saying there’s a specific nature to which the [19:05] way in which you live that relationship out is going to look. And what he’s doing here is he’s [19:13] just fleshing out that you belong as a member of God’s household. In other words, you are not your

[19:22] own. You are now God’s. You may have heard things like you’ve been bought with a price. You’ve been [19:28] purchased by his blood. You’ve been brought literally as this text fleshes out into his [19:35] household. But that household is not something in which you will simply live as an individual [19:43] or a lone ranger living the mission of Jesus by yourself. See what he’s talking to us about now [19:52] This is a very important thing. Notice in verse eight verse 19 when he says, So then you are no [19:58] longer strangers and aliens. All right. That idea there, the exact term there is this term sojourners.

[20:06] What a sojourner was in biblical times is the same thing that it is now. It’s someone that does not [20:11] necessarily belong anywhere outside of their own definition. But rather it is someone who just [20:19] simply wanders throughout life doing whatever they want, whatever they please on their own [20:26] time scale, according to their own pleasures, their own passions, their own desires. They don’t [20:32] have an identity outside of themselves. And that which is specified by them trumps all.

[20:43] Paul’s writing here, you no longer, if you are a follower of Jesus, you do not have that identity. [20:53] You are no longer a stranger or an alien, but rather, let’s look back at the text, [21:00] you are a fellow citizen with the saints and members of the household of God. [21:12] So the question is, what is that going to look like?

[21:17] Here’s kind of point two this morning. Redemption forms a reconciled community of changed lives.

[21:26] You are more than an individual.

[21:32] Here’s the key, because of culture and because of sin, [21:38] because of selfishness, and oftentimes because of pride, and I can’t paint a pretty picture [21:44] of what it is that separates us so greatly. What it is that commands us to have our own [21:53] thing at all times. What it is that commands us to not get but so close to other people. [21:59] What it is that commands us to distrust everyone and never allow anyone close enough to have the [22:06] possibility or potential to be able to make us commit to more than we want to, to make us

[22:13] have demands on us more than we’re comfortable with, or even have the possibility to hurt us [22:19] with anything. But everything that separates you from other people is at least a byproduct of sin.

[22:33] You cannot say the gospel is working so much in my life that I have never been [22:41] more separate from other people.

[22:45] God is working so many great things in my life that man, I can’t bear to be around others.

[22:56] You laugh because that is in no way biblical.

[23:04] My question today for you isn’t just is that unbiblical, my question to you is that how you’re [23:13] going to be able to academically or intellectually believe. I want to know what you practically [23:17] and tangibly do with your life. Don’t use the whole excuse, well no one ever calls me. [23:28] No one ever invites me over for dinner. When people tell me nobody ever like emails them or calls [23:35] them, nobody ever writes on their Facebook while I’m on, I just want to say, well who are you calling?

[23:41] Because what happens? How do friendships typically end? Both people stop doing anything and then blame the other.

[23:53] You have to engage the gospel in your life to see the gospel work out in your life as well as the [24:02] lives of others. But what I want you to focus in on this morning is that term that you are a fellow citizen.

[24:11] What is that calling you into tangibly in your life? Well what it is doing is it’s saying that when [24:17] God reconciles us to himself through the work of Jesus Christ, he is also going to necessarily then [24:26] reconcile you with others. Why? Because number one, that is what believing the gospel is going to [24:34] look like. Here’s what I mean by that. When God reconciles us to himself, he kills the hostility [24:41] of sin in our lives to him. So we have faith that Jesus died for the sins of humanity and he has [24:48] applied that redemption to my life. Therefore, I also believe that Jesus has died for sins of others.

[25:00] Therefore, when I am wronged,

[25:04] what does faith tell me to trust? This is where it gets really hard. [25:11] Trust in the work of Jesus for the sins done against me. It’s true.

[25:19] So what am I called to do? I’m called to forgive.

[25:28] I’ll forgive, but never giving them a chance to hurt me again.

[25:33] Understand what you’re saying to a point, but there’s also a point where that’s not real [25:38] forgiveness because that’s not what God does towards us. What God is calling us into is a [25:46] lifestyle where we truly trust in his reconciliation to the point where we realize that we are [25:53] not the end of God’s plan, but rather we are called into this great work that he is doing in [26:01] the gospel that is made up of other people whom he has redeemed. And that what reconciliation with [26:09] God necessarily is going to do is it is going to reconcile us to other believers. And where does

[26:14] that start? In Galatians chapter 6, Paul says a very, and he’s very adamant about a specific thing. [26:20] He says, do good unto all people, especially those of the household of faith. [26:26] Now, how is that going to work out in your life? In other words, the very first place that loving [26:33] other people is really going to begin to happen in your life is with other people that understand [26:40] the love and work of God. That when God reconciles us to himself and reconciles someone else to him, [26:47] there’s only going to be those types of people that are going to understand what God is doing

[26:53] in our lives and also encourage us with that type of redemption. And what is that called? [27:01] It’s called discipleship. And what does that type of reconciliation form? It forms a church. [27:12] In other words, this work that God is doing where we are no longer strangers and aliens, [27:18] but we are fellow citizens, there’s a camaraderie that must be formed among people who claim to be [27:26] followers of Jesus. And it is tangibly lived out in the form of a church. You cannot do this work [27:36] on your own or by yourself, no matter how hard you want. And what happens here is practically

[27:42] because of experiences in our lives, we begin to rebuild walls that God has torn down. But we use [27:50] the excuse that those walls are not to God, but rather those walls are to other people. [27:56] I’m loving God. I’m just not going to love others.

[28:03] And what Paul is saying here, that is not the work of God. And that which you call a barrier [28:09] to others and not to God is by very nature and virtue, a barrier to the work of God in your life. [28:17] Because what does God want to do through you?

[28:23] God wants to form a reconciled community. Here’s how we do that. [28:31] Look back in chapter two. [28:38] We’re members of this household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, [28:45] Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure of the church [28:51] being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built [28:58] together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. So this is where God begins the rebuilding

[29:06] process. He’s completely torn you down to your foundations, to the very core of who you are. [29:17] How much of you is saved? If you trust in Christ, all of you. [29:23] But he does not just want to deconstruct, he wants to reconstruct and he starts with [29:28] the foundation. Notice what he says. He says that he is beginning by making you a member of this [29:33] household of God. And I like the process through which he says, because once you are brought into [29:39] the member, as a member of the household of God, don’t expect to get everything right away.

[29:45] You don’t build a bedroom before you’ve laid a foundation on a house. If so, that house is not [29:52] going to be living, the conditions of that house won’t be livable. You won’t be able to move in.

[29:59] So Paul is casting a vision here for what the reconstruction process of your life is going to [30:05] look like. And it’s going to be one step at a time, but it is going to look like a church. [30:13] It is going to look like people coming together to grow in God. It is going to look like people [30:20] who don’t know what they’re supposed to do, but are learning what they should do through the work [30:26] of the Holy Spirit in their lives alongside other people. There is no other vision.

[30:36] That is God’s vision. And when we begin to make excuses or when we begin to kind of explain away [30:44] as to why we’re not doing it, where do those excuses and reasons come from? They do not come [30:51] from God. They come from me. Well, what is the work of gospel all about? Deconstructing me and [31:00] reconstructing a godly, reconciled person. And it starts at the very foundation of who we are. [31:07] And he says it is built on the foundation of the apostles, but with the cornerstone [31:15] of Jesus Christ. He’s saying something very important there. He’s saying don’t base your

[31:29] on a legacy and an example that has been revealed to you. That’s why that foundation of the apostles [31:38] is very important for two reasons. It brings us back to God’s word, because this is a word that [31:45] is from the prophets and the apostles, and this is what God has revealed it’s supposed to look like. [31:52] See, I’m under the impression in my life, and I am convinced that real truth exists. [31:58] And real truth exists in scripture. And scripture is true because Jesus is who he said he was, [32:06] and he did rise from the dead. And if Jesus is who he said he was, and he gave us his word,

[32:12] and he said it was his word, and those whom were his followers he poured his word into through the [32:17] work of the Spirit, then my life in redemption is to be built upon a resemblance of what this says. [32:26] And that the book of Acts is not to be read like a movie starring these people who are not like me, [32:34] but it is to be understood that it is filled with stories of people who are just like you and me, [32:40] but who had a destiny that was commanded by the fact that they believed truth had been revealed, [32:47] and not only had been revealed, but it had changed them. It had redeemed them, and they weren’t

[32:54] living lives that were dependent on their own power. No, they were living lives in which they [33:00] truly believed that they had access to the Father through one Spirit, and that one Spirit had been [33:07] given to them to help them, to guide them, to remind them when they forgot when their faith [33:15] became weak. The Spirit aided them, but the aid of the Spirit exists not for your purpose, [33:25] but for God’s, and that God has revealed what he wants to do in this rebuilding process of your life, [33:35] that he wants to redeem for himself a people who are not living like everyone else

[33:47] to remember the beginning of chapter 2.

[33:53] Verse 3, when he says, and you, being dead in your sins like the rest of mankind.

[34:04] Then he goes through the rest of the chapter up to where we are now casting this grand vision [34:10] that you don’t have to remain dead in your sins, that your life doesn’t have to be condemned like [34:16] everyone else, that you don’t have to spend eternity in separation from God in hell, [34:21] but rather eternity with God can begin right now for his purposes, for his loves, for his desires, [34:29] that your destiny can be commanded by truth, that your life can be filled with the Spirit, [34:34] that you can know God. And then he says, and this is what it looks like.

[34:43] Well, if he tells me what it looks like, then I must know.

[34:48] Because if I live in absolute ignorance of what life is supposed to be like, [34:53] then what does that say about me? It does not scream that I trust God.

[35:02] It screams that I trust myself like the rest of mankind.

[35:13] So God is forming what we know as the church. God’s forming it. What it simply means in the [35:23] language is that it is a called out assembly of people for a specific purpose or task. [35:31] That’s what it means. It’s an assembly. It’s a gathering. And you by yourself are not the church. [35:42] It’s not the way scripture designs it. You can’t be a fellow citizen of the country of you.

[35:49] If it’s a solo act, you’re not a fellow anything. You’re just by yourself. [35:54] It’s kind of like the old adage that if you think you’re a leader and you turned around and no one’s [35:58] behind you, you’re just taking a walk. You’re not leading. But the church exists for a specific [36:09] reason. It makes it even more narrow. I think we’re thankful for that. That God didn’t just [36:19] leave us in this mysterious unknown in this life, but he’s told us exactly what to do. [36:25] But then we’re probably going to complain once we get into it. This seems a little bit too narrow

[36:28] for me. I need more options. We want it to be like a buffet and God says, why would I give you [36:34] a bunch of worthless stuff when the one feast is that which is really going to satisfy you?

[36:42] Because that’s what you’re doing when you’re not following God’s way. [36:45] Is you’re kind of sampling everything else when you have that which will ultimately taste the [36:50] best and satisfy you the most available. And God says, come, this is where it is. If you trust me, [36:58] come. Here’s how he finishes out chapter two.

[37:08] Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows [37:14] into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are being built together into a dwelling place for [37:23] God by the spirit. Here’s what I want you to understand as we kind of come to maybe a semblance [37:30] of a close this morning. The mission of the church, why does the church exist? Why does God [37:37] want us to come together? Why does he want us to be fellow citizens of something? Does it do [37:43] something tangibly? Yes, the mission of the church is simple. It’s building the church.

[37:50] Do you see the analogy that he uses there? He does not leave it up for discussion. [37:56] He says, and you as you are following me, you are going to grow together. In other words, [38:03] you are not who you need to be completely yet. Are you alive? If yes, which I assume that’s everyone, [38:15] there’s still work to be done in your life.

[38:22] God is going to build you together. He wants to grow his church into more than it is right now.

[38:32] And here’s something that’s going to demand a great deal of deconstruction and reconstruction [38:38] in your life because it’s going to go against some of what you may have been taught. [38:44] You are not enough for God. He is not satisfied with just you.

[38:56] And so what does that mean? It means two things. The first thing,

[39:04] God wants you to grow. God desires for you to change.

[39:13] You may say practically, you may not even believe it, but practically if no change ever takes place [39:18] in your life, you’re saying, I don’t think any change needs to take place. Things are doing [39:21] pretty well. Remember, you do not get to define what it is that you need to be. God does.

[39:34] You do not get to define what your life should look like. God does. You say, well, I don’t want [39:41] to do that. What does that say about your trust in him? What does that say about your redemption?

[39:50] Secondly,

[39:54] God wants you to further redemption into the lives of others.

[40:02] You see, the walls of the church are not made up simply of those already in the church, [40:09] but rather they’re made up of those being reconciled to God who have been reconciled to God, [40:14] but also those who have not yet been reconciled to God.

[40:22] God redeems from sin through Jesus reconciling you to himself and empowering you [40:28] to stay that way through the power of his spirit, which draws you into his life of living for his [40:35] purposes along with others who have been redeemed. And then together you live out that reconciliation [40:43] by loving one another according to God’s design for how humanity should relate in order to grow [40:50] following him and fashion that to an unbelieving world that is unreconciled. What this redemption [40:58] looks like in real life change. That is how, and I’m not going to say that all over again,

[41:06] because I just read it. There are some things that I just can’t remember. And that was one of them. [41:10] This was a very long sentence. If you’re listening, God desires from you to go from reconciled [41:18] to reconciling.

[41:22] Reconciled means you are a member of the household of God. Reconciling means I’m living [41:31] like a member of the household of God. So what that means is, is you’re taking more and more [41:38] of your life into submission of what God has revealed his will looks like in the scriptures. [41:46] And that is going to bring you into relationship with other people for the specific purpose [41:54] of furthering the work of the gospel into your life as well as theirs. Now, do we have [42:03] environments where that takes place? Yes. And some of you hate that environment.

[42:09] That environment is community group. So we don’t just throw you in the deep end. We ask for like an hour and a half a week. [42:18] Just spend an hour and a half a week with other believers. That’s all we ask.

[42:23] But if you’re really trusting in God,

[42:28] you will desire to be in community with other believers. I’m going to step on some toes now. [42:35] I know that.

[42:38] Because here’s the key.

[42:41] No one can biblically tell me I’m not in a community group or I won’t go to community [42:49] group because of how much the gospel is doing in my life.

[42:57] Can you make, can you say that?

[43:00] And you’re like, well, I already go to one for another church. Then go, why are you here? [43:05] Go there.

[43:11] Everything that keeps you out of community with other believers, [43:16] is it based on what God has revealed that he wants your life to look like? [43:21] Or is it based on what you want your life to look like?

[43:30] Every reason that you have for not living the mission of Jesus and not serving alongside [43:38] other believers in tangible environments. I’m not talking about these existential things that [43:44] you’ll bring up that are actually meaningless if they don’t affect the way in which you live. [43:50] I’m talking about tangible realities in your life.

[43:57] Are you serving anywhere alongside other believers?

[44:04] If not, what are your reasons? [44:08] Don’t give them to me right now. That would be embarrassing for both of us. [44:12] But what are they? Tell yourself, speak to yourself. Why? [44:15] Do they have anything to do with the gospel?

[44:19] Or are they just you?

[44:25] Now, my chief aim this morning is simply to confront you with Ephesians. That’s it.

[44:35] Does what is happening in your life coincide with the vision that God is giving for what he wants [44:44] to do in your life? If not, why not? You don’t know the hurt. You don’t know the pain.

[44:56] I know I don’t. God does. And he says this anyway.

[45:02] God does. And he still says this. You were not redeemed to do life on your own. You were redeemed [45:13] to do life with other believers. And the only way in which God’s mission will be furthered [45:21] is into a reconciled community where reconciliation is lived out between people. And then that [45:30] takes us out into the world where we preach the peace of God because we are experiencing the peace [45:39] of God. Is it amazing at first? Do babies run as soon as they learn to walk? No, they fall over.

[45:52] They cry. They’re uncomfortable. They don’t know how to get balance.

[46:02] Quite often when you’re new to a reconciled community or when you’re just learning to live [46:09] out your salvation, you will look exactly the same and you’ll feel that way. That’s why you sit up [46:19] before you can crawl. You crawl before you can walk. You stumble before you can run.

[46:32] But trust in God’s path for redemption and reconciliation in your life above your path.

[46:44] I don’t always enjoy it either. But truth exists and I submit to it. And that truth is that Jesus [46:56] wants to do a work in my life that he’s not done with. And here’s where we close. You exist to build [47:07] the church. What does that look like? It looks like having a mission in life that’s very similar [47:15] to the mission of Jesus. It looks like living for those purposes. We use that word a lot. I know some [47:20] of you don’t like the term mission. But look it up in the dictionary. That’s literally what a mission [47:25] is. It’s a purpose. It’s something you’re seeking after. It’s a cause that is greater than yourself.

[47:34] What cause are you living for?

[47:39] We must build God’s church and we do it together. As the band comes up right now, [47:49] I just want to kind of ask you this morning.

[47:55] How are you doing? In your life, what direction is it taking?

[48:03] What is it looking like? What does redemption look like practically as you live day to day? [48:10] Are there signs of redemption? See, God formed his church and he redeems people to it because [48:20] the people that are reconciled in the church are to exist in their lives as a prophecy of what is [48:27] coming. And God says that he is coming to establish his kingdom, to restore things to its original [48:35] created order. And the church exists to live as a sign of that coming kingdom. In other words, [48:43] how you function in the church of Jesus Christ

[48:47] literally reveals what you believe his kingdom will be like.

[48:57] Is your experience in church filled with apathy?

[49:02] Filled with anger? Filled with resentment?

[49:09] What are the reasons you aren’t connecting?

[49:13] I’m going to tell you today, healing exists. Real change is possible. Why do I believe that? [49:26] Because I’m experiencing it. Because God, he said so.

[49:36] If you’re a follower of Jesus, I invite you to his table because he’s invited you to his table. [49:40] He set it for you with the body and blood of his own son. [49:45] And he says, come, reflect on the work of Jesus. And when you’re reflecting today, I want you to [49:52] trust him with the reasons, with the baggage, and I want you to walk in life as one who is redeemed [50:01] and one who says, I want to experience more redemption. God is not done with you yet. [50:09] Build his church by being his church.