2021-07-04 Transormation of a new community

we'll continue our series on the book of ephesians one of the most specific or greatest if not of the greatest orator in the 20th century i believe is martin luther king jr and especially in his speech in 1963 i have a dream i don't think anyone could listen to him without being stirred by his his words and his passion and in his speech he mentioned about i mean who can forget those words i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in the nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but instead by the content of their character and then he goes on to say that he goes on be able to heal out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood and that was delivered in about 58 years ago and then he went on to say he said i must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice the in the process of gaining our right food place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence and five years later beatles john lennon wrote another song called revolution probably and say you you say you want a revolution well you know we all want to change the world but when you talk about destruction don't you know that you can count me out and sadly and somewhat ironically lennon was murdered in 1980 leaving behind his dream which has become something of a poor secular anthem imagine all the people sharing all the world imagine there's no possession when a multi-millionaire telling you dutch the world has no doubt has this thing that is rising that we are aware of all these kind of protests this kind of inequality that is spreading across the world and there's a quote recently i received by an american called sonia renee taylor this is what she say about reflecting on the situation of kovic she said i think this is a really in she said we will not go back to normal normal never was our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalize normalized grid inequality exhaustion depletion extraction disconnection confusion rage hoarding hate and lack we should not long to return my friends we are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment one that fits all of humanity and nature we are given we have been given the opportunity to stitch a new govern garment one that fits all of humanity and nature maybe god is gracious to allow things to happen to press the reset button so that all of our values in some sense are being challenged all of the things that we all held so dear into our hearts are being have have a second look at it again and when we look at the book of ephesians chapter two we are looking at a story of paul trying to say who we are as christians that god has done the most beautiful things in ours that tear down every war and in the church as what christopher ash when he talks about the fact that god has provided in the authentic local church here and elsewhere all the local church all believers the genetic blueprint for a broken world remade the genetic blueprint for a broken world remade and that is translated that when people encounter god's people in a local congregation of a church they are supposed to get some kind of sense of what god is planning to do ultimately when sin and tears and sorrow are no more when in a new heaven and in a new earth all that he has purpose will be brought to pass but we are left asking the question why is it a consistent attempt to tackle all this kind of inequality injustice all these kind of problems that to deal with hostility and disunity sooner or later flounder and fail you can all kinds of organizations you can have un you can have peace treaty you can have all these kind of things but yet nothing actually works it's a matter of time everything crumble and i think the answer to that is very straightforward at least the answer the bible gives to it it is because we fail to recognize we fail to accept the gravity of our condition as human beings human being as we consist consistent consistently says that we were made by god for a relationship with god and yet separated from god on account of the fact that we have doubted his goodness we have rejected his wisdom we have rebelled against his authority and so we have underestimated the human condition and therefore we come up with all kinds of things legislation education the superficial remedies for fixing things are inevitably destined to fail while education is vitally important legislation is clearly necessary but neither one or both of them together are able to deal with the basic issues of the human heart and therefore the scripture is very clear on that the only way forward is to examine and know who we are in christ the condition that christ had come and redeemed us the human heart then and only wonderful things can come forward as a church local just comes together able to be a good model in that sense and so when we come to ephesians chapter 2 here paul is going to unpack this for us basically if you if you i have difficulty just turning this on i don't know what happened can you help me uh amen i don't know why i can't move now yep all right from verses 11 to 22 there are three points to it it's very clear is before how and after paul is saying what you were like before you became a christian what you were like and then what actually happened and then now what happened but i like to use more of a biblical words to capture this text and that is three words art a-r-t elimination reconciliation transformation so as i work through these texts you can see these things making sense as paul begins to tell the gentiles christian who you were before you helping them to remind them and then telling them what actually happened and then now that that happened what now so let me just read the text to you and then i'll unpack the based on the three points to bring across this story he said therefore remember paul is trying to invoke some memories among the gentiles remember that formerly you who are gentiles by birth and caught uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision which is done in the body of by human hands remember that at that time you were separate from christ you were excluded from citizenship in israel you were foreigners to the covenants of the promise you were without hope without god in the world but now in christ jesus you who once were brought were far away have been brought near by the blood of christ for he himself is our peace who has made the two groups want and they have and has destroyed the burial the dividing war of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with its with its commands and regulations his purpose was to create in himself one new humanity and out of the two thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both of them to god through the cross by which he put to death their hostility he came he preached peace to you and who were far away and peace to those who were near for through him we both have access to the father by one spirit consequently you are no longer foreigners and strangers you are fellow citizens with god's people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with christ jesus himself as the chief cornerstone in him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the lord and in him you two are being built together to become a dwelling in which god lives by his spirit three points the first one is alienations paul is describing to the gentiles what you were like in one word you were basically alienated he said remember sometimes the scriptures tell us to remember some things we have to forget and in this instance it is necessary to remember with the whole concept of communion is to remember is to remember of what jesus died for us on the cross for to redeem us and to save us and philippians chapter 4 3 talks about forgetting what behind some things we have to forget some things we have to remember and in this instance paul is wanting to evoke memory among the gentiles christian reminding them again and again what they were like before and i think sometimes it's good for us to revisit that as well that we need to remind ourselves what was like before we embrace on a cosmic level what it was like before we become christian and so paul here was trying to invoke some memory among the gentiles and said remember that formerly you who are gentiles by birth and you were caught uncircumcised because god chose the nation of israel nation of israel to represent him on earth give them laws make a covenantal relationship with them and competition is a sign of the covenant with them so that they can represent him on earth he said remember that formerly you who are gentiles by birth and caught uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision remember that at that time second time he's calling them remember remember at that time you were separate from christ because you're gentiles you're not the chosen people of god you don't have the law you don't have that the covenantal relationship you were separated from christ you were excluded from citizenship in israel you were foreigners to the covenants of the promise you were without hope you were without god in the world and put this together you have a picture of our exclusion we were cut off from the messiah cut off from god as king as well as all of his promises cut off from hope and from god himself and so paul wants the readers of this letter the gentiles to feel the significance of their exclusions not only from israel but their exclusion from a covenantal relationship with god and all of its benefits one commentator by the name of hendrickson puts it memorably in this succession of words he said they were christless they were stateless they were friendless they were helpless they were hopeless they were godless and in two words they were far off as in verse 14 tell they were far off in christ you were once far off you were so far away well you may be sitting here wondering what these circumstances that are so far away has to do with us in some sense i think we all know that god's word was written so that what happened in the past will be able to teach us in the present and so the description of the gentiles in many many sense here is simply a representation of our natural condition we were dead as we have just heard from last week from pastor caroline in chapter two we were dead we were disobedient we were condemned it says you were dead in your transgressions and sin you and in which you used to live where you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the the kingdom of the air the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient we were dead we were disobedient we were condemned and so when we think in terms of the predicament of humanity and we think of it in relationship to alienation what we discover is that not only are we alienated as it were on the vertical sense vertical axis but it's also on a horizontal not just vertical and of course that was the condition or the issue that paul was addressing here this individuals from a jewish background and then the newcomers as it were from the gentiles background was separated from one another there were a deep seated hostility between them it's not too much to suggest that they hated each other and they were hated by one another that there was a wall of hostility that existed separating them from one another and we'll come down to in verse 14 the dividing war of hostility if you study the temple that there was this uh we know the holy of holies it's only for the high priest once a year and then the holy place where for the priest and then outer side is for jewish people and then further doubt is for women and the gentiles and between the court of the gentiles and the court of the jewish people there is a war there is a war preventing them from going to a thick stone war that was five feet high and we have discovered subsequently notices that were on that burial between the gentiles and the jewish court with these words written on it transparency will it did not say so it did not say transparency will be prosecuted but the sign actually said transparency will be executed so if you cross you will be executed so the predicament of the folks was that they were separated from god by that curtain they hung in the temple and they were also separated from one another by that war that existed between them and paul is pointing out that as we are about to see that only in christ that is ended only in christ is this ended it is jesus who breaks down all these walls of hostility ultimately because no amount of education no amount of legislation can change the human heart there are many foreigners many overseas students that i i encounter somehow when they are overseas away from their home away from family away from everybody watching the real person emerged because no one is watching you and true character is dead isn't it it's what you do in the dark when you are not accountable no one is watching and so no amount education and legislation can change the human heart and that is why all this kind of tension of inequality all this kind of thing cannot be solved from more legislation christianity says no it is the problem of the heart and that must be resolved first as paul is here trying to point out to us and spelling out to jewish and gentiles hey hey hey look at it you're alienated but it's now moving on from before and then second point is reconciliation what must happen what actually has happened paul is trying to paint to us that what actually happened that is able to blend these two now into one it is reconciliation it is what actually happened it is a building it's almost like this building isn't it what it was like and what it was now and it is a process of one and a half or two years where everything is in a mess they say in the middle of the project it's always spelled disaster everything is in a mess it's in a process and and it's almost like that the paul is trying to paint to you what it was like and then now what happened process of jesus making it possible and so in verse 14 onward is focusing on this beautiful story of what christ has done to make it possible to tear down the wall of hostility he said but now now you all this you were stateless you were christless you're hopeless everything but now in christ jesus you who once were far away because you're not under the covenanted relationship you have no law you're nothing you were far away you have been brought near now by the blood of christ for he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and he has destroyed the burial the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with his commands and regulation jesus make a way make do away from law as a requirement for salvation because jesus has fulfilled that his purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both them to god through the cross by which he put to death their hostility he came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near everyone is needed for through him we both have access to the father by one spirit here you see this beautiful story of jesus coming here to smash this wall this dividing wall this hostility that separate people between the jews and the gentiles by reconciling the truth and in that true making one new humanity and so church in that sense should be like that church is a local community the blueprint of this beautiful story about people coming to know the lord and new society a new community to the world and so it's beautiful in some sense it's beautiful to have a church with all kinds of people different types of age group and one of the purposes of the church is to show to the world what is like when god's reconciling power brings people together who would otherwise have nothing to do with each other we are like a pilot project showcasing god's reconciling power the world elsewhere country nations race cannot unite the church then it becomes a model to display a showcase to the world of god's reconciling power because of jesus christ because we encounter jesus christ because we are saved by jesus christ and therefore transformation begins to happen inside of us and therefore it's beautiful to have a church of different age groups and different races and all that because it shows great reconciling power is at work among us you know i was in bible college and we studied a subject called church growth and one of the church grove theory is about studying how to grow the church and one of the principles that we learn is what is called hup homogeneous unit principle um by this donor mcgavin and peter wagner and they came up with this thing called hup homogeneous unit principle you say in order to grow something it's very simple put everybody similar together where they have lesser barrier to cross lesser adjustment needed to be done put all the same yappies group same type of age group family with race same race you know and then you have lesser thing to to to to to cross barrier and and it will attract the same type of people and that it will grow very fast hup homogeneous unit principle use service this service family service and all that you will attract the same types of people in a sense and that's how you grow it by being being being wise being clever in employing certain types of dynamic into the into that environment and one preacher plainly stated he says this is it building a church on edge appeal whether all are young or stylistic preferences is as contrary to the reconciling effect of the gospel as building it on class race or gender distinctions negatively when it's just segregated according to generation rey style or social economic status we exhibit our disbelief in the reconciling power of the gospel and positively one of the prime evidences of god's power through our segregated world is a congregation which transcends cultural bearers including age so the gospel is the good news that god reconciles us to himself and also to one another that is the most beautiful things that can break down all kinds of barriers it breaks down all the barriers and make us into a new humanity in which all the divisions that separate us are destroyed that is what paul is basically trying to say to the jewish and the gentiles christian they were having so much difficulty because the jewish people now and the new covenant coming breaking down the this law that is required to be the people of god so there should be no division in jesus christ we are one the blood is stronger than the barriers black white or yellow and every other ethnicity i want in christ whether you're liberal labor or independent we are one in christ whether you're vegans and hunters we're all one in christ whether you're australian citizens foreigners immigrants illegal immigrants we are all one in christ lower class middle class upper class and one in christ educated and uneducated we are all one in christ white collar blue collar no caller we are one in christ homeless renters home owners home developers we are all one in christ former missionaries and former criminals we are all one in christ we are not just all forgiven but we are all united in jesus there is power in jesus there is power in the gospel this is the real extreme make over gospel edition makeover and that is what jesus has accomplished for us alienation reconciliation and here finally transformation paul now went on moves on to say as what you were god has done something beautiful in christ of reconciling and now as a church then it becomes a transforming agency to the world and therefore paul went on to say consequently you are no longer foreigners and strangers but instead you are fellow citizens with god's people and also members of his household build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with christ jesus himself as the chief cornerstone and as you can see here there is a progression here paul's made he begins by saying that you are your citizen in god's nation yeah he said you're no longer foreigners and strangers but your fellow citizens and then he make another level he progressed another level become closer not just citizen you become a member of the household from citizens now you become members more intimate and not only it is your member it becomes tighter together we are he say we are together we are the temple in which god lives we become of course we can't see the brick here because we're plastered he said we become each of this block in this place the house we place apart we become tighter closer the brick must be closer tighter seal the lord together where god the holy spirit god dwell the presence of god dwell in the temple each one of us are part of in the larger sense you are living stone in god's dwelling place we are part of where god has lived all throughout this earth alone you are just an isolated stone but together we are where god himself has chosen to live so paul tells us that we are not strangers and foreigners any longer we are citizens of the same kingdom more than that we are members of the same family more than that we are components of the same building standing together in him with a closeness that is permanent that is powerful that is precious some parts of these buildings are jew and some parts are gentile i came from one place and you came from another we have differing paths differing abilities differing interests and ways and yet in spite of our differences we have been brought together in jesus christ and given unity in him that is stranger stronger than blood we have been given a unity that will outlast time in time itself kingdoms will fail will fall families will die out the building god is building with stones like us will stand forever as a testimony to his glory his grace his power and his honor those are the metaphors that paul uses in him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the lord and in him you two are being built together to become a dwelling in which god lives by his spirit so we become the god's dwelling place and because of that there's no more burial charles jefferson once described the difference between an audience and a church he said an audience is a crowd but a church is a family an audience is a gathering but a church is a fellowship an audience is a collection but a church is an organism an audience is a heap of stones a church is a temple and he went on to say preachers he went on to say preachers are not to attract an audience but to build his church i want to close off this there was a story about a rabbi a rabbi at the end of his lesson he asked his students is how do we know when the night has ended and the day has begun how do you know that immediately the students thought that they grasped the importance of the questions there are after all prayers they can be recited and rituals that can be performed only at night and there are prayers and rituals that belong only to the day and it is therefore important to know when the night has ended and when the day has begun so the brightest of the students offered an answer well when i look out at the fields and i can distinguish between my feel and the feel of my neighbors that's when the night has begun and then the second student offered her answer when i look from the fields and i see a house and i can tell and i can tell that it's my house and not the house of my neighbor that's when the night has ended and the day has begun and then the third student offered an answer when i can distinguish the animals in the yard and i can tell a cow from a horse that's when the night has ended because the light has allowed me to recognize that each of this answer brought a sadder more severe frown to the rabbi's face until finally he shouted no no he said no you don't understand you only know how to divide you divide your house from the house of your neighbor you divide your field from your neighbor's field you divide one animal from another one color from the other is that all that we can do divide separate split the world into pieces isn't the world broken enough split into enough fragments no my dear friends he said it's not that way at all the shock students look up into the sad face of their rabbi and one of them ventured to us then rabbi please tell us how do we know that night has ended and day has begun and the rabbi stepped back into the faces of his students with a gentle voice responded he said you know how do you know when has the night ended and the day began he said when you look into the face of the person who is beside you and you can see that the person is your brother or your sister and when you can recognize that person as a friend he said dan finally the night has ended and the day has just begun you know my dear friend before i close there is no institution more equipped and capable of bringing transformation to the cause of reconciliation than the church because jesus has broken down all the barrel and it is the same for this world because because they don't have jesus and therefore the power to break down the war the hostility in their heart is not their yet and therefore the gospel is ultimately the final powerful message to break down those war education is never sufficient c.s lewis often say education only make you a clever devil legislation while it is necessary it has limited power to change the heart and therefore only jesus can do that may this church be that that beautiful platform this place as paul beautiful says this in chapter 2 break down all this kind of war that we can be a powerful model to this world that's fragmented with many divisions of all kinds of things father thank you for your word we are reminded that christianity looks stunning to the world and most emulates jesus when our identity and unity in the gospel are more foundation no than any other identity a broken world needs to see this vision lived out in new and french ways in the church a lot of christians are like snowflake frail but when together they can actually stop threat traffic so we pray that we will do our bid as christian in this part of the world this church in this part of the world we have beautiful church here with beautiful people of different ethnic background different educational level different social economic status we are in that position to represent the beauty of the reconciling work of christ in us may you always unite the church may we take our faith seriously may we follow jesus follow jesus follow his way allow the cross to be the center of our being center of this church thank you lord as we sing this song together may we once again rededicate our allegiance to you because only when our allegiance is to you only when jesus is our focal point there is no hope in uniting the world so we thank you for for this song this simple song as we stand and sing together now let's sing shall we and i'd like to lead you to sing in this beautiful simple chorus that uh we learned many years ago i've decided to follow jesus can you please stand and join me

Channel: Pathway Baptist Church

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Length: 38min 10sec (2290 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 03 2021