Well let's pray, let's ask God for help as we
look at his word now. Gracious Heavenly Father,
please help us to see how wonderful it is to
be united in Christ. Help us to see the riches
and the depths of that and we pray that you would
help us to maintain the unity created in the
bond of peace by your Holy Spirit. We ask this
in Jesus' name. Amen. Well we lived in Broken
Hill for two and a half years and I can tell
you it's a unique and fascinating place. But
one thing I'll never forget about Broken Hill
is that in one sense it had its own caste system.
In Broken Hill they had this thing called A graders,
B graders and C graders. So if you're an A -grader,
you were born and bred in town. If you were a
B -grader, you married an A -grader and you'd
lived in town for a while. And if you were a
C -grader, you were what was coined from away,
basically anywhere else. And this is a real thing,
like from the mining boom in the late 1800s and
for many decades, like even... into the 50s and
60s, this was a real thing in Broken Hill. A
-graders would get preferential hiring, preferential
treatment and huge social acceptance that other
people wouldn't get. And this way of thinking,
whilst it's mostly gone today, there still exists
a little bit of it. I had friends at the hospital
who were saying, there's still a bit of like,
oh, you're an A -grader, cool. And you get a
little bit of preference and things like that
amongst the nurses and doctors. I don't know
if it's true. I'm just going off what my friend
said. But no matter what you did in Broken Hill,
no matter how long you were there, for someone
like me, the best I could ever hope for was to
be affectionately called a B -grader. I was never
going to be an A -grader because I'm not born
and bred. Ironically, it's not just the ground
in Broken Hill that's broken. There's a lot of
fracturing, I think, in the place. And this is
just one small example. But it's not just Broken
Hill. India has the Varna car system. That fractures
society, discriminates against people and creates
toxic tribalism. And even though it was outlawed
in the 1950s, Google tells me it's still influential
to some degree to this day. And that's just within
India. Think about, broadly, India and Pakistan.
I mean, there's complex and hostile relations
there, aren't there? As with many countries,
Russia and Ukraine, North and South Korea, Israel
and Palestine. And if that wasn't enough today,
we have all sorts of fun things we're dealing
with in politics, don't we? There's left -wing
and right -wing. We've got today other things
as well, like the battles of the sexes, and we've
got management and workers often competing for
different things. When you look at it all, you
go, our world is broken and fractured, isn't
it? In so many ways. I know, Brendan. you're
going to do your usual thing. The answer is God,
right? Well, what about religions? Don't they
cause many of the wars today? And churches, well,
they're all splintered into different denominations.
Can God really help? I mean, it seems like at
every aspect of society, whether it's religion,
politics, countries, all of this, There's another
crack, there's another division. This fragmentation
exists in the world and it creates friction,
selfishness and hostility. I just sit back and
I think, why can't we have peace? Why can't we
all just get along? What needs to happen to unite
people together? Well, our passage today shows
us the way forward. Last week we saw how Jesus
unites us to God vertically. But this passage
today is all about how that vertical reconciliation
with God, that peace with God, has a knock on
effect where we have peace with each other. Here's
the big thing we see from today. Jesus reconciling
us to God, Jesus giving us peace with God, creates
peace with each other. This is what I hope you
take away from today. Jesus reconciling us to
God creates peace with each other. And we see
three things in the passage that tell us this.
You used to be excluded, Jesus tore down the
wall, and you are now included. So let's have
a look at the first one. You used to be excluded.
If you got your Bible open at Ephesians 2, come
with me to verses 11 and 12. It says, therefore
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles,
that's people of all the nations, anyone who's
non -Jewish, you who are Gentiles by birth and
called uncircumcised by those who call themselves
the circumcision, which is done in the body by
human hands, remember that at that time you were
separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship
in Israel, and foreigners, to the covenants of
promise, without hope and without God in the
world. Do you remember as a kid those times where
you might not have been picked? You know, I don't
know if it was for the drama performance at school
or for the footy team or whatever it might have
been or even just at playtime. I mean, maybe
you're there and you're one of those kids who
got picked for everything. Great. But try and
imagine what it'd be like if you were one of
those kids who just didn't get picked. Well,
that's what it was like for all of us because
we were Gentiles. Paul's saying you've got to
remember that. Remember, that's where you came
from. You were all non -Jews. And it used to
be that the Old Testament laws excluded us from
God's people and from all the perks and privileges
that go along with being God's people. I mean,
we're such beneficiaries of all the work that
Jesus did and Paul did in taking the gospel to
the nations. We often don't stop and think about
this, but this was a huge issue in the ancient
world. How do you work out how to get Jew and
Gentile together and working together in a church
where traditionally they'd been separated and
excluded from one another? And so Paul's saying,
hey, you Gentiles, remember what it was like.
Remember how things were. I'm going to show you
where you've come, but you've got to start with
the starting point. Remember where you were.
And he's got this great summary. Did you see
that? Where were you? You were without hope.
and without God in the world. One commentator
I read this week said, the only thing we were
in was in the world. We were without hope and
without God in the world. I mean, we may not
have realised it prior to a conversion, but we
didn't think we were missing out, but we lacked
true hope. We might have hoped for little things,
you know? I hope to get a better car or I hope
to get that house down the road or whatever it
might be. But we didn't have everlasting hope,
real hope. And we didn't have God in our lives,
a God who loves us and cares about us, who's
in control of everything, who wants what's best
for us. And because we didn't have hope and God,
it made our world a harsh and hostile place.
You might not believe this, but sometimes my
two daughters fight. Occasionally they fight
over a toy. Usually some silly toy. I remember
back in Broken Hill, we used to have this little
wooden laptop that they all loved playing with.
I mean, I looked at it and just, it's the most
boring toy. But anyway, they love this little
wooden laptop and they would shout, they would
snatch, they'd sometimes shove. And I think to
myself, why is it they exhibit these behaviours?
What's driving it? Well, it's their beliefs,
isn't it? They believe nothing better is coming.
All there is is the wooden laptop. That's all
I can see. You know, there might have been a
whole room full of other toys. Doesn't matter.
All I can see is that wooden laptop and there's
nothing better. And they forget sometimes that
daddy loves both of them, that daddy wants what's
best for them. In one sense, I think it'd be
fair to say they forget what it means to be in
our family. And people in our world act like
that today. They act like my two daughters. They
can be very childish. I mean, it's funny, we
pretend to be so sophisticated and proper and
then things go wrong. Do you remember COVID and
all the toilet paper shortages? Amazing how you
can see the worst of humanity when toilet paper
runs out. And why? What drives that? Why do people
suddenly do that? It's because they're without
God and without hope in the world. They're not
included in God's people. They don't have those
things of God in their life and hope. And so
they act at their worst. See, our world is a
hostile and fractured place because people feel
desperate and alone. Desperate times call for
desperate measures. And if you are constantly
desperate, you're going to act desperately all
the time with desperate measures. And that's
what happens in our world. It makes people tribal
and hostile. People go, okay, there's no hope.
There's no God in the world. I've got to look
out for number one. It's a dog -eat -dog world.
It's survival of the fittest. You know, I'll
make some allies so that, you know, things work
a little better. But far out, you know, I've
got to look after me. And that's why people are
at their worst. See people change I think I've
seen people change when they're included in God's
people when they have hope and God in their life
and Paul doesn't want these Gentile these non
-jewish Christians and us To forget life prior
to our conversion He's saying remember. Did you
see he says it twice remember? He wants us to
see how bad life was apart from God and the hope
that he gives when we're excluded from God's
people. Because seeing that will make us more
thankful and appreciative now that we have it.
So if you're here today and you're a Christian,
can you remember life prior to your conversion?
What was it like to be apart from God's people?
Even if you grew up Christian, I'm sure you've
seen that in the world. Just flick on the TV,
watch the news, see the violence, drive up to
the local shops, see the signs that say, no abuse
tolerated here. See, people in our world are
tribal, they're fractured, they're hostile, because
there's no hope and no God in the world for them.
But when you come to know Jesus, things are so
different. Why are they different now? Well,
we used to be excluded, but here's what happened.
Jesus tore down the wall. Have a look with me
at verse 13. But now, God's done something amazing.
God's taken the initiative. But now, in Christ
Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought
near by the blood of Christ, by his death on
the cross. For he himself is our peace, who has
made the two groups one. and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by setting
aside in his flesh the law with its commands
and regulations. His purpose was to create in
himself one new humanity out of the two, thus
making peace. And in one body to reconcile both
of them to God through the cross by which he
put to death their hostility. He came and preached
peace to you who are far away and peace to those
who are near. For through him we both have access
to the Father by one spirit. So the Old Testament
rules and regulations that existed were like
a Berlin wall. They divided Jew and non -Jew.
You might remember when Peter Hughes was at family
camp, he showed us this cool picture. Do you
remember that one? This was at the temple, the
Jewish temple, and there was this part of the
temple that said this, let no foreigner enter
within the parapet and the partition which surrounds
the temple precincts. Anyone caught violating
will be held accountable for his ensuing death.
This is serious stuff. It was No, you stay over
there. You're quarantined from the temple. You're
kicked out. You're over there. You can only come
so far in. But if you were Jewish, you could
go further in. And this was just an expression
of the Old Testament law. And it was there to
show that, yes, being part of God's people matters.
And some divisions do matter. Some divisions
can be helpful. But now it's opened up to everybody.
At the cross, Jesus tore down the wall. I mean
he put hostility to death. How? He fulfilled
the law. He was sacrificed for our sins. He brought
us peace with God. And this peace we have with
God has created peace with each other. You can
think of it like a triangle. So here you've got
this triangle and as we get closer to God what
happens with us? We get closer to each other,
don't we? Jesus makes a new humanity of Jews
and non -Jews in himself. As he's brought them
closer to God, they are closer to each other.
The hostility is gone. You can think of it like
this, and please bear with me. I've never done
a rugby league illustration before. I'm an AFL
guy, but I'm doing my best here. But picture
the state of origin players. So they're geared
up for state of origin, the Maroons and the Blues.
And when they play, they put on that jersey and
they go to war, don't they? It's a bit like the
Jew and the Gentile. Like all the divisions and
tribalism in our world. So they're at war. They're
ready to attack and hurt each other. And I picked
a photo of the Maroon guy tackling the Blues
guy because I know where I live now. But you
know what? If those same players were to put
on the green and gold Guernsey, if they were
picked for the Australian team, what happens
to that division and hostility? It goes away.
They're united by something bigger and greater.
And that's what Jesus does with his people. Yes,
there are people who are Jewish and non -Jewish.
There are people who are North Korean and South
Korean. There are people who are Indian and Pakistani.
There are A -graders and B -graders. There are
Aussies and Kiwis. And there's people who are
left and right wing. And there's management and
workers and all of that. But if you're a Christian,
do you know what? You're wearing the same jersey.
The Jesus jersey. If you're on Team Jesus, all
those other things don't really matter anymore,
do they? Now this has got massive implications
for God's people today. I mean firstly it means
that all are welcome if they trust in the cross.
I mean everyone's welcome at church, of course,
but all are part of the church if they trust
in the Lord Jesus. And then it means we can enjoy
diversity without it becoming a division. We
can become curious about one another, interested
to learn from each other. It also means that
denominational tithes don't define us. Like,
I'm glad I'm an Anglican. I love being Anglican.
And that's cool. But I also love the Preses down
the road and the Baptists as well. If they love
Jesus, I've got more in common with them than
an Anglican church where people there don't.
We can always remember that there is more that
unites us in Christ than divides us in anything
else. We share a hope. We share the same God.
We have got hope and God in our lives and we
share that together. What's our hope? Our hope
is that one day we will be gathered around the
throne of Jesus, a great multitude of people
from all nations, tribes and tongues. And we
serve that one God now, don't we? The bond Christians
have runs so deep. And it's this bond that actually
drives much of the ethical section in chapters
four to six of Ephesians. We'll get there, but
God willing. But the idea of Ephesians four to
six is it comes back to Ephesians one to three
and it goes, okay, here's how you live your life.
How am I meant to live my life? Look back on
what Jesus has done and that's gonna change how
you live now. But here we're seeing that reality.
We're seeing what Jesus has done. So, what's
that look like? Well, when we walk into church
on a Sunday, what are we meant to see? We're
meant to see that the people around us are people
that Jesus died for. We're meant to go, the differences
don't matter. They're someone that Jesus died
for. They're precious. They're valuable. I mean,
you could be a Blues fan and you could still
be welcome here. And if not, listen to the sermon,
okay? No, you can come. You can come and go,
yeah, I'm loved here. We're meant to see the
closeness. We're meant to see that that Jesus
jersey matters more than everything else. The
divisions aren't there anymore. They're differences,
but they're not divisions. But there's more to
this bond that we still need to see. It's not
just that Jesus tore down the wall. It's also
you are now included. You are now included. Look
with me at verses 19 to 23. By the way, you might
want to ask this at question time, but I think
there it's talking about New Testament prophets,
not Old Testament prophets, but I won't go into
that now. It's built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself
as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building
is joined together and rises to become a holy
temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being
built together to become a dwelling in which
God lives forever. by His Spirit. Who are Gentile
Christians? They're not outsiders anymore. They're
not second -class Christians. They're full members
and citizens. They're not this second tier of
Christians either. They're not sort of like,
oh, well, the Jewish Christians, they're business
class and the Gentile Christians, you fly economy.
Hey, be glad you're on the same plane. No. They're
full members, they're equal citizens together
built into a temple where God lives. Why? Because
the Jerusalem temple has gone. What happened
at the cross? Jesus dies on the cross and the
curtain of the temple was torn in two. It was
foreshadowing what would happen in 70 AD when
the temple would be destroyed. It was not only
showing that we all now have access to God through
Jesus' death, it was also showing it was judgment
on that temple, saying it's no longer needed
because Jesus is now here. And so Jesus is the
temple and anyone connected to Jesus is the temple.
The true place where God dwells is every Christian.
and Christians together in community. And within
that community, every Christian has equal value.
I remember as a kid, we used to be members of
the Sydney Swans. And see, I'm going back to
an AFL illustration. I'm just going back to what's
comfortable. But we would pay for different tiers
of memberships. So at one point we had the grand
final tickets membership and it meant we had
better seats during the year, we got more merchandise
in the mail and it meant that we could actually
get grand final seats if the Swans made it to
the grand final. It was really sweet. I think
back in the Geraldton Toy Library... If you did
more at the toy library, if you volunteered longer
hours, you had a better tier of membership, you'd
actually get a discount on your subscription.
I think that's just how we do memberships today,
isn't it? It's, you know, even Netflix now. You
don't just buy Netflix. It's like you get the
good one without the ads or the one with the
ads or whatever. But membership in God's people
is different. It's flat. It's equal. There was
one costly price to get you in. But once you're
in, there's no higher tiers. There's no sort
of second class, first class, any of that. It's
all equal. And again, this has huge implications
for God's people. See, what's foundational to
this new temple and what makes it grow? It's
the Lord Jesus. It's been connected to him. And
so I want to say, yes, some divisions are necessary.
If a church is not connected to Jesus, if a Christian
is, or someone who says they're a Christian,
is not connected to Jesus, they're not a church.
They're not a Christian. So any church that doesn't
preach Christ, make no mistake, they're not that
temple. We need to be connected to Jesus. And
another implication of that is it breaks my heart
when people leave our church and don't find a
new church. If you're going to leave, please
come. Have a conversation. Tell me, you know,
all the reasons why you want to leave. I don't
want you to leave, but if you want to leave,
come tell me why. But then make sure you find
a new church. Because how are you going to survive
if you're not connected to Jesus and his people?
But you know what else makes it grow? In chapter
four we see quite clearly it's that they're connected
to each other. They're connected to Jesus but
they're connected to each other. And within the
church they guard against anything that creates
a two -tiered Christianity or any form of division.
What are the things that could create division
or a two -tiered Christianity? It'd be easy to
have sort of divisions that, I mean, you know,
it's hard because some things you need to have
a little bit of differences, but they can turn
into visions. So you could have, you know, clergy
versus laity, that could become a division rather
than a difference. You could have people who've
got mystical spiritual gifts, you know, we see
that in Corinthians, you know, I speak in tongues
and I can prophesy and I can do all of this,
but you guys can't, you know, there's like a
two -tiered Christianity there. But you can have
things in churches where people have some casual
racism, some casual sexism, some casual ageism.
All sorts of things can create division or tiered
Christianity rather than just united differences.
And so what's the best protection within a church?
It's appreciating who you are in Christ. It's
growing in assurance of who you are in Christ.
That God has fully included you. Such secure
joy leads us to be patient, gentle and curious.
To even celebrate our differences. I think that's
something really special when the church gets
that right. All right, well, let's draw some
threads together. We started by asking, why can't
we have peace? Why is the world so fractured?
And I hope you saw it's because we live in a
world without hope and without God. I mean, hope
and God exist, but so many in the world reject
that. And that's what creates conflict. When
people are excluded from God's people, self -excluded
because they won't come in and trust in Jesus,
it leads to a world that is tribal and hostile.
But no one has to be excluded. Jesus tore down
the wall. There is now peace. You used to be
excluded. Jesus tore down the wall. you are now
included. Here's the big thing, Jesus reconciling
us to God creates peace with each other. Jesus
reconciling us to God creates peace with each
other. If people could see that Jesus is Lord
and Saviour, that He's the only way to God, well
religion wouldn't divide us anymore, would it?
If people could submit to the Lordship of Jesus
and go, what does Jesus say on this? You wouldn't
really have left -wing or right -wing anymore,
would you? You'd have people going, what does
Jesus say? If people could go, hey, I'm in Christ,
I'm wearing the Jesus jersey, your tribal differences,
where you're from, your background, it wouldn't
be a thing anymore, would it? It'd be like, wow,
that's so cool. You eat what? I want to try that.
It wouldn't be people angry at each other, hating.
You'd be like, hey, let's share what we have.
Welcome, come to our country. But it doesn't
exist like that today because people are without
God and without hope in the world. Now I'm not
saying we be stupid. I'm not saying we open our
borders to everyone. I'm not saying, but I'm
saying this is the thing that unites humanity.
It's the Lord Jesus. There's nothing better than
Him. Nothing else can unite people like Jesus.
And if you haven't been included into God's people,
Can I say to you, anyone can join. That's why
Jesus died. So that no matter who you are, no
matter what background you have, no matter what
you've done in your life, you can enter into
God's people today. You can have hope and God
in your life. And it doesn't matter what you've
done, grace and mercy is available to you. So
if you want to be included today, if you haven't
been, please come up the front and pray up the
front with me or with anyone else. Come and pray
and enter into God's people today. But for those
who are already included, for those who are Christians
who trust in Jesus, there are four important
implications I want to share with you today.
Aw, the arrow didn't match up with the words.
That makes me sad. I like things that are aesthetically
pleasing. Anyway. So the first one. Where to
reach out with the message of peace. Seeing the
vertical and the horizontal peace Christ brings
should move me to share this message with the
world. What a world where a new humanity of peace
is coming. And the church is the foreshadowing,
the prototype of that. And people don't have
to be excluded. So let's be people that are on
about mission. Let's pray for that. Come to Revive
prayer meeting Friday morning, seven o 'clock,
wipe the sleep from your eyes, get up, get over
to 119 Camarunga Road and pray with us. Pray
that people would be united to Christ and each
other. and share and invite people to church.
Share Jesus with people, invite them to church.
You might want to think of some one -liners about
church and about Jesus. Something like, Jesus
is far more inclusive than people realise. Or,
I love my church, it's so varied yet united and
caring. Just think of some creative ways to explain
Jesus and church to people. Let's reach out with
this message of peace. If we had a cure for cancer,
we'd want to tell that to everyone, wouldn't
we? Let's do the same with the message of peace
that we have in Jesus. Secondly, this is going
to be a fun one. Israel's priority is order,
not value. Now, some Christians have a dispensational
Christian Zionist way of reading the Bible. If
you don't know what that means, that's okay,
Google. But, and then there's other Christians
who have a thing called replacement theology.
Now, they're kind of two ends of the spectrum.
The first one, the dispensational one says Israel
and the church are distinct and carry on as distinct
after Jesus coming. The replacement one says
Jesus and his people, really the Church, has
replaced Israel. Israel's not a thing now and
it's only the Church that's a thing now. And
I want to say I don't agree with either of them.
I think God's promises to Israel aren't going
to be literally fulfilled. Some would say they
are. Some would say, hey, we've got to constantly
pray for Israel, the country. We've got to send
money to them. We've got to lobby for them. Now,
if that's your view, that's great. I'm so glad
you're here at church. If that's you, I want
to say to you today, this shouldn't divide us.
Your theological difference here, whilst it's
something that we should talk about and think
through, it shouldn't be something that divides
us. There's more that unites us in Christ than
divides us. But I also want to humbly suggest
that I think the New Testament should guide how
we read the Old Testament. I think this is saying
the promises we have in the Old Testament are
fulfilled in Christ and the new humanity he brings.
So I don't think it's as simple as the church
replaces Israel, but I don't think they carry
on parallel together. I think it's that Gentile
Christians are incorporated into the people of
Israel. Who are the real people of Israel? It's
the Jewish Christians, isn't it? It's the ones
who trust in Jesus. And it's not replacement.
It's not they're just two separate things. I
think it's they're united together in Christ.
And some of the implications for that is I'd
go, I want to say, yeah, pray for Israel. But
just as much pray for Palestine. Pray for peace
in the Middle East. And more importantly, pray
for conversions. Because if there's fighting,
if there's conflict and people die, they are
facing God's judgment for eternity. What could
be more important than people in Israel and Palestine
and anywhere else in the world coming to know
and love the Lord Jesus? Now, if you want to
know more about this, you can come ask me personally
or ask in Q &A and we can talk more about it.
I'm happy to do that. Number three, we are no
longer under the law. We're not saved by the
law. In fact, the law set aside, as the NIV says,
or is abolished in the ESV, it's not there anymore.
So what do we do with it? Should we throw out
the Old Testament and all of that? No. Hands
up if you've watched West Wing. Anyone watch
West Wing? Okay, cool. Well, us three will enjoy
this. If you haven't watched West Wing, please
do. It's like top TV. There's a famous scene
in West Wing with President Bartlett and these
conservatives come into the Oval Office and he
berates them because they're saying, you know,
we should all be anti -gay, but he says, well,
you guys don't keep the Sabbath and you guys,
you know, have two crops in your farms and all
of that. You're not keeping the Old Testament
laws. And he's trying to show how inconsistent
they are with their reading of the Bible. And
it's great rhetoric, but it's a poor interpretation
of the Bible. Because in Christ the law is fulfilled.
So we still read the Old Testament, it expands
our moral imagination. It teaches us about Christ.
But we need to see we're no longer under the
law. If we love as Christ loves, we fulfil the
law. and do what it really says. So that's an
important thing just to help you with your Bible
reading. And then finally we must maintain the
bond of peace. We don't create our unity, Jesus
already did that, but in Ephesians 4 it tells
us we need to maintain it. How? Humility, gentleness,
patience, bearing with one another in love, being
eager, to maintain the unity we have. I remember
years ago being in a church where we were in
a growth group and someone walked out of our
growth group that night because there was an
argument about the Olympics and something left
wing and right wing and they got all upset and
they walked out. And it was so sad. I want to
ask you, where do you need to work things through
with other brothers and sisters? Where do you
need to work things through where differences
have become divisions? I hate seeing things like
that. So let's make sure we work those things
through. Calmly talk about it, raise it. Be gentle
with each other and show love to one another.
Because our world, whether it's Broken Hill,
whether it's India, whether it's Cairns, is a
hostile and fragmented place. And it's the Lord
Jesus that unites people. And it's such a joy
when Christians get that right. So let's display
to the world how deep and wonderful peace in
Christ truly is. Let's pray. Father, help us
to put our trust in Jesus, to see the peace that
we have not just with you, Father, but with one
another. Please keep us from division. Help us
to celebrate our differences and help us to love
one another, maintaining the unity we have in
the bond of peace. We ask this in Jesus name.
Amen.