It's interesting that this letter is so much about Christians and what God has done in them. But as we read through verse after verse in both of these first two chapters, Christ is ever present. Christ and the work that he has done. Every blessing that we have, every blessing that we look forward to is because of and in Christ. So Ephesians 2.11, Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flesh the enmity. which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father." There, by the way, is the Trinity all in one verse. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." Lord, thank you for giving us this word. Thank you for sending this apostle to teach us the meaning of what Christ had accomplished. the cross and in his sinless life. Thank you, Lord, that you've opened our eyes to these glorious heavenly truths. And now, Lord, we pray you would speak to our hearts and minds. In Christ's name. Amen. So we see Christ all through this letter, verse after verse. Rarely does a verse go by that he is not ultimately the focus of or the reason for. So beginning in chapter 2, verse 11, Paul here is addressing Gentile converts, and he turns to the matter of what this gift of salvation by grace through faith in Christ means for the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Verse 11, Paul moves from teaching of God's gracious salvation of individuals to the joining of believing Jews and believing Gentiles who've been separated for 1,500 years into one body in Christ. And we saw last week in verses 11 and 12, Paul described the previous state of the Gentiles before Christ came. Both in relation to God and in relation to the sons of Jacob. We've been looking at that for a couple of weeks now. And we've seen that for really now more than 1,500 years, God had ordained the separation of the sons of Jacob from the Gentiles. For 1,500 years, the Jews alone were the people of God. To them alone was given the law of God, the Word of God, the promises of God, the sign of that promise, and privileges which God had not granted to anybody else, anyone who was outside of the sons of Jacob. So to them alone, God had revealed Himself in this special manner. And with them alone, God had entered into a covenant, a mutual covenant, a conditional covenant based upon their obedience to Him or disobedience. It was to Israel, and only to Israel, that Yahweh said, If you obey Me, I will bless you, I will provide for you, I will protect you, I will be your God, and you shall be My people. and I will dwell among you." And it was to them that he had given his law, his prophecies, and his promises. So for those 1500 years, this promise of a Savior, of Messiah, was peculiar to Israel. The Christ would be born a Jew. And it would be through this Messiah, this Christ, that the promises of God, all of His promises will be fulfilled in Him. That's why we read it over and over again in both chapter 1 and chapter 2 of this letter. In Him, you have redemption through His blood. And during those same 1,500 years, as we saw last week, all who were not Jews, not sons of Jacob, were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise that God had made through them, having no hope and without God in the world. That was the state of the Gentiles. They didn't have even the hope or expectation of a Savior. They were living apart from the hope of Christ. And they worshiped gods, but they were gods of their own imagination. And so for those 1,500 years, there were two separate peoples of the earth. God said, stay divided from them. Sons of Jacob were the people of God, and the Gentiles were separate from God. And they were separate from the promise of Christ even. And without God in the world, Paul says, Think about it, during that entire time, the Gentiles knew nothing about God's love, His compassion, His mercy, and His goodness. They didn't know the true God that we meet in Scripture. The gods that they worshipped were non-existent. They were inventions of their own imagination. Galatians 4, 8, I think we looked at this. However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. And they were strangers to the covenants of promise. God had delivered these covenants of promise, these promises of ultimate eternal blessing. First and primarily, I would say in Genesis 12, 3, to Abraham, in your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. But he delivered the promise to only one nation of the earth. The promise of the Savior was always intended to bless all the nations who descended from Noah. But the Gentiles knew nothing of these promises. Made with Abraham, then with David. He'd have a descendant who would sit on the throne forever. And finally, the new covenant. which God gave through the prophet Jeremiah. I'll read just two verses, Jeremiah 31, 33. And this is the covenant that He made with Israel, but for the benefit of all who would come to believe in Christ. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days. I will put my law within them. And on their heart I will write it, I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they will all know Me. From the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. And very clearly in chapter 8 of the letter to the Hebrews, the writer applies all these blessings in this covenant to all Gentile believers. So though elect Gentiles would one day become beneficiaries of these covenants and receive all the blessings of the new covenant, Before Christ came, they were strangers to the covenants. They were unknown to all who were not sons of Israel. And so this meant they lived their entire lives, generation after generation, century after century, without hope, without God, just as atheists do today and unbelievers do today. Now, verse 13, but now, hearkens us back to chapter 2, verse 4, but God even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive in Christ. Here he says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off, referring to the Gentiles, have been brought near, how? By the blood of Christ. This is what was accomplished, among other things, at the cross. So now in verses 13 through 18, tonight, Paul describes the position of believing Gentiles now, as he's writing to them, as brethren in Christ with Jewish believers. Centuries excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, now one body in Him. And Paul explains here how it is that Christ has brought both groups together into one body in Him. He shows that both Jew and Gentile believers are members of a new community of the people of God. The Gentiles believers were not absorbed into the nation of Israel. This was a new community, one body in Christ, in which there is no distinction and no division between Jew and Gentile. What we must understand is the nation of Israel, despite all of the romanticism about Israel today, was never the ultimate plan of God. It was never the ultimate destiny of the people of God. It foreshadowed the reality, union with Christ, in whom all things are to be summed up. So God's eternal plan and purpose, Paul makes very clear in several of his letters, is the communion of saints, Jew and Gentile, all joined to Christ and to one another. And that's why in Galatians chapter 6, verse 16, Paul speaks of those who are in Christ, the Christian church, both Jewish and non-Jewish people, as the Israel of God. The eternal heavenly blessings of God are found only in Christ. They're not found under the law of Moses because nobody could perfectly comply with the law of Moses. The law of Moses was never intended to be a means of salvation, nor was it a means of salvation for anybody. Salvation could only be believing in Christ, either in the promise of him in the Old Testament or in the fact of his coming in the new. So Paul says here, Believing Gentiles, who for many centuries were afar off from God and from His promises, have now been brought near to God. Do we realize what a big deal this is? Brought near to God together with believing Jews. How? What was it that accomplished it? The blood of Christ. You're both right. The blood of Christ. The blood of Christ brought Jews and Gentiles together. It restored which had been separate. Believing Gentiles are no longer separate from Christ. They're no longer excluded from the Israel of God, the church. They're no longer strangers to the covenants of promise. but are now, in Christ, recipients of all the blessings of the covenants of promise." There's nothing withheld from Gentile believers. And so, believing Gentiles are no longer without hope. Believing Gentiles are no longer without God, but now have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. It brought us near to God. It's a passive verb, just brought near. It means we didn't do anything. We had something done for us and in us. We were recipients of God's action, not the benefit of any effort of our own. God did the work. He brought us near. And the bringing of those Gentile Christians near, and the bringing of us near, was accomplished at the cross by the blood of Christ. God didn't wait for any work or thought on the part of any man other than His Son. And at the same time now, we've seen this about the state of the Gentiles before Christ, at the same time, now and forever, and then, unbelieving Jews Having rejected Christ, are now separate from Christ by their unbelief. They've excluded themselves from the true Israel, the church of God. They've forsaken the covenants of promise. And now, as with all Gentiles, their only hope is Christ and faith in Him. There is no separate plan of salvation for the Jews. That's simply a false teaching. God worked His eternal plan through Israel. But now that Christ has come, the role of national Israel in God's plan and eternal purpose has ended. It has been fulfilled in Christ. Now, in Christ, He has brought people from all nations, including Israel, into one group. And then Paul says this as clearly as he possibly could here. Remember, the Jews were created by God out of a barren couple, Abram and Sarai. And they were created to be the instrument through which the reconciliation of sinners to God would come. They were to be the instrument, the people through whom the reconciler would come. And God spoke to His people over all of time through them. God spoke, in other words, to all His people. through the Jews. And through them, the message of reconciliation through Christ was delivered. What did God show through these messages He delivered through the sons of Jacob? What did He show through their sacrifices that they were required to offer? He showed the necessity of a substitutionary atonement. He showed the necessity of an unblemished offering to atone for sins. That's what He was showing in all those sacrifices. And the atonement and the salvation that He accomplished at the cross wasn't just for the Jews. It was for people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. As John puts it, for the cosmos, for the world. John 3.16. There's no longer Jew and Gentile among the people of God. I only use the terms Jewish believer and Gentile believer to communicate what Paul's telling us here. But there is no distinction any longer. There's believers and unbelievers. There is no national Israel as a people of God anymore. There's a geopolitical Israel. The distinction is between people who've been made spiritually alive and those who have not. People who have been made spiritually alive through being joined to the risen Christ. We're going to look in a while at Galatians 3, 28 and 29, at 1 Corinthians 12, 13, which tell us there's no longer any distinction. So, believing Gentiles, I'll say this again, do not become members of national Israel. There's an olive tree is the picture that Paul gives us. And Christ is the root of this tree. The Jews are cut off and into this tree are grafted in those whom God calls to himself. This new community, the church, transcends Israel. and all its privileges. And in this community, there's no distinction. Jews and Gentiles are on equal footing. There's no prerequisites, such as fulfilling the Torah, the law of Moses, for entry into this community. Even faith is not a prerequisite in that sense, because it itself is a gift of God received by those brought near. God's plan is so, so amazing. So we had this deep division and separation for 1,500 years. And Paul says the blood of Christ has taken it away. The blood of Christ has taken it away. Taken away the enmity which existed between them, Jew and Gentile, and between all of them and God. And has now brought them near to Himself. God has brought us near to Himself through that blood on the cross. And Paul is speaking here of both the vertical and horizontal dimensions. He's talking about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and the relationship of all of us to God. Verse 14, For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. He broke it down. How did He break it down? Well, let's read on. by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, or something he did in his flesh, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that he himself, he might make the two into one new man, a new body, establishing peace, and might reconcile them both, Jews and Gentile believers, in one body to God through the cross. So it's a cross by it having put to death the inmate. You'll notice there's no mention in this very critical passage of the reestablishment of the nation of Israel as a separate and distinct people of God with a separate and distinct destiny. It's a false teaching that's unfortunately far too prevalent in the churches today. What's starkly absent, not only from this passage, but from the entire New Testament, is any mention by Christ or any of the apostles of the reestablishment of a separate nation of Israel, or of a kingdom of Christ from which non-Jewish Christians are to be excluded. There's no biblical warrant for us to be separating the people of God whom Christ has joined together through His blood. I thought about calling this Paul's commentary on dispensationalism. Because that's the belief system that wants to keep Jews and Gentile believers separate. But look what Paul writes. For he himself, Christ Jesus, is our peace, who made both groups into one. Jesus Christ, fully man, fully God, has reconciled us to God and to one another. There it is in short. Now the piece he's talking about here in verse 14 refers to the reconciliation between people groups. The end of hostilities between these two people groups. And it was Christ Himself who brought about this piece. between Jews and Gentiles. We see a picture of this in Revelation 5, 9. In Revelation 7, 9, we see the worship there of the Lamb of God in heaven by people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. This peace between peoples and nations is in Christ, who at the cross ended what had been a God-ordained separation of Jews from all the other families and nations of the earth. He made both groups into one. There is no other way to read that and be faithful to Scripture. How did he do that? Well, what he did was he broke down the barrier, the dividing wall that was between them. And what was that? That was the whole system of Judaism. He rendered obsolete at the cross all those practices that marked the separation of the Jews from all others. Circumcision not required to enter the kingdom of God. And Paul repeats, he uses different words here, but it carries the same meaning. Christ accomplished this, how? By the shedding of His blood. by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances." The ordinances refers to the ceremonial law. The dividing wall was the Mosaic law itself. Not the Ten Commandments, but the ceremonial law, which called for the offering of animal sacrifices. No more sacrifices after Christ offered Himself. And that law which demanded the separation of Israel from all other people. both religiously and socially, in matters of worship, matters of diet, in matters of marriage. So this was a wall placed around Israel. It was to divide that people of God from the Gentiles. Folks, Christ broke down the dividing wall. Look at the words. He made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. He abolished it in His flesh. By the shedding of His blood, by His death on the cross, He atoned for the sins of all who would believe in Him, both Jew and Gentile. And He abolished that whole system of Judaism that separated Jew from Gentile. And all you have to do is read the letter to the Hebrews, and it's spelled out in starkly clear terms. And on the cross, we recall, as he was about to breathe his last, what did he say? It's finished. It's finished. Atonement for his people's sins was accomplished. There's no need for, no purpose to any further sacrifice. And God destroyed the temple in 70 AD, so there'd be no place to offer a sacrifice of an animal. There's no further purpose to any separation or distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The distinction that now remains is between believers and unbelievers. Those who have been made alive in Christ, those who have not. So what Paul's saying, by His death at the cross, Christ abolished the old covenant Levitical sacrificial system. He rendered it obsolete, just as the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 8, verse 13. And notice Paul's clear language here. He abolished in His flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Speaking of the ceremonial law, the sacrifices, the dietary laws. Why? Why did he do that? So he might make the two groups into one. What kind of thinking wants to pursue or look forward to a separation of these two groups who Christ has made into one? He's established peace between them. And he's established peace between them as one body and God. Folks, separation of peoples from one another and from God was never God's ultimate plan and purpose. He abolished the law as a divisive instrument that was separating humanity from God and separating Jews from Gentiles. He's created a new single man, as he says, that transcends all of those deep divisions that once existed. And he's made peace among them. And nowhere does the New Testament teach that that system or the separation of Jews from all others will be reinstituted in the future. I have dear friends who believe that, but this Bible never says that. Christ didn't break down the dividing wall only to rebuild it at some future time. And for what possible purpose would He do that? And so what this adds up to for the Jews is if they want to have peace with God, if they want to be reconciled to God, they must do so through Christ the mediator, just as all Gentiles must. And I'd point out Christ did not abolish the moral law, God's standard of righteousness at the cross. It remains that very thing which shows us our sin and drives us to Christ for forgiveness. It shows us our need for an atonement outside ourselves. And that law, that moral law that we find in the Ten Commandments and in the teachings of Christ in the New Testament is our rule of life after conversion. so that he might reconcile them both in one body to God. What's left after that? It's through the cross. He's put to death the enmity. It's not going to rise like the phoenix. We're not going to see the separation return. At the cross, the separation of Israel from the world ended. They're not two peoples of God. They're not two separate ways of salvation. Bible never teaches those things. And you think about it, that kind of teaching, different ways of salvation for Jews and Gentiles, if it were accepted by the Jews, could only lead them away from Christ, convince them of lack of their need for Christ. And it would lead them away from eternal life and toward eternal misery. So now, here in verse 16, Paul also writes, Christ is also our peace in that He has reconciled both Jewish and Gentile believers in one body to God. This too, where do you accomplish this? At the cross. Obviously the most significant moment in all of human history. Romans 5.10, For if while we were enemies, And we were when Christ died for us. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Reconciled to God through the cross. Saved by His resurrection. Has He overcome death for us? 2 Corinthians 5, 18. All these things are from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That's what the gospel is. God reconciled us to Himself through Christ. And then He gave Paul and the apostles that ministry to preach that message. And Colossians 1, 19. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, the fullness of Deity, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Through Him, I say, whether things on the earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death. Through death He reconciles us to God because He cleanses us of that which separated us from God, our sin. And He's reconciled you in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach, if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast. and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard. In other words, there's one people of God. It seems so simple. Yet, like what we read in chapter one, it's rejected by so many in Christian churches. The true Christian church is the one people of God, comprised of both believing Jews and believing Gentiles. And that both groups are brought together and reconciled to God through the cross shows there was no true reconciliation with God through the old covenant Levitical system. It hadn't been accomplished yet because that system couldn't accomplish it. Israel had privileges, and they were many, but it did not have eternal reconciliation with God. That was only through Christ. It still is only through Christ. And this whole idea of the cross reappearing here throughout this passage points to this propitiatory sacrifice, this atoning sacrifice. Sin is what separated us from God. And unless and until that sin is cleansed through faith in Him, no man can be restored to God or to His favor. It's through the cross that this reconciliation with God has been accomplished. When we're reconciled to God, you understand what that means. It means God's wrath upon us. His anger toward us is removed. We're redeemed. We're brought back into God's favor. But we're brought back in one flock with every Jewish believer then and now. The Jews had the law, but they needed the gospel to be saved. First Corinthians 12, 13. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. What are the next two, three words there? Jews or Greeks. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. You think God's going to separate this body? Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, all were made to drink of one Spirit. We're joined to Christ by His Spirit into an eternal union. In identifying the heirs of salvation, Paul wrote Galatians 3, 28 and 29. I want you to turn there if you have your Bible handy. Galatians 3, 28 and 29. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free man. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, look at this, then you are Abraham's descendants. You're sons of Abraham. If you belong to Christ, you're heirs according to the promise to Abraham. Verse 17 and 18, Paul summarizes his teaching here. And he came and he preached peace to you who were far away, Peace to those who were near. And here it is another time. For through Him, we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. We should celebrate this. This should be a cause of the greatest celebration. Under the old covenant Levitical system, only the Jews even had access to God. And that access was through that now obsolete ceremonial sacrificial system that God had ordained for them. Remember, Israel was created so that God could speak to people over all of time and through whom the Savior was to be born. Not the seed of Adam, but the seed of a woman. The Jews had this access to God, but they didn't have eternal life in that system. But by the blood of Christ, both Jews and non-Jews, Paul says, both have our access to the Father. How? Through union with Christ. Not only access, but spiritual life, eternal life, and fellowship with Him. We have all of this through Christ. And only through Christ. This is what God promised in Genesis 12, 3 and foreshadowed in that Old Covenant system. And He uses these terms here, you who are far away and those who are near. These are terms for non-Jews and Jews. Isaiah 57, 19 is where we see this phrasing used. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near. We can find the gospel all through Isaiah. Far away and near. The Jews, by the covenant God had made with them at Mount Sinai, were in that sense near to God. They had access to God. That's why Isaiah uses that language. And that's why Paul draws on that language here. The Gentiles, so long as they had no promise of salvation and no relationship with God, were deemed afar off. And that's a fair and accurate description. In affirming that the heavenly promises in Christ are for believers from both Jews and Gentiles, Peter said this. Acts 2.39, For the promise is for you, talking to Jews, and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as our Lord our God will call to Himself. The promise is for everybody. He announced it on the day of Pentecost again. And so now we both, in one spirit, have access to the Father through Christ. And this message of reconciliation is still preached today in the gospel. The gospel is the message of peace by which God declares Himself to be reconciled to us and makes known to us His love for us. If we were to take away the gospel, what would we have? The gospel is the instrument of peace. That's what Christ has given us. That's how He speaks to those near and those far away, even today. And we see the use of Old Testament scriptures in here when speaking to Gentiles. We see that throughout the New Testament. And this underscores the reality of the application of all the promises of God in the Old Testament to all Gentile Christians, as well as all Jewish believers. And so, Paul's shown us here, in Christ, in his church, is a new community of the people of God. Paul calls this, back in verse 15, a new man. He's made the two groups into one new man. And it transcends the old distinctions, the old entities. Even though, even as we meet here tonight, unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Gentiles continue to exist everywhere. Some describe this new man as the church replacing Israel. I don't favor that terminology. Others would say that Israel was the church in the Old Testament. And I don't favor that terminology either. I believe the better way to describe this change is that the church was born of Israel. that Israel was the instrument God used to give birth to Christ and to His church. And that's what I believe the picture of the olive tree and the root of the olive tree shows us. It was through the people of Israel, a people created by God from this barren couple, that people from every nation, tribe, and tongue are being reconciled to God, restored to fellowship with Him. I want to read one little passage from Galatians because Scripture never declares that the Sinai Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, provided a means of eternal life, a means of eternal fellowship with God. The books of Romans and Galatians and Hebrews all show us this. But here's Galatians 311. Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. For the righteous man shall live by faith. So the distinctions are over. And in Romans 10, Paul again clearly eliminates the possibility of any distinction between Jews and non-Jews in the way of salvation. Romans 10, 11. For the scripture says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him. For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Well, let's take a moment and let's reflect on the things that the Word of God has spoken to our minds and hearts tonight, and then we will close in prayer. And we'll take some questions if there are some. Lord, we are grateful that You have revealed these things to us. We're grateful that You've opened our eyes and our minds and our hearts to hear You, that You've given us ears to hear. And Lord, we pray for understanding in the truth and unity in the truth in your church. Lord, that we would hear what you say, that we would seek only your will and your purposes and not our own. Your word presents to us just a glorious, glorious future for all who will trust in you and will believe you when you speak. And so, Lord, I pray not only for those here, but for those around us, that they will hear your word, that you will give ears to hear and open hearts and minds to the knowledge of the truth. In Christ's name, amen.