Bible on the beach. I'm Ryan. Today I'm up here in the hills again right by my house.
I've got some fun waves this morning. I'm glad you can be with me. Now today we're going
to look at Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 through 22 and it says, so don't forget that you were
not born as the uncircumcised. You had none of the covenants and laws. You were foreigners
to an incredible heritage. You were without the covenants and promises of the Messiah,
the promised hope and without God. Yet look at you now. Everything is new. Although you
were once distant and far away from God, now you've been brought close to Him through the
blood of Jesus. You've actually been united with Christ. You know, isn't it amazing what
God does in our life when we give him a chance to... Every day we need a new chance with
God. We need a fresh start. We need a new beginning. We need new opportunity. And every
day we humbly come before God and say, hey Lord, here I am. Today's your day. Work in
my life. He always gives us a fresh start. He always gives us a new beginning. You know,
I believe that's why there's a new day every day because it's a new opportunity to live
a better life for God every single day that we're alive. He says, our peace is Jesus.
He's made us one in Him. Boy, isn't that true? The peace that we get in life comes from God.
It comes from Jesus. We say, Lord, give me your peace. Give me your grace. And he helps
us every single day. He says, He's broken down every wall of prejudice that separated
us has now been, has now made us equal through our union with Christ. So, humans love categories.
God doesn't. God abolishes all categories through Jesus. Every category that you can
come up with, the religious category, an economic category, a racial category, every category,
God does away with it in Jesus. He says that we're all one in Him in knowing Him and in
following Him in our life. He says that in verse 15, ethnic hatred has been dissolved
by the crucifixion of His precious body on the cross. So, God does away with all race
through Jesus. We're all seen as one in Christ. The legal code that stood condemning every
one of us has now been repealed by this. The triune essence has made peace between us by
starting over. That's how we get peace in our life, by starting over, saying, God, give
me a fresh start. Give me a new beginning, flow in my life, work in my life, move in
my life, forming one new people, a humanity fused together in Himself. So, God is on the
plan and the purpose in this world of bringing everybody together in unity through Jesus.
That's how unity is accomplished. It's accomplished through humility and a focus on Jesus. And
this is why politics can never bring unity. This is why nation states can never bring
unity. What brings unity is humility and a focus on one hero, Christ. That's what unites
us together. God says, if you're humble and you love Jesus, I'm working in your life.
That's the invitation to serve and follow God. He says the two have now become one and
we live restored to God and reconciled in the body of Christ. That's what God does.
He brings us into a relationship with Himself and He brings us into a relationship with
each other. Through His crucifixion, hatred died. So, when we see Jesus crucified our
own selfish desires and the hatred that we feel in our heart, it melts away because the
love of God melts away all hate. For Jesus has come to preach this sweet message of peace.
The ones who were distant are those who are now near. Verse 17. So, we who were far from
God are now near to God through Jesus and through what He's done in our life. He says,
now we are united to Christ. We both have equal and direct access into the realm of
the Holy Spirit before the Father. So, now we can go directly to God with everything
that we need in our life. We just say, Lord, would you help me today to go directly to
you and to get what I need? That's why I get up every day early and I pray. I go to God
and I ask Him for what I need for the day. The strength that I need for today. He says,
we're not foreigners or guests, but rather we're children of the city of the Holy One
with all the rights of a family member as the household of God. God says, if you're
in my family, you have rights and you come to me and you tell me what you need and I
will take care of you. He says, you are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple
and your lives have been built up together upon the foundation laid by the apostles and
prophets and best of all you are connected to the headquarter stone of the building,
the anointed one, Jesus himself. So everything in life revolves around one person, Jesus
Christ. Everything that we do in our life and on this planet is for one person, it's
for Jesus Christ. The entire building is under construction and is continually growing under
his leadership and supervision until it rises up completed in the Holy Temple of the Lord
himself. This means that God is transforming each of us into his holiness, his dwelling
place through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. So the power of the Holy Spirit
living inside of our life is what transforms us and our thinking every single day. The
Holy Spirit literally changes how we think when we invite him into our life. God can
get us to think differently, to act differently, to live life differently. That's the invitation
to be led by the Holy Spirit every day. I don't know about you, but I need to be led
by the Holy Spirit every single day. I'm so glad you joined me today for Bible on the
Beach, actually Bible on the Hills today here in San Clemente. Thanks so much for tuning
in. Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful day.