Sermon Notes: Ephesians 2:14-16 – One
These are the notes of a sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 25 April 2010 at Firwood Church. Click here to stream or download the sermon audio.
Ephesians 2:11–22
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
1. INTRODUCTION – THE GOSPEL IS
The first week of this study (moving through Ephesians 2:11-22) I sought to persuade you of the importance of this passage to not only this letter, but in understanding the very gospel. Throughout this passage, the Apostle Paul is preoccupied with unravelling and displaying the glory of Christ in the gospel.
Over the past two weeks we have seen two characteristics of the gospel,
a. The Gospel of Peace
i. Peace with God
Firstly, the gospel is a gospel of peace. We find evidence of this in gospel accounts of the nativity. The birth of the Messiah is announced to shepherds by an angelic host declaring,
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
The announcement of the incarnation of the Son of God, the beginning of the gospel, is framed by the glory of God and peace towards men.
In this letter to the Ephesians, we find further evidence of this truth as Paul pictures believers wearing,
Ephesians 6:15
[…] as shoes for your feet […] the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
And here, in chapter 2, we find that the gospel is encapsulated in the truth that the Son of God comes and proclaims peace,
Ephesians 2:17–18
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
It is important that we remind ourselves of this truth so that we would feel the glory of his grace in the gospel.
Consider this: we were dead because of our own transgressions and sins. We were dead in our rebellion against God. We were rebels, sons of disobedience, servants of Satan, the arch rebel. We were children of wrath under the condemnation of a holy and awesome God who must stand against sin and sinners or else impugn his own righteousness.
We deserve condemnation, wrath, judgement and destruction and yet God comes and preaches peace. This is the beauty of the gospel and in this God displays the glory of his grace.
You see, the gospel is good news precisely because God-made flesh comes and preaches peace. He does not come in wrath and he does not ride out bearing a sword… this time. Instead Christ Jesus comes in humility and servanthood and preaches peace to everyone.
This is the glory of the gospel and this is why the gospel is glorious news.
And yet there is more. Paul has something even more expansive in view than the incarnation of the Son of God. The grounding of this peace is the cross, therefore, primarily Paul cannot have the incarnation of Christ in view. It is true that following the resurrection, Jesus greets his disciples with a declaration of peace,
John 20:19
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
This fails to explain, however, how Christ would preach peace to those who are far off. The disciples were, of course, Jews and, therefore, in Paul’s formulation at least, near.
It seems here that Paul has something bigger in mind that encompasses the incarnation, the cross and the post-resurrection proclamation of peace. Moreover, this ‘preaching’ activity of Christ continues even today as the gospel advances and as his servants proclaim the gospel of peace.
Know this: as you live out the Christian life and faithfully share the gospel with unbelievers, Christ is preaching peace in and through you.
This is why Paul, elsewhere, envisages the glorious welcome given to those who faithfully proclaim the gospel among those who receive the gospel,
Romans 10:15
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
We must remind ourselves continually of the grace of God displayed in the gospel. We must allow ourselves to be motivated by the gospel. And we must constantly remind ourselves that we who believe are recipients of this grace.
We were children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) and yet he came and preached peace to those who were far of and those who were near, all of which leads me to my next point.
ii. Peace with Man
It is important we know that the most important thing in the universe is that we be reconciled to the God who created us and now calls each of us to return to him. This is the message of the cross. Be reconciled to God. Throw yourself upon the mercy of God. Surrender yourself to Him. Come to Him and receive grace for Christ has made a way that we might ‘have access in one Spirit to the Father’ (Ephesians 2:18).
The purpose of the cross is that we might be ‘brought near by the blood of Christ’ (Ephesians 2:13).
But all of this, peace, reconciliation, and access to the Father, is inseparable from a further outcome of the cross: peace on earth between men.
The Gospel of Peace speaks of reconciliation between men and God. This is the principal outcome of the gospel, but it is not the only outcome of the gospel.
This is why Paul references two groups of people, Gentiles, those who were far off, and Jews, those who were near. Paul understands that the relationship between these two groups of people was characterized by hostility and animosity.
We understand that we find evidence of similar hostility, bigotry and racism everywhere.
And yet, the gospel message is this: God becomes flesh and preaches peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.
Moreover, Paul expects that this gospel of peace would infect us, transform our lives and spill out into our families, workplaces and neighbourhoods. It is inconceivable to Paul that we should receive such grace, reconciling us to God, and yet remain in enmity towards our brothers and sisters. This is so inconceivable because the cross demolishes hostility and destroys racism, consider,
Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Here Paul draws on the animosity between Jew and Gentile, because it is current, but also because it is extreme. If Christ can bring reconciliation and peace to these two groups of people, then the gospel can heal any relationship.
It is important also that we remember the grounding point for this is the cross. The cross must remind us that we were hopelessly lost and the separation which existed between us and God was absolute. We were entirely to blame and utterly deserving of condemnation. And yet he came and preached peace.
This is why racism, sectarian violence and hostility is so horrendous, particularly among believers. The idea that we should be beneficiaries of such grace and yet shun our brother is unthinkable in the context of the cross.
The effects and benefits of the cross work vertically, we now have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18), and horizontally, he has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility which separates people (Ephesians 2:14).
2. THE GOSPEL DIMENSIONS
Paul understands that the cross is purposed, primarily, to establish peace between man and God and, secondly, between man and man. But, in respect of both purposes, Paul has a tangible outcome in mind,
Ephesians 2:14–16
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
a. The Gospel is for ‘me’
It is important we recognise that there are two dimensions to the gospel.
The first dimension is seen in Ephesians 2:1-10 whereby Paul focuses upon the benefits of salvation conferred upon the individual.
We were dead, but he made us alive (Ephesians 2:1, 5).
We were sons of disobedience, enslaved to the passions of our flesh and thrall to the prince of the power of the air, but he made us to be his workmanship (Ephesians 2:2, 3, 10).
We were children of wrath, but, in Christ Jesus, those of us who believe are ‘seated with him in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 2:3, 6).
Those of us who are in Christ Jesus have received these benefits and hold them to be precious. He brought me back to life. He rescued me from slavery to sin and the things of this world. He bestowed forgiveness, mercy and grace upon me instead of wrath.
The benefits and miracle which is the gospel is incredibly personal. This is because God deals with individuals.
This is the God who called Jeremiah from the womb,
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
This is the God who fills John the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit even from the womb,
Luke 1:13–17
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
This is the God who set Paul apart even before he was born,
Galatians 1:15–16
[…] he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles […]
And this is the same God who chose us, who called us by name, even before the foundation of the world,
Ephesians 1:4
[…] he chose us in him before the foundation of the world […]
There is a great joy in this and a great exhortation.
The exhortation is this, are you in Christ Jesus? Have you received Christ Jesus as your treasure? Have you surrendered to Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour?
Because God deals with individuals, we can be sure that the gospel is not a package deal. You cannot ‘buy one and get one free’. You do not receive all of the saving benefits of salvation simply because your parents, or wife, or children are believers and you will not be saved simply because you attend church weekly.
God deals with individuals and God calls individuals to respond. To receive the gospel is the most personal thing.
And there is great joy in all of this: that the God of the Universe should know me intimately, should choose me specifically, should save, transform and make me to be a new creation in Christ Jesus. This is a marvellous thing.
b. The Gospel is for ‘we’
God deals with individuals and, in this sense, the gospel is for me and the gospel is for you; the gospel benefits are conferred upon me and the gospel benefits are conferred upon you.
Yet throughout this passage, Paul is concerned with the outcome of the gospel being seen collectively,
Ephesians 2:14–16
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
This is, of course, closely related to all we considered last week. Two people groups in enmity and hostility towards one another are brought together, the hostility destroyed through the cross of Christ.
But there is more, consider Paul’s emphasis here. Paul writes that the intended outcome of the destruction of the dividing wall of hostility and the abolition of the law of commandments is that Christ might,
Ephesians 2:15–16
[…] create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Firstly, note the imagery here, Paul is, once again, talking in the language of new creation. Earlier in this chapter, he was addressing the resurrection/newness of life conferred upon believers. Here he is talking of a new kind of collective creature created out of two previously hostile people groups. The key in understanding what Paul is talking about here is in the reference to ‘one body’ in verse 16. Paul uses this same imagery in Ephesians 4:12, 15 and 16 (and in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26) to describe the church.
Paul wants us to understand that one of the intended outcomes of the cross of Christ is that he might create a new kind of person/people: the church.
This is the intended outcome of the gospel, that Christ might form a people for himself. Indeed, Paul later uses this gospel truth as the reference point when talking about marriage,
Ephesians 5:25–27
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
If we were to ask, ‘Why did Christ suffer the cross’? Paul might answer, Christ died that he might purify a people for himself in order to present this very people to himself. This is the ‘we’ in the gospel. We are not saved through attending church, but we are saved that we might be the church. This is why Christians must dwell deeply with other believers. This is why Christians must serve with other believers. This is why Christians must be part of the church. We are saved to be the church of Christ.
There is no place in Christ for lone rangers. He saved us that we might be one new man.
3. THE OUTCOME OF THE GOSPEL
The question then is what does this new man look like? Paul gives us a few reference points and will return to this later in the letter.
i. United in the Spirit
Hopefully, after last week, I need not belabour this point.
Paul envisages that, in Christ Jesus, two people groups formally in hostility towards one another are reconciled to such a point that they become ‘one new man’ characterized by peace and unity. This must be so because our access to Christ is a collective access made possible through the cross and by the Spirit,
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Note the emphasis upon the one Spirit. The unity Paul presents is Spirit-enabled. This is why Christians love and value peace. This is why churches across the world are filled with disparate people from different ages, backgrounds, and cultures deeply and closely united. This is what it means and looks like to be in the one Spirit.
Formerly there was hostility, now there is close kinship, peace and love. We are made to be brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. The many are made to be one new man through the cross and by the Spirit, this is what we are made to be.
ii. Equal Standing in the Kingdom
The former hostility between Jew and Gentile was predicated upon a belief that the Jew was blessed and favoured in a way in which the Gentile was not. Israel were the people of God and everyone else (Gentiles) were on the outside looking in.
The cross is, then, the greatest reversal in history,
Ephesians 2:19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God
To be a stranger was to be a foreigner in a foreign land. This would be the equivalent of being marooned overseas (perhaps as a result of the flight-ban following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano). This is not your home, you do not speak the language and you do not understand the culture.
To be an alien is the equivalent of what it means, perhaps, to be an economic migrant. You live in this country, you, perhaps, speak the language, you have a work-permit, you may even call this home, and yet you do not share all of the benefits that a citizen might enjoy.
This is who we were before Christ intervened. Now, however, we are made to be ‘fellow citizens with the saints’. This should change the way we view ourselves and those around us.
Formerly, we defined ourselves by our nationality, our family, our culture or by our social group, but now, in Christ, we are identified as ‘fellow citizens’ in the kingdom of God. This is good news for everyone, but, for some of us, it is really good news.
Formerly, some of us felt forever on the outside looking in. Formerly, some of us felt ourselves to be second-class citizens. Nobodies.
Know this: in Christ Jesus, we are made to be ‘fellow citizens with the saints’.
And this must change the way we regard ourselves and others. This must change the way that we handle church. This must eradicate the distinctions of the flesh between those who were formerly near and those who were formally far off. Now, in Christ Jesus, we are made to be one body and we are made to be citizens of the kingdom of God.
iii. Belonging in the Family of God
Paul continues and shows us what it means to be on the inside in the kingdom of God,
Ephesians 2:19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God
This is astonishing. In Christ, even we Gentiles are made to be citizens in the kingdom of God. Moreover, we are elevated to the most privileged of positions: we are made to be members of the household of God.
This, then, makes sense of the incredible access we receive in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Paul will later describe the nature of this access in unequivocal terms,
Ephesians 3:12
in [Christ Jesus] we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Not only do we have access, but we approach Almighty God with bold confidence. How can this be?
In Christ Jesus, we become his children, children of the Living God, he is our Father. Moreover, we are adopted into the household of God, the church is the household of God, and this speaks of intimate access, closeness and relationship with the King of the Universe, our Father in Heaven.