Lord willing, this morning we will complete the second chapter of Ephesians. So take your Bible or the pew Bible in front of you and turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2. And let us begin in verse 18. That is where we left off last week. It can go with the previous section. Some commentators included in this next thought that's here beginning in verse 19, but it can maybe 18 through 22. And so let's begin in verse 18, Ephesians 2, verse 18. And this is the word of God. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. That could have been a sermon right there. This is one of my favorite passages in all the Bible. Verse 19, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom, verse 21, the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also after being built together, verse 22, for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Father, bless this reading and proclamation. We pray of your word rest upon me as I speak. May I be your mouthpiece and be with us that we all may hear your word. See it's truth. It's implications. Father, press it upon the hearts of unbelievers that they might be saved. We pray father save them. Strengthen and build your church, Father, as you have promised. Build us into this great and glorious dwelling place of God, we pray. In the name of Jesus, Amen. You may be seated. Now notice the opening words of verse 19. Now. Now. Therefore, it says. Some of your translations will have, so then, or consequently. In typical Pauline fashion, he is about to lay or set forth the implications of what he has been writing about. If you remember, the emphasis in this section has been upon a word about how we were separate or alienated from Christ. It was a word of exclusion. We were dead in our sins. And then you remember the language that he would speak, how we were without Christ and we were aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel. You remember the language there? And if that previous section was exclusion, separation, alienation, it stands in contrast to this new section of inclusion, this new section of reconciliation, this new section that emphasizes unification, as we might say. Verse 15, notice verse 15, those words where he said, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, that is Jew and Gentile, thus making peace. It's this one new man that he is creating, that he is building, that we're reading about. And this goes back as far as chapter one, where he spoke of that body from eternity, from eternity past, a body chosen, redeemed, sealed, a body that, as we've already seen, included Abraham, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and also Paul, and each one of us that are believers here today. All of this, from the beginning of history as we know it, to this very point, it leads up to that day when Christ shall return in His second advent, as we have confessed this morning, where there'll be that day where there is this gathering together, all things in Christ, that day of the regeneration of all the universe, of where there will be a new heavens, a new earth, as Paul said in chapter 1. In chapter 1, notice verse 10, actually verse 9, look at verse 9, having made known to us the mystery of his will according to the good pleasure which he purposed in himself. Verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he says, in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ. And here the emphasis upon that gathering together is Jew and Gentile, that is the Jewish people. who heard the gospel as it came near to them, as it was preached to them, and those who were far off, that is the Gentiles, the nations, which began with Jesus, as we saw speaking to the Greeks in the gospel of John last week, and then would go further in the missionary efforts of the early church and the apostles and continues this very day as the great commission given to the apostles directly, indirectly to the churches continue to proclaim the gospel to the world and to the nations. And it will end in that day that he might gather together in one all things in Christ. Now, verse 18, let's pick up where we left off. Verse 18. Again, we know our Bibles, we've read our Bibles. So this at first read doesn't sound surprising to us. But in the ancient world and for the early church, this was revolutionary. These words were staggering. And he says in verse 18, for through him we both. Now, what we've learned so far, who are the both? Jews and Gentiles. It was understood the Jews had access. Down in Jerusalem was the temple. There the priest would serve. There they would serve on behalf of the people of God, and the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies. He would have access to God. He would act on behalf of the people of God, that is, the covenant people, the nation, right, of Israel. They had access to God. And now Paul says something staggering. We both, he says, Jew and Gentile, Jewish believers and Gentile believers of all the nations have access by one spirit to the Father. And that's really the key thought here in this verse. And what is staggering and what should leap off the page to us, we should underline in our Bibles that one word, access. We have access to God now. Now consider this, because previously Paul said we were alienated. We were separate from God. Now he says we have access to God. Jew and Gentile both now have access to God. Again, Paul has said we were in the state of alienation, a state of separation from God. And now the apostle is saying that that's no longer the case if you're a Christian. Recently, at another location where I was preaching, someone afterwards, apparently in my sermon while I was preaching, I don't recall exactly what I said, but I mentioned something about Jews being believers, believing Jews. And someone came up to me and they wanted to put great emphasis on, well, they like to be called Messianic Jews. I was nice, but wanted to come out. I want to go. The New Testament calls them Christians. I love it when our brother Baruch has visited us. He just says, I'm a Christian who happens to be Jewish. I'm a Christian who happens to be a Gentile. We're starting to see here that at the cross the ground is level now, right? If you are a believing Gentile, if you are a believing Jew, You can now have, or you have now, access to God. Under the old covenant, again, only the high priest had access to God. There were, you remember the temple? There were walls, there were partitions for everyone else in the worship of God in the temple. But now, notice, Paul is speaking about the blood of Christ that has brought us near. You remember that? He's speaking of this peace we have with Christ. But now, as a matter of fact, he says, we both have access to God because of Christ. There is this great divide in the universe. Holy God and sinful man. That's the great problem of the universe, isn't it? Fallen man, rebel man, and holy God. And the great lie, listen, listen closely, the great lie of the religions of this world, the great deception of the modern mind is the belief that man universally has unlimited access to God. And that's not true. Without Christ, listen, if you are here and you're not a Christian this morning, without Christ, there is no access, only hostility, only alienation, separation. Our sin, your sin has separated you from God. And only through Christ can we have access to God. This is, listen, this is the teaching of the Bible. This is the teaching of the apostles. Do you remember what Paul has said? Just read here in chapter 2 of Ephesians, verses 11 through 13. 11 through 13. And in 1 Timothy, Paul would tell us, 1 Timothy 2.5, for there is one mediator, one go-between, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and the teaching of Jesus. The teaching of Jesus himself when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes. You hear his language? No one comes to the Father. No one comes to the Father. No one comes to God except, except through me. Access to God is through the Son, through the one mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice something about our text. And notice why Christ is the mediator in our text. This is wonderful here. Notice this, verse 18. Why Christ is the mediator in our passage, the entire Trinity is implied here. And the point is, the Trinity at work, there is a unity in redemption here. Verse 17, notice chapter two, verse 17. And he, that is Christ, came and preached peace, the message of reconciliation. We saw that, how it's lifted from Isaiah, and Christ fulfilled that prophecy. He preached peace to you who are far off, to the Gentiles and to those who were near. That was primarily done if we think of what's about to be said here in passages like Romans chapter 10, where we see that, how shall they hear without a preacher? And then it says, and faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of Christ or the word of God. In other words, The spirit and the spirit inspired empowered word, as it is declared and preached by the power of the spirit through the apostles, through the preachers is the preaching of Christ because it's his word, his truth, Christ preaches. And so he's preached to those who are far off and to those that are near. And he continues to do that to this very day. But he, verse 17, Christ, came and preached peace to you who are far off and to those who are near. For through him, for through him, through the son, through the mediation, through the work, through the gospel of the son, who is our peace, through him, we both have access by one, what? By one spirit to what? To the father. Do you see that? The son and the spirit and the father. And so we have the entire Trinity here at work in our redemption, giving us access to God. And next, notice there's a shift now, beginning in verse 19. Because of the truths we have heard, the shift in 19, because we have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Verse 13, did you see that? We've been brought near by the blood of Christ because of that. Because Christ is our peace, Paul said. Verse 14, and he's preached peace to us. Verse 17, and because we've received the word of peace. Paul is saying there are great and wonderful gospel implications concerning this truth. So get this, what we are about to see, beginning of verse 19, these are actually great gospel blessings and privileges as the people of God. And the three implications, these implications will revolve around three areas. He'll use metaphors, but it's around these three areas. One will be, he'll speak of a nation. A nation, a family, and a building. Now isn't that odd? A nation, a family, and a building. Let's look at the first one, beginning verse 19. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. We are now, this in church, we are now citizens of God's nation, God's kingdom. Now again, what's staggering for this is if we word it like this, we Gentiles are now citizens of the kingdom and the nation of God. This citizenship stands in contrast to our previous standing. Our previous standing was spoken of back up in chapter 2 there. Look at 11 and 12. Verses 11, Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, verse 12, that at that time you are without Christ. Now notice this, being aliens or strangers from what? The common wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. And what Paul is saying now is we Gentiles are no longer homeless. We are not second class citizens in the kingdom of God. No. We are no longer strangers or foreigners, but fellow citizens. And notice what he says, fellow citizens with the saints, the holy ones. Now that would be all believers, like those spoken of at the very beginning of this book, chapter 1, verse 1. But all the saints, we're fellow citizens with Abraham. He is our Father and our fellow citizen. We are fellow citizens. We are fellow citizens with Moses, and all the prophets, and the apostles, and all God's people down through the ages. Peter would write concerning this nation. Now, watch this. Watch what the New Testament will say about this. Peter, when he would write in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9, he says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. He's writing to Gentile congregations, if you remember, up in the area of like Turkey, right below the Black Sea there. That's where that letter first went up into. In verse 10, speaking of those Gentiles, he says, who once were not a people. At once you were not the people of God, but now you are the people of God. You had not known mercy, but now, he says, you've obtained mercy. And you are, and he lifts the language of Old Testament Israel and applies it now to Gentiles. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. The rod of Hebrews. We do the same thing, but in it, he speaks of a holy city that now we are citizens of. And in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22, he says, but you have come to Mount Zion in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, he says. I later call it the general assembly, the church of the firstborn. Verse 24, he'll say to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Think of the implications of this. Now, therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. We are now citizens of God's nation, our kingdom. We need to let this sink in. We need to let this firmly settle in our minds concerning our true, listen, our true and everlasting citizenship. That's hard to let that sink in and then to live out the implications of that. It was probably hard for a Roman citizen. It's hard for an American, isn't it? Our earthly citizenship, which it's real. It's real. But it's just not the primary. It's not the eternal one. And it's just... hard for us to not put that out front even before our eternal citizenship. And often the way we talk, I'm including myself in that, the way that we will live, you would think that our primary citizenship is here. The Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians in chapter 3 verse 20 says, for our citizenship is where? In heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3.20. Our present study on Thursday night, we're going through the book of Revelation. If you're not coming, you need to come if you're able. It's been a wonderful study, but we'll see here as we move through that study, as Jim's leading us through that, that the scriptures speak of this present world, its system, the kingdoms of this world. It will refer to it as Babylon, Revelation 17, Babylon. Peter will use that same expression, that's John, but Peter will refer to it as Babylon and 1 Peter 5, 13 and 14. Now listen. The Scriptures, when it speaks of how we are to understand our standing in the midst of kingdoms, the kingdom of man, the kingdom of God, the city of man, the city of God. Sometimes you can hear it in the prayers from the pulpit if you have ears to hear. God, be with us as we live among the inhabitants of this land. Father, be with us as we live among the people of this nation. Because we have a citizenship that's primarily eternally in heaven, not here. And those without Christ that we live among are of Babylon. We live as the Hebrew people in exile, as they lived in captivity in Babylon. That's how we're to understand things. We pray for our leaders. We love, we are to live among the inhabitants of this nation. We are to love them and speak forth the gospel to them of the one true God. But we live among them. Peter, Peter will use that language from the Old Testament. Again, we went through that book years ago, but first Peter 1.1, he, he refers to these Christians as pilgrims, pilgrims. In 1 Peter 2, verse 11, listen to what he says. In 1 Peter 2, verse 11, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, he says. So you and I are to live as sojourners. We are to live as people among the inhabitants of this land, and we are to point them by life and word to the everlasting kingdom that is found only in Christ. Again, the writer of Hebrews would say it this way in chapter 11. Speaking of those who died in faith. But having seen them from afar, we're sure to them and embrace them in Hebrews 11, 13, he says, and, and confess that they were strangers. They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And that is what we are. For those who say such things, verse 14 of Hebrews 11, declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called in mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return, verse 16. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God's not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Same kind of language is over in the book of Galatians chapter 4. Our citizenship is in heaven. So we, those of us who have embraced, who have trusted, who are resting in Jesus Christ and His gospel by faith, We are citizens of the kingdom of God. We have been born of the spirit. We've been adopted. And that's Paul's next point. We've been adopted, verse 19, and made members of the household of God. Now he'll move from this language of a nation to have a household, a family. Look at verse 19 again. So we are members of the household of God. The family of God. Jews and Gentiles. are now brothers and sisters in Christ. No longer looking down upon one another in disdain, whether it be a Roman looking down at a Jew or a Jew looking down at a Roman. If we are in Christ, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are the members of the covenant community, the people of God. I mean, look around you. this room full of imperfect people. We are the family of God. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. It is greater than the reality of our physical family. Our family members who are without Christ will pass from this world into the next, into everlasting torment and death. We will pass from this life to the next to be with one another forever and ever before our God. And the implications of this, we all know this. We all know that the great rejoicing when we have earthly family members who know Christ, the great joy of that, seeing a spouse or a child or aunt, uncle, mother, father, when they know Christ and the joy of that and of being together at family events and speaking of Christ and knowing that we will be together forever. And you also know the great tension and divide that Jesus spoke about, what happened between mother and daughter and son and father and all those things that when you're in the presence of those who do not know Christ, the hostility in the home, the hostility at family gatherings, in any word you speak of Christ, it's just, everyone cringes because they don't want to hear it. Yeah. Look around you. This is our family. He describes us as the household of God. Isn't that something? Again, we Gentiles now are part of the household of God. And this household, ultimately, it's linked to temple language. It's temple language. The household of God is ultimately in reference to the temple, the dwelling place of God. Verse 18 that we've already looked at, For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. That's temple language, access that they previously didn't have, that now they have. Now watch what he does here. We are fellow citizens and we are members of the household of God, verse 20. And watch how he begins to unpack this household. And there is something here. When he speaks of the language that he'll use, like these metaphors of a family, a nation, a household, think of the old covenant the Old Testament and all of those different covenants and how they relate to this. I mean, when you speak of a family in the Jewish mind and of a nation, that goes back to Abraham, doesn't it? That not only goes back to Abraham and his offspring and those promises that were made there, that from him would be a great nation, but it's linked even to Moses when the law was given. You remember the Hebrew people go into Egypt as a family, a clan, and they come out a nation, don't they? And God gives them laws to live by, laws how to worship, and all the Levitical laws that were given. All these things would speak of the family and the nation. And also the nation would be King David, would it not? That this nation would, they finally moved to where there's a king. And even in that, you would see in the Vedic covenant that it would be an everlasting throne. And as we've said before, to have an everlasting throne, you've got to have an everlasting what? a king, because those kings kept passing away, but there would come an everlasting king that would sit upon the throne. And so you begin to see that those covenants and those promises made with the people of God are now coming together in the person of Christ, in the work of Christ for the people of God. But notice how he speaks of how he describes and unfolds aspects of this household of God. Beginning in verse 20, the next verse, having, speaking of this household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Speaking of this household that we are members of, if you were to have like I do in my outline, sub points under the household of God. The first one would be this household is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Every house has a foundation, right? And this household is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. You begin to understand what we mean when we confess with the church everywhere, like this morning, one holy and what church? Apostolic church. The households built upon, we might say, New Covenant revelation, which are the New Testament writings of the apostles, the divine revelation of the apostles. The apostles were those men, if you remember, who were immediately and personally called and sent out by Jesus. That word itself, apostle, literally means sent one. They were also men that witnessed Christ and his resurrection. And this was a this is also identified in the New Testament as a gift. And there are gifts to Christ Church. It ends with the apostles. With their death. But they complete and they give us. The foundation. The New Testament scriptures. And those scriptures are complete and sufficient to declare and expound upon the promises and the reality of the new covenant in Christ. It's built upon this foundation. What's also interesting is you get to the Revelation in chapter 21. It will speak of the city of God and how she has a great and high wall in verse 14 of chapter 21. Revelation 21, verse 14, and now the wall of the city had 12 foundations. On them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And then now the apostles and their writings and is built upon it also, let me say this, as the apostolic word, the New Testament canon, is preached, this message of peace, this message of how you can be brought near by the blood of Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the word of Christ, as it's preached, the church is built on this. But he also uses the word prophets, having been built on the foundation and prophets, Now, there's a little debate concerning about what this means. This could be New Testament prophets, which I tend to lean toward because over in chapter 4, verse 11, he'll speak about prophets as in the early church. There were prophets in the early church. So it could be that early church was established by that prophetic word given to the apostles and those early prophets of the New Testament era. It could also be in the sense that the apostles are prophets. We're going to see that in chapter three with this revelation has been given to like Paul. So he is a prophet in that sense. And some would say it's built upon that, that this may be New Testament apostles and Old Testament what? prophets which would then which is really nice and clean if I could be fully convinced of that position it's just that Paul uses the word prophets later on and it seems to be implying New Testament prophets but it'd be nice and clean if it very clearly was then it'd be the church is built upon the Old Testament canon and the New Testament canon right? Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. So if you want to go with that view I'll high five you anyway. But in chapter 3, verse 5, Paul will say, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it now has been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. So truth's been revealed to the apostles, where they speak a prophetic word. But then verse 11 of chapter 4, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, which seemed to imply New Testament apostles. But let me just say this, in the end, the final word is that Paul says that these are prophets. And I'm not only convinced, but I don't think we should, I'm convinced we shouldn't make a huge distinction here, because prophets, those who foretell the truth of God, the mouthpieces of God, whether they're Old Testament, New Testament prophets, they gave us the word of God concerning Christ, and the church is built upon that truth. And I think we can all say yes and amen. But again, this is a gift that has ceased with the canon of scripture. It is a foundation. And then the church is built upon this foundation. And we'll see it's building here in these other verses. But it's built upon this foundation. Not only do we see in verse 20 it's been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and then that would mean the superstructure as it's going up throughout history, it's going up, it's being strengthened, it's growing in its apprehension and its knowledge of the truth. But next he says it's that Jesus Christ. Secondly, concerning this household of God, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of this household. Notice verse 20. Jesus Christ himself, the chief cornerstone. So, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and in Christ, being the chief cornerstone as we saw this morning in Psalm 118. I'll just give you this. As one commentator has said, H.C.G. Muell, he takes this cornerstone to be, quote, the great stone that's put in the angle of the superstructure where the walls met. It was the stone on which the stability, he said, of the whole building depended. He goes on to say, Christ as chief cornerstone is thus the one who supports and holds together both the foundation and the walls. It is he who gives this wonderful spiritual edifice its unity, its strength. Indeed, he says, everything ultimately depends on it or upon it. So even the foundation layers, it is a word given to them by the Spirit of Christ, and it's about Christ. He is the cornerstone. He is that which holds it together, which it's built upon. He is that place where all the strength and everything rests, and that if it's removed, it all will collapse. You see that? He is the cornerstone. Now, verse... 21, after the prophets and Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, verse 21, we're running out of time here, verse 21, in whom, notice this now, back to the building, in whom the whole building being fitted together, it grows. Who's ever heard of a building that grows? It's like this organic growth. You can build on it. You can construct more things. Just go to any local airport or any local hospital or any local university. It's always growing. It's always building. But in this case, he uses a word grows. It's like something growing organically. How can that be? It's a building. Because he's saying now, thirdly, the household This household is the dwelling place of God in whom the whole building is being fitted together. It grows into a holy temple in the Lord. You remember how Peter referred to us again in 1 Peter? 1 Peter 2, 4, 5. Coming to him as living stones. Living stones. Rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also as living stones are built, are being built up a spiritual house, not cold inanimate stones, living stones. This is the new true Israel, is it not? This is the one new man. He's a living or she's a living stone. When you begin to see the language that's found here in our passage. This should affect and begin to... Again, let me read a little further. It's not only these living stones who this body is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, who use that same language again over in Ephesians chapter 5, speaking of the church and how she's to be His unblemished spotless bride. She's being sanctified and maturing and growing in the truth, right? into the conformity of the Son. Here she's growing in this temple, this body of Christ, this dwelling place of God. But again, in the way of application, begin to consider your view of the church, the nation state of Israel. Are they living stones? Have they been brought near by the blood of Christ? Not if they haven't believed. It's considered the state of the natural family, that a man can be born again and his wife can be unregenerate, without the Spirit of Christ. She's not a living stone. The outward, listen closely, the outward, visible, fleshly, church, Israel or family are not the point here. The main emphasis under the new covenant, it's not. It is the spiritual, the eternal family, the new creation in Christ, the one new man. Do you see that? Let me close with some application here. And it's growing, notice this. And it's this, verse 22, let me say this. It's a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. He moved from individual language later, I mean earlier in this chapter, and he's moved to corporate language. We are the dwelling place of God. He dwells within us individually as God's people who are born of the Spirit. and He dwells with us corporately. I know it's not popular in some modern theology, but there is a sacred place and sacred space, and it is where we gather corporately as His people. He is with us. He's with us. He makes his presence known. He's empowered word and sacrament, the truth to make it known to us. We hear it with our ears. We read it, hold it with our eyes. We see the promises. Do you see that? We see it. We hear it. We read it. We taste it. We might even smell it. These are the promises. These are the truth as the word of God is attached to them. And He dwells here in our midst as He has promised and attached His promises to these things. And if we believe, and if we receive, and if we trust and rest in these things, there is life eternal in them. This is the true family of God. This is our true and everlasting and eternal citizenship. We have access to God through Christ our Lord. And let me say, I was hinting at it along the way, and I don't want to be too brutal here, but let me say this also. The teaching of the Apostles' letter here, this apostolic letter, because sometimes this seeps in our brain so easy. This stands in clear opposition to the notion held by typical dispensational theology. That form of theology subscribes that there are two distinct peoples, Jews and Gentiles, two distinct plans of redemption. Is that what we have here? No. No. Listen closely. The Bible teaches there is only one Savior. is Jesus Christ. There's one way of redemption, Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ. And there's only one united people of God. One church Catholic in heaven and on earth, and it expresses itself in local congregations like this. Elect Jews and elect Gentiles are one in Christ. Both are unified as one people in Christ, are members of God's kingdom, members of God's household. Isn't this good news? Again, verse 15, so as to create in themselves one new man from the two, thus making peace. And we are part of this dwelling place of God, this nation, this household, this people. These are tremendous gospel blessings and implications, are they not? They ought to cause great rejoicing in us as His people. If you are with us this morning and you are not a child of God, you have never believed upon Jesus Christ, that is, the Son of God who came to earth, lived a holy life in obedience to the Father in every way, and yet was one of us, but without sin. He lived that which we have not and cannot, We are sinners. We disobey the law of God. We have a very nature that's bent away from God and that lives in opposition to Him. But Christ Jesus, the Lord, the Son of God, delighted in obeying the Father. It was, as He said, His meat and drink to obey the Father. And He would obey the Father to the point of death. He would go to the cross to redeem a people unto Himself. He would shed His blood. He would die on the cross to save sinners like you and like me. He would pay the penalty that was due unto us. The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death. And he died on the cross for us. Not just a temporal death, but he paid the penalty of all that everlasting death would be for me and you. He bore the wrath of God on the cross for us. He made propitiation for our sins. He died, was buried, and the Scriptures teach and the witness of the early church and apostles is that he rose again on the third day. And if you turn away from your sins, if you turn away from your unbelief and your rebellion to God and turn to Christ by faith, believing in the gospel, that he died for sinners like you, that he rose again from the dead, in him is eternal life, in him is forgiveness of sins, in him you can be brought near to God, in him, You can be part of this nation, this family, this church. You can be here where the dwelling place of God is at. Turn to Him and believe. Let us pray.