©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship
|
06/08/03 |
One New Man |
Ephesians 2:11-22 |
6/8/03 One New Man
We are going to return to our study of the book of Ephesians today,
picking up our study where we left off
at Ephesians 2:11.
The last time we were in this passage
we spent our time on the first few words of 2:11
where Paul says, “Therefore, remember...”,
and we talked about how the memory of our life prior to our union with Christ
can intensify our joy and our appreciation for what we now possess.
That principle is certainly true,
but it doesn’t begin to capture the heart
of what really takes place throughout this next section of Ephesians.
And the truth is
there were some things going on within the Christian movement at the time Paul wrote this letter
that we do not experience in the same way today,
things that will make it difficult
for us to understand why Paul does what he does in this section of His letter.
We’re going to need
both some historical
and some emotional background here in order to appreciate what’s happening.
And I think we’ll start with the emotional background.
By that I mean
that I want to see if I can help us to understand
just a little bit
what these early Christians were feeling in their relationships with one another.
And to do this
I want us to mentally return to high school for just a few minutes.
For those of you who find that an emotionally painful thing to do,
I apologize.
You are a senior, and it is just 3 weeks before graduation,
but right now it feels as though the day will never come.
You are in the worst class you’ve ever taken in your life.
(For me that would have been high school French Class.
When it comes to foreign language aptitude,
on a scale of 1-10
I would place myself somewhere around -20.
I never felt so utterly overwhelmed in a class in my life...
until I tried to take Greek in college.
We won’t go into that, though.)
But for this illustration we’ll make this a class in Geometry.
The teacher clearly assumes that this is intended to be some sort of master’s level math class,
and of course it is required for graduation.
In fact, not only is it required,
but this particular teacher has adopted a “pass/fail” approach
in which an over-all average of at least an A- is required to pass.
For the entire semester your life has been nothing but Geometry.
Every night you’ve gone home with piles of homework.
Every day you sit in class
listening to this mathematical machine at the front of the class
waving his chalk
and making little marks on the board that mean nothing whatsoever to you,
talking in a monotone that never ceases.
You have invested literally hundreds of hours in the class
and you’re just barely hanging on to that A- you need
in order to get out of this class and this school forever.
And then, just three weeks before the end of school,
a new kid comes into class.
He too, is a senior, new to the neighborhood,
also looking forward to graduating and being done with high school forever.
He is placed in the desk next to you
and from the first day in class
it is obvious he is way over his head.
He sits there with this dazed, confused look on his face,
wondering what in the world is going on.
You can’t help but feel sorry for him
because you know that he, too, must pass this course with an A
in order to graduate with his class.
The alternative will be agonizing months in summer school.
When the homework papers are handed back two days later
you glance over at his paper
and at first assume he must have written the thing in red ink.
Then you realize the red
is simply the teachers corrections and comments.
At the top of the paper
is a big red D-.
From then on,
every day for the next three weeks
every one of his papers come back covered in red,
with the marks alternating between D’s and F’s.
You, on the other hand,
continue your fierce, determined efforts,
and manage to just barely cling to that A- grade.
And as the end of the semester approaches
you discover a subtle change taking place within you.
Even though you resent all of the work,
all of the demands,
all of the harsh, unbending ways of your teacher,
you find a growing sense of pride and fulfillment in knowing
that you are one of the few,
one of the select who have been able to meet the standard put down before you.
You’ve met the challenge,
you’ve done well,
and you know it.
Then comes the day of the final exam,
the last great test of your high school career.
You have done nothing for the past week
except to eat, sleep, and study geometry.
You come to class feeling a little apprehensive,
but confident that you are as ready as you will ever be.
You come into class,
take your seat,
and then glance over at the newcomer to the class.
His face clearly reflects the agony going on inside him.
He knows all too well that he simply does not have what it will take pass this test,
much less to get an A.
The bell rings,
the teacher enters the class room,
and the class falls absolutely silent.
The first thing you notice
is that he’s not carrying a stack of test papers with him
and you can’t help but wonder why.
Then he speaks.
“I know, class, that this is the last great hurtle between you and your diploma.
I know, too, that all of you have worked extremely hard in this class.
As you can see,
I did not bring any test papers with me today.
I have none because I have decided
there will be no final exam.
The only thing I am going to require from you
in order to receive an A on this test,
and in fact to receive an A in this whole course
is for you to be here today
and to believe that I will indeed give you the promised A grade.
As of right now,
you all pass,
and you all pass with a perfect 4.0 grade average.”
Now, how do you think that would make you feel?
At first, of course,
there would be the elation of knowing you didn’t have to take the test,
and you were going to pass the class with an A.
But then you look over at this new kid next to you,
and you think about all of the agonizing work you have done for the past semester,
and all those late nights churning over problems,
and all of the tension brought about by each test,
each grade,
each pop quiz.
And you realize that this kid next to you
didn’t have to go through any of that.
And yet, on his high school transcript,
just like on yours,
there will be a big, bold A for Geometry.
Now tell me,
will you rejoice at his good fortune?
Or will you find yourself resenting him,
and resenting your teacher for what he has done?
OK, with that as background,
let’s move back to our Ephesians study.
You see, there was something similar to this
taking place in the church during the first few years of its existence.
If you are familiar with the history given to us throughout Scripture
you know that Christ came to this earth as a Jew,
and that He presented Himself as the fulfillment of the prophetic promise
made repeatedly by God to the Nation of Israel over hundreds of years,
the promise that He would bring them a Redeemer,
a Savior,
a Messiah for the nation.
They assumed this Messiah would come as a great, conquering political leader,
someone along the lines of King David,
who would elevate the Nation to supreme prominence and power in the world,
breaking the power of Rome
and reestablishing the glory Israel had once known under David and Solomon.
What they did not realize
was that the Savior God was giving them
was a Savior who was coming
not to free them from their political bondage,
but to free them from the deepest bondage they would ever know,
the bondage to themselves,
the bondage to their own sins
and the devastating consequences and inner slavery those sins brought.
They were no different than we are, of course.
Or rather, we are no different than they were.
They looked to their circumstances,
to the things happening around them,
and told themselves that, if they could just break free from these external circumstances,
everything would once again be great.
And when we look at the things troubling our lives today,
where do we look?
If I could just change my circumstances,
everything would be better.
If I could just increase my income,
if I could just get that person to do what they said they would do....or not do what they said they would do,
if I could just get on top of these health problems,
if I could just change this, or change that ...
then I know I would truly be free to know and live the life I was meant to live.
We have no oppressive Roman Empire ruling over us.
We live in one of the most politically free societies that has ever existed,
and yet we are no more free in spirit than the 1st century Jews,
because the greatest slavery in life,
the slavery that no change in circumstance can free us from
is the slavery inside us,
the slavery to bitterness,
the slavery to fear,
the slavery to greed,
the slavery to physical and emotional addictions,
the slavery to insecurity or religion or arrogance or bigotry or lust or an inability to forgive.
When God sent His Messiah to His creation,
He did not send some little Savior
who would change our circumstances for a few months or a few years
but leave us still chained to the bondage within.
When He sent His Messiah to us
He sent Him to bring us true freedom from the real bondage we face -
the bondage to ourselves.
JOH 8:31 ¶ So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had
believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of
Mine;
JOH 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will
make you free."
JOH 8:33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's
descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say,
'You will become free'?"
JOH 8:34 ¶ Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say
to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
JOH 8:35
"The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does
remain forever.
JOH 8:36 "So
if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
I know I’m getting off track here,
but I can’t let this pass without pointing out
that those words of our Lord were not spoken as an attack against His enemies,
they were spoken as words of hope for His own.
Did you notice that first phrase, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him...”.
He wanted them to know that,
whereever they continued to live in inner bondage
it meant they had not yet heard the truth.
This is that journey we’ve been talking about the past few weeks.
I think if we had been there and heard our Lord speak those words,
“...and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free...”,
we might have responded by saying,
“But what do you mean, Lord? I know the truth - I’m saved, I’m born again.
I’ve trusted your death for my sins.”
But, you see, salvation does not in itself bring freedom.
What it brings is the hope of freedom,
the promise of freedom
through bring us into union with our Creator
who can lead us into freedom one day at a time
as we listen,
and trust,
and learn,
and follow Him.
But let me get back on track here.
When Christ came
He came through the nation of Israel,
as the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel to bring them the Messiah.
And during the very early days of the church
the message of salvation through Christ
was spoken only to Jews,
and only Jews responded.
It wasn’t long, though,
before the Spirit of God began to extend that message out into the Gentile world as well,
and the Gentiles - all those who were not Jews by birth -
began to hear and respond by the thousands.
At first it was assumed,
and frequently taught
that entrance into Christ also meant entrance into Judaism.
To share in the salvation being offered by this Jewish Messiah
one would certainly first have to convert to Judaism.
But it wasn’t long before God’s Spirit made it clear
that, even though God had brought the Messiah to the world through the Nation of Israel,
the redemption He was offering
was a redemption for all people for all time,
a redemption that had just two requirements for it to become a reality in a person’s life.
First, we had to allow God to bring us to the point of honesty
where we recognized that we needed a Savior.
On our own we simply have no hope whatsoever
of being able to stand before our God.
And second, we needed to choose to believe
that when Christ died on that cross
He was doing just exactly what He said He was doing -
paying our debt for our sins in our place
so that we could then enter into an eternal love union with God Himself.
2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
JOH 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
JOH 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of
the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
ROM 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith
apart from works of the Law.
But to say that this message did not play well in all parts of the early church is an understatement.
In truth, there was tremendous tension between those kids who had been in Geometry class the whole semester,
and those who walked in the last day of class.
The Jewish converts looked at their Gentile brothers
and saw in them
both an ignorance of
and a disregard for the entire Jewish system of the law.
And many of them simply could not accept or believe
that God would offer the entire world
a salvation that rested on nothing other than simple faith in Christ’s death for our sinfulness.
And when we come to this section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians,
it will help you to know
that Paul wrote these words specifically for those kids who came to class late -
to those Gentile believers who were listening to the attacks of their Jewish brothers,
some of whom were certainly wondering if this full salvation through faith alone could really be true.
And this is why Paul went into such careful detail in that first chapter
describing God’s involvement in our lives from ages past.
Do you remember some of those words?
EPH 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
EPH 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He
freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace...
Do you see more clearly what he was saying now?
He was telling us
that those who were Jews by birth are not the only ones
who can trace God’s involvement in their salvation
back to the beginning of time.
Each of us have that same history with our God.
He has been fighting for each of us from before the beginning of time.
Israel may trace it’s history with God back to Abraham,
but in truth each of us have a history with God
that stretches back before Adam and Eve.
And then do you remember how Paul went on to pray
that God would open the eyes of his Gentile readers
so that they could see the true magnitude of the work of God in the entire human race.
And then, just so that there could be no further feelings of insecurity or inferiority
on the part of the nonjewish converts,
we come to this passage we are in now where he says,
EPH 2:11 ¶ Therefore remember that formerly you, the
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the
so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human
hands --
EPH 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
He certainly doesn’t deny our heritage.
But then come these next words...
EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ...
And this is the heart of what he wants us to hear.
In Christ everything changes forever.
EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who
formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The debt, our debt, the whole debt truly was paid for us by Him.
EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both
groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
EPH 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is
the Law of commandments contained in ordinances,
Outside of Christ
the great wall between Jew and non-Jew
was the Law of commandments.
The Jews had the law and believed it could get them to God,
and Gentiles did not have the Law
and had no hope whatsoever.
But now, through Christ,
the barrier of
the law has been removed forever
so that in Himself He might make the two into one new
man, thus establishing peace,
EPH 2:16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God
through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
The two into one new man...
one new creation,
identical
in every respect for both Jew and Gentile.
EPH 2:17 And He came and preached peace to you who were
far away, and peace to those who were near;
EPH 2:18 for through Him we both have our access in one
Spirit to the Father.
EPH 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
EPH 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
EPH 2:21 in whom the whole building, being fitted
together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
EPH 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a
dwelling of God in the Spirit.
And with these words
Paul wanted to proclaim to the entire world
the great and amazing work of God.
His Church
And the creation of His people truly is a redemptive work among the human race
for every people, and tribe, and nation.
And through faith alone
we do all stand equal
and accepted
and loved before God,
no matter what history we may bring with us
into our relationship with God.