A New Humanity, A Humanity of Peace
Notes
Transcript
Me: When you think of peace what do you envision?
As Ali and I get closer and closer to heading to China to adopt our son I have been realizing how much I prize a peaceful home, mainly because I am aware that with entering into the space of parenting a peaceful home again is at least a decade or two away.
You: Peace is one of those words that by it we can all mean different things. What kind of peace do you envision?
Often what we mean by peace is the absence of something we don’t want around… Peace of mind, absence of worry. National peace, absence of warfare. Racial peace, absence of racial tension. Peace in your family, absence of family tension.
Of course, the frustration comes into play when we realize our world is anything but peaceful. We experience a lack of peace in our minds, in our hearts, in our relationships, in our workplaces, in our nation, and in our globe. The only thing lacking seems to be peace.
We even look to God and say, alright what are you going to do? Because this seems messed up.
But what if God has been up to something beyond our comprehension throughout the course of human history all along?
Main Idea: Jesus has brought us peace and demolished our divisions
Open up your Bibles to (pg.)
God: The story of Ephesians is the story of two humanities.
All of us were born into a version of humanity marked by division, distrust, suspicion and fear of the “other.” As we discovered last week in 2:11-13, this type of division played out in a significant way between the people of Israel and the Gentiles.
In the beginning of the Bible we learn about the origins of the nation of Israel. They were called God’s chosen people, and as His chosen they were supposed to live an existence separated from the way of the world. So there were laws and commandments that were strange to the rest of the nations but separated them from the Gentiles.
These Gentiles had no way of access back into relationship with God. They lived according to the patterns of brokenness inherent in this world and it led them nowhere. Only to further division, distrust, suspicion and fear.
But something happened because of Jesus, that now through the power of Jesus resurrection life those who were separated from the covenant family have been grafted in…
But it was not Gentiles become grafted into the Jewish family or the Jewish family joining up with the Gentiles. It is the erasing of the lines of division and the encircling into one forever family.
Main Idea: Jesus has brought us peace and demolished our divisions
Read
Vs 14 – Paul immediately begins to switch from saying “you” to “our, us, and we.” His language takes out the otherness and divisions of the past. But what has changed?
The second greatest but in this passage, “but you who were once far off…” Those who were separated and divided have been drawn near to Jesus. This changes everything…
Specifically in this passage there are two things that Jesus has instituted into our story:
1) Jesus has brought us peace… In our old humanity, we lived by division, exclusion, suspicion, jealousy, and brokenness. We see it played out in difficult family dynamics, kids fighting in playgrounds, systemic racial issues in the western world, and warfare around the globe. The one thing our world is not is peaceful.
But Jesus is our peace. But this is not peace like we define it, simply the absence of the stuff we don’t want around. The Hebrew word for Peace is Shalom, Here in Greek it is the word Eirene, and it refers to more than just the absence of something bad, it is the filling of the void with something beautiful.
I remember growing up walking to school each day there was an abandoned lot that was filled with garbage, used furniture, and broken electronics. Then one day I walked by and all the garbage was gone, and it was once again just an abandoned lot. That is the best peace the world could ever desire.
But what was so cool was this abandoned lot didn’t stay abandoned, neighbors came together to create within it a community garden. There was a path around it, people planted vegetables, plants, and flowers and out of the decay came not just a void, but a lush garden.
This is what Jesus came to do, He has brought us into something altogether new. Relationship with Himself. That we could draw near to Him. That in a world lacking and desperate for peace, we can have PEACE. In our hearts that lack peace, we have access to the One who defines peace.
It is a peace that infects our soul with light, life, and freedom. Spreads throughout our lives as we Abide in Him. As we draw near to Jesus, the peace of Jesus ventures from our souls into the realities of every moment of our life.
This is the fruit that comes from abiding in Jesus. But our vertical reconciliation with Him changes the way we relate to one another.
2) Jesus has made us one… where there used to be a line of division there is now a circle wrapping everyone together.
Think about this, Jews and Gentiles had been at war for centuries. Whether it was the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Samaritans, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, The Medes, the Persians, and now the Romans. There was no peace and zero trust… just a long resume of reasons why they should stay separated.
In the temple, as Dave mentioned last week, there was a physical barrier to divide the Jews from the Gentiles. Gentiles were warned in Greek and Latin that they were not able to proceed any further. But when Jesus rose from the dead the reality of that division just looks kind of silly.
The arrival of Jesus has both brought us peace in our inner lives within ourselves and our external lives with one another. He has called us one, specifically we are called one humanity.
Jesus’ divine ideal is that His followers would draw near to Him and in doing so would live as loved. But this is more than behavior modification, this is brand new identity founded and rooted in who Jesus is.
Main Idea: Jesus has brought us peace and demolished our divisions
Vs 15- So how did Jesus tear down this wall? “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in the ordinances.”
If you have ever read Jesus’ sermon on the mount he specifically states, I have NOT come to abolish the law but to FULFILL it. Is Paul contradicting Jesus?
They are referring to TWO different types of laws. Jesus was referring to the moral law, which we see in the context as Jesus is focusing in on how the religious leaders had a bootleg version of righteousness that came from their ability to do enough good on their own terms, versus what He came to establish which was a path that followed His way of Life, Light, and Freedom. A way that didn’t contradict the law but ultimately fulfilled its purpose… love.
Paul is referring to here the ceremonial law. Jesus did come to abolish any concept that if we performed well enough then we could somehow save ourselves. These ceremonial laws had kept gentiles at arms length for so long. Requirements on circumcision, diet, clothing, worship, and more which were originally given by God to keep His chosen people away from the corrupted way of the world had begun to be used to keep others from following the restored way of the Creator.
In other words, anyone could now be drawn near in the loving embrace of the Father. And this new way was purchased at the greatest expense, at the payment of His flesh.
But why? Why did He go through all this trouble?
Because were there used to be two He was now drawing humanity together as one.
Us vs them was being abolished.
Jesus came to establish something Himself. He came to create a new humanity… A better one.
Chrystoysm explained it this way, “It is as though one took a statue of silver and a statue of lead, put them into a forge and they came out a statue of gold”
What Jesus came to establish through the diversity of His global family is something far more captivating together then they ever could apart.
This wasn’t just true then. The global church has grown significantly over the past 2,000 years. There are biblical communities found in every country across the globe, despite what is thought of as the decline of religion in Western Cultures, the Gospel is reviving people back to life across geo-political lines. Specifically there is a great revival being led by the Spirit of God in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and even the Middle East. The family of God is flourishing now more than ever… We need to learn from what the Spirit of God is doing across the globe!
Where there used to be tension there was now a hope for peace. And not just peace and quiet, not just a lack of tension, but in that void would be filled with a garden lush with variety and vitality. A family that was guided by trust, respect, and hope.
This is the kind of peace Jesus came to institute.
Vs 16 – Our natural posture is to fight against God, to define good and evil on our own terms. But it’s us, the knucklehead rebels that He calls His sons and daughters. He has adopted us! As we live in this reality, something incredible happens. We stop rebelling not only against Him but one another! The hostility can end because we have experienced something far better than racism, sexism, fear, and suspicion.
We can read this passage and go AWESOME I am not a hostile person, check! But if you want to live into your role as a Peacemaker, you aren’t just being called to not be hostile… you are being called to be active.
You may have heard the quote being, “All that it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.” This is the space we are called to live in now. As those who have experienced peace, we are now called to bring the peace of Jesus into spaces of hostility.
This was what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed he was doing as he led a peaceful resistance in the Civil Rights Movement. He came to bring the peace of the Gospel, the Gospel of reconciliation to a nation divided. To churches that were divided.
Why? Because Jesus was always with the marginalized and the oppressed and so should we!
Main Idea: Jesus has brought us peace and demolished our divisions
Vs 17- The good news is the Gospel is not just for you and it’s not just for me, it is good news for all those who would follow after the Way of Jesus and surrender to Him.
He preached both to the gentiles, those who were far off. And he preached to those who were near, the Jews. He brought good news to both sides because neither sides were in far greater need than they knew.
The Gospel is for the rich and the poor, the liberal and the conservative, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, African-Americans, the educated, the sick, the dying, and the young.
In Ephesus, both sides came together, could they finally display the peace and oneness that Jesus envisioned for His family?
You: Whether you are following Jesus or not, whether you have your act together or not. The Gospel is for you. This good news of peace is for you, that no matter how dark your past is, no matter how broken your present reality, Jesus has come to transform your future with the peace that only He can bring!
This is what we discover in Revelation, a picture of this unity finally on display.
Read ESV
Where people from all tribes, all tongues, all people groups are united as a fully restored new humanity. The pain of the past has been burnt away, but not its beauty. Instead every people group is still represented in their uniqueness.
Their cultural heritage is still intact, the unique ways they display the image of God is there.
What is missing is fear, suspicion, war, famine, corruption, political rivalries.
Because the Prince of Peace has come!
Us: Imagine if we allowed the Gospel of Jesus to transform us into agents of peace, if we took advantage of the opportunity to demolish divisions and invite the nations into the family of God beginning with Walt Disney World?
STORY: The story of Ephesians is the story of two humanities.
All of us were born into a version of humanity marked by division, distrust, suspicion and fear of the “other.” As we discovered in 2:11-13, this type of division played out in a significant way between the people of Israel and the Gentiles. These Gentiles had no way of access back into relationship with God. They lived according to the patterns of brokenness inherent in this world and it led them nowhere. Only to further division, distrust, suspicion and fear.
But something happened because of Jesus, that now through the power of Jesus resurrection life those who were separated from the covenant family have been grafted in…
But it was not Gentiles become grafted into the Jewish family or the Jewish family joining up with the Gentiles. It is the erasing of the lines of division and the encircling into one forever family.
This is the story of the second humanity, one created out of love and grace, one that is truly alive.
Vs 14 – Paul immediately begins to switch from saying “you” to “we.” His language takes out the otherness and divisions of the past. But what has changed?
The second greatest but in this passage, “but you who were once far off…” Those who were separated and divided have been drawn near to Jesus. This changes everything…
Specifically in this passage there are two things that Jesus has instituted into our story:
1) Jesus has brought us peace… In our old humanity, we lived by division, exclusion, suspicion, jealousy, and brokenness. We see it played out in difficult family dynamics, kids fighting in playgrounds, systemic racial issues in the western world, and warfare around the globe. The one thing our world is not is peaceful.
But Jesus is our peace. He has brought us into something altogether new. Relationship with Himself. That we could draw near to Him. That in a world lacking and desperate for peace, we can have PEACE. In our hearts that lack peace, we have access to the One who defines peace.
It is a peace that infects our soul with light, life, and freedom. Spreads throughout our lives as we Abide in Him. As we draw near to Jesus, the peace of Jesus ventures from our souls into the realities of every moment of our life.
This is the fruit that comes from abiding in Jesus.
2) Jesus has made us one… where there used to be a line of division there is now a circle wrapping everyone together.
In the temple, as Dave mentioned last week, there was a physical barrier to divide the Jews from the Gentiles. Gentiles were warned in Greek and Latin that they were not able to proceed any further. But when Jesus rose from the dead the reality of that division just looks kind of silly.
The Jews and Gentiles were ultimately separated by purification laws. Things like circumcision, dietary restrictions, and daily life restrictions that were meant to signify the “separateness” of the Jewish people. These were the rules of the game that the Jews were playing, but Jesus came and flipped the table over… He created inclusion in spaces of division.
The arrival of Jesus has both brought us peace in our inner lives within ourselves and our external lives with one another. He has called us one, specifically we are called one humanity.
Jesus’ divine ideal is that His followers would draw near to Him and in doing so would live as loved. But this is more than behavior modification, this is brand new identity founded and rooted in who Jesus is.
Vs 15- So how did Jesus tear down this wall? “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in the ordinances.”
If you have ever read Jesus’ sermon on the mount he specifically states, I have NOT come to abolish the law but to FULFILL it. Is Paul contradicting Jesus?
They are referring to TWO different types of laws. Jesus was referring to the moral law, which we see in the context as Jesus is focusing in on how the religious leaders had a bootleg version of righteousness that came from their ability to do enough good on their own terms, versus what He came to establish which was a path that followed His way of Life, Light, and Freedom. A way that didn’t contradict the law but ultimately fulfilled its purpose… love.
Paul is referring to here the ceremonial law. Jesus did come to abolish any concept that if we performed well enough then we could somehow save ourselves. These ceremonial laws had kept gentiles at arms length for so long. Requirements on circumcision, diet, clothing, worship, and more which were originally given by God to keep His chosen people away from the corrupted way of the world had begun to be used to keep others from following the restored way of the Creator.
In other words, anyone could now be drawn near in the loving embrace of the Father. And this new way was purchased at the greatest expense, at the payment of His flesh.
But why? Why did He go through all this trouble?
Because were there used to be two He was now drawing humanity together as one.
Us vs them was being abolished.
Jesus came to establish something Himself. He came to create a new humanity… A better one.
Chrystoysm explained it this way, “It is as though one took a statue of silver and a statue of lead, put them into a forge and they came out a statue of gold”
What Jesus came to establish through the diversity of His global family is something far more captivating together then they ever could apart.
Where there used to be tension there was now a hope for peace. And not just peace and quiet, not just a lack of tension, but in that void would be filled with a garden lush with variety and vitality. A family that was guided by trust, respect, and hope.
This is the kind of peace Jesus came to institute.
Vs 16 – Our natural posture is to fight against God, to define good and evil on our own terms. But it’s us, the knucklehead rebels that He calls His sons and daughters. He has adopted us! As we live in this reality, something incredible happens. We stop rebelling not only against Him but one another! The hostility can end because we have experienced something far better than racism, sexism, fear, and suspicion.
Vs 17- The good news is the Gospel is not just for you and it’s not just for me, it is good news for all those who would follow after the Way of Jesus and surrender to Him.
He preached both to the gentiles, those who were far off. And he preached to those who were near, the Jews. He brought good news to both sides because neither sides were in far greater need than they knew.
Both sides came together could they finally display the peace and oneness that Jesus envisioned for His family.
Whether you are following Jesus or not, whether you have your act together or not. The Gospel is for you. This good news of peace is for you, that no matter how dark your past is, no matter how broken your present reality, Jesus has come to transform your future with the peace that only He can bring!
This is what we discover in Revelation, a picture of this unity finally on display. Where people from all tribes, all tongues, all people groups are united as a fully restored new humanity. The pain of the past has been burnt away, but not its beauty. Instead every people group is still represented in their uniqueness.
Their cultural heritage is still intact, the unique ways they display the image of God is there.
What is missing is fear, suspicion, war, famine, corruption, political rivalries.
Because the Prince of Peace has come!
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