Jesus Is Building His Church.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:05] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and as always, I am thankful and grateful [0:10] to see each and every one of you. [0:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Ephesians chapter 2.

[0:16] We’re going to be starting in verse 18 this morning. [0:20] But last week we started a series in which we are going through the book of Ephesians [0:26] in six weeks. [0:27] So that means that we’re going to cover about a chapter a week. [0:31] Now don’t worry, I do it a little briefer than you may think I’m going to. [0:34] But we are really just surveying the book of Ephesians for one specific purpose in this

[0:42] series. [0:42] I’ve actually done a series on the book of Ephesians, so if you go to our podcast a [0:47] couple of years ago, I spent many, many weeks going through the book of Ephesians. [0:51] But in this one, we have one purpose that I want us to really see and that is I’m surveying [0:58] what the book of Ephesians says specifically about the Church of Jesus Christ. [1:03] And so we are trying to catch God’s really great vision for his church in this series.

[1:10] And in Ephesians chapter 1, if I were to kind of summarize for those of you that may not [1:15] have been with us last week, what we really did was is we took a look at what is kind [1:20] of the grandeur of what God has done for us in the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ. [1:27] I mean, there’s so many amazing phrases that are used to explain just what we have in [1:33] Jesus, who we are in Jesus and the work that Jesus has done for us. [1:38] But a great emphasis of Ephesians 1 is the fact that the gospel of Jesus, his death on

[1:45] the cross and his resurrection was not simply God’s reaction to earthly events, rather [1:52] it was always God’s plan that before God ever spoke the world into existence, he had a [2:00] plan for you to be in his son, Jesus Christ, that everything that God did in Jesus was [2:06] planned before the foundation of the earth. [2:08] And in fact, God actually chose you in Christ before the foundation of the earth. [2:15] That means that God had a design for your life before you were ever born.

[2:21] God had a way that he desires for you to build your life. [2:25] He has a faith that he wants to gift you that has always been his desire to gift you with [2:32] that faith. [2:33] And for those of you, though, that may not be followers of Jesus Christ, or maybe you’re [2:39] a person that’s newer to the faith and we go through Ephesians 1, you may think that [2:45] sounds great.

[2:46] I mean, it’s got some great stuff going on in there. [2:49] Maybe you didn’t understand all of the terms from the chapter. [2:53] Maybe some of the phrases were a little foreign to the vernacular that you’re used to using [2:57] in your life. [2:58] But you look at it and you say, that’s great. [3:00] But how does that impact me?

[3:02] How does that work in my life specifically? [3:07] Well, really, that’s what Chapter 2 is. [3:09] You see, Chapter 1 kind of casts what’s been called a 15,000 foot view of the work of [3:15] God throughout all of human history to redeem for himself a people in Jesus Christ. [3:20] But then Chapter 2 kind of zooms into what we could call a 15 foot view or a ground level [3:26] view of what God has done in our lives individually.

[3:30] And then how he means to build us together for the gospel in the Church of Jesus Christ. [3:39] And so what I hope that we see this morning is that the Church of Jesus Christ is made [3:45] up of people who all have only one thing in common, and that is a need for Jesus Christ. [3:51] That we are a people. [3:53] I mean, you know, you meet five people in here. [3:54] You’re going to meet five people from very different backgrounds, very different tastes,

[3:59] maybe even different cultures. [4:01] You’re going to meet people from different ethnicities if you talk to people. [4:04] You’re going to meet people from different races. [4:05] But we have one thing in common, and that is the person and work of Jesus Christ and [4:10] our need to put our faith in it. [4:13] And the way that that works is, number one, this morning, Jesus reconciles us to God.

[4:19] Jesus reconciles us to God. [4:20] Look at Ephesians 2 starting in verse 18. [4:23] Here’s what we read from the apostle Paul. [4:25] It says, For through him we both. [4:27] I’m going to get to that both in a minute, but don’t worry about that right now. [4:30] Have access in one spirit to the Father.

[4:33] Here’s what that means. [4:34] Just press pause. [4:35] That means that at one time you didn’t have access to the Father. [4:40] Now something has changed and you have access to the Father. [4:44] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints [4:48] and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

[4:53] Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together [5:00] grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [5:04] In him you also are being built together into one dwelling place for God by the Spirit. [5:12] And so what we see here is an amazing thing. [5:15] And I’m going to start in verses 20 through 22 before I get to verses 18 through 19, [5:20] because I want to kind of begin with the end in mind here.

[5:23] I want you to understand the analogy that he’s using when he says that it is built [5:28] on a foundation with a cornerstone and then a structure is being built together and growing. [5:34] Let’s talk about the foundation. [5:36] You know the foundation is the most important part of any building. [5:38] I mean if you build a house just on dirt, it’s not going to work out very well for you, [5:45] especially around here.

[5:46] All right. [5:47] You need a solid foundation. [5:50] And so what he’s doing here is he is describing to you the foundation upon which the church of [5:57] Jesus Christ is built so that we will never get another idea as to something else that we are to [6:05] build on because we are tempted towards those ideas. [6:09] He’s saying that the church of Jesus Christ is to be built on one foundation that is complete.

[6:16] It’s not changing. [6:18] It’s not for discussion. [6:20] It’s not for debate. [6:22] That foundation has as a cornerstone Jesus Christ. [6:27] Now the cornerstone is vital. [6:29] That’s where you begin to build out.

[6:31] That’s the source of the structure because you have to build the foundation somewhere. [6:36] You have to start at some point. [6:38] And so the cornerstone of a foundation is vital to the rest of the foundation being able to [6:45] support everything that’s built on top of the foundation. [6:48] And he’s saying if you don’t start with Jesus, you’re not going to get to Jesus. [6:53] It is all about Jesus.

[6:55] I said that over and over last week. [6:57] That’s a non-negotiable. [6:58] You got to start with Jesus. [7:00] But note that he says the foundation that emerges out of Jesus is the apostles and the prophets. [7:06] Have you ever wondered why he actually starts by saying the foundation of the apostles and [7:10] the prophets?

[7:11] Then he talks about the cornerstone who is Jesus. [7:14] It’s for the same reason that he talks so much about what God did before the foundations of [7:19] the earth to explain to us the gospel. [7:22] He wants us to understand that Jesus and building the church on the foundation of Jesus [7:27] was not just some idea he had along the way, but instead through the prophets of the Old Testament, [7:36] he pointed forward to Jesus.

[7:39] And then at this point in history from the apostles, he’s pointing backwards towards [7:45] Jesus. [7:46] He’s saying the same thing that he said in chapter one. [7:50] This has always been God’s plan. [7:53] This has always been what God wanted to do. [7:56] This was always the direction that God was working throughout history.

[7:59] And he has proven it through his word that this is the purpose of God for all time, for [8:08] all of human history. [8:10] You know, every single one of you have something that you’re building your life on. [8:15] It may not be Jesus Christ. [8:17] You may be a person who even denies the gospel of Jesus Christ. [8:22] And so you may even be fooling yourself into thinking, you know, I just do what I want.

[8:28] It’s kind of like my five year old says sometimes. [8:30] But the reality is, is that even if you’re the type of person that you just go through [8:34] life and say, I do what I want, that’s a foundation. [8:38] Your foundation is where every decision that you make and every choice that comes along [8:44] your way, it’s the source from which all of those things come. [8:50] Every decision that you’ve ever made in your life has been based on something.

[8:53] Even the really, really, really bad decisions. [8:56] They were based on something. [8:58] And that something is the core of who you are. [9:01] That something are the values that you have. [9:04] That something is the foundation upon which you believe gives your life meaning [9:11] and what you are hoping for to accomplish in your life.

[9:16] So regardless of whether or not you’re a Christian, regardless of what you think about Jesus, [9:21] regardless of what you think about God, and even if he exists, you have a foundation [9:26] that you are building on the question that you need to build. [9:29] You need to deal with this morning. [9:31] Why are you building it on that? [9:33] Why are you building your life on the things that you are building your life on?

[9:39] And many times that I do what I want principle is what you’re actually building your life on. [9:46] And it is why you do the things that you do. [9:49] And it is why the way that you are. [9:51] And what God means to do through the apostle Paul in this text is to warn us [9:56] that God hasn’t left his will to be some kind of mystery in the heavenlies for us [10:01] to try to figure out in life.

[10:03] Instead, he has revealed it. [10:04] He has a foundation upon which he wants you to build your life. [10:08] He has a source from which he wants you to find meaning. [10:11] He has values that he wants to give into your life and he has meaning that he wants you to find. [10:15] And you will only find God’s design on the foundation with the cornerstone [10:20] of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[10:23] Now, the key with the foundation that you’re building and what you need to know is [10:26] you are a terrible God. [10:28] You’re the worst God that you could ever follow. [10:31] I mean, if you just think about it in simple terms, have you ever made a bad decision? [10:37] I mean, if you really start, I want you to think about what could possibly be called [10:40] the worst decision.

[10:42] Now, don’t look at your spouse right now because they’re going to get the wrong idea. [10:47] But all of you at some point, even if you’re the person right now trying to have [10:51] the biggest poker face possible, you’re the one with all the worst decisions and we know it. [10:55] You’ve made at some point a bad decision and that bad decision stands as a testimony of one [11:04] dynamic force that you need to realize in your life. [11:06] You’re not perfect.

[11:08] You are not perfect. [11:10] You can’t even trust that you always choose the right dish at a restaurant. [11:16] How could you possibly trust to design and define the foundation upon which you are to build [11:26] your life? [11:27] You see, some of you think that the Bible is true. [11:30] I think many of you actually probably think that.

[11:32] That’s what I think. [11:33] I believe that it’s true. [11:34] I believe that it’s the word of God. [11:35] I believe it has authority over my life. [11:37] I believe it’s sufficient for my life even. [11:39] But some of you, you may not believe that the Bible is true.

[11:42] You may not believe it’s the word of God. [11:43] Did you know that ultimately whether or not it’s the word of God isn’t up to you? [11:49] See, some of you look through life through the lens that you have the authority to say what is [11:56] true and what is not true and something isn’t true until you decide that it’s true. [12:01] Why would I ever listen to you about what is true if you make bad decisions?

[12:08] See, your imperfect record of decision making [12:13] serves as a revelation to you. [12:16] I believe that’s from God. [12:18] That you should not trust yourself as the ultimate authority of life’s design. [12:25] You need someone else to trust. [12:27] You need an outside authority.

[12:29] And so when he talks about the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, [12:32] that’s exactly what he’s giving us. [12:35] He’s giving us that authority. [12:38] He’s giving us that direction for his design. [12:41] And he’s defining the direction towards which your life to have the meaning that God wants [12:46] it to have should be sourced in Jesus Christ.

[12:50] And so he says the cornerstone is Jesus Christ. [12:53] So how do you get Jesus? [12:56] Well, he tells us that at the beginning of Ephesians chapter 2. [12:59] Starting in verse 1, here’s what he says. [13:01] He says, your problem is that you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, [13:06] following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,

[13:09] the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of disobedience among whom [13:12] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, [13:17] and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. [13:21] That’s a bleak picture. [13:24] Verse 4 is vital. [13:25] But God, being rich in mercy because of the love with which he loved us,

[13:31] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. [13:37] By grace, you’ve been saved and raised us up with him [13:41] and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [13:45] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness [13:50] toward us in Christ Jesus. [13:52] For by grace, you’ve been saved through faith.

[13:55] And this is not of your own doing. [13:57] Underline that. [13:58] This is not of your own doing. [14:01] It is the gift of God, not a result of works. [14:04] Why? [14:04] So that no one may boast.

[14:08] The reason that the cornerstone of Jesus Christ is vital is because you cannot save yourself.

[14:17] You are separated from God. [14:19] You see, those bad decisions, [14:21] see, they serve as a great revelation to our life of our imperfections. [14:25] And our imperfections reveal to us a problem that every single one of us have [14:30] that is deeper than we would even admit that it is. [14:34] That we are not living fully according to the design that God has given us.

[14:40] And I’m not going to go through all of the reasons that you are a sinner. [14:44] Just one simple fact remains. [14:46] You know that you have not lived up to God’s standards in anything. [14:52] Because you’re not perfect. [14:54] No one is. [14:55] But what that means is a more dire thing that many of us want to admit.

[15:00] It means that according to God, we are dead in our sins. [15:04] See, if you go to a body of water, and I hope this never happens to you, [15:08] but you were to see a dead body floating in that water. [15:12] And I mean, it brought some stress on your life. [15:14] And so you just kind of reacted in an odd way and you saw a life preserver sitting over somewhere. [15:19] And you ran, you grabbed life preserver and you throw it out and lands right on top of the body.

[15:23] Like, good. [15:23] And then you sit there. [15:24] What’s going to happen? [15:26] Nothing. [15:27] Now the dead body has life preserver on top of it and it’s still going to keep floating. [15:30] Why?

[15:30] Because dead people can’t do anything. [15:33] Dead people certainly can’t save themselves. [15:37] And see, our situation is bleak. [15:40] There exists a design, a foundation upon which God desires for us to build our lives. [15:47] And there is nothing that we can do for ourselves to realign our lives to what God wants us to be. [15:56] Verse four.

[15:57] But God. [15:59] See, verse four of Ephesians two is one of the most vital texts in all of scripture [16:04] because it tells us that with the great mercy that God has [16:08] because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead,

[16:15] he made us alive together with Christ. [16:18] You see, friends, there is nothing we can do to help ourselves. [16:21] So God did the work. [16:23] God gave us life through his son, Jesus. [16:26] This is the source of everything that we need. [16:29] Our faith in the grace of God is everything that we need to get our lives onto the right foundation.

[16:39] People of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, are people who must be dependent upon God [16:46] for absolutely everything. [16:49] And in that, number two this morning, the church shows reconciliation to God. [16:54] The church shows reconciliation to God. [16:57] Look back at Ephesians two, eighteen. [17:00] Here’s what he says.

[17:03] He says, for through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. [17:06] Now, I said earlier that that serves to show that at one time [17:09] we didn’t have access with the Father. [17:12] And here’s why we didn’t have access with the Father. [17:15] Have you ever offended anyone? [17:18] I know I have.

[17:20] Many times. [17:21] I say a lot of things. [17:23] And sometimes those things aren’t received as well as I wanted them to be received. [17:29] And you know, when I offend someone or when someone offends me [17:33] or when you offend someone, here’s the key. [17:36] That offense serves as a barrier in your relationship.

[17:42] You can’t have a good relationship so long as that offense is a barrier between two parties. [17:49] So what needs to happen is called reconciliation. [17:52] To have a relationship that is reconciled after an offense requires that in some way, [18:00] shape or form, that offense be removed between you and the offended party. [18:07] And here’s how that comes into verse eighteen. [18:09] Is that you didn’t have access to the Father.

[18:11] And the reason you didn’t have access to the Father is because you were dead in your sins. [18:16] You sinned against God. [18:17] And that sin offended him. [18:19] It’s that simple. [18:20] God is offended any time someone seeks to live in a design opposed to the way that he created you to live. [18:31] So when you try to build your life on a foundation that’s not Jesus, that offends God.

[18:36] When you disobey his law, it’s because you’re building your life on something other than Jesus. [18:41] And that offends God. [18:42] But what happens in the offense is that that offense stands between us and God. [18:47] And here’s the key. [18:48] There’s nothing you can do about it. [18:50] You are hopeless to remove that offense.

[18:53] You deserve God to be offended against you. [18:57] And you deserve for God to have wrath against you. [19:00] But God being rich in mercy. [19:03] You see, why did God save me? [19:06] It isn’t because I’m special. [19:08] It isn’t because there’s anything good about me.

[19:10] It isn’t because God looked into my life and he said, you know, Steve’s got potential. [19:15] I think I’m going to redeem him so that I can use him. [19:18] God has never looked at any one of us and said, I’m going to redeem them because of [19:22] anything significant about us. [19:25] God redeemed us for one purpose. [19:28] He loves us.

[19:29] He chose to love. [19:31] I don’t know why he loves me. [19:32] I’m worse than most. [19:34] But in his good love and sovereignty, he has chosen to love me. [19:40] And he shows that love through what he did in Jesus Christ. [19:43] And so God has reconciled me to a relationship with him.

[19:47] And he seeks for me to have access to him so that everything else in this can come to [19:53] fruition in my life and I can be used to build the structure of the church on the foundation [20:00] of Jesus Christ. [20:01] And he talks a little bit about this back in Ephesians 2 10. [20:04] Here’s what he says. [20:06] After the grace, no work that we do on ourselves.

[20:08] Verse 10 tells us the truth. [20:10] We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before [20:16] that we should walk in them. [20:18] Notice a big difference between Ephesians 2 1 and Ephesians 2 10. [20:22] And Ephesians 2 1, you’re dead outside of weekend at Bernie’s. [20:28] Have you ever seen a dead body walk?

[20:30] Right? [20:30] No, no, because dead people don’t walk. [20:33] I just dated myself with some of the younger people, but dead people don’t walk. [20:38] But in verse 10, we’re walking. [20:41] How did that happen? [20:43] Because God brought death to life in Jesus Christ.

[20:48] God made dead people to walk. [20:51] Where are they walking? [20:52] Into the good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to be a part of. [20:58] Now, we don’t get to design those good works. [21:00] That’s what I want you to know.

[21:03] God defines what good work is. [21:05] God designs what good work is. [21:07] And you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to go into works that he has [21:12] prepared beforehand. [21:14] Sign up to discussion. [21:16] God’s good work is the reconciliation of people through the life of the church.

[21:21] God wants you to have that vision for your life, but he wants you to remember something [21:25] that you might forget along the way. [21:27] And here’s where verse 11 comes in. [21:29] He says, because God has work that he wants you to walk into, that’s what that word therefore [21:34] means. [21:35] Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh.

[21:39] The word Gentile in the scripture is a term typically used in the New Testament to show [21:44] people who do not have a relationship with God. [21:47] They are not considered the people of God. [21:49] And so for your purpose, what he wants you to understand there is that there was a time, [21:53] if you’re a follower of Jesus, that you were not a follower of Jesus. [21:56] There was a time when you were dead in your sins.

[21:58] And you were called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is [22:02] made in flesh by hands. [22:05] Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ. [22:08] You were alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel, the people of God. [22:11] You were strangers to the covenants of promise. [22:14] You had no hope and you were without God in the world.

[22:18] But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood [22:25] of Christ for he himself is our peace who made us both one and has broken down. [22:31] Note this in his flesh, the dividing wall of hostility. [22:36] There’s the reconciliation. [22:37] He is reconciling for himself a people to call the church. [22:42] But there is a temptation that verse 11 points out that when we walk into those good works,

[22:48] we can become prideful about them. [22:50] We can become self-absorbed. [22:52] We can begin to think that there is something special about us and we can begin to take [22:58] credit even for our redemption. [23:00] When you do that, it is divisive. [23:03] When you do that, you begin a pathway of denying the validity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[23:10] You begin to think that it’s all about you. [23:14] And because you are redeemed, that makes you more special than other people. [23:19] That was Israel’s problem. [23:21] If you read through the Old Testament, what did Israel always struggle with? [23:24] They struggled with misunderstanding what God’s game plan was. [23:28] God’s game plan was not to redeem Israel as his people and then set them up to just be so

[23:35] special on the earth that they are his special people and aren’t they just the greatest? [23:41] No. [23:42] Israel was to live under God’s design to show how great God was, to show how wonderful God was. [23:49] And instead, they misunderstood and they became very self-absorbed, [23:53] even taking credit for their own redemption. [23:56] You see, friends, pride is a problem.

[24:01] We must never lose sight of God’s work. [24:04] He sets the course because he gives the grace that brings life. [24:08] What you have then is a realization that it is God who is special and that all people need the [24:16] work of God in their lives. [24:18] Grace is the great equalizer. [24:22] And that’s why you have to have an identity in Christ above anything else in your life.

[24:27] Your identity must be in Jesus. [24:29] What is amazing about your life is what verse 19 says. [24:33] It says you are no longer strangers and aliens. [24:35] You were on the outside and you have to remind yourself, why am I on the inside? [24:40] It’s not because of me. [24:41] It’s because of the work of God.

[24:43] Like we said last week, it is all about Jesus. [24:47] Never forget that. [24:49] Friend, you will be tempted to find pride in yourself. [24:52] You will be. [24:53] All of us are. [24:53] Every day.

[24:54] Now there’s two types of prideful people. [24:57] There’s one that we’re very familiar with. [24:58] I mean, this is just the poster child for pride. [25:02] It’s that person that walks into a room and you can just see they’ve just got this vibe [25:06] coming off of them. [25:07] Man, they think that they’re awesome.

[25:09] They think that they are God’s gift, if not to the whole world, at least to this room. [25:13] They think that they’re God’s gift. [25:15] And they’re just, you know, braggadocious. [25:17] They’re cocky. [25:17] You know, they’re one-upping everybody. [25:19] Like, oh, I hear that story about you catching a foot long fish.

[25:23] I caught a 17-foot shark in the reservoir.

[25:28] No one thought it was possible, but I did it. [25:31] Right? [25:31] And so that’s what when we begin to think about pride, [25:34] you know, that’s what we really begin to think about. [25:35] But there’s another type of pride. [25:36] There’s a negative form of pride.

[25:38] And you just want someone to look at you. [25:40] You’re so sad. [25:42] I want someone to know how sad I am. [25:46] You just, you just, life isn’t adding up. [25:48] And you want someone to notice that about you. [25:51] Life’s been hard.

[25:53] I wish someone would point that out. [25:55] You see, whether it’s positive pride or whether it’s negative attention, [26:02] it’s the same source. [26:03] Self-absorption. [26:05] It’s the same source. [26:06] It’s all about me.

[26:10] You see, life’s not meant to be all about you. [26:12] You must rid yourself of pride and understand [26:16] that the only reason that you should ever want anyone to notice you [26:21] is because they notice Jesus through you. [26:25] Is because they notice the work of God through your life. [26:28] Is because when someone looks at you,

[26:31] you know that your life is standing as a testament [26:34] that it is all about Jesus and it is none about me. [26:38] That is what we need to be about. [26:42] So don’t find pride in yourself. [26:43] Also, don’t find pride in your group of friends. [26:46] You’re going to be tempted to do that.

[26:48] Don’t find pride in your tribe. [26:53] Don’t be tempted to find pride in your culture. [26:57] Don’t be tempted to find pride in anything other than Jesus Christ. [27:02] You will be tempted, though, to find pride in your race, [27:05] in your ethnicity, in your culture, and on and on and on. [27:09] But what you need to understand is there is nothing wrong

[27:12] with having a culture that you come out of. [27:15] There is nothing wrong with even having a culture that you feel comfortable with. [27:21] What is sinful idolatry, though, is when you begin to limit the work of the gospel [27:28] based on your allegiance to something other than the gospel. [27:33] You see, Paul points out here that if God made you alive through Christ, [27:37] then your identity is now in Christ and nothing can have superiority over what God designed.

[27:44] You see, friends, through the gospel, God desires to do a work amongst all types of people, [27:50] all people groups. [27:51] And what he’s pointing out specifically here is the separation between Israel and Gentiles. [27:56] He’s saying that they had contempt for each other based on earthly pride. [28:02] It wasn’t just that Israel was the people of God, [28:05] it’s that Israel turned the fact that they were the people of God

[28:08] from being something to be used to tell people about God [28:11] into a weapon to use against people who weren’t them. [28:14] And what the Gentiles would find pride in was any God that they had created. [28:19] And so they began to find their pride in Moloch. [28:21] They began to find their pride in Baal. [28:23] They began to find their pride in the fact that they just weren’t an Israelite.

[28:27] And so we are so tempted to pick sides based on earthly realities [28:33] that Jesus has conquered through the cross that we can make ourselves ineffective [28:39] and we will fool ourselves into believing that it isn’t pride that is making us do that. [28:45] Instead, it is some type of helpful identity that we are finding. [28:49] Well, here’s the key. [28:49] In Jesus, you don’t get to pick your identity.

[28:52] In Jesus, you get one identity, and that’s the identity of a child of Jesus Christ. [28:59] You see, if your people group is where your allegiance is [29:03] or where you think your superiority lies, [29:06] here’s what I need you to understand. [29:08] You are denying the gospel of Jesus. [29:12] It’s that simple.

[29:15] You see, friends, the church serves to show the reconciliation of God [29:20] working through all types of people from all types of different backgrounds, [29:25] from all types of different geographies, [29:27] from all types of different economic classes, [29:29] from all types of races, [29:31] from all types of ethnicities,

[29:33] from all types of educations, [29:34] from all types of preferences, [29:36] and on and on and on. [29:39] Even all types of sports, even people who love sports inferior to baseball, [29:44] they’re accepted by Jesus too. [29:47] You see, Jesus wants to save white.

[29:49] He wants to save black. [29:50] He wants to save brown, yellow. [29:52] If there are purple people somewhere in the world, God wants to save them too. [29:58] The only thing that the church of Jesus should find any pride in is Jesus. [30:06] Because that is who our identity is in. [30:10] You see, friends, verse 11 is vital.

[30:13] Remember the hostility that you had with God, that God overcame. [30:19] And when you always remember that, you will remember your need for grace. [30:22] And when you remember your need for grace, you have grace to give other people. [30:28] Friends, it is all about Jesus. [30:31] So what do you do with that? [30:32] Number three, we build the church by offering reconciliation to others.

[30:37] We build the church by offering reconciliation to others. [30:41] Verse 19 is vital. [30:42] He says, you were strangers. [30:44] You’re not strangers any longer. [30:46] You’re now fellow citizens with the saints. [30:48] You’re members of the household of God.

[30:50] It’s being built up on that great foundation. [30:53] And whom the whole structure, verse 21, [30:55] being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [31:00] In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. [31:08] You see, the point of verses 20 through 22 is that we need minds [31:13] that are focused on what we are building on so that we know that we need to build others.

[31:20] See, God wants us to build the church. [31:23] There’s two verbs I want you to focus on in those texts. [31:26] One of them is grows. [31:28] And the other one is being joined, being built together. [31:32] See, those are present active verbs. [31:35] And they’re vital for you to understand because it means that even though the foundation is

[31:40] complete, it’s been built, it’s done. [31:44] The structure of the church is still being built. [31:48] It’s still growing. [31:50] It’s still being joined together. [31:51] And so our part is that we are building the walls on the sure foundation. [31:59] So long as Jesus tarries and he does not return, we have a mission.

[32:04] And that mission is to build the church of Jesus Christ. [32:08] And he is building a worldwide church of people from all types of backgrounds. [32:13] You see, the point is Jesus redemption of a people for himself. [32:17] And our identities then apart from Jesus no longer have our allegiance. [32:23] Jesus must have our allegiance above absolutely everything. [32:27] Note how he puts it in verse 14.

[32:29] He says, Jesus is our peace. [32:31] He’s broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of [32:36] commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in [32:40] place of the two. [32:41] So there’s no Jew, there’s no Greek, there’s the people of God. [32:44] So making peace.

[32:45] And he might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, [32:49] thereby killing the hostility. [32:51] He came and preached peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near. [32:57] I don’t know if you noticed, but when you came in this morning, you may have had to [33:01] run in through the rain. [33:01] I don’t know.

[33:02] But when you came in this morning, you didn’t have to go through a purification [33:05] ritual to come in. [33:06] Did you notice that? [33:07] We didn’t make you go through any brazen altars. [33:11] You know, we didn’t put any special robes on you. [33:14] No one was in the middle of the field killing the fattened calf, you know, burning it to

[33:19] the Lord, putting a little blood behind the earlobe, blood under the left toe, blood [33:24] here, blood there, blood everywhere. [33:25] Have you ever read the Old Testament and wonder, why don’t we do that stuff anymore? [33:29] Mostly we read it and we’re just thankful we don’t do it anymore. [33:32] But you ever read it and you say, why don’t we do that anymore? [33:34] He explains that to us in Ephesians chapter two.

[33:37] He says Jesus has abolished the need for any of those rituals. [33:44] Jesus has abolished the need for any purification ritual, for any sacrifice to ever be made [33:52] again. [33:53] He has once for all been the sacrifice. [33:58] He has once for all forgiven you of your sins. [34:03] He has once for all made it so that you do not have to make any preparation instead

[34:11] through Jesus. [34:12] You can just walk into the presence of God because Jesus makes you pure. [34:19] It’s all about Jesus because Jesus is the only one that could sacrifice his life and [34:23] make that happen. [34:25] You see, I don’t need to come in front of you guys with a special robe this morning. [34:29] I don’t have to wear special collars or special hats.

[34:32] Because Jesus has done the work so that those rituals are pointless. [34:39] They serve no purpose any longer because they would actually detract and distract us [34:47] from the fact that the sacrifice has been made according to the book of Hebrews once [34:51] and for all. [34:53] And because of that, Jesus is now my peace. [34:56] Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.

[35:01] Jesus reconciles me to God. [35:03] You see, when you came in here this morning, you may have thought to yourself, I’m going [35:08] into the temple of God. [35:10] And I want to correct you a little bit. [35:12] You know, this isn’t the temple of God. [35:14] Do you know that there’s a reason that we don’t need a temple?

[35:18] Because now, according to Ephesians 2, we are the temple.

[35:24] You see, the temple of God is the people of God, the church. [35:28] It’s not a building. [35:29] It’s not a place. [35:31] Now, in Christ, there is no holy place. [35:36] There is no geographical place where I have to worship. [35:39] There’s no building I have to enter into.

[35:41] That is why it says very clearly that Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of hostility [35:49] that could ever prevent you from coming before the presence of God anywhere.

[35:57] And when we build the church, we’re not using a hammer and nails. [36:03] We’re not using lumber. [36:05] We’re not making steel structures. [36:07] To build the church is to offer reconciliation with God to as many people as possible in [36:17] our lifestyles. [36:19] And so the people of God, we need to understand that we have a mission.

[36:22] We are to be reconcilers rather than dividers. [36:25] There are so many fleshly things that we can divide over. [36:29] So many preferences. [36:31] So many things that aren’t about the gospel, but we want them to be vital to our lives. [36:37] And so we will divide from other people over them. [36:40] Here’s what I want you to understand.

[36:41] Don’t do it. [36:42] Fight that temptation. [36:44] Do not fall in love with anything that keeps people from seeing the love of Jesus and [36:49] hearing the good news of Jesus from you. [36:52] Sacrifice those things. [36:54] Jesus preached peace to those who were far from him, including you.

[37:01] So who am I to say someone’s too far from me to preach peace to them? [37:06] If they aren’t too far from God, they shouldn’t be too far from me. [37:09] Why would I think you were too far from me if I’m not too far from God? [37:16] You see, God has a great gospel in which he desires to use us to draw people towards [37:20] himself for reconciliation. [37:23] We’re no longer strangers, no longer aliens.

[37:26] We’re fellow citizens, members of the household of God. [37:29] And this is the identity of anyone with faith in Jesus. [37:33] It is an identity that urges you to continually orient your life around his life in order [37:39] to bring more and more people in. [37:43] This text draws our attention to the fact that Jews and Gentiles had a lot of contempt [37:47] for each other.

[37:49] And some of it started that the Jews were the people of God and that contempt from the [37:53] Gentiles was because they were pagans. [37:55] But, you know, that’s not what God’s talking about here. [37:59] See, ultimately, what it turned into was just Jews didn’t like Gentiles, Gentiles [38:04] didn’t like Jews, and it was all earthly reasons. [38:08] And so when Jesus came to break down that dividing wall of hostility for all peoples

[38:13] everywhere, one of the greatest controversies in the book of Acts is Gentiles and Jews not [38:18] liking each other. [38:20] And they had to fight that they had to fight that they had to fight that. [38:23] And so finally, the apostle Paul in Galatians, he actually had to confront Peter and he [38:27] said, Peter, you cannot divide over these earthly customs. [38:32] You cannot divide over these earthly reasons and earthly matters.

[38:37] You’re denying the gospel.

[38:42] Who do you have contempt for?

[38:46] Friends, Jesus wants you to kill that contempt.

[38:52] Jesus wants you to give them Jesus. [38:56] You need to kill the contempt like Jesus killed the hostility that he had with your [39:00] sin.

[39:02] You know that God deserves to have contempt for me. [39:06] But he loved me. [39:08] We are building God’s church. [39:10] We are God’s church. [39:12] And the fact of the matter is, is that we are building God’s church. [39:14] We are building the church that we need to grab a vision for all people everywhere needing

[39:20] the gospel of Jesus, just like I needed the gospel of Jesus. [39:24] So let’s build God’s church together.

[39:31] And as we transition into a time of communion, the broken body of Jesus is represented by [39:39] the bread on these plates. [39:41] The shed blood of Christ is represented by the juice in these cups. [39:48] And this text is a great help in us understanding exactly what’s going on there. [39:54] You see, Jesus’s body was torn. [39:58] His blood was shed because of the hostility that we had with God.

[40:04] He gave his very life so that you could have an eternal relationship with him. [40:09] That was not divided because of sin. [40:13] Some of you in here, maybe you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ. [40:17] Maybe you’ve thought even today, things of God just don’t interest me. [40:22] Man, I just don’t understand why they’re getting excited about this stuff.

[40:29] Here’s what I want you to understand. [40:31] It’s because you’re dead in your sin.

[40:34] But God loves you. [40:36] And he’s proven it because he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for your sins. [40:42] And if that’s your story, then I believe God has you here today [40:46] to hear the good news that Jesus wants to make you alive [40:50] through putting your faith in the gospel of Jesus. [40:54] If that’s you, in just a moment, I’m going to ask you to take a step of faith and

[40:58] maybe go into the foyer where somebody would love to pray with you. [41:02] Somebody will answer any questions that you might have. [41:04] Help you understand what it means to be reconciled with God. [41:07] Here’s the big key. [41:09] You can know God today. [41:13] You don’t have to wait.

[41:15] You can be reconciled with God today and begin a relationship with him [41:19] that will last you for an eternity. [41:21] But if you are in here and you are a Christian, [41:24] there are tables in the front and tables in the back. [41:27] When you come and you eat and you drink, [41:29] what you proclaim to everyone around you is that God has broken down

[41:35] the dividing wall of hostility in my life. [41:37] He’s invited me to his table. [41:39] I’m reconciled with God. [41:42] And then when you go out into the world,

[41:45] go as a messenger of reconciliation to people who need God. [41:50] When you’re ready, come.