Ephesians 2 - The Path to True Peace in the Middle East!
Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Paul explains what we were like before we were made alive in Christ. Paul says we were "dead in our trespasses." In what way were we dead? There is physical death and there is spiritual death. In our spiritual death, we are separated from God. We also lack the spiritual power to overcome our sinful nature and are ensnared in the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the devil. In a word we were "powerless".
There are many kinds of life: vegetable life, animal life, mental life, moral life, and spiritual life. A being might be alive in one sense but dead in another. To be spiritually dead does not mean that we are physically dead, socially dead, or psychologically dead. Yet it is a real death, a “dead death” nonetheless. - Spurgeon
But God saw our condition and gave us a way out through Christ. God "made us alive". John calls this being "born again". In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the apostle Paul says we are a "new creation in Christ!" The old has gone the new has come. We also have a new standing. We have been raised together with Christ. In the coming age this position will be revealed when Jesus returns in great and promised glory.
This is the present position of the Christian. We have a new place for living, a new arena of existence – we are not those who dwell on the earth (as Revelation often calls them), but our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
Ephesians 2:8 is one verse that summarizes the nature of the gospel. Paul concludes that we are saved BY grace THROUGH faith. We see the relationship between grace and faith. Grace is the free gift of forgiveness God gives us through Jesus' death on the cross. We didn't deserve it, we couldn't earn it, but God gave it to us because of His great love for us. Faith is our response to grace. Faith is trusting in the promises God has given us through Christ. You might say we open the gift of grace through the gift of faith. Though faith is our trusting in God's promises and believing in Jesus, faith too is a gift from God. So really both grace and faith are both gifts from God!
But the following verse, Ephesians 2:9, doesn't get talked about as much as 2:8. Paul says we are "God's handiwork". The word for "handiwork" in the Greek is the same word for "poetry" in English. We might say, "We are God's work of art". And, we were created for good works. Our good works flow from being saved by grace through faith. When realize the amazing gift God has given us, we want to respond by doing the good works he has prepared for us.
It is pretty amazing that Paul says, "God has prepared these good works in advance for us to do!"
God’s love is a transforming love. It meets us right where we are at, but when we receive this love it always takes us where we should be going. The love of God that saves my soul will also change my life. - Guzik
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly 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)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Paul then addresses the Gentiles in Ephesus. He reminds them that they faced the disadvantage of not being part of the covenant God made with the Jewish people through Abraham. Circumcision was the sign of this covenant. Therefore being "uncircumcised" was excluded from the kingdom of God. The external mark was a reminder that they were separated from God and his people.
But Jesus, through His blood shed for on the cross, brought them into a new covenant. The new covenant made the old one obsolete. This is why the Gentiles were every bit as reconciled to God, as the Jewish Christians.
Not only has Jesus reconciled us with the Father, but he also broke down the dividing wall between the Jews and Gentiles. When we are right with God, we can become right with each other. Our relationship with God is the basis for real relationships with others based on the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which we share.
This is what makes me so sad about what is happening in the Middle East. The centuries of division is mainly based on religion. The Jews claiming it is their land, and the Moslems claiming it is their land. First of all, it is God's land. God's people in the Middle East are those who have accepted Christ and become children of God. What basis do I have for this audacious statement.
John says it best when he says about Jesus, "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:11-13
The children of God in the Middle East are all Israeli, Iranian, Iraqi, Jordanian, and Palestinian people who have received Jesus. They are one in Christ, but will always be at odds with each other apart from Christ. This is the only way to peace in the Middle East.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 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, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
This was Jesus' whole purpose for coming to earth. He came to make us one with God, and one with one another. This is why the evil one's greatest tactic is to try and divide us. When we are made right with God, we can become right with any and every person on this earth. God's love was equal for both Jews and Gentiles, just as it is with every race and ethnic group today.
We see also Paul referring to the Trinity when he states, "Through Jesus we have access to the Father by the One Spirit." You see God, as He is revealed and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is ONE. One God in three persons. Blessed Trinity!
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Paul uses the metaphor of a building to describe the body of Christ, the Church. The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ. This is the foundation the apostles and prophets built on, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone. The body of Christ, the Church, is held together by Jesus. If we take Jesus out of the church, the church falls down.
Many have reduced Jesus to merely a prophet, or good moral teacher. When they do this, the church collapses. Many churches who have watered down the gospel and capitulated to the values of the world have lost their true foundation. When the rain comes down and the floods come up, the house on the sand falls down.
Paul then tells us how we too are part of this house the Lord is building.
"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which the Lord lives by His Spirit."
. So what is the church?
This tells us that the Church is a building, perfectly designed by the Great Architect. It is not a haphazard pile of stones, randomly dumped in a field. God arranges the Church for His own glory and purposes.
This tells us that the Church is a dwelling place, a place where God lives. It is never to be an empty house that is virtually a museum, with no one living inside. The Church is to be both the living place of God and His people.
So you don't go to church, You are the Church!
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