Jesus Reconciles the Nations - Ephesians 2:14-18

0:43We wage war on racism with good and just laws to stop the nonsense, to modify the behavior of depraved humans so that they behave appropriately. The best laws do not shape or change the human heart. And so we come to today's text and we say, what's the solution to this problem in our world? Not just our Main Street and big cities. What's the solution? The title of today's message is Jesus Reconciles the Nations. The solution, in just a few words, is Jesus reconciles the nations. And we see that in our Text so clearly this morning in Ephesians chapter 2. If I could spend time in chapter 2, the whole chapter, that would be magnificent. But we're going to focus on verses 14 through 18 this morning.

1:43And if you haven't turned there, please do so. We have Bibles in the seats. If you need one, please grab one. It's been a special treat to teach on the book of Ephesians in Sunday school at the 9 o'clock hour. And so I told the group this morning that they get part two during the worship service. And so they're hearing part two this morning of what they got earlier. It's been a true joy to go through the book of Ephesians. Let me just start reading to put it in context from verse 11, and we'll make our way through verse 18 of Ephesians chapter 2. He starts out with these words. He says, Therefore, remember, it's a command. It's the first command in the book of Ephesians. There won't be another command until the end of Ephesians chapter 4, and then there will be 40 more commands, but this is the first one.

2:33He implores them to remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcisioned by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God and the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off, that's the Gentiles, 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 in the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that he himself might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who are far away, and peace to those who are near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. Here's the big idea for today out of this text. If you were to take anything out the doors when you leave, it's this.

3:58Believers must keep in mind that they are one race. They must remember Jesus brings them hope and peace, giving them free access to the Father. That's what this precious text is about. You're going to see three things in this passage. You're going to see in Ephesians 2:14 through 18 that Jesus provides three ways to understand tangible, real, meaningful peace to battle this blight of human depravity we call racism. Jesus, we see in verses 14 and first part of verse 15, he is our peace. He is our peace. And number two, Jesus is the maker of peace. That's the latter half of verse 15 and verse 16. And third, Jesus is the proclaimer of peace. So he is peace. He's a maker of peace, and he's a proclaimer of peace. Let's deal with them one by one. First of all, Jesus is our peace. Notice how Paul emphasizes in that verse, verse 14, that Jesus Himself is our peace. Do you see it there? In verse 14? The words he himself reaches back into verse 13 that we looked at just a moment ago. They point out to believers that they were once estranged from God, and they've been brought near by an instrument we would call the blood of Christ.

5:27And verse 14 explains how Jesus brought people to God. We've been brought near through one fact alone, and it's there in verse 14. Jesus is our peace. This reminds me, and probably you too, of the wonderful card tricks that people like to play. They've got the 52-card deck. It's still 52, right? And they say, you know, pick one, any one. And so you look at it and you go, I'm going to stump this guy. And he shows you the cards, and you. You pick the one you're quite certain out of all of them, he will never get that card.

6:06And so you show it to your friends, your family. Nobody knows it. Well, everybody knows it but him. So it puts it back in the deck, shuffles it up, throws it across the room, does whatever he does, pulls your card out, and you say, Wow, how'd you do that? That's what card tricks do to us, right? Well, kind of like the beauty queen and the Republicrat who says, I'm going to bring world peace. Just vote for me. And you say, wow, I'm a voting for you, but how are you going to do that? And if they can show you how they're going to do that, maybe you'll vote for them.

6:48So if Jesus himself is the personification of peace, he is peace, we need to demand of Paul that he shows us how he does that. Paul tells us, Jesus is our peace because of one simple action. Look at the text. Here it is. He made believing Jews and believing Gentiles one race. Wow. Just like the card trickster, just like the Republicrat. We want to know how is Jesus Himself peace? Well, we would say the proof is in the product. He's got to show us how it works. happens. Here's how Jesus is the personification of peace in verses 14 and 15. He takes two specific actions.

7:40It's not what you would think when peace is brought about. The two actions he brings about is he destroys and he nullifies. He destroys and he nullifies. You say, well, that doesn't sound much like a peacemaker, destruction and nullification. So Paul explains how Jesus is the embodiment of peace, and he does it through destruction and elimination. You see, Jesus, he recognizes the obstacles to peacemaking. So he destroyed first the obstacle, and second, he nullified the other, the first obstacle and the other obstacle.

8:14So Jesus set his sights on the first obstacle to peace, and he destroyed it. Look at verse 14. You see the words, he broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. It's right there in the text. He broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. Paul is talking about a wall that divided the nations. When we say Jews and Gentiles, we're talking the Jews are those who are Jews, the Gentiles is everybody else. No matter what continent, what nation, or what skin color you have, if you're not Jewish, you are a Gentile. And so there was this divider that Jesus had to break down that prevented the Gentiles from having access to the Father, as we see in verse 18. This barrier had to come down. What do we know about this wall?

9:06What do we know about this wall that aroused strife and hostility and hatred even 2,000 years ago and beyond between Jews and everybody else in the world, all the other nations? The barrier could be referenced. It could be a reference to the wall at the temple that kept the Gentiles out of the temple. It could be that. The barrier could be a reference to that wall that kept those Gentiles away. And if you're like me, I absolutely love historical artifacts. You can see a historical artifact and it takes you back, as it were, to the place where that historical artifact meant something to those people. There was a Greek inscription dating back to the first century that was posted on the temple in Jerusalem, and it was found in the year 1871, and it's now in the Museum of Istanbul. Here's what that plaque says. And in Greek, it would have been in uppercase letters as normal. Here's what it says: quote, no foreigner, that's Gentiles, that's everybody who's non-Jewish, no foreigners may enter within the barricade which surrounds the temple and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to thank for his ensuing death.

10:22You want to come behind the barrier? You will thank yourself for your ensuing death. In point, in Acts chapter 21, the Jews wrongfully claimed that Paul had taken Gentiles, or at least one Gentile, past the dividing wall. So, what'd they do? They beat the living daylights out of them. And they would have killed him except for some Roman soldiers and some centurions came along and they saved his hide. With the temple, with the temple, God provided a court for the Gentiles. Why? For a purpose, so that the Jews could evangelize the nations and tell them about Yahweh, tell them about God. But according to Mark 16, 17, Mark 16, 17, they made this area a robber's den.

11:14It's a den of thieves, and Jesus had to clear the temple. The animosity, the racism, the hatred ran deep. You come into my neighborhood and you're gone. So deep that even in Ephesians 2.11, do you see it there? Glance at 2.11. The unsaved Jews were derisively referred to with a racial epithet. Gentiles, they referred to the Gentiles as the uncircumcision. It was not a kind term. We Americans, we know something about racial barriers. We know about hatred. We know about strife and hostility. Having lived in Memphis for eight years, I can tell you that.

12:00That's the place where dear Martin Luther King was killed, and it's still a place where racism runs deep with equal opportunity for hatred between anybody and everybody. Though this wall is a physical place, it's an actual place. Paul also portrays it as another kind of a barrier in verse 15. Do you see it there? In verse 15, it refers to the law of commandments contained in ordinances. That's part of that barrier. So, yes, the wall was what physically separated Jews and Gentiles, the rest of the world, from one another, but so did the laws and the ordinances. Literally, the word ordinances is the word where we get dogmas. In the Greek, it's dogma. And it's separated in verse 15. But you know what? Jesus says in the text, he abolished it. Literally, Jesus rendered the defense of the laws and the ordinances, the dogmas, inoperative, unproductive, null, and void. Why?

13:07He has a purpose. He's bringing the nations together. Look at that word abolishing again in verse 15. Did you know that word is also used in Romans 3:3, where Paul says, he asks the question, what then? If some did not believe, will their unbelief not nullify the faithfulness of God? He answers that question. He says, may it never be? In this case, Paul is saying that just because someone rejects God, God is not rendered inoperative. God is not rendered unpowerful or unproductive.

13:50A little more about that word abolished. We see it in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14. The word abolished is used there to indicate that Jesus renders powerless or inoperative the devil who has the power over death. Just like Jesus rendered inoperative the devil who has power over death, he rendered inoperative the law that separated us this barrier, this dividing wall. Jesus, he said on the Sermon of the Mount, quote, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. And yet, right here in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 14, we see that Jesus himself is our peace because he destroyed the wall by rendering the law inoperative, powerless, unproductive for both Jew and Gentile alike.

14:43Romans 10, 14, we see that Christ is the end of the law for believers. The end of the law for believers. Galatians 3.25 says that believers are no longer under the law. And Romans 7, Romans 7 says that we have died to die. The law. I know what you're thinking. You're asking a question. Does this mean that the law of Moses has no effect on believers today? We just jettison the whole thing and walk away from it?

15:16I'll say this: we are only under the Mosaic law insofar as the New Testament discusses the Mosaic law as being a part of a Christian's life. Classic example is in Matthew chapter 22, 36 through 40, where the religious people came to Jesus and said, Jesus, what is the most important law? He says, I'll tell you what the most important law is. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Number two, there's one just like it, he says, love your neighbor as yourself. Here's the message, guys. If you love God, you won't have any gods before me. You won't place your stuff in your house, in your garage, your stuff over me. You won't worship your idols. And if you love people, you won't take their stuff away from them.

16:06That's the law as it applies to us. Ephesians 2:15, we see that Jesus makes peace, which belongs, or which brings us really to the second of the three ways that we understand tangible peace so that we have access to the Father. Number two, Jesus is the peacemaker. Jesus is the maker of peace. And we see that in verses, well, the last. Part of verse 15 and verse 16, take a look at that text. The second part of verse 15 and all of 16 provide us really with two reasons for why Jesus Himself destroyed this partition. He abolished this dividing wall and he rendered the law inoperative. And I would just say, do you see it there in the text? Right in the middle of verse 15, you look at those words, you see those words so that.

16:56Any Bible student, when they see the word so that, more often than not, it means here's the reason. And they point to two reasons that Jesus nullified, rendered inoperative the law. Here they are, and I want you to underline them in the text. If that's your thing, you like to underline things in the Bible. Number one, to create a new man, so that he would create a new man. And number two, to reconcile them both, Jews and Gentiles, to God.

17:24So Jesus, he took two groups of people, Jews and Gentiles, the rest of the world. He took two warring parties and he created one new people out of them. And you know what they're referred to as? Christians. Thus, verse 15 tells us that he established peace. I want to be careful here. Not all Christians are Jews. And not all Christians are Gentiles. Only believing Jews and believing Gentiles are Christians. That's the new race. That's the new people.

18:08Peter O'Brien describes it this way. He's a commentator on the book of Ephesians. He says this: Once the divisive law by which Jews and Gentiles had been alienated from one another was set aside, there was nothing to keep the two elements of humanity apart. Christ brought them together in a sovereign act that was nothing less than a new creation. Jesus' creation of a new race. Paul tells us in verse 15 that Jesus created in himself these two groups. A new man is what he's created, a new race completely different from the former races.

18:51Jews didn't become Gentiles, nor did Gentiles become Jews. Both were one new man in the text. A third race known as the church is Christians. In Ephesians 4:13, Paul refers to this race, the church, and he uses a word picture. And he says it's a singular man. Believing Jews and Gentiles, one new race is the idea. That's why Paul says in Colossians 3:11, Colossians 3.11, he says, There is now no distinction between Jew and Greek. Circumcision. And uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or freedman, you're all one in Christ.

19:39Ladies and gentlemen, as the church, we cannot be at odds with one another in this area. We are one new race, which is why Paul implores the church to be unified in biblical doctrine. And in chapter 4, he does a whole treatise on that. He says, Don't be tossed here and there about by false teachers and every wind of doctrine, deceitful scheming. Here's the second reason Jesus nullified the law. It's right there in verse 16. Do you see it? To reconcile Jews and Gentiles both in one body to God. To reconcile them to God. Notice that Jesus Himself is the one who reconciles his newly created race to God. He's the one that does it. There's something else very important in verse 16 I'd like for you to see. This is fascinating to me. Jesus, he used an instrument to reconcile the church to God. Do you see it there in the text?

20:39Right there in verse 16. We all know that the cross is an instrument of death. We all know that Jesus was killed on the cross. It killed him. In this text, the cross is an instrument that Jesus uses to reconcile man to God. We also see in this text that text That Jesus himself uses the cross as an instrument to kill something. I hadn't seen that before this study. Why not? He killed something with the cross. Look at it. In verse 16, Jesus uses the cross to kill the enmity mentioned in verse 15.

21:20Jesus uses the cross as an instrument to kill the hostility that existed between Jews and Gentiles. The cross kills racism. And it only works for those who have embraced Christ, who trust in Christ, and love their brothers and sisters in Christ. So we have to listen carefully. There's something here we can't miss. Jesus took the cross, you see, and he used it as an instrument to kill. And here's what he did with it: he used it as an instrument to kill strife, enmity, hostility, and hatred.

21:58I jotted in my notes this morning. Eric, you could have used the title for this message, Killing Racism with the Cross. Wow. That's what he did. This new race Jesus created is known as the saved. It's known as those who agree wholeheartedly with Jesus' words in John 14, 6, when he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. That's what this is applying to, those who believe.

22:30The saved. They aren't known or recognized by the color of their skin, but by having made one skin in Christ who is our peace. Therefore, there's no place for racism in the church because we are one race created by Jesus himself. Well, so far we've seen a few things. We've seen that Jesus Himself is peace. Jesus makes peace by destroying strife and hostility, by creating a new race known as the church. And now for our third way to understand tangible peace is this, so that we have access to the Father. Number three, Jesus is the proclaimer of peace. He preached peace. We see that in verses 17 through 18. I want to read those two verses one more time, just so they're on our minds. Follow along with me. He came, that's Jesus, and he preached peace to you who are far away, speaking to the Gentiles, and peace to those who are near. That's the Jews. For through him we both, both races, have our access in one spirit to the Father.

23:38Just to tighten the message up a little bit here, Paul first tells us that Jesus is our peace. Then he tells us that Jesus inaugurated peace by reconciling Jews and Gentiles into one new creation known as the church. We see here that this new race is reconciled to God. And now Paul shows us that Jesus... Proclaims peace. And why? Well, so that we have access to the Father. Gentiles never had access to the Father. Unlike verse 14, declaring that Jesus Himself is peace, Paul does not place the same kind of emphasis on Jesus Himself here. He simply writes in verse 18, through him, meaning Jesus, through Jesus, is the message. And verses 14 through 16, Jesus Himself is peace. He's the reconciler. He himself is the creator. He himself is the one who killed strife and hatred with the cross.

24:43But there's something different about verse 17. There's something different there. It says he came to preach peace to the Gentiles. Do you see it there in the text? He came to preach peace to those of us who are non-Jewish, who are far away. In verse 17, the Gentiles are characterized as being far removed from the blessings of Israel. And he preached peace to those who were near. Near, meaning the Jews. But you know something? We can't find in the New Testament Jesus preaching peace to the Gentiles himself on earth. And in this context, We know that the content of the message Jesus preached, he preached peace. It's presented there in verses 16 and 17. And this peace was enacted after the cross. So he preached it after the cross because he killed the hatred between these two groups with the cross in verse 16.

25:57Hang in there with me. Just follow me here. Since he preached the message to both Jews and Gentiles after the cross, and we don't see anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus himself is preaching to the Gentiles, how did he preach to the Gentiles? Harold Honer, wonderful commentator on this topic, on this book, he says this, quote, it is better to assume that on the basis of peace he accomplished, it was proclaimed by him to Jews and Gentiles by means of the ministry of the Holy Spirit through his apostles. Hence, the process would be as followed, as follows. He came, accomplished peace in his reconciling death, then preached peace. I'm still not there. How did the Gentiles hear the message of peace?

26:48You see, it was Jesus by the Holy Spirit preaching through the ministries of the apostles, the disciples, and he reached the Gentiles with the message of peace and reconciliation. Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20. We know it is the great commission. It's really a command: go into all the nations, preaching, proclaiming what I've told you, baptizing the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. His last command ought to be our greatest concern because it was the greatest concern of the apostles and the disciples at the time. How were the Gentiles reached with a message of peace?

27:32They preached it after Jesus' ascension. Let me help you with this a little more. Just glance over to chapter 3, verses 4 through 6. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 4 through 6. Paul writes these words. By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it now has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.

28:08To be specific, here it is: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. But how did they get it? One more chapter over. Chapter 4, verses 11 through 14. How did the Gentiles get this message of peace if Jesus? Himself didn't proclaim it to the Gentiles. Verse 11. And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. Ladies and gentlemen, that applies to today. We have pastors and teachers for a purpose. Here it is, verse 12. Here's why. For the equipping of the saints, that's believers, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until what? Until we all attain the unity of the faith. A specific faith, the faith contained in the 66 pages of Scripture, or books of Scripture. The faith.

29:13Continuing in verse 13. And of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the statue which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Towards what end? Verse 14. As a result, we're no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. So the Gentiles hear the good news, and here we sit at Emmanuel Baptist Church in 2015, hearing the same message that they heard so long ago: Jesus kills hatred with the cross.

30:00We all hear the statement lately in the news: no justice, no peace. Eno, justice, eno, peace. And I would say, no, KNOW, justification, no peace. No Jesus, KNOW, no peace. This is what solves the world's problem as we lead one by one to Christ. There's a reason for this message of peace proclaimed to the nations. Glance back at verse 18 and chapter 2. We see the words, so that through him, in other words, the result of his message, we have access in one spirit to who?

30:50The Father. All races, as one new man. That term access there in verse 18 is not very common in the New Testament, but it was common in the first century to designate the right to approach a high-ranking official. Think of a king, perhaps. You see, when Jesus broke down the barrier, the dividing wall, and killed racism and hatred with the cross that was used to kill him, a new race was created, the church. We can approach not just a royal official or a king.

31:31But the Father himself. Amen. Wow, we get to come to God the Father. Listen, when you pray to the Father, there are no barriers. No barriers. You don't need a special racial pedigree. You only need to be one who has repented of your sins and who has embraced Jesus Christ to have access to God the Father. Have you done that? If you don't embrace Jesus as your Savior, you will never know peace ever. Paul declared to Jews and Gentile believers in Ephesus that Jesus is peace. Jesus made peace by destroying the wall that separated the nations. He did this by rendering the law powerless. He did this in order to make one new man, which is the very thing that made peace. Jesus also destroyed the wall in order that he might reconcile this new race to God. He did this by killing hostility with the cross that killed him.

32:48Then he preached peace so that this new race could have access to who? The Father. The Father. As believers in Christ, Jesus. He made us one new people. Therefore, racism has no place in the church because people who are his one created race love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and they love their neighbor as themselves. Thank God for this message in a day like today in our country. We're not going to win the war by laws, though good they may be. We win them by introducing them to the Savior who gives them access to the Father. And that's my challenge to you as you go back out into the world this week. Be a peacemaker.

33:48Be a peacemaker by telling people who is peace, who makes peace, and who proclaims peace. And that is your job if you have embraced Christ. Let's pray. Father, it's to you that we give thanks for this message of reconciliation of the nations to the nations, but, Lord, reconciliation of the nations, the peoples, to the Father. And our heart aches for a world in trial and turmoil and pain that does not rejoice. And you, who is peace, who's the maker, the creator of peace, and the one who proclaims peace. We pray for those who don't know you, Father, in our homes, our next-door neighbors, next door across the street, our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities, our nation, around the world, Lord.

35:01We spend a lot of time in activity. We give to a cause, both mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, to reach the world, the nations for Christ, so they have access to the Father. Lord, we understand our mission now. Our mission is not to point fingers at our leaders who are sinners as well. Our mission is to climb inside our own hearts and our own lives and to take this message of peace, of reconciliation to those with whom you have caused us to interact.

35:44God, this is your message. Would you use it in our lives for your glory?