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INTRODUCTION
So far in this chapter Paul has reminded the church about their past. They were Gentiles by birth therefore
as far as they were concerned they were outside the covenant privileges of the Jewish people. They had no Messianic expectation they were not members of God's people they were foreigners to the promises of God
they were without hope and without God in the world. Their situation from a purely human perspective was totally hopeless.
But having reminded the church of their past in order to magnify the grace of God in their lives Paul now
reminds them of their current status in Christ Jesus. Once they were far away but now everything has changed for now they are brought near to God. Of course the church was unable to do this itself, it was God who
brought them near to himself through the giving of his only Son the Lord Jesus who shed his blood who gave his life so that sinners and Gentile sinners at that could come near to God.
The result of bringing Gentiles to faith in Christ Jesus is that God has made the two one (v 15). The
barrier that separated Jew from Gentile has been broken down, O the temple was still in operation and the Temple discriminated against Gentiles but in Christ Jesus the two have become one people. This was achieved
and accomplished at the cross by Jesus therefore there is no longer hostility between Jew and Gentile, Christ is their peace therefore both are in harmony with one another. That is the reality for the church at
Ephesus even if at this point that is not how it is in practise.
The same is true of every born again Christian we are one people we might have different views and different
theology but in reality we are one people even if in practise we are anything but one. This does not mean that there is no diversity between God's people of course there is but behind all the diversity there is
a fundamental unity because we are one people.
However let me make it clear that it is only those who are born again, who hold to gospel truths that are
one people. This is where the ecumenical movement makes its mistake. It assumes that because a church calls itself a Christian church then it must be Christian. But Paul has stated here that our oneness is not based
of having a title but it is based on being in Christ Jesus, it is based of being in union with Christ Jesus.
Now many churches that participate in the ecumenical movement do not even preach the gospel that leads
people to union with Christ therefore how is it possible to show oneness with churches that we are not at one with. I am not talking about a secondary doctrine here but with the core teaching of the gospel. If
people are not in Christ Jesus if a church does not teach the need to be united with Christ through the cross then in reality they are not one of God's people.
They are not a Christian church no matter what they might call themselves. We ought to be willing to show
our unity with those we are in union with Christ but the church of Jesus Christ is kidding itself if it thinks it can have unity with churches that are not in union with in Christ Jesus.
Now that is a lengthy introduction but I wanted to make that clear for I may not have been as clear as I
should have been last week. Now we come to the second picture that Paul employs to hammer home his point of oneness between Jews and Gentiles. Last week it was the picture of two distinct people groups becoming one
people in Christ Jesus. Now Paul says that Jews and Gentiles believing in Christ are one family and one building.
1. REMEMBER WHAT WE ARE NOW
a) We are one Family (vs.19) - Notice the word "consequently," Paul is building on what he has said. Once far off now brought near to God via the cross therefore or consequently this is what it means. It means that we are no longer foreigners and aliens. The word 'foreigner' means someone who is visiting a country he does not belong too. The word 'alien' means something who is resident in a country not his own, someone who does not have the full rights that people born in that country have.
Let me illustrate it like this. We have had an influx of asylum seekers in our country over the last 5 years
or so. When they enter our country they are strangers and they know it. They do not speak the language they do not know the culture they are looked at as foreigners they are treated as foreigners. They do not have
the same rights as those of us who are born here, those of us who are residents here.
If you have been in holiday in a foreign country you will know what it feels like to be a foreigner in
someone else's country especially if you do not speak the language. You know that as a holidaymaker you are treated differently from those who are permanently resident there. Well let's imagine that an asylum
seeker is granted permission to stay in our country and is allowed to work. He then becomes an alien living in our country but still without the full privileges that a British person would have. Then one day he
decides that he wants to be a permanent Citizen of the UK. So he applies and goes through the procedure and eventually becomes a UK citizen. Now that person has the same rights as every other UK citizen he can now
rightfully call himself British if he so desires.
Well this is what has happened to these Gentile believers at Ephesus only they have not become citizens of
some country but they are now fellow Citizens with God's people but they are more than that for they are members of God's household These Gentiles now have the same privileges and the same rights as every
believing Jew has, they now belong to God's household they are now in God's family the believing Jews are now their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now of course what is true of these Gentiles is also true of us as well. We once were foreigners and aliens
to God and to God's people. Perhaps before we were saved we went long to a gospel church for a while. But we just didn't seem to fit in. We were made very welcome but there was a difference between us and
those who were members there. Although we were part of the church in the sense that we went along and even gave some money to it we knew we were not part of it. We were not invited to take the Lord's Supper, we
were barred from its members meetings and we were unable to enter into the spiritual conversations that were going on. But then God in Christ brought us near to himself through the cross, we repented and believed
and suddenly everything had changed. We now belonged to God's household we knew we were in God's family and soon we entered into the full rights of membership within God's local church.
If you are a Christian this evening then you are fellow citizens with God's people all over the world,
you can call yourself a child of God and you are a member of God's household, you are in his family. All of this becomes ours not because of what we have done but because of what God has done for us in Christ
Jesus. As a member of God's people and as a member of God's household we have the same privileges as every other believer.
So a university Professor who is a believer can approach God as his Father because of Christ but so too can
a believing 10 year old boy or a man with no formal education at all. We all who belong to Christ are on an equal footing, we all enjoy the same privileges we can all approach God the same way, we all have the right
to call God our Father and to call ourselves children of God. There should never be a feeling of inferiority with any of God's people just as there should never be a feeling of superiority among God's
people. In practise we ought to encourage one another to consider ourselves as equals and must never put other believers down or give them the impression that we are better than them. A true understanding of who we
are in Christ will help us to keep the balance so that we will not feel superior or inferior because we are all members of God's household. We are all equal before God.
b) We are one Building - Paul says that God's household, which comprises of both believing Jews and
Gentiles actually are one building because it is built upon the same foundation. Now to understand this idea we need to imagine two walls standing at right angels to each other. One we will call the Jewish wall the
other the Gentile wall. At first sight it looks as if these two walls have nothing to do with each other. But on closer examination we notice that they are both built on the same foundation (v 20).
The Gentile wall and the Jewish wall are both built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. What
Paul is saying is that every Christian is a Christian because at some point we have come to believe the message proclaimed by those whom the Lord Jesus Christ appointed to be the authoritative teachers and
interpreters of the Christian faith that is the apostles. The Spirit of God had already announced the same message in seed form in the Old Testament through the prophets although to be honest Paul is probably
thinking about the New Testament prophets here. These Apostles and prophets were given God's message to proclaim and to record for us and this is the message that every true preacher of the gospel preaches
today. The teaching and instruction of the apostles and prophets are the foundation on which the church is built and continues to build today.
Now if we go back to our illustration of the two walls. These two walls met at the corner and supporting the
corner is the cornerstone. If that cornerstone were taken away the whole structure would collapse for the cornerstone holds everything together. It is also the stone from which the whole building gets its alignment.
This is why a great deal of time was given to making sure the cornerstone was perfect, for if it was not aligned then the whole building would be out of alignment as well.
Now this cornerstone says Paul is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the building could not exist or continue to
exist without the cornerstone and it is on this foundation of the apostles and prophets and upon the chief cornerstone of the Lord Jesus that the church of Jesus Christ is built and continues to build. Jesus Christ
holds the church together without him the church collapses and without his leading the church will be out of line. So Christ holds the church together and it is the doctrines and teachings of the apostles and
prophets that the church builds upon. The foundation has been laid; it is our task to remain true to the foundational teaching that has been preserved for us. There is no new teaching today, and for those churches
that tell us there is then they are trying to build the foundations all over again and in doing so the building will collapse.
Now let me again go back to this picture of one building. The bricks of these walls rest on the foundation
and rely entirely upon the cornerstone but they also fit into each other. They are joined together (v 21). Each believer is a brick in God's great structure, new bricks are being added all the time and this
structure is growing into a temple! Now no Gentile believer has to stand outside and fondly long to be admitted into the temple.
No! Gentiles just like every believing Jew are part of God's temple, which is growing and developing all
the time. Now this is the only temple that God has today, he has no earthly temple in some location on earth, his temple is made up of born again people from different nations and cultures and languages and this
building rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. God's buildings today are not physical but they are spiritual no church or chapel or cathedral is graced with God's presence today, for God lives in his
people by his Spirit, he lives in his church. When I hear people say that there is a sense of God is some great cathedral then I am greatly concerned, for they are relating God's presence to some building but
God's presence is here today.
It is not in this building because this building is used for his worship but He is here because this is
where we meet today. If we met in someone's house then his presence would be in that house. God is present where his people are present. There are no holy places today, no holy shrines no holy country we do not need
them for we are God's people and along with every other true Christian we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (v 22).
The church of Jesus Christ is much maligned today and to be truthful we do give people the opportunity to
malign it because of our own lives and because of the way we view the church. But it is the place where God dwells by his Spirit. It is the place where people will see God as he manifests himself in the lives of his
people. Now this building is not yet finished it is continuing to grow and will continue to do so until all God's chosen people are brought in. The church is precious to God it is his house, and it ought to be
precious to us as well. I fear that God's people today use church like a social club; they get involved only when it suits and although within its membership they take a back seat when it comes to its ministries.
Perhaps we need a real sense of the privilege that it is of belonging to God's people and being in God's building the church.
If you are a Christian you are a brick in God's building. You might not think about it but the building
could not be complete unless you were in it. Therefore you are just as important as any other brick in the building, we interlock with one another so that God's temple will eventually be built. It is a tremendous
privilege to be a brick in God's temple; we are a brick in his temple not because of ourselves but because of Christ Jesus.
But it is sad when we fail to understand the privileges that we enjoy as God's people. If only we could
grasp it then public worship and public prayer would take on a new dimension. If only we understood it then I am convinced we would want to be with God's people when they are meeting and the reasons and excuses that
we so often use for failing to be present would simply not even enter into our thinking.
May God help us to come to a greater understanding of the privileges of belonging to God's people and of
being in membership of God's church?
Amen
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