Dr. Owen Strachan - The New Man (Ephesians 2:11-22)

hey a song that's how you want to that's how you want to be set up right there thank you so much to pastor blake and the pastoral team for having me this weekend to do the conference on the gospel and wokeness yesterday and now to open the word with you in the sunday service it's such a blessing to be in fellowship and serious friendship with blake and by extension with you some years ago i heard a story about the musician michael card his father was a doctor a surgeon and had to perform complex life-saving operations on a regular basis as fits such a career a vocation when michael card's father the doctor would return home he was frequently tired and empty so to speak he had very little left to give and he would go into his study and he would sometimes shut the door and even lock it because he simply did not feel after hour upon hour of life-saving operations that he could engage his family well many busy young fathers can relate michael card uh told the heartbreaking story of coming to the door and finding it locked when all he wanted to do was go in and talk with his father laugh with him share what he had been doing his day so what michael card devised as a way to reach his dad was to color pictures and slide them under the door and communicate to his father in those means when i heard this story i was reminded of how we all naturally want an earthly father who loves us that's a tremendous desire of the human heart but even more than an earthly father important as an earthly father and mother are we all want something more than that we all crave inherently and instinctually a heavenly father the heavenly father who loves us and we all know that we are not home we are not home in this world everybody knows this at some level we may reckon with this truth and even in a sense deny it and pretend as if we are home here pretend as if we can be happy lastingly here this is our home this is our dwelling place and yet it is not and yet god will continually destabilize human efforts to find a lasting home here you can't do it you can try you see it's not just that you can't find a lasting home a physical dwelling place you can't find a lasting father here even if you have a godly earthly father he will die he will not be here forever you can't bank on him you can't put your security and trust in him or in your family you see this is because you need a heavenly father in our passage this morning we see how we can have one ephesians 2 11 to 22 is going to be our passage this morning and we're going to cover three facets of these 11 verses first in verses 11 to 12 we're going to see that the peoples of earth are alienated peoples of earth are alienated second in verses 13 to 18 we're going to see that the two peoples jew and gentile as we'll see in the text are united in christ and then in verses 19 to 22 we're going to see that the church is the household of god the family the dwelling place that we are truly all questing for so let's look at verses 11 and 12 and see that the peoples of earth are alienated the apostle paul writes therefore remember that at one time you gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the 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 let's pray heavenly father as we turn to your word we oh we are so happy to confess that we are walking up way up a mountain to solid granite to the rock of your word father we confess this morning that many of us feel like everything is coming apart at the seams whether in our society or in our own personal life nothing feels certain nothing feels solid today in 2020 for many people so please father anchor us on the solid rock of your word today in jesus name we pray amen in this passage paul writes to the ephesian christians they are they are not jews and so they have not been circumcised to the men that is in this case and they are strangers to the covenants of promise as we will be seeing in other words the apostle paul is writing to a church about 2000 years ago in a city called ephesus and he's writing to these people who are separated from christ he says in this little portion alienated from israel and strangers to the grace of god in other words he's writing to a people who have no natural claim on god they are not natural born members of the family of god in truth no one is and yet the gentiles here in ephesus really are far off in natural terms from the covenants from god their natural condition is that they are separated from christ you see that in verse 12 and this speaks to the natural condition of all humanity naturally we are all outside of christ no one again is born into the family of heaven in natural terms everybody needs a birth from above there is nothing you can do to make yourself savable in natural terms humanity thinks it can we think we can but paul is teaching this people that they had nothing to do with their salvation absolutely nothing they were as far away from the household and family of god as you could get that's his point in verses 11 and 12 as far away as estranged from god as you could be the ephesian gentiles were they didn't know anything about the covenants of promise you see that phrase in verse 12. they did not know about the promise of salvation that was to be found in the covenants god gave his people the israelites covenants with creation noah abraham moses and david the ephesian gentiles didn't know about these covenants and frankly in natural terms didn't care just like people in abilene or kansas city don't really know about the new covenant of jesus christ and in many cases don't really care this is where the gentiles were they were aliens they were alienated from god and in verse 12 paul talks about their condition they were without hope they have no hope none they're without god and this tells us something important to mark in our time in 2020 in america strange days indeed we in our natural state have no hope it's a strange thing to confess in a church service that's ostensibly about encouragement in god but it's true in our natural condition we are not just emotionally hopeless feeling like we're hopeless friends it's way worse than that all sorts of people feel like they're hopeless and and when you hear a classmate or a friend or a neighbor say that sort of thing in natural human terms what do you do you you put your arm around them or you try to build them up and show them how no it's not that bad there's there's there's hope there's goodness in your life and there there are occasions where you do need to buck somebody up in that way but note this actually if you're outside of christ the true response to somebody who is not a christian saying i just kind of feel i don't know i just kind of feel hopeless the truth according to the apostle paul is they are hopeless we're all hopeless strong words aren't they you're starting to feel the weirdness of biblical christianity in these days there's no hope outside of jesus none it's what the apostle of the lord jesus christ tells the ephesians he's saying effectively friends there's nothing in ephesus for you don't find your identity here this isn't your home you have no hope in the world what you have will be taken from you everything will be shaken out the world is shaking out in our time in 2020 and part of what is happening is people are coming to see that they don't have ultimate hope and they are right they don't have it and they desperately need it but you can't find it here it's not just that you're emotionally hopeless feeling bad feeling low feeling down many of us have had to wrestle with such emotions we don't dismiss them or disdain them but there's a worse problem it's that we're objectively hopeless in and of ourselves we don't have the horsepower in ourselves there's not enough positive thinking there's not enough just don't think negative thoughts there's not enough just have a have a better uh more clean house uh condo eyes or closet or something like this there's nothing you can do in human terms that will give you hope in yourself you can have a better functioning life i will admit that you can kick some habits that's not necessarily a bad thing to do there's no ultimate hope there because in our natural state we're without god the natural condition of every person is that we have a god deficit and do you want to know how big the god deficit is infinite we have an infinite god deficit and that is the worst problem every person man or woman boy or girl faces in this life it's that we have an infinite god deficit we don't have god we face many trials and challenges in this life again we don't dismiss them as believers they're real they shape us they affect us even years after we go through them and yet that's not your greatest problem if you have pain in your past if there is hardship in societal terms if there's conflict and division all around us as there is in america today that's not any of our biggest problem our biggest problem in natural terms is that we don't have god and we desperately need him the gentiles paul is saying don't have the solution don't find your hope paul is saying in anything in ephesus don't place the bet so to speak on that hand only god yields infinite hope not hope that will just get you through your day a little bit better not hope that will give you favor at work and maybe lead to some real material prosperity for the first time ever no that's not even real hope real hope is found in christ and that leads to our second movement here the two peoples jew and gentile are united in christ verses 13 to 18. but now paul says 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 in peace to those who were near for through him we both have access in one spirit to the father this passage tells us where we do find hope it's at the very beginning of verse 13 in christ jesus in christ there is truly infinite hope you never draw out of the atm and it is empty in your hope balance there is infinite hope for you in christ jesus he is the one there are eight truths that stack up in these first few verses he is the one who brings near those who are in the far country wandering in the wilderness isolated with no map with no script back to god and jesus is the one who goes out into the shadow lands he's got a flashlight in his teeth and he's looking for his wayward people his wayward sheep and he goes and he finds them and he brings them home he brings them near how does he do so it's the blood of christ that does this mark how often the apostle paul in this passage and other passages will ground our hope and our salvation in the finished work of jesus christ what we call the atonement of jesus christ when jesus truly in physical historical terms hung on a cross bled and died in the place of sinners chosen by god before the foundation of the world in order to wash us totally clean and make a way back to god through his blood it is blood that gets this done that will feel weird again here's yet another slightly weird marker of biblical christianity not the fake stuff you see on t tv and too many shows but the true thing it's remarkably blood driven to a to a degree that will take you aback a little bit do we really need to be talking about blood all the time why are we talking about blood i want to talk about blood let's talk about salvation no in biblical terms salvation only comes with the shedding of blood a righteous sacrifice so this is how god has set it up to bring us back to himself it's jesus dying as our substitute sacrifice jesus taking the wrath of god the father against our sin the wrath that we deserve to take jesus dies in our place in absorbing it next concept we see in verse 14 jesus is our peace he's our peace he's the way to peace before us and god and he is the way to peace in all your life there is no peace in any worldly ideology we have this conference on wokeness there is no peace ultimately in any philosophy or worldly system there is no peace in any other religion it might seem like there is for a time it might look like there can be there is no true peace peace is objective peace is what god gives through the death of his son that's the only way to find peace he has made us both one paul says and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility hostility does that sound familiar today is there hostility in america is there hostility surging out of control hostility in our cities you bet there is how what how how do how do we solve this where do we go with this raging hostility this is a biblical answer the scripture is sufficient for this to tie up the whole theme of our our event from yesterday it is only in jesus that hostility dies it is only in jesus that peace comes there is no peace in the world you can't have ultimate unity ultimate cessation of anger in any other worldview but the worldview driven by the cross jesus has done the work ending hostility isn't about you and me and our efforts ultimately it's about what only jesus can accomplish but but friends don't make the cross of christ and its power a potential power it's not a potential power it's a realized power it's a victory one it has happened has broken down the wall of hostility and then verse 15 he has abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances jesus in other words has perfectly fulfilled the old covenant law in his righteous life and his death and his resurrection such that you and i don't look to the old testament any longer for for the norm of our faith it's not that the old testament is bad or outmoded or shows us a different god than the new testament god not one bit but it is that we are no longer under the law of israel we are now under the law effectively of jesus christ what did jesus say to his disciples in john 1 what did he show up on the scene almost as a wild man taking these poor fishermen completely by surprise follow me not what he said that's what he means he means in following the one true god you follow jesus christ he has through his own work end of verse 15 created in himself one new man in place of the two jew and gentile so making peace so there is one new man through christ this is the way to unity in this world this is the only way to unity jesus is the only way to god there are not many ways to god and there are not many ways to unity you can have a kind of basic human unity in your neighborhood or your workplace or other settings by being a decent person you can recognize even going up a level that every person is an image bearer and that is real human unity to be found in the image of god as we talked about but that won't ultimately create the unity we need which is salvific unity unity in christ you can only find true unity in this world in jesus it's not in a political party it's not in a cause it's not in the streets it's not to be found in philosophies it's not to be found in sports teams or getting the best job or whatever it may be that will not ultimately fulfill you that will not solve your sin problem and that will not create true unity the only means to true unity is through jesus christ who isn't trying to make us one did you note that note the definitive language of the bible the bible doesn't talk like a postmodern professor who never gives you something definitive and concrete and absolute the bible doesn't talk like a lot of us talk where we endlessly nuance ourselves and qualify ourselves and apologize for the clear statements we're making the bible gives you line upon line truth upon truth jesus has made one new man jesus has done it what our society and culture right now in america is trying to find in ungodly ideologies unity unity of all peoples ethnicities and so on jesus has already done the salvation that we seek is already here the blood of christ does not make salvation possible the blood of christ makes salvation and unity certain it's already done what we hear so commonly from lots of different angles is actually a lie that we can we can unify ourselves in our own strength or or if we will try really hard we can make good on reconciliation the bible announces to us in this passage and elsewhere that god has already done it in christ how strong is your jesus how much of a conquering king is christ to you how bold and fearless and self-sacrificial is your king this is the power of christ behold your king what man tries to do and never can pull off jesus has done he has brought jew and gentile together implacable foes tremendous hostility between these two major people groups with long-standing grievance was with real injustices done on both sides to each other each side coming to the table and having lots to bring and convict the other side of in terms of evil and hostility and division and what jesus has done is he has taken all that hostility and division and he has poured out his blood in order to dissolve it and so in the cross of christ every grievance is laid down in the cross of christ every injustice is ultimately met in the cross of christ all hostility between those who are in christ ceases and this is a tremendous threat to the gospel today that we would cling to our background to our pain to our hostility to our real grievances i'm not saying they're imaginary grievances i'm saying they're real but that we would bring them into the family of god as if the blood of christ is not enough to overcome them when the apostle paul says they're already overcome they were overcome about two thousand years ago on a roman cross that is where hostility ceases are there issues we have to work out in this life yes is there a call to the church to be salt and light yes can christians perpetuate injustice in different ways we can so we've got to work those things out but this is where all this goes to die this is where peace is found this is where unity is found verse 16 this is where reconciliation is found it's already here it's already happened it's already come it's through the cross it's killed the hostility end of verse 16. you understand that jesus kills things he kills things he's not a savior who uses an inside voice and upsets nobody's feelings and always does what he is told to do and is neat and tame and niceified according to worldly standards jesus is a warrior king this is not the jesus of our cultural imagining this is not the jesus who dangles around our neck this is not the jesus who comes to give you health wealth prosperity and every thing you've ever dreamed of this is a different jesus this is the true jesus there are many jesuses out there that you can find in books tv shows on podcasts on social media and they're not the true jesus just because a professor or a teacher or a pastor says they follow jesus just because a book purports to give you jesus doesn't mean it is you have to understand the true jesus and the true jesus kills what hostility really the word of our time is hostility really what wokeness seeks to evoke in us is hostility and division as we've talked about this weekend and what jesus does is he takes the hostility that jews have and he takes the hostility that gentiles have and according to the apostle paul this is truly revolutionary he kills it he ends it so in christ this is how there is peace there is peace with god first and foremost for us and then there is peace with all the church and accordingly in living in a fallen world we're dominated by peace we're a people who exude a sense of peace not a sense of anxiety not a sense of fear of death we are wise and we want to handle different situations like the one we're in carefully and we want to love our neighbor and all sorts of things so there's much to say there but we are not a people who are dominated by fear and anxiety and hostility we're tempted to be we're told to be we're instructed to be but we must reject these instructions of the enemy of the devil and we must find in the cross of christ true hope true peace and true unity hostility has objectively ceased reconciliation is not something you and i pull off in the truest sense it is something god does and all this means verse 18 that we have access in one spirit to the father so through the indwelling holy spirit in every believer we are never locked out of the father's study we do not look in through the windows at this beautiful home with a fire roaring in the fireplace and happy people inside and life and vitality in this family and we are out in the cold looking in with no family to receive us that's not who we are any longer we have access to the father and the father swings his doors open wide and doesn't say i need some quiet i need to be isolated and alone don't come in children leave me alone let me recover the father says come come in come home through the spirit this is the call of the father the father wants you to come in the father wants those who are prodigals to come back to him the father wants sinners to be washed and cleansed and adopted and this is what we have you will never go to the father and find that he is not loving on that day you will never go to the father and find that his forgiveness i'm so sorry it's run out you've used up your forgiveness points you understand you've used them up it can feel like that in earthly terms can it anybody have trouble in the lockdown season getting frustrated and annoyed with anyone else in their house was that a struggle for you did you did you call somebody in your family and say i'm just having a lot of trouble right now getting annoyed with people in my life it's not normally okay i thought it was funny to me but that's okay um you don't have to laugh it was not hard at least on some days to find means of annoyance the father is never annoyed with his children and the father never says i'm so sorry you've run out of forgiveness we can feel that way we can feel like we have oh we i have run out of forgiveness this situation i'm out no more forgiveness there are different circumstances that we have to handle carefully let that be said there's excommunication from a church for example for members who fall into pagan practices and that's true and that's biblical but note the father's kindness we always have access to him jew and gentile alike the father is often portrayed in our society and our culture as if he's not good god the father specifically sometimes people like god the son jesus christ because he seems really loving he goes to the cross but the father i don't want to talk about the father father man i don't want to talk about predestination i don't want to talk about his will i don't want to talk about his plan and his sovereignty he just he can seem distant and unloving and unkind but the biblical portrait of god the father is that he is the one who sets up the entire system that saves us he is the one who meets the terms of his justice his perfect divine justice in the person and work of his son so never think never think that god the father is a character you can't trust god the father is the one you can trust god the father brings us home and this leads to our third and final truth the church is the household of god verses 19 to 22. 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 the result of the work of christ is not that there are different churches according to different ethnicities or different skin colors or different classes the result of the work of christ the atonement is that we are one household it's done it's not an option it's not an add-on bonus for those of us who can upgrade and afford it it is done we are fellow citizens verse 19 with the saints and we are members of the household of god you have received your membership card to the household and no one can take it from you once you are a stranger and an alien to god but now now you are a member of the family christ is the one who has made all this possible christ jesus himself is the cornerstone typically when evangelicals hear that most of us not doing a lot of home construction on a day-to-day basis which is probably a good thing for home construction when we hear the word cornerstone we think big stone oh jesus is the cornerstone he's a really big stone well jesus is a really big savior isn't he but actually a cornerstone in the ancient near eastern world was very crucial the greco-roman world because the entire building was aligned based on it one stone the entire household entire home physical structure being built was calibrated by one stone just one stone the cornerstone why is this significant it's significant because the cornerstone had to be precisely aligned if you got the cornerstone wrong the whole house would be off once in a while you and i read some terrible headline or see a clip on the news or something like this on social media of a structure collapsing and people being killed because of because of carelessness and building if you don't build along the cornerstone with the right alignment the building will not stand there are many churches that are not aligned correctly upon the cornerstone that are not teaching the true biblical doctrine of jesus christ jesus is the cornerstone you have to understand jesus rightly you don't select the jesus you like you you follow the biblical jesus and the biblical jesus builds off of the entire structure and grows us all into a holy temple in the lord this is a nice building that's great stained glass this is a nice church building this is not the church this building is not the dwelling place of the spirit you are the dwelling place of the spirit you are the church if you have trusted jesus christ as your savior you are growing into a holy temple in the lord with all the saints you are the center of worship that's what a temple was in old testament times it's where the people of god truly did gather to worship the lord it's a physical structure in the old testament times but now no longer is a physical structure a temple you are a temple first corinthians 3 16 we are the dwelling place of the spirit wherever you go you're a little center of worship think about this this week going to work going to school neighborhood wherever you may be you are the center of living worship to god people are seeing they're watching how you worship the living christ and by god's grace this isn't dependent on your efforts you are in christ growing into a holy temple you're being built verse 22 into a into a dwelling place for god we are collectively by the spirit all this means then that god is working in us this is the opposite of do-it-yourself christianity before the foundation of the world the father chose us in the sun and now god is growing us all all who are in christ into the dwelling place of god god is forming us none of this is according to human wisdom none of this is according to human design no one put this up on the whiteboard for almighty god and proposed it to him as a working plan for unity this is all the design of god this is all what the father is accomplishing through the son by the spirit but mark this if you do not know jesus as your savior you are outside of the dwelling place of god it may feel comfortable now but you do not know jesus as your savior today is the day of salvation whenever the gospel is preached is the day of salvation today is that day for you if you are outside of christ if you are not reconciled to god by the blood of jesus and reconciled therefore to man through the cross today is the day to come in don't stand outside looking in on this lovely home with a fire roaring in the hearth yearning to come in come in today are you not seeing how this world and its promises are bankrupt are you not seeing how our world is anxious to an almost impossible degree are you not seeing how you can truly lose your mind over the fear of death many people are is this going to be your fate are you going to follow the wisdom of man which leads nowhere it leads only to destruction everlasting just destruction or will you come in the doors are open the doors to the house are open wide the blood of christ is for you for sinners like us let me give you just a few quick closing thoughts here application for christians first remember that true unity and reconciliation come only through the cross this is where unity and reconciliation is to be found the blood of jesus this is the only sure foundation for unity and reconciliation the blood of the son of god second think regularly on the plan of salvation of god think more friend think more about how god has acted to save you than about what is going on in abilene texas or america think more this week about how god has acted to bring you home that is better and bigger news than whatever is going to play out on twitter or instagram or your favorite internet site this week do not be discipled by the culture be discipled by the word of god do not be amazed and raptured by worldly things be amazed and enraptured by the plan of salvation that is bringing you all the way home to heaven and the new heavens and new earth you have no excuse for not worshiping god this week you have no excuse for letting your heart be drawn away to the world by the world center by the grace of god your thinking your emotions all your life on the greatness of salvation that god is carrying out that you're a part of that is a bigger deal in your life than anything that will happen in this country this coming week third and finally remember that justice is ultimately what god does yes we are brought into the work of justice as christians yes we should be salt and light in a matthew 5 sense any chance we get here but ultimately justice belongs to the lord there is no human justice movement on this planet that is ultimately going to bring true justice true justice is only found through god in the cross and it is centered in the church that is where we find justice so when you hear promises of hope and peace and unity and oneness and diversity appreciation of it whatever else take those claims to scripture and evaluate them by god's plan and remember that justice is only ultimately what god can do through his son friends we are not children straining unsuccessfully to get the attention of our heavenly father we already have it i would very much encourage you this week to live in light of the fact that the doors to your father's home to your father's study whatever has happened in your earthly life with your dad the doors are open wide and god is not only willing that you could come in and see him on occasion god is calling to you to come in and know his love let's pray heavenly father please help us we do have hearts that are weary and drawn off easily we we do make many excuses for ourselves as to why we don't worship you continually we have no ultimate excuse but we all offer many reasons why we do not obey and do not view the worship that you deserve help us father help us to be built up into the dwelling place of the spirit not just ourselves individually but the whole church we love you we praise you father that you are a good father we thank you that you are better than every earthly father we thank you that every grievance dies in the cross of christ and we pray that we would be faithful in evil days in jesus name amen

Channel: South Side Baptist

Views: 869

Rating: 4.7777777 out of 5

Keywords: SSBC, SSBaptist, South Side Baptist Church, Dr. Owen Strachan, Ephesians 2, The New Man

Id: m3jU9jRjOT4

Length: 44min 3sec (2643 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 22 2020