GVCC sermon July 8th 2012 ~ Ephesians 2:13-22

Garden Valley Community Church Pastor Shane Moffitt             July 8^th 2012
“Who am I before God?” series
Study of the Book of Ephesians
~ Peace & Unity with God ~
Ephesians 2:13-22

2:13a “but now...” the “U” turn in history  

·        When a Gentile converted to Judaism it             
was called being “brought near to God”

2:13         Your Unity in Christ

·        To Born Again Gentiles “brought near”

2:14         Your Peace with God

·        “for He Himself is our peace”  (source)
·        “made the two groups one” (the church)
·        “destroyed the barrier”    (His mission)

2:15         Jesus’ Purpose ~ PEACE     

“….The law was our guardian until Christ
      came; it protected us until we could be made
      right with God through faith. And now that
      the way of faith has come, we no longer need
      the law as our guardian.” Galatians 3:23-25 NLT

2:16 Reconcile: turn an enemy into a friend

2:17         Jesus Brought You PEACE

·        “peace to you who were far away” Gentiles
·        “peace to those who were near”    Jews

2:18                Your ACCESS to God

·        NOTICE the POWER of the TRINITY
·        “for through Him we both have access”
HEBREWS 4:16
"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

3 Pictures of the Church

2:19a        United in God’s Citizenship

·        “you are no longer foreigners and strangers”

2:19b        United in God’s Family

·        “also members of His household”
·        God ALONE meets my relationship needs  

2:20         United in God’s Temple

·        “built on foundation of apostles and prophets”
·        “with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone”             

The significance of a cornerstone:

·        All measurements are taken from cornerstone
·        All weight rests upon the cornerstone.
LESSON:  Build your life on Jesus, the cornerstone

2:21         Your PURPOSE

·        “rises to become a holy temple in the Lord”

2:22      You Are God’s Dwelling Place

·        “to become a dwelling in which God lives”

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.
So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” Colossians 1:27-28

To make peace…. Jesus had to….                                                    "He broke down the barrier of the dividing wall."

World War II has a story that sheds light on this.  There was a group of French soldiers and one of    their buddies died.  They brought him to a Catholic cemetery and wanted to bury him. The priest said, "I'm sorry, is he a Catholic?"              They didn't know.   The priest said, "If I don't know if he's a Catholic or not, he can't be buried in the Catholic cemetery.  You can bury him outside the fence."  So they buried him outside the cemetery fence. The buddies came back the next day to put some flowers on the grave and they couldn't find the grave.  They looked all over for it. They went in and talked to the priest. The priest said, "I laid awake half the night feeling sorry that I didn't let you bury him inside the fence.  So I got up and with my own hands I moved the fence."  He moved the fence to include the grave.

 

That's what Jesus did ~ but He didn't just move the fence.  He broke it down.  He took it out entirely. Then He said everybody's included.                            “Everybody has opportunity to come to me now." 

That's how He breaks down the barriers.                              

 It's in Jesus Christ that happens.