Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Ephesians 2:11-22 | Date: August 3, 2014 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

If you will please turn in God’s word with me again to Ephesians chapter 2, the passage that we have read already as we make our way through this wonderful epistle from the Apostle Paul, chapter 2, verses 11 through 22 today. Something of a minor miracle if we can cover that much territory in one message. We spent, I think, three weeks on the first 10 verses of this chapter. But we will try to work our way through Paul’s argument here in verses 11 through 22. The title of the message is “One New Man, or the Gospel and Racial Reconciliation.”

Let’s take the time to read the passage again. Try to follow the Apostle’s thinking as he works through this.

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—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. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 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. 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. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, this is a wonderful passage in your Word in which we find the work of Christ expounded in significant ways and addressing such a contemporary and relevant issue in our own society, and such a great need in our own churches and in our own local church. We pray that you will help us to grasp the great vision that is given to us here for the church. We pray that you will give us such an appreciation of the work of Christ for us, that we view one another accordingly, that we come to realize in our own experience here more and more of what you’ve called us to be in him. In his name we ask, amen.

Well, as you will remember, our theme for the book of Ephesians has been the great blessings that we enjoy in Jesus Christ. Paul sets out with that theme stated in chapter 1 and verse 3. And then through the first half of chapter 1, he articulates those blessings that have been given to us in various ways. He looks at it from the past, the present, the future; from the standpoint of what is given to us from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And he reaches back to eternity past, looks ahead to eternity future, and sees all that God has done for us in Christ. He has chosen us. He has sent his Son who has come now to redeem us. He has sent his Spirit to seal us, to bring us to Christ, and to seal us in him to that great day of redemption that is ahead for us.

When we come to chapter 2, we saw that the Apostle Paul, having traced out the highlights of our blessings in Christ, comes now to look at it on an individual level. He was sketching out for us the great plan of redemption as it is in Christ, and then in chapter 2, verse 1, he takes a turn and looks at it microcosmically. He looks at it in the individual experience of every Christian. And he begins to tell us we were dead in trespasses and sins. And then there’s that famous, that embarrassingly alliterated outline that I gave you: we were dead, we were duped, we were depraved, and we were doomed. And he tells us there with great specificity, nailing it for us, the condition of natural man without Christ. We could not have been worse off. And we saw that the great theme of those verses is we were helpless. And we saw the hinge, verse 4 of chapter 2: “But God, who is rich in mercy.” And he came and he raised us together with Christ. And this is the experience then of every believer in Jesus Christ. Helpless as we were, God came in grace and brought us to what we are and to the blessings we now enjoy in Jesus Christ.

Now, when we get to chapter 4, hopefully in a few weeks, we’ll see that that begins what’s called the paranetic section of the epistle. That is the section of the epistle where Paul gives us these exhortations as to how to live. And he gives one command after another: do this, do that, do the other. In chapters 1 through 3, we see almost none of that. But rather in chapters 1 through 3, he gives himself to expounding these great truths of the gospel. And in all of chapters 1 through 3, there is one lone imperative. One command, and only one, and it’s what we find here in verse 11: “Therefore remember.”

And that, in a sense, captures what Paul wants to say through this last half of chapter 2. Remember this. Remember what you were. Remember where you’ve come from. Remember now what has come as a result of Christ. And it’s not that they had forgotten. It’s not that they are no longer aware of what they were. It’s just that this deserves calling attention to in order to enhance our appreciation and our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. So my outline this morning is, in a sense, a new low. It’s not very profound. It’s not even alliterated: what we were, what Christ has done, and what has come as a result. What we were, what Christ has done, and what has come as a result. Let’s work our way through the passage to see what the apostle has for us in that regard.

What We Were

First of all, he tells us what we were. And here he emphasizes in verses 11 and following, our lostness and the estrangement, or if I could put it this way, the disadvantage of Gentiles. Now that’s an important word you have to remember in this passage. In verses 1 and following, the Apostle Paul was speaking of our moral lostness. In verses 11 and following, he’s speaking of our racial lostness. So if you can see the difference: verse 1, “you were,” and again we have it in verse 11, “you were.” But notice the difference between them. Verse 1: you were dead. Verse 11: you were Gentiles. So in the first half of the chapter, the Apostle Paul is emphasizing our moral lostness, and we might say then our helplessness. In this last half of the chapter, he’s emphasizing our racial lostness, and we might say it then, our hopelessness. In the first half of the chapter, remember your moral helplessness. The last half, remember your racial hopelessness. You were Gentiles.

Now notice how he unpacks that in the next couple of verses. He gives item after item to explain what is involved in this “remember that you were Gentiles” thing. Remember that you were at one time Gentiles in the flesh, called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision. All right, Gentiles in the flesh—that is, not the chosen race, not the people to whom God gave the covenants, not the people to whom God gave promises, not the people to whom God sent prophets. Gentiles in the flesh, with no advantage. And then, called uncircumcision. That is called that by the Jews, of course. That is, the Gentiles did not have that sign and symbol of the covenant promise that belonged exclusively to the Jew. So you’re Gentiles in the flesh, you’re called uncircumcision. You don’t have the symbol of promise that was given.

Then next, separated from Christ. Or we might just as well say it, separated from Messiah. No messianic hope was given to them. The promise was given to Israel. The oracles, the promise to redeem—that was given to Israel, to the Jews. And so being a Gentile meant that you’re estranged, not only from the people of promise, but you’re estranged from the only Redeemer who’s been promised, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And then he says it again, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, separated from the people of promise. And then he says it again, strangers from the covenants of promise. Strangers to the covenants of promise. Abrahamic covenant given to Abraham’s descendants. Davidic promise given to Israel. The new covenant promise given to Israel. And you guys were all outside that. It’s got nothing to do with you.

And so he goes on: “without hope.” With no covenant promise extended to them, there’s no hope given to them. They’re hopeless. And then a final two expressions: “without God and in the world.” Without God and in the world. That’s not that the Gentile pagans were atheists. They believed in all kinds of gods, but they had no knowledge of the true God. He had made himself known to Israel only, and so they are without God and just in the world, left out on their own. Paul is emphasizing here the desperateness racially, the desperateness of the Gentile condition before Christ.

And so this is the Gentile disadvantage, sort of in a nutshell. They were Christless, we were stateless, we were friendless, we were hopeless, we were godless. And so as I say, in verses 1 and following of this chapter, the Apostle Paul is describing for us our lostness and helplessness morally, but here he’s speaking of our hopelessness, not just as helpless sinners, but as hopeless Gentiles who had no advantage, not the advantage that the Jews had, without a place among the chosen people of God.

Now at this point in history, of course, the gospel has gone out for so long to the Gentiles. And in fact, the gospel has now gone out so long from the Gentiles. And in fact, now the gospel has gone out so long from the Gentiles, even to the Jews, that we can well forget this point that Paul is stressing here. And the Apostle Paul is saying, it is good for us to remember this. And certainly at our point now—and we’ll see this more in chapter 3, where the Apostle Paul will unpack the gospel mystery that was revealed to him—it’s good for us to remember that this is an odd moment in redemptive history. God had promised these things to Israel. We were without hope. We had no oracles given to us, no covenants directed to us, and so on. And Paul says, remember that. Remember that our lostness, not just in terms of our personal depravity, but in terms of our racial hopelessness, we were lost. Gentiles, as Gentiles, we had nothing. And all the advantages that belong to Israel, God had chosen them, and he had given the Gentiles nothing. God didn’t owe the Gentiles anything. It’s perfectly God’s right to give it to whomever he wants or withhold it from all. The fact is he gave the advantage to the Jews. And it was God’s right to do that. He didn’t owe anyone anything. And Israel was privileged because of a promise God made to Abraham. And as a consequence, as the Apostle Paul says here, we, the Gentiles, were far away. Far away.

Now, notice the hinge in verse 13. “But now.” Remember how we saw that in the first half of the chapter? The hinge was, you were dead, duped, depraved and doomed, and then the hinge in verse 4, “But God.” We’ve got that here, only now he’s speaking in broad, redemptive historical terms. You were hopeless. You had no advantage. And now the hinge in verse 13, “But now.” You see, he’s speaking in temporal categories, but now things have changed. And this is what he wants us to remember as well.

What Christ Has Done

So we come to our second point. We’ve seen what we were, and now look at what Paul emphasizes: what Christ has done. Verses 13 through 18. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 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. 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.”

There’s so much here, but let’s work our way through it. In verses 13 through 18, we have one of the great passages in the New Testament on the meaning of Christ’s death. And Paul uses some vocabulary and some expressions here that help us gain such a wonderful understanding of what the significance was of Jesus’ death. And what’s important, first of all, is to recognize that he describes Jesus’ death, first of all, in sacrificial categories. He has done this through the blood of Christ. We have been brought near, this is verse 13, brought near by the blood of Christ.

Now, if you’ve read your Old Testament at all, you recognize some allusion, of course, back to the sacrificial system of the old covenant. God had given Israel a way to live in his presence. How can a sinner, how can a sinful nation live in the presence of God? And this elaborate structure of worship was constructed for the Jews in the Old Testament under the terms of the covenant God gave with Moses on Mount Sinai. And you remember how it involves so much sacrifice. And the center of it all was the annual Day of Atonement, when the lamb and the bull and the scapegoat—these things were offered to God to make intercession for the people.

You remember in the center of the worship of the Old Testament, there was the tabernacle, this tent, this huge edifice. And you bring your animal to be sacrificed, you bring it to the door of the tabernacle, the priest would take it, and it would be sprinkled on the altar and so on. Inside this great tent there would be the tent proper, the tabernacle proper, which was divided into two rooms. It was three times as long as wide. The first section of the tabernacle proper was the holy place. It was two-thirds of it. There was a curtain then hanging, dividing off the last third, which was a perfect square. And behind that curtain was the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat, and it was to be the very dwelling place of God. And once a year, the high priest in Israel would offer the sacrifice on behalf of himself and then on behalf of Israel and take it beyond the curtain into the very presence of God and there sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, making atonement for the sins of the people—paying the ransom as it were, buying it all, paying the ransom, satisfying God in his justice against a sinful people. And so atonement was made.

And in this way, a sinful nation could dwell in the presence of a holy God, because in this way, their sins were atoned for. Now, of course, the point of all of that—and the writer of the Hebrews makes this explicitly clear in chapters 9 and 10—the point of that whole Old Testament worship system, particularly in the tabernacle itself and going behind the curtain once a year, the whole point of all of that was to demonstrate, and this is what the author of the Hebrews says, to demonstrate that the way into God’s presence was not yet. It was not open yet. And here’s this great point then of the Old Testament worship system: you bring your animal to be sacrificed, the priest takes it, the priest goes beyond the veil. The point is you have no right into God’s presence. You’re a sinful people. Once a year a high priest could go, not just any priest, the high priest could go beyond the curtain into the most holy place. You have no right. You’re a sinner. You have no right in God’s presence.

And so this structure year after year after year after year after year, demonstrating again that we don’t have right in God’s presence and the way open is not yet. And of course, what all of that was intended to do in the broad sweep of things, was to serve as a great illustration of how a sinner might have fellowship with God. It was intended to establish the categories, the structures in which we could finally approach God. If only we could find an adequate substitute who would take our place and offer himself in sacrifice to God on our behalf and in our place, and if God then would accept him in our place, then we could be brought into the presence of God. And year after year after year through all of those centuries, this was being declared over and over and over again.

And then we come to the New Testament and Jesus is introduced to the world by John the Baptist. And you remember how he is introduced right off the bat in sacrificial categories: “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” All of this was pointing ahead, all of this was looking forward to what is brought about in real terms now in the life and the death of Jesus Christ on behalf of his people. Jesus himself picked up that kind of language and he would say, for example, “The Son of Man is not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” Picking up that terminology of sacrifice: I’ve come to give my life a ransom for many. In instituting the Lord’s Supper, that night before his death, he uses similar kinds of language: “This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” It’s even reflected in John chapter 10: “I’m the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.” And here we have a great reversal—not a lamb being offered, but the shepherd himself being offered in place of his flock.

The apostles, of course, picked up the same kind of language. We’ll find it here in Ephesians chapter 5. When we get to verse 2, if you’d like to look ahead, the Apostle says, “walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” You’ll find that language throughout the Old Testament here and there. These sacrifices were offered and they were to God a sweet-smelling aroma. It’s not that God liked barbecue. The idea is that here is a sacrifice being offered in place of sinners and God accepted it. And it was a sweet-smelling aroma in that sense that God’s justice now had been satisfied and sinners were received and God welcomed the sacrifice. And all of that pointing ahead to the sacrifice of Jesus who offered himself a sweet-smelling aroma to God. Here is an acceptable sacrifice.

The idea is that of propitiation. The justice of God demanded satisfaction. God must be pleased. The first problem, if we can put it that way, the first problem facing us in our salvation is not us; it’s God. How can a holy God receive sinful, rebellious creatures? His justice must be satisfied. The sacrifice of Christ is offered, first of all, offered up to God to render satisfaction to his justice. And God is satisfied with the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus in our behalf. And all of that is what Paul has in mind here when he tells us in verse 13, now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Notice how he says it in verse 15, by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.

Abolishing the law of commandments—we’re going to see in a few minutes that has some other significance here as well. But first of all, the significance of that is, here is the substitute standing in place of the sinner who has fulfilled the law perfectly and now has fulfilled the law’s demands of justice and judgment against sinners, and in that sense has abolished the law. He has taken it into himself, and the law has been satisfied. So ideas here of propitiation, of expiation, sin being removed by the sacrifice of our substitute offered up to God in satisfaction.

And all of that bringing the big idea that Paul pushes here, the idea of reconciliation. You know what it is to reconcile, to make friends, to be brought into fellowship? That’s the idea here Paul pushes in verse 14: “He is our peace.” Verse 15: “making peace,” at the end of the verse. Verse 16: “he might reconcile us to God.” And verse 17: “he came and preached peace.” And so here we have the Christ coming, standing in the place of sinners, offering himself to God. And through it all, sinners reconciled to God, brought into fellowship with him, brought near through the blood of Christ. And as a result, verse 18: “Through him, we both have”—and here’s that great big New Testament word—”access.” Through him, we have access in one Spirit to the Father. That is to say, then, God’s promises to Israel have now been graciously extended to Gentiles through Christ.

And Paul says, brothers and sisters, remember that. You were hopeless. Racially, hopeless—you had no claim. Morally, you were helpless and you had no claim either. Racially, you had even less. And Paul says, remember that. Remember the amazing distance now that has been crossed. You who were far off are now brought near through the blood of Christ and are given, believe it, access into God’s presence. And this through Christ, who is our peace. And so the apostle tells us what we were—lost and hopeless. Secondly, he’s told us what Christ has done.

What Has Come as a Result

Then thirdly—and this is where we’ll spend the rest of our time—Paul emphasizes throughout this passage what has come as a result. What has come as a result? Let’s read verses 19 through 22.

“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

What has come as a result of all of this? Well, as I say, you can’t read through the passage without seeing that Paul is addressing here more than our lostness only. When he speaks of our estrangement, he is not speaking only in terms of our estrangement from God. Think about it. What’s he saying through this passage? He’s not emphasizing only our estrangement from God. He’s emphasizing our estrangement from the people of God. Wasn’t that the point beginning in verse 11? You’re Gentiles in the flesh. You don’t have any of those advantages. And so he’s speaking of estrangement, not just from God, but from the people of God.

And with that, he’s also addressing the problem of the hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile. I think we’re probably a little insensitive to that. We can’t really appreciate the depth of the hostility between Jew and Gentile in that world. But you may have noticed a little bit of it reflected in verse 11. “Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh.” And he doesn’t say uncircumcised. He doesn’t even say you were the uncircumcised. He says you were “called the uncircumcision” by those who are called circumcision. And you’ve got both sides throwing this term back and forth. They are the uncircumcised. Or, they’re circumcised. Reflective of the deep hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile in that world. These were terms that were thrown in both directions, and both with derision.

The contempt of Jew for Gentile in that day was fierce. To the Gentile, the Jew was an odd duck if ever there was one. All of these funny little laws, silly little dietary regulations, even their dress, customs, and, not least of which, this crazy, crazy custom of circumcising the young boys. What kind of a silly religion was that? Strange beliefs, strange diet, and to the Gentile, the Jew was just an object of abject scorn. To the Jew, on the other hand, the Gentiles were just dogs. In fact, to the Jews, Gentiles were created for the purpose of fueling the fires of hell.

The temple in Jerusalem—we have remains of this, archeologists have found it. In the temple of Jerusalem, there was a wall with notices on the wall saying something to the effect: “Warning to Gentiles, you pass beyond this point, you have yourself to blame for your death.” We’re in, you’re out. We’re the circumcised, you’re not. We have the promises, you don’t. We are God’s privileged people, you are not. We have access. And with derision, they would look at the Gentiles as the unprivileged. And somehow then this “called circumcision” would say to the uncircumcision as though their circumcision were now a ground for pride. As somehow this blessing that God had given them was means for their boasting, as though they had something to do with it. And so this physical difference between the Jew and the Gentile became a badge of honor on the one hand, and a matter of scorn on the other.

And of course, as I say, it wasn’t just the circumcision itself that made the Jews proud. It’s what it signified to them. They were a people of privilege. That’s the fact of the matter. Paul talks about this in several places. He speaks of it in Romans 2, Romans 3, Romans 9. He speaks of it here. There was a distinct advantage to the Jews. They had the oracles of God given to them. The prophets came one after another. There was Moses. There was Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, a dozen others, plus others who weren’t writing prophets. One after another, throughout the centuries, God would send spokesmen saying, “Thus says the Lord.” And of course, at the fountainhead of it all was Moses himself. God came in covenant and said, “This is what you will do. This is what you will do. This is what you will do.” They were a people of great privilege.

Somehow that privilege had been twisted by them, convoluted in some way to be made a ground for pride, as though it gave them some room for personal boasting. And Paul alludes to that at the end of verse 11: “called circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands”—kind of a derogatory remark. It’s just a human thing, and yet it’s been construed as some ground for pride, as though having the covenant itself were sufficient to bring them into a right standing with God. John the Baptist ran into this problem. The Jews of his day: “Don’t say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. If God wants to, he can raise up out of these rocks children of Abraham.” Jesus ran into it himself. You think because you are children of Abraham physically, it’s all you need and you’ve got it all.

But this is something of the depth of the racial hostility between Jew and Gentile in that day. And you can’t read through this passage and miss that Paul is describing here the reconciling work of Christ in horizontal as well as vertical dimensions. Paul is speaking of the reconciling work of Christ in horizontal as well as vertical dimensions. That is, through Christ, peace is established with God, but in doing so, he has established peace with one another as well. And that, in a sense, is the theme of the passage. Through Christ, God has reconciled man to God, and in reconciling us to God, he has reconciled us to one another as well.

Verses 14 and 15: “For he himself is our peace.” Notice here the emphasis on the horizontal dimension of our reconciliation. “He himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility,” that is the hostility that was between us. And he does this by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances in order that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace—that is between us. Simply put, what stood between Jew and Gentile was the law of God. They had it, the Jews had it, the Gentiles did not. This law was given by Moses and in that sense the Jews were privileged. And so they were marked by these distinctions that made them the people of God.

But Paul comes now and says Christ not only abolished the law in a judicial sense, but he’s abolished it in a broad redemptive historical sense as well in bringing about that to which it pointed. Paul picks this up at many places. One of the most famous is in Colossians chapter 2, where he says, don’t let anyone judge you in new moons and Sabbaths and observance of holy days. These all are shadows of which Christ is the reality. They’re pointing forward to great truths that are brought about in Christ. And so there’s a sense now in which having fulfilled the law, having abolished the law in a judicial sense, there’s a sense in which the law of Moses has been discarded. He’s made peace. He’s broken down that which divides. He’s abolished the law.

Now this was a big deal in that day. You can imagine with Jews thinking as they did because of their privilege, how difficult this would be as a hurdle to overcome. We see it in the book of Acts. You remember in Acts chapter 10, Peter is given this vision. All of these foods, God says, “Rise up and eat.” I can’t eat this, these are unclean food. “Don’t call unclean what I have cleansed.” Okay, he wakes up, what’s that all about? And then he’s got people coming to the door. Gentile Cornelius wants to hear from you. Wow, Gentile. So Peter goes and he preaches the gospel to this Gentile. And while he’s preaching, the Spirit of God falls on Cornelius. And he believes.

A few chapters later in Acts, the whole church has got to come together with a council and talk about this. What’s going on with the Gentiles? They’re not becoming Jews. They’re not taking circumcision, the sign of the covenant. They’re not doing anything that makes them Jewish. And Peter says, “Guys, I got to tell you, I preached the gospel to Cornelius and the Spirit of God fell on him just like it did with us on the beginning. He came to faith. God has granted them salvation.” All right, there it is. The law in that sense has been discarded. It no longer stands as a dividing wall between Jew and Gentile.

Now all of that to point up then this larger point—and then there’ll be still a larger point to come after this, we’ll try to hurry through—but all of that to point up this larger point that Jew and Gentile both, get this, Jew and Gentile both needed and have received reconciliation in Christ. In verses 16 and 17, Paul makes this point. He’s reconciled us both to God in one body through the cross. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. That is, Paul is emphasizing that through Christ, both Jew and Gentile still needed reconciliation to God. For all the privileges that Israel had, what did it do for them? Could any Israelite stand up and say, “I have eternal favor, eternal saving favor with God because I’ve received the sign of circumcision”? And for all the law that they had received and all the careful articulation of God’s demands—do this, do this, don’t do that, don’t do that—for all that they had received from God, did it help them? What’s happened? The law has come and all it’s done is demonstrate sinfulness. The Jews still, themselves, needed reconciling to God. They’d received the law, and in the end, all it had done is point out their sinfulness, and by them, pointing out the sinfulness of the whole world. Israel was near, but Israel was lost, not unlike a child who grows up in a Christian home but refuses the gospel—near, but lost.

And so both Jew and Gentile together, he says, both Jew and Gentile together have been brought to God through the blood of Christ. And thus with the law removed—this is important—with the law removed, they now enjoy equal standing before God. Notice how he says it in verse 15, by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace. A new creation, a new humanity, if you will, has been created in Christ, in which these old distinctions no longer apply. It’s not, by the way, that Gentiles have become Israel. And there are some strands of reformed theology, as many of you know, that would have us see that—that somehow the Jews now become Israel, and there’s a single people of God in that sense, and on that level, running through in the church in the Old Testament, and so on. No, that won’t do. This is not Israel. This is a new man that has been created into which both Jew and Gentile need to come.

If I can illustrate it this way in political measures—this doesn’t go the entire distance, but it helps, I think. It’s the difference between the United Kingdom and the United States. The United Kingdom is an association of separate nations that have come together for a common purpose—an association of separate nations, and they remain separate nations, but have joined together for common purpose. In the United States, at least in its ideal, we have a single people who have come from various backgrounds to become Americans. Now, that doesn’t mean that becoming an American, we are no longer German in our descent, or Jewish in our descent, or Chinese in our descent, or whatever. Of course not. But in its ideal at least—and this has been erased a little bit in the multiculturalism of America today—but in its ideal at least, what we are first of all now is Americans. All from different backgrounds forming a new man. And this Paul says is what the church is. All from our various backgrounds have come into this new entity that has been created in Christ: the new man, which is the church.

And all of that then, to bring us to this larger point, and that is that Paul has said here, not simply that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together—and this is extremely important. He is not saying just that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together. He is saying that Jews and Gentiles have been brought to God together. And so inevitably, those old divisions no longer remain. And verse 18 presents this marvelous vision of the church: Jew and Gentile, together, standing before God with full access. “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” Standing together, Jew and Gentile, in God’s presence with all of the old divisions removed. And this is why preachers have so long loved to say, and rightly say, the ground is level at the cross. No longer two divisions of humanity. In fact, we might even say there are three: Jew, Gentile, and this new thing, the church. In fact, the ancient Christians in the early centuries used to refer to themselves as the “third race.” Now, they weren’t perfect in the outworking of that, just as we’re not perfect in the outworking of it in our day. But they had that right—that we are a new man created in Christ Jesus.

And if ever, if ever brothers and sisters, if ever the Bible speaks to our very contemporary issue and problem of race relations and racial reconciliation, it is here. And it tells us that this is nothing less than a gospel issue. There are other reasons that we could argue why racial division is wrong. The law of love would tell us that. The fact that we are created in God’s image would tell us that. But what we learn here is that apart from the gospel, the problem of race relations and racial reconciliation will never finally be resolved. Martin Luther King may not have presented his dream in gospel terms, but we must understand that that dream will only be realized in the church. And let me say it even more forcefully: it must be realized in the church.

We have this marvelous picture here of Jew and Gentile brought together, level, brought together, exalted into the presence of God. There’s something about this that is both exalting and leveling. It condemns all divisions on a horizontal level in the church—condemns them all—whether it’s race, social class, gender, community standing. What a shameful denial of the gospel it would be to stand together in the presence of God, worshiping him together, and then down here on this level, hating and mistreating because of silly little divisions that used to matter. You see what Paul’s arguing here?

And the church has not always done well on this issue. In the ancient church, if a Jewish person would become a Christian, they would often have been required formally to renounce their Jewishness. Of course, the gospel doesn’t require anything like that. Closer to our own day in American history, I remember reading an experience of some otherwise respected Presbyterian leaders—men that in many respects I admire—deliberating over this question: “What are we going to do with the blacks who are becoming Christians and coming to our churches? They’re sitting with us in worship.” Well, we can give them their own section, but then they don’t pay for it. And then they come up with a bright idea: “Oh, we can fix this, we’ll build them their own church.”

I grew up in the 60s and the 70s. I was in the 70s in the South. Racial tensions were probably at their height. They built a high school to prove that integration can work, and they put it right in a strategic place in the city where it would be pretty evenly divided between black and white. We made national news a few times with the racial riots that we had that were so big at the school. And it was in that world, that environment, and that day—this would have been mid-70s, early 70s. We had in our church where my dad was pastor, a black and white couple come—came to Christ, wonderfully converted, of course wanted to be baptized and join the church. When they came to be baptized, a leading man in the church got up and walked out in protest. And my dad, seeing very clearly on this issue: “You leave over this, don’t expect me to come after you.”

It is a mark of authenticity. It is a mark of our understanding of the gospel that we no longer think of others in the church—we no longer think of others in those former categories. We’ve been leveled. And together we’ve been exalted into the presence of God. And how much more severely this must condemn our harsh and bitter attitudes toward one another over lesser matters. “I don’t like your opinions. I don’t like the way you said that to me.” Or for those of you who are like me, theologically inclined and you like theological precision, what does this say to our mistreatment and our ill thoughts of those who disagree doctrinally on lesser matters? Someone offends and it creates a division in the church, and you see how the Apostle Paul solves the matter here? Take a big picture look at things. How little, how petty those concerns become when viewed in this grand perspective that through the blood of Christ, we have been brought near and as redeemed sinners bask together in the very presence of God himself.

It’s a marvelous vision of the church the Apostle Paul has here in verse 18. And then in verse 19: no longer stateless, no longer without residence among God’s people, no longer apart from God’s presence, but together we belong to God and live together in his presence under his care and with all of the assurance that that affords.

Verses 20 through 22, the figure changes. And here we have a huge temple rising up. This is what God is doing today. He’s building a great temple in which he dwells by his Spirit in his people. And isn’t it interesting here that he writes this to the congregation at Ephesus? This small band of believers meeting together, perhaps literally in the shadow of the great temple of Diana. And the Apostle Paul encourages them. This is what God’s doing. He’s building a great temple. And each of you, Jew and Gentile alike, are building blocks that God is using to construct this magnificent edifice, universal in scope, in which God dwells. This is what the church is becoming: a dwelling place for God. Men and women from every walk, from every race, from every station in the community and in all of life, and together, enjoying the glorious presence of God, brought near together through the blood of Christ.

Do you see the vision for the church the Apostle Paul casts for us here? This is to be realized in the experience of us here at RBC. May God have it so. Amen.

Our Father, how we thank you for what Christ has done and what he is and what he means to us. We’re thankful that he has taken our curse and our sin. We’re thankful that he has brought us into your presence. Help us, Lord, to see the gospel in the way that you have revealed it to us here. Help us to see not only the exaltation that you’ve given to us, but help us to see the horizontal dimensions of it as well. May that become increasingly evident in the way that we think of one another and the way we treat one another here. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.