Advent 2017: Peace - Ephesians 2:11-22

Nathan, I remember now.

Fourteen children, sixteen altogether.

!

Ephesians 2, verse 11.

Ephesians 2:11

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands.

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated 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 once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

By abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.

So making peace.

And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

In whom the whole structure being built or joined together grows in a holy temple or into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Father, we thank you for your word.

That it is the revelation of you.

That it is our souls meet.

That it is light for our lives.

We ask God that by your Spirit you would illumine us today.

And enable us to gain from your word that we might live more faithfully to you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Today's Advent focus is on peace.

Peace is a significant part of the gospel.

And it is not surprising then that it is a major part of the Christmas story.

In fact, it was the only benefit mentioned by that great angelic host when they announced to the shepherds,

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

That being so, it is surprising that we do not hear more about peace.

I try to think back of all the sermons I heard about peace.

I can't remember that many.

Maybe once or twice during Christmas.

For the most part, our understanding of words, specifically peace, comes from our culture.

When I was young, I heard a lot about peace.

It was during the Vietnam War and the peace movement that surrounded that, that I was a young teenager.

And to my mind at that time, peace was cool.

We had our own peace sign, you know, and then the circle with the upside down cross.

We had our own peace songs, peace train, imagine.

And for me, peace was simply an end to the war.

Later on, when my family and I lived in Israel, peace took on a different concept.

It was primarily associated with a process to bring some kind of coexistence,

compromised coexistence between the Arabs and Israel.

And today, when I hear the word peace, it's usually in reference to a state of mind, tranquility, a calmness.

I asked my children this week what they think when they hear the word peace.

And most of them had the same answer.

One of them even reminded me of an illustration I used in a sermon once,

called Depicting a Dove Sound Asleep in the Midst of a Storm.

Peace is one of those words that has a wide range of meaning.

It can refer to the absence of war, treaty between countries, civil order, and tranquility.

And if you look through the scriptures, you'll see that the Bible uses the term in all those various ways as well.

But I'd like us to focus this morning on one aspect, the one that's mentioned here in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And I think this passage is significant because it's perhaps the only place in scripture where peace is developed

in this gospel sense the way it is.

When this passage of scripture regarding peace is understood,

I think it sets a foundation for the rest of those aspects of peace.

And so this really is a foundational passage when wanting to understand Christmas peace.

And I think it's God's will for us to experience this peace in a greater way.

I'd like to suggest this morning that these verses in Ephesians reveal the true peace of Christmas.

It's not a typical Christmas passage, but it is a gospel passage.

It's the shalom of the Old Testament.

It's the wholesome unity between people and with God that's provided by the sacrifice of Christ.

I believe one of the main reasons we have this passage here in Ephesians is because

God wants us to more fully appreciate peace.

And to make every effort to maintain that peace, to keep that peace in the church,

in our relationships with one another.

Now, the concept of peace is the focus specifically of verses 13 through 18.

But to better understand what the apostle says about it,

we need to consider the context before and after those verses.

And that's why I've read from verses 11 to 22 this morning.

Each of those sections has something to contribute to this idea of the peace of Christmas.

And so first, we'll look at verses 11 and 12 again.

And from these verses, I'd like to suggest that in order to appreciate

and maintain the peace of Christmas,

you must remind yourself of why you needed it.

Look at verses 11 again.

Begin with verse 11.

It begins,

Therefore remember that at one time,

you Gentiles in the flesh,

called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision,

which is made in the flesh by hands.

Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,

alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,

and strangers to the covenants of promise,

having no hope and without God in the world.

Now, this verse 11 contains really

what is the first directive in this amazing letter.

It's the first directive.

And all it's asking us to do here is remember something.

It's a challenge to remind yourself of your life

before you believed in Christ.

Now, that challenge follows an important theme

that begins in chapter 1,

and I'd like to just give a brief survey

or summary of what we find there.

Paul introduces the letter in chapter 1

by giving praise to God

for everything that's involved

in His including us in His great plan,

His plan to bring unity

to all of His creation.

That's verses 3 through 14 in chapter 1.

The apostle calls it in verse 10,

God's plan for the fullness of time

to unite all things in Him,

in heaven and on earth.

Then in verse 15,

he begins to pray for his readers

that God would enable them

to gain a better understanding of God

and His plan

and God's ability to carry out that plan.

Specifically, he wants believers in Jesus

to understand their hope,

verses 17 and 18,

to understand the importance God places

on their or our part in His plan,

verse 18,

and then to understand the significance

of the power that He provides

on our behalf,

in verse 19.

And beginning with verse 20,

all the way through verse 10

of the next chapter,

we have an elaboration

of that prayer

and of that power.

It's the same power

that raised Christ from the dead

and lifted Him

to the supreme position

over all authority

in heaven and on earth.

And it's the same power

that raised you and I

from the dead,

spiritual death.

In chapter 2,

verses 1 through 3,

freeing us

from the servitude

of the devil

and the world

and our own fleshly passions.

And He did all of that

by grace.

By grace alone

bringing about

this powerful deliverance.

Now that's the brief introduction

to the next section then,

verses 11 through 22.

And here then,

He begins by inviting

His Gentile readers

to remember something significant

about their relationship

to God's plan.

And that is,

at one time,

they were excluded from it.

Now He describes

this exclusion

in very careful,

systematic,

evocative language.

He says

that

they were

derogatorily

called

the uncircumcision

by those who were

the circumcision.

That was

not a friendly term

that

was used

about the Gentiles.

He says

they were separated.

He calls them

alienated

and strangers

in these terms

specifically

in reference

to the Messiah

and the community

of Israel

and the covenants

that God had promised

to them.

And then

more generally

they were

therefore

because they were

excluded from

God's people

they were hopeless.

and godless

in the world.

Now that was

a big deal

for the Apostle Paul.

There was no

greater distinction

between the Jew

and the Gentile.

The Gentiles

might have tolerated

been tolerated

by the Jewish people

but the distinction

was clearly

maintained.

To the religious Jew

the Gentile

was a dog.

And there was

a wall of partition

in the temple

courtyard

that kept

the Gentiles

out of

the more

holy areas

with a dire

warning

that if they

would cross

they would cross

at the expense

of their life.

Hostility

was always

under the surface

and there was

such a strong

division

that

when the

Gentiles

first received

the gospel

it became

a major

controversy

in the church.

How can

they

be a part

of the church?

They must

be circumcised

or

can they even

be a part

of the church?

But to the Gentile

there was a huge

gap as well

because they

experienced

a growing

hatred

because of

what they

considered

this Jewish

arrogance

that they

were the

people of

God.

And that

hostility

has continued

to this day

with many

still alive

who witnessed

the most

greatest

act of

genocide

in all

of human

history.

but the

scriptures

instruction

to remember

doesn't

seem that

relevant

to us

today.

It's

been almost

2,000 years

since Paul

wrote this

passage

and gave

this directive

to remember

and a lot

has changed.

We

haven't

really

experienced

this animosity

between

Jews

and Gentiles.

We

don't

really

know

it

that

well.

In

fact,

we even

live in

a culture

where

tolerance

is

heralded

as a

good

thing.

But we

should

still

try to

see

ourselves

in that

situation

because I

think it's

important

for

appreciating

the

change

that

took

place.

From

the time

of Abraham

to the

time of

Christ,

almost

exclusively

God's

plan

focused

on the

Jewish

people,

on the

people of

Israel.

And those

during that

entire period

who died

outside the

Jewish

community

and faith

died

lost.

Their

exclusion

was our

exclusion.

Outside

of Christ,

outside of

God.

Christ,

now the

peace of

Christmas

was needed

because we

were all

outsiders.

We were

hopeless.

We were

objects of

God's

wrath.

And I

think knowing

this is

essential

to

anticipating

or appreciating

and holding

on to the

peace

of Christmas.

Christmas.

Now the

second part

of the

passage,

the heart

of this

passage this

morning is

verses 13

through 18.

That section

is really the

core of

Paul's

message here.

And as

such, I

believe it

encourages us

that in

order to

appreciate and

maintain the

peace of

Christmas,

you must

embrace the

central role of

Christ in

that peace.

In order to

maintain, to

appreciate the

peace of

Christmas, you

must embrace

the central

role of

Christ in

that peace.

Verse 13

begins with a

wonderful contrast.

But now, in

Christ Jesus,

you who once

were far off

have been

brought near

by the

blood of

Christ.

See, Christ

changes

everything,

doesn't he?

but it's

not just

his birth,

his life,

that makes

the change.

It's by the

blood of

Christ, we're

told, that

we are brought

near.

Once we were

separated,

alienated,

outside,

hopeless,

godless, but

now in

Christ, and

specifically

because of

his death,

we are

included.

you like to

belong, to

feel that you

belong.

Wouldn't it

be a lonely

life, just

being outside?

Well, this

is belonging

to the

ultimate

degree.

This is what

God has

provided in

Christ.

Each one of

us can be

included.

God has

wanted to

included.

Now, there

are many

ways that

we benefit

from Christ's

life, from

his death

and resurrection,

but the

benefit that's

emphasized in

this passage

here is

peace.

And it

makes it

clear that

there's a

connection

between our

being included

and peace.

first ten

verses of

chapter two

focus on

an individual

aspect of

salvation.

And perhaps

this is why

it's one of

the most

popular

passages of

Ephesians,

most well-known

anyway.

But here in

verses 11

through 22,

there's a

shift,

specifically

verses 13

through 18.

There's a

shift.

And the

shift is one

of relationship.

See, in the

past, Gentiles

were separated,

not only from

God, but from

the people of

God.

And what

then does

salvation do

for that

relationship?

It changes

the relationship.

It brings a

change, not

only in our

relationship to

God, but in

our relationship

to others.

And that's

why I believe

we find this

focus here on

peace.

And it's such a

significant

distinction that

the apostle

develops this

idea through

the next five

verses.

The idea of

being brought

near is

equated with

peace.

And that

peace is

inseparably

linked to

Jesus.

And so what

I'd like to

do is take a

couple moments

and highlight

three ways

in those

verses that

peace is

linked to

Jesus.

First of

all, he's

introduced with

the sentence,

he himself

is our

peace.

That's

verse 14.

For he

himself is

our

peace.

Now that's

a significant

designation.

And what I

believe it does

is it

describes for

us the

way in

which peace

is

accomplished.

The only

way in

which peace

is accomplished.

It's the

prince of

peace himself

that made

peace

possible.

Now there's

two phrases

that I'd just

like to draw to

your attention

in verses

14 and

15.

In verse

14 it

says,

in his

flesh.

Now that's

an obvious

reference to

the death

of Christ.

It was the

death of

Christ that

made real

peace

possible.

The other

phrase is in

verse 15.

It says,

in himself.

The unity

that is being

described here

in this

verse occurs

where?

In a

location that

is in

Christ.

That's where

it takes

place.

It's not

some general

external

peace.

peace.

It's one

that's only

possible to

those who

have been

by faith

united with

him.

And this

way,

by Christ's

work and

in union

with him,

peace is

possible.

I think

it's

interesting

that

typically

the

Christian

message

about

peace

is

some

general

peace.

peace

to all

of you.

It's a

peaceful

season.

God

wants the

world to

experience

and enjoy

peace.

As a

boy,

we used

to watch,

we're a

good

Catholic

family,

we watched

the Ten

Commandments

every year

and

went to

church on

Christmas

and

Easter.

But

before we

went to

church on

Easter,

we watched

the Ten

Commandments

because it

came out

every year.

And I

remember

after

coming to

faith in

Christ that

we watched

the Ten

Commandments

again and

I was

shocked because

at the end,

you know,

Charlton

Heston,

I mean,

Moses stands

up there and

he says,

go into

the land and

proclaim

liberty to

all its

inhabitants.

I thought,

wait a

minute,

that's not

what happened.

he didn't

tell them

to go

in and

proclaim

liberty.

He said,

you're going

to go

slaughter

everybody.

That was

a big

change for

me.

I think

the same

thing is

true about

peace in

this season.

You know,

we typically

herald peace

as this

general

experience

that God

wants the

world to

experience.

It's not

like that

peace.

Because

peace can

only happen

in Christ.

The message

is peace

is only

to those

who are

in Christ.

And that's

why he

himself

is

our peace.

The second

way peace

is linked

to Jesus

is found

at the

end of

verse 15

where it

says

that

it says

so

making

peace.

peace.

Now,

what's

being

described

here is

the result

of

Jesus'

peacemaking.

By

dying on

the cross,

Jesus

destroyed

the very

thing that

kept Jews

and Gentiles

separated.

He calls

it a

wall of

hostility,

the law

of commandments.

It's

most likely

he had

in mind

those

specific

ceremonial

and

religious

aspects

of

the

law.

At

the

very

least,

the

sacrifices,

circumcision

itself,

but even

the code

itself

that

sentenced

one to

death

for

breaking

the

law.

Jesus'

death

brought

an end

to those

ordinances

that kept

the Jew

and the

Gentile

separated.

And as

a result,

he made

a new

entity.

We call

it

the

church.

that

consists

of

every

tribe

and

every

language

and

every

people

and

every

nation.

But that

peace

extends

beyond

human

unity.

Ultimately,

according to

this verse,

it relates

to our

relationship

with God.

And the

picture we

get here

then is

a peace

that is

collective.

it's

not just

my

peace

and

your

peace,

although

that's

one of

those

aspects

that is

true.

Let the

peace

of Christ

guard

your

hearts

and

minds

in

Christ

Jesus.

There is

a sense

in which

peace

is

individual,

but that's

not the

point of

this

passage.

This

passage

is talking

about

something

greater,

a

greater

plan

in which

God

relates

to

his

people

in

terms

of

a

unity.

Jews

and

Gentiles

together,

one

entity,

one

man

approaching

him

as

one

and

united

with

him

in

that

approach.

This

is the

collective

reconciliation

that I

believe the

passage

is

encouraging

us

to

understand.

The

third

way

that

peace

is

connected

to

Jesus

is

found

in

verse

17.

And

he

came

and

preached

peace

to

you

who

were

far

off

and

peace

to

those

who

were

near.

And

so

here

we're

told

that

Jesus

also

preaches

peace.

He

not

only

is

peace,

he

not

only

makes

peace,

but

he

preaches

peace

to

the

far

and

to

the

near.

The

added

element

is

this

proclamation

that

Christ

himself

makes.

Now

this

is

an

allusion

to

a

passage

in

Isaiah,

Isaiah

57,

19,

where

God

himself

says

peace,

peace,

to the

far

and to

the

near.

Paul

uses it

in

reference

to

Christ

himself

and

the

Jew

and

Gentile.

And

what that

proclamation

is,

is

simply

the

gospel.

This

is the

invitation,

the

message and

invitation that

every one of

us have

received.

It invites

us to

reconciliation,

reconciliation

with God.

It invites

us to

peace,

peace

with

others.

And it

invites us

to free

unhindered

access to

God

and

therefore

to

benefit

from

all

that

he

is

on

our

behalf.

There

is a

way in

which

Jew

and

Gentile

together,

in

which

every

tongue

and

tribe

and

nation

together,

in

which

you

and

I

together

have

access

to

God.

This

is the

peace

of

Christmas.

There's

no

true

lasting

peace

apart

from

the

peace

of

Christmas.

No

peace

process,

no

peace

movement,

no

imagining,

no

drugs,

no

genetic

engineering,

no

meditation

can

accomplish

what

Christ

has

accomplished

to

make

peace.

He

himself

has

dealt

once

and

for

all

with

all

the

problems

that

hinder

peace.

And

he

has

called

us

to

experience

that

peace.

And

finally,

the

last

section

of

our

passage

provides

one

further

aspect

that

I'd

like

to

look

at

with

regard

to

this

peace

of

Christmas.

In

verses

19

through

22,

we

are

reminded

of

God's

ultimate

plan

for

peace.

from

this

section

we

can

glean

that

in

order

to

appreciate

and

maintain

the

peace

of

Christmas,

we

must

anticipate

God's

ultimate

plan

for

the

church.

In

order

to

appreciate

and

maintain

the

peace

of

Christmas,

you

must

anticipate

God's

ultimate

plan

for

the

church.

in

verse

19

of

the

section

the

previous

contrast

is

summarized

again.

He

says,

so

then

you

are

no

longer

strangers

and

aliens

but

you

are

fellow

citizens

with

the

saints

and

members

of

the

household

of

God.

In

this

passage,

in

this

verse

and

following

verses,

the

apostle

Paul

uses a

variety

of

metaphors

to

describe

something

about

God's

plan

for

the

church.

It

involves

a

kingdom

or a

country

and

we

are

the

citizens.

It

involves

a

household

and

we

are

the

members.

It

involves

a

building.

There's

a

foundation,

there's

a

cornerstone

and

then

there's

the

structure

itself.

The

apostles

and

prophets

are

the

foundation,

Christ

himself

is

the

cornerstone

and

we

the

united

believers

are

the

structure.

It's

a

holy

temple.

It's

a

dwelling

place

of

God.

Now

how

this

amazing

entity

which

is

called

New

Jerusalem

and

Revelation

how

this

will

actually

look

I

think

is

beyond

our

ability

to

grasp.

We

just

have

these

metaphors

that

we're

familiar

with

so

we

can

get

a

peek

into

what

God's

doing.

Why

he's

called

us

together

as

a

people.

But

there

are

some

aspects

that

we

can

be

sure

about.

It

will

be

one

that

includes

eternal

peace.

It

will

be

free

from

prejudice,

from

hostility,

personal

or

interpersonal

conflict

or war.

There

will

be

no

isolation,

there

will

be

no

loneliness,

there

will

be

security

and

belonging,

there

will

be

perfect

harmony

and

the

joy

of

God's

loving

and

everlasting

presence.

And

we

will

experience

the

full

tranquility

of a

good,

and I

mean

good

life.

that's

what

he's

depicting

here.

That's

what

he

wants

us

to

look

forward

to.

And

I

think

God

gives

us

these

peeks

into

his

plan

so

that

we'll

have

hope,

so

that

we'll

appreciate

what

he's

done

for

us,

and

so

that

we'll

have

renewed

strength

to be

able

to

maintain

that

hope

in

the

midst

of

all

the

distractions.

Because

I

think

it

takes

effort

to

maintain

this

hope

in the

world

today.

We

face

competing

attractions

every

single

day.

But

you have

to just

take a

moment

and ask

yourself,

what does

the world

really have

to offer?

What

do we

really have

to look

forward to

if we

believe

what's

being told

to us?

peace.

One

of the

gurus

of my

youth

preached

a

peace

that

envisioned

a

unified

world

of

brotherhood.

He

invited

us

to

imagine

a

world

without

hell

or

heaven,

without

countries

or religion

or possessions.

He

suggested

that if

we remove

these

externals,

we can

have

peace

and the

world

will be

as one.

But his

popular

message,

in fact

it's so

popular,

it was

one of

the most

played

songs of

the last

century.

That's what

they say

anyway.

But his

message was

doomed to

fail because

it really

doesn't

address

the problem

inside us

that makes

peace

impossible.

It

doesn't.

Just

getting

rid of

the

exteriors

doesn't

change

who you

and I

are on

the

inside.

It

doesn't

change

the

selfishness

and the

self-centeredness

and the

individual

focus that

we have.

It

doesn't

change

any of

that.

I know

there's a

few of you

here that

are kind

of into

Star Wars.

what's

this I

hear about

a

marathon?

I was

a brand

new

Christian

when the

first

Star Wars

came out

and I

was fascinated

by the

film and

I even

saw

some

parallels

that

really

seemed to

be encouraging.

the force

was the

Holy Spirit

and

Obi-Wan

Kenobi's

sacrifice

was like

Christ.

He gave

himself

so Luke

could live.

It was

even called

A New

Hope.

And

even though

I'm not

sure there

are some

real

die-hard

followers

of the

philosophy

as well

as the

graphics

of the

movies,

it does

present

a

perspective

of peace.

But it's

inadequate.

It's

perhaps more

realistic

than

Lenin's

world of

peace.

But it's

still

inadequate.

Gradually

I began to

see that

there really

was no

hope.

The best

that it

could offer

was a

perpetual

coexistence

of good

and evil.

The good

and bad

side of

the force.

It's just

a part

of what

is.

There's

no changing

that.

The best

it could

provide for

us perhaps

was good

keeping

evil in

check.

hope.

Come on.

What kind

of hope

is that?

It has

no solution

to the

evil that

exists in

the heart

of humanity.

That's not