I AM RECONCILED

EPHESIANS 2:11-2211 Therefore, remember thatformerly you who are Gentiles by birthand called “uncircumcised” by thosewho call themselves “thecircumcision” (which is done in thebody by human hands)—

EPHESIANS 2:11-2212 remember that at that time you wereseparate from Christ, excluded fromcitizenship in Israel and foreigners tothe covenants of the promise, withouthope and without God in theworld. 13 But now in Christ Jesus youwho once were far away have beenbrought near by the blood of Christ.

EPHESIANS 2:11-2214 For He himself is our peace, who hasmade the two groups one and hasdestroyed the barrier, the dividing wallof hostility, 15 by setting aside in Hisflesh the law with its commands andregulations. His purpose was to createin Himself one new humanity out of thetwo, thus making peace,

EPHESIANS 2:11-2216 and in one body to reconcile both ofthem to God through the cross, bywhich He put to death theirhostility. 17 He came and preachedpeace to you who were far away andpeace to those who were near. 18 Forthrough Him we both have access tothe Father by one Spirit.

EPHESIANS 2:11-2219 Consequently, you are no longerforeigners and strangers, but fellowcitizens with God’s people and alsomembers of His household, 20 built onthe foundation of the apostles andprophets, with Christ Jesus Himself asthe Chief Cornerstone.

EPHESIANS 2:11-2221 In Him the whole building is joinedtogether and rises to become a holytemple in the Lord. 22 And in Him youtoo are being built together to becomea dwelling in which God lives by HisSpirit.

JEW AND GENTILE ARE RECONCILED IN

CHRIST

EPHESIANS 2:11-1511 Therefore, remember thatformerly you who are Gentiles by birthand called “uncircumcised” by thosewho call themselves “thecircumcision” (which is done in thebody by human hands)—

EPHESIANS 2:11-1512 remember that at that time you wereseparate from Christ, excluded fromcitizenship in Israel and foreigners tothe covenants of the promise, withouthope and without God in theworld. 13 But now in Christ Jesus youwho once were far away have beenbrought near by the blood of Christ.

EPHESIANS 2:11-1514 For He himself is our peace, who hasmade the two groups one and hasdestroyed the barrier, the dividing wallof hostility, 15 by setting aside in Hisflesh the law with its commands andregulations. His purpose was to createin Himself one new humanity out of thetwo, thus making peace,

TWO PEOPLE GROUPS:

1. JEWISH

called the

“circumcision”

2. GENTILE

called the

“uncircumcised”

1. THE GENTILES

Gentiles are called, “the uncircumcision, separated”. They’re called alienated.

They’re treated like aliens. “They are the people of “no hope”. These are the people

who are “without God.”

They have their own religions. They have their own religious leaders. They have their own religious traditions. It’s all demonic, all

evil, all corrupt, and all damnable. If you are not Jewish, that’s your heritage.

We were godless pagans.

2. THE JEWS

They’re referred here as the “circumcision”.

And they were prone toward haughtiness and pride. God chose one man, our father Abraham, and all of the prophets from our

family.

All of the priests and the kings come from our family. The Book is primarily about

our family. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our family.

God says we’re the apple of His eye and that He chose us. He’s our Father and we have eternal life. We are the chosen ones.

We’re the good people.

GENESIS 15:6

6 Abram believed the LORD, and hecredited it to Him as righteousness.

NEHEMIAH 9:77 “You are the LORD God, who choseAbram and brought him out of Ur ofthe Chaldeans and named himAbraham.

ACTS 7:2-32 To this he replied: “Brothers andfathers, listen to me! The God of gloryappeared to our father Abraham whilehe was still in Mesopotamia, before helived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your countryand your people,’ God said, ‘and go tothe land I will show you.’

If we’re honest about our own history and our family history, we can discover that

there’s a lot of “embarrassment”.

If we trace our family history back enough, we can discover that we all come

from a bunch of godless pagans.

“And Jesus dies on the cross. He rises from death. Then He ascends back into

heaven.”

ONE NEW MAN

Some theologians call this a new race or a third humanity.

Their identity is no longer uncircumcised Gentile or circumcised Jew; it is in Christ,

reconciled together as a new man.

So, there’s this new group, there’s this new category, there’s this new people

called Christian.

Jews and Gentiles are reconciled together in Christ. They become one, the church,

and they start a new family called Christianity.

There is no wall of hostility.

TWO THINGS:

1. Old things may explain us, but they no longer define us in Christ.

Your primary identity is in Christ, which means your primary allegiance is to those

who are in Christ.

2. There is a difference, and we need to make note of this, between cultural preferences and culture prejudices.

YOU AND GOD ARE

RECONCILED IN

CHRIST.

Not only does God in Christ reconcile Jew and Gentile,

God in Christ reconciles God and sinner.

PSALM 51:55 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinfulfrom the time my mother conceivedme.

EPHESIANS 2:15-1815 by setting aside in His flesh the lawwith its commands and regulations. Hispurpose was to create in Himselfone new humanity out of the two, thusmaking peace,

EPHESIANS 2:15-1816 and in one body to reconcile both ofthem to God through the cross, bywhich He put to death theirhostility. 17 He came and preachedpeace to you who were far away andpeace to those who were near. 18 Forthrough Him we both have access tothe Father by one Spirit.

And God comes as Jesus Christ. God becomes a man. The Creator enters

creation. The Spirit God who made all adds to His spirit human flesh and He

goes from heaven to earth.

And He has eradicated, in the body of Jesus, on the cross of Jesus, that dividing wall of hostility. And now, the Holy Spirit

comes to dwell in the children of God and there’s no barrier.

The spiritual barrier of sin has been removed.

Now God dwells in us and God dwells with us.

YOU AND OTHERS

ARE RECONCILED IN

CHRIST.

EPHESIANS 2:19-2219 Consequently, you are no longerforeigners and strangers, but fellowcitizens with God’s people and alsomembers of His household, 20 built onthe foundation of the apostles andprophets, with Christ Jesus Himself asthe Chief Cornerstone.

EPHESIANS 2:19-2221 In Him the whole building is joinedtogether and rises to become a holytemple in the Lord. 22 And in Him youtoo are being built together to becomea dwelling in which God lives by HisSpirit.

God is eminent. He is present with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He is reminding us that we’re reconciled

to Him and one another.

He is revealing to the world the reconciliation that happens in Christ, that means we come together to sing, and as we sing, we’re showing we’re reconciled

in Christ. We’re reconciled to God in Christ.

All of those barriers have now been removed and the Holy Spirit is with us.

We are “a holy temple in the Lord.” That’s our new identity, that’s our new activity,

because together in Christ, God has made us a new community.