Peace Through Christ

Text: Eph. 2:11-22

Introduction:

  1. Neville Chamberlain "Peace in our time! Peace with honor!" said as he returned from conferences in Germany in September 1938. One year later Hitler invaded Poland and on September 3, 1939 Great Britain declared war on Germany.
  2. Between 1500 BC and 850 AD there were some 7500 eternal covenants but none lasted over 2 years.
  3. Sin has always brought divisions, whether social, racial, political
  4. Illus. Danny Gray in SC "Take the 2 black kids home."
  5. Illus. Africa: the Ngoni, Senga, and Tumbuka tribes all taking communion together after years of bloodshed and slaughter.
  1. Gentiles Past Position (2:11-13)
    1. Separate from the Jews
      1. Circumcision/uncircumcision
        1. Note: Abraham was saved long before he was circumcised
        2. Circumcision did not guarantee faith (Ro. 2:25-29, Gal. 5:6, 6:15)
        3. Acts 15: the church dealt with this issue
          1. Doctrinally settled that Gentiles are saved by faith and not by becoming Jews
          2. Practically this hadn’t filtered into everyone’s thinking
            1. Judaizers
            2. Peter was carried away for awhile
      2. Distinction was Divinely ordained
        1. Jews were to be a blessing to the nations
        2. Their laws were not to be a means of righteousness but of witness
        3. Jews built barriers instead of bridges
          1. Wrong practice or conception of the Law
          2. Gentile persecution
    2. Without
      1. Christ
      2. Citizenship (aliens)
      3. Covenants
        1. Abrahamic
        2. Mosaic
        3. Palestinian
        4. Davidic
        5. New
      4. Hope
        1. False religion offers little, if any hope
        2. Despair that invades it
      5. God (aqeoV)
        1. Not atheists like in modern times
        2. Without the true God
        3. Modern atheism is rather recent
  2. Present Position in Christ
    1. Peace with one another
      1. "made near"
        1. Term Jews used of themselves
        2. By the blood
      2. Peace with one another
        1. Middle wall
          1. Veil rent in two
          2. Wall that separated Jews and Gentiles in the Jewish temple
          3. "no foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death."
          4. This Gentile court that had been turned into a den of thieves instead of a place of witness
        2. Jew wouldn’t worship in a pagan temple and a Gentile couldn’t worship in the Jewish temple
        3. Sin divided, Christ reconciles
          1. Acts 8: descendant of Ham saved
          2. Acts 9: descendant of Shem saved
          3. Acts 10: descendent of Japeth saved
        4. Ordinances abolished
          1. Ritual, not moral
          2. Under the law of Christ
    2. Peace with God
      1. New Man
        1. Not that Gentile been brought to the level of Jew, but that both have been made new
        2. 2 Co. 5:17
      2. Reconciled to God
        1. We were at enmity with God
        2. Illus. little girl in the crossfire of American and German soldiers
  3. Conclusion
    1. Fellow citizens (neighborhood) Phil. 3:20
    2. Household of God (brotherhood)
    3. Temple (priesthood)
      1. Apostles and prophets
        1. NT prophets
        2. Laid the foundation with their message and church planting
      2. Jesus is the cornerstone
        1. Everything else is aligned by it
        2. Need to be aligned on Him, not our own thoughts