New Unity

We have been walking through the letter to the Ephesians for the last few weeks. And our text this morning, it actually gets us into really maybe the first application. The first few messages we looked at in Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2 was that new identity that we have in Christ. In Christ we're redeemed, we're adopted, we're loved, we're forgiven. That new identity we have because we believed in Christ. The next week was a new heart as we pray. There's some application there that we're praying for another and we're praying for ourselves that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened. Our desires would be renewed to love God and Him alone. And then we looked at last week's passage. New life. We were dead, but God made us alive. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, He made us alive. We've really thought about some high theological truths here. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. We pray the Holy Spirit would actually renew our hearts so that we would see all these blessings. And we rejoice greatly because God has given us life. We boast of His grace, not our works. And this morning we're gonna transition into a command, there's actually an imperative. Ephesians is really well ordered overall. One through three is doctrine. They're indicatives, they're truth statements for the most part. And then four to six is how to apply those, but here we actually have an imperative in the midst of the passage. Look at verse 11. Remember. It's still focusing on the truth, But there's an imperative. Remember. Believe this. Keep reminding yourselves of these truths, and some actions will come out of that. So we're still in the belief section, before we get into the live section. But the belief is necessary. So this morning, what kind of things are we remembering? Well, if you were listening to the passage, we were once far off. Now we're brought near. We were once aliens and strangers to one another. But now we're one new man in Christ. Now we're supposed to be a building built up on the cornerstone Christ and the apostles and the prophets. This is a text that's going to be talking about the church. If we go back to chapter two, verse 10, it concluded, you're saved by grace through faith, not your works. We only boast in Christ, however, verse 10, For we are his workmanship. He's done a work in and to us so that we're created in Christ for good works. Works come after grace. And it's interesting that Paul can't help himself. The first work he wants us to get involved with is working in the church, building up a body of believers. Our text we're gonna look at in three different parts. Remember we were without God. Remember we were without God. Second, remember we are now in Christ. You see that strong transition, verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus. So first we have to remember we were without God, but then we remember we are now in Christ, and then we remember we are built together. We're built together. So let's look at verses 11 and 12 and I want you to hear that command to remember in verse 11 and 12. Therefore, there's a connection. Get to work. 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. So our key word is remember, and it's important to remember where they came from. It's kind of funny if you see somebody who makes it big in business or entertainment, people who talk about them or the way they talk, it seems like there's a virtue to remember where you came from. You know, I'm not gonna forget where I came from even though I make it big. Here, this is also a virtue. Remembering where we came from without God, without hope, aliens, strangers, separated, it helps us always remember we have nothing to boast in but Christ. That's why it's important to remember this is who we were in our flesh. Every blessing we have, everything we have to boast in is because of Christ. Now Paul is focused on a particular group of Christians. Look, he's speaking of Gentiles. He's speaking specifically to Gentile Christians who are having a circumcision problem within the church. And we're going to get into that. It's a fairly technical issue, so bear with me and ask questions later of the other elders. I'm going to give it my best shot to explain it, and if I can't, ask another elder. That's what we're all here for, to help each other. He's speaking to Gentile Christians, giving them a specific charge. And I want you to see here, there's a time difference. Verse 11, at one time. Verse 12, at that time. Something significant happened at the right time, and that was Christ coming down. God himself taking on flesh. So at one time, Gentiles were separated from Christ. In the past, you Gentile believers, you were alienated from the commonwealth. At one time, you Gentiles were strangers to the promises. At one time, Gentiles had no hope. At one time, you Gentile believers, you were without God. This is a package deal. Outside of Christ, you're separated, alienated, without hope, without God. It's only in Christ that you have the blessings of being with God and no longer strangers. Now we need to ask, why were they separated? Why were Gentile Christians specifically being honed in on here? Why is he focusing on Gentile Christians and their separation? Well, we could say they were dead in their sins, for on the course of the world, for on the prince of the power of the air, just as we saw last week, chapter 2, 1 through 3. Well, we could say it was their own doing, but that's also true of the Jew. What makes the Gentiles so unique that they need special attention here? And I want to flip that question around because it's really what made the Jews so special that we have to talk about the Gentile here. You see, the Jewish people, the Israelites, they were God's chosen people and nation. That there were many peoples, there were many nations. After the Tower of the Bible, people separated out. And they all went their own way, worshiping their own gods they created in their own minds. Abraham was one of those pagans who was with his own people, worshiping his own gods that he created in his own mind. Then God came down and he said, Abraham, I'm going to set you apart. God initiated that relationship. God called him out of that paganism. God said to Abraham, you're going to be a blessed people, a numerous people, so that you will be a blessing to all the peoples. That's how Israel became a special people. It's just God looked down and said, out of all the pagans, I'm gonna choose you and I'm gonna multiply you and you're gonna be blessed to be a blessing. In Genesis 15, six is a very important verse. And Abraham believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. Abraham was saved by faith. Abraham's faith. Not his works, not leaving his family, not circumcision. He's safe just like you and I are, by believing what God has said he's going to do. Genesis 15-6 is the declaration that Abraham was counted righteous, even though he had been a pagan, by faith. In Genesis 17, that's when the sign of circumcision comes in. And this is important to look back at, because whatever the problem is with the Gentiles, it's in the flesh, called the uncircumcision, by those called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Abraham's saved by faith. He's given circumcision as a covenant sign. Circumcision is not the covenant itself. It's a sign of the covenant. All right, so everyone who's married, or if you're next to somebody who's married, you can look and say there's a wedding ring. Is this my marriage? No. I'm not unmarried if I take it off as if I could. It's stuck on there now. Praise God for that. But it's a sign of the covenant that I've entered into, that doesn't change. It's like a wedding ring. Circumcision is merely a sign of the covenant. But the Israelites, they took it to mean so much more. They made it a promise in itself. And if you want to know more about this, you can look at what Paul says in Romans 4. Faith came before circumcision. So Gentiles, because Israel, they were the blessed people, the Gentiles are on the outside. They're in the dark. They're not hearing the promises of God. They're not, they're alienated. Now if we go back to Genesis 12, it's a very important text, the first section of chapter 12. God promises Abraham, you will be blessed to be a blessing. You will be blessed to be a blessing. This is how God always works. He blesses so that those who are blessed will be a blessing. But here's the problem with what Israel did. Instead of being, recognizing their blessing, they chose to boast. They chose to look at the other nations and say, oh, look how much better we must be than you. We have Yahweh and circumcision. This is foolishness. And it's easy to see in the Old Testament. If you go back, you can see how Israel failed at every point to really be the people of God that God called them to be. And I want to make it very clear, if we could step back and watch ourselves, we would also be very easy to critique for failing to recognize how blessed we are and how we're supposed to be a blessing. Paul even says here, those called the circumcision. It's almost derogatory, it sounds like. That those who are trying to keep you separated, they cannot keep you separated because God has called you to be one. The focus of this passage is to remind the Gentile believers that in the previous covenant, before Christ came, they were outside and hopeless. But now, God's plan hasn't changed. He's always included the Gentile blessing, but now Christ has come and brought them into that blessing. It's the same plan of salvation that God has always had. We just now have a mediator, Jesus Christ himself, does it better. Even Jews have a better worship than under the law of Moses. Read the entire book of Hebrews. Gentiles have better worship. They know the one true God. They have confidence in salvation. So again, this text is, remember, it isn't circumcision that's done anything for you. There's nothing to boast of in your flesh. Remember, that sign, that old covenant system, that old system, it did nothing but alienate you. And this is important to remember for the Israelites because as we move to the next section, it's a great reminder to remember where we came from and what we had in our own flesh so that we'd boast in nothing but Christ and His grace. So now let's look at what Christ has done. In the flesh, the Gentiles have nothing to boast in. They have no access to God. But now in Christ Jesus, You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. But because of that old system where God called a nation and that nation had two unique things to them, they received the oracles of God and they received the benefit of being the lineage by which the Savior came, they were alienated, the Gentiles were alienated, but now, that wonderful contrast in Christ Jesus. Our second point is remember we are now in Christ. but now in Christ. But we're coming back to that grand theological declaration, union with Christ. That that is that new identity that when you're in Christ, you're adopted, beloved, forgiven, you're redeemed. That that new identity now adds to it also, you're brought near. You have access to God the Father himself. In Christ is really shorthand for covenant. You have a rich inheritance because Christ has come to save you. Now notice the specific first action of Christ in verse 13. You who once were far off, you have been brought near. In Christ we get to come close to God again. We can go back to Genesis and see how important this is. Man and God used to walk and talk together. Then we rebelled, we rejected him, we were cast out of the garden, we were put far off, all humanity, but now Christ has brought us back near. How? How did Christ bring us near when we were far off? Look at the text. In Christ, by the blood of Christ. A significant change has taken place. We now get to draw near in Christ, by the blood of Christ. As we meditate upon that and as we prepare for the Lord's Supper with our new unity, it's the blood of Christ. As we reflect upon the cup we're going to participate in and take together, it's the blood of Christ. That reminds us of how bad our sin is and what it deserves. Christ was crushed for iniquity. He had to die in our place so that we could live. Our sin deserves judgment, our sin deserves death, our sin is offensive to God. God himself had to come and take our place, take flesh, live righteously so that he could die in our place. For a Christian this morning, that's the message for you. Our sin is so bad, God himself had to come and die in our place as our substitute. And the good news is we can recognize our sin is that bad and we can believe in Jesus and we can be Forgiven. Let's continue to look at this text. In Christ is a key theme here. So let's stay focused on that language. But here, verse 14. For He Himself is our peace. Just sweet words. That's worth memorizing. It's a simple phrase, but it's so comforting. That belongs on a coffee cup, or on a framed picture over the mantle, right? For He Himself is our peace. What a glorious declaration in the midst of my anxiety, anger, fear, confusion, frustration, whatever it is, I can turn to this simple phrase and say, my, my Savior, Christ Himself, He is my peace. That there's something just wonderfully comforting about this particular declaration. When I'm looking for peace in the midst of my efforts, my circumstances, I need to confront it with the truth that Christ is my peace, not my circumstances. I need to be comforted that Christ is my peace, not my circumstances. Now, as we look at this passage that we could easily take out and put in a coffee mug, we need to recognize it has a specific context. That the peace that Christ is for us has a unique, specific application. It isn't the peace that I first thought of when I read the passage and started meditating upon it. But as I went further in the text, I realized I'm not applying it right. Look at how Paul qualifies, he himself is our peace. He who has made us both one, both referring to Jew and Gentile, one being the church, and has broken down in his flesh, that is his body, the dividing wall of hostility. Now, when I first saw this peace, I pictured myself in a cabin with a fire, drinking out of the coffee cup that says Christ himself is our peace, thinking how peaceful it must be. There's no distractions from the world. There's no problems. There's nobody else. It's just me and Jesus sitting here next to a fire, drinking coffee. That's peace. That's not the peace Jesus gives. He gives us peace in the midst of conflict. He provides peace in the midst of conflict. The peace God is promising has to do with how we live with and relate to other unpeaceful people who have been given the peace of God. The peace God is promising has to do with how we live with and relate to other unpeaceful people who have been given the peace of God. When God gives us peace with himself, it's necessarily tied to us being peaceful with others. You see this in the problem in verse 11 to 12. When we're separated from Christ, we're alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. But when we're in Christ, we are with His people. Christ never calls us to be isolated or individual Christians. He calls us to be a body. Here Paul is pointing to the peace we have in Christ. He wants us to see that means we're supposed to have peace with one another. Christ himself is our peace. Let's look at the whole big picture here. Let's just back out and realize how clear this passage is. Christ is our peace with God and with one another. Verse 14, Christ breaks down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility that we have towards one another. Verse 15, Christ creates one new man in the place of two, making peace. Verse 16, he reconciles us both to God in one body, killing the hostility. Verse 17, he came and preached peace to you, to the far off and to the near. I believe that's probably referring to the Jew and the Gentile and then the Jew. We both have the same access through him. Paul is recognizing there is a real difference in all the different believers in this church. And there's something that's more important than all the differences, it's Christ. It's his peace, it's what he's done. This is the beauty of it. Christ has the power to remove the enmity that is between God and us. That belief is what makes you a Christian. Christ suffered so that the wrath of God was put on Him, not on me. That is removing the enmity, the hostility that was between God and me. My hostility I have to repent of. His enmity He is no longer going to put on me because Christ has paid for it. And at the same time, Christ has the power to remove the enmity between me and other people, between ourselves. Specifically, Paul is speaking of Gentiles and Jews who have real differences, a long, real history of real differences, and Christ says, unite together by his grace for his glory. This is what Christ came to do. to save us, to reconcile us to God, and then to make sure we understood what it means to be reconciled together. That the only way for us to be the one people of God, of all kinds of people and all kinds of sinners is to see how far off we were. And that's either in our license of sin or our legalism of self-righteousness. Both of those things take us far away from God, and we see how Christ has saved us to bring us back near. Here we see this declaration. For he himself is our peace who has made us both one, there's a grand unity, and has broken down in his flesh. That's in contrast to our flesh. Our flesh separates us from Christ, his flesh unites us with him and with one another. But he broke down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Now, this is important because it goes on to say, by abolishing the law, the commandments expressed in ordinances. What is this referring to? The Jews had a sacrificial system. They were given this sacrificial system by God. It had to do with a high priest, and then priest, and a temple, and there were sacrifices made. Animals were sacrificed. It was a bloody ordeal. The worship service of Israel was a bloody ordeal. When I believe he says he abolished the law, the commandments, he's not abolishing the Ten Commandments. I believe those are actually reinstated in the New Covenant. I believe what he's referring to here is the ceremonial law, the sacrificial system, and the ordinance of circumcision that is tied to the nation of Israel. Christ came as the perfect high priest who provided the once for all sacrifice himself. that did away once and for all our guilt. In the place of that sacrificial system, Christ has given us two ordinances. And it's important to recognize what these ordinances declare. The first one is baptism. Baptism is an act of a believer who has been born again that declares, I now have a new family. You see, circumcision was given based upon the blood you have in your veins. It was limited to a certain race and nation. Baptism, whoever gets baptized, that's based upon the blood of Jesus Christ, and who he purchased with that blood. Baptism is not based upon your family connection, your earthly family. It's based upon God the Father saying, I'm going to call you my son. I'm going to send my son to die for you. So baptism is based upon the blood of Christ, not the blood of, in my veins. And then we have the Lord's Supper. This really replaces the sacrifices. This is the constant reminder, the routine reminder. I was once far off, but Christ has brought me near. It's by the cross of Christ. It's through his death that I've been forgiven. It's through his death that we forgive one another. See, the beautiful thing about the Lord's Supper is it takes you directly to the cross. And what causes the separation and the division that Paul is confronting here in Ephesians, it's not differences. Differences aren't the problem. It's when we take pride in our differences. And that's the beauty of the cross because when you look at the cross, when you come before Christ and you see what he had to do in order to save us, forgive us, there is no place for pride. It's Christ. When we come to the table, we're doing so to remember Christ died for me. We're doing so to remember Christ died for us. We're doing so to remember we're supposed to be reconciled with one another. One of the things that surprises me time and time again is folks who tell me, well, I didn't go to church on First Sunday because I knew we did the Lord's Supper and I haven't reconciled with somebody yet. I think you're missing the point. That's just pride compounding pride. The Lord's Supper is there to bring you to repentance. The Lord's Supper is there so that you cannot remain in the pride of sin or unforgiveness. There's no place for prideful boasting at the cross. We're reconciled. We're called to be reconciled with one another. Now let's go to verse 15, and I want to focus on that second phrase that he has. That he, speaking of Christ, he might create in himself, again that union with Christ, that Christ might create in himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace. Well, we hear again and again, peace and hostility are contrasted with one another. Here, Christ, he's gonna come and he's gonna make one new man out of the two. This is important. It's important because our nation is asking questions about unity among differences in race and nationality. Our country is asking certain questions, and I believe we can actually have a real answer here. But more importantly, I think we as a church need to realize how important it is that Christ has made us one new man. I'm gonna walk through some theological concepts. I wanna try to say what I have to say here, and I hope that it's the beginning of a conversation, not everything that needs to be said. So as I think about the unity and diversity, I want to assert there is only one human race. There is only one human race. Every human being is from the same source. We're all descendants of Adam. We all were born of the same humanity. We're created by God, we're born of Adam. We're the same humanity, and secondly, being the one human race, we have the same value. Every human, regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, language, preferences, Every human being has the same value having been created in the image of God. Same source. Same value. We all have the same job. To worship. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever is the job description for every human being. Fourth. We all have the same problem. We've refused to do that job. We decided to worship our own desires in our own way rather than submit to God and worship Him. We have the same source, we have the same value, we have the same job, we have the same problem. That is the one human race from Adam. Now we need to recognize, secondly, there are real differences. There are different peoples and nations. After the entire Bible, all different kinds of groups formed. They became nations. that they formed around what they had in common and they became isolated and homogenous. God even created his own people and his own nation, Israel. There are real differences within the human race as peoples and nations divided. It's just a reality. Third, I want us to again remind us, Israel was given the status as a special nation and a special people. They were blessed to be a blessing. Instead of being a blessing, they decided to become like every other nation, and they boasted and become hostile. So one human race, different kinds of people, same value, same source, same problem, same job. Finally, Christ has come to start a new kind of humanity. He creates in himself one new humanity that consists of all those different kinds of people. We no longer have the same problem in Christ. That's one of the chief differences. We no longer are guilty of We're no longer rebellious. We're actually renewed, brought near, and given that job description again, but given the gift to do it. God's grace. We also have a different source. We're no longer in Adam and his sin. When we are in Christ, he is the head of a new humanity. That is the theological framework that we have to think about this with. We have these things in common with all people. Same source, same value, same job, same problem. The difference is Christ came to resolve our problem and give us a new identity. Christ redeems all different kinds of people from all different ethnicities and nations to become a new humanity in Him by resolving our biggest problem, distance with God because of our sin. Christ unites all kinds of people in His grace. He created a new humanity. He comes in, as we'll see later, there's a new nation where we're now fellow citizens. There's a real difference that makes us different kinds of people. But again, it's our pride in those differences that causes all the problems. It's our pride that makes us think we're special. It's our pride that gives self-pity. And I wanna help you think about the Lord's Supper in this way. As the cuffs being passed, we're gonna sing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and I wanna read the first line. Again, there's no room for pride at the cross. When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the prince of glory died, my riches gained, I count but loss, and poor contempt on all my pride. There's no room for hostility in the church. Christ died to kill it. There's no room for anger and unforgiveness. There's no room for avoiding a person who's been purchased by the blood of Christ because of personality of preference. He died to unify us. He died to kill the hostility that we create. Being different is great. Being prideful in that difference is not. So how do we think our difference is in light of Christ? Again, I'm not going to say everything we need to say. This is the beginning of a conversation, Lord willing. First, I want us to recognize it's too easy to limit ourselves to what I'm gonna call our affinity groups. These are just old school cliques. People we naturally want to spend time with because they're like us. It's too easy to limit ourselves to those affinity groups. You should have groups that are like you, but you shouldn't limit yourself to being only with folks who are of the same age or the same interest. We should be focusing on people who are different in those different aspects of culture, but have Christ unified. It's too easy to avoid the one who is different. Some of that's helpful when we spend time with Christians from other nations, from other cultures, It actually purifies us. It helps us see that something that we thought was essential to the Christian faith was really just something cultural. That there's a purity that takes place when we actually pursue the believer who is from a different background, a different social status, a different ethnicity. The thing about our difference is I want us to be warned that we too easily rebuild what Christ has tore down. We let our pride take place. And all we see is the otherness of others, rather than the likeness we have together in Christ. Jefferson Park Baptist Church, we need to pray to grow more grounded in Christ. We need to pray, we need to be more unified in Christ, which means we have to say, Christ, would you help me see where I still have things in my life that need to be uprooted? Are there people that I still avoid because of my preferences, because of my pride, because of personality? Whatever that may be, are there things in my life that are keeping Christ from being central to my life and to the church? Because I want to say, church, we're not diverse enough. We can't really control how diverse we are. The one thing we can control is how centrally focused we are on Christ. How much Christ is at the center of all that we say and do, not elevating our opinions, but single-minded, growing in Christ. Again, I want to address our national issue of racial reconciliation, and I'm not gonna say everything there is to say, but I want to say something. The church has two messages that must be heard. The church has two messages. First, every human being is made in the image of God and has value. Every human being has dignity and worth. We don't get to decide which human beings have dignity and worth. We have to be painfully consistent. Every human life, no matter gender, ethnicity, age, whatever it may be, All have the same value. Secondly, the message is we all have sinned. We all need a savior. We defend the rights of all human beings, but we also declare God has a right to judge us because we're all sinners and you need to believe. In order to make this message clear, in order to make this message powerful, first, we need to profess it together. We're sinners who've been saved by grace. That's our anthem. We're sinners saved by grace. That is what we profess together. Second, we have to behave according to Christ. We can't declare some great message of unity and then fight all the time. We have to be conducting ourselves according to that message of salvation. Third, we have to be proactively pursuing those who might be different with this message. And again, the message is very important. Every human being, has the same value. Every human being has the same problem, and Jesus Christ is the one and only solution. Let's look at verse 18. We need to slow down here because we're still getting in some depth of truth. He came and preached peace, who are for all peace, to those who are near. This is declaring that one peace that kills all the hostility, it's for everybody. Verse 18, for through him, that is Christ, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. This is glorious. Chapter one, verse four, blessed be our Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, who's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Then the Father who sent the Son to accomplish our salvation, He then sends the Spirit to apply it to our hearts. So the Father sends the Son, the Father and the Son send the Spirit. There's an amazing personal effort on God. There's an amazing work of God coming down to us as Father, Son, Spirit. And I want you to see what happens here. In the same Spirit who has sealed you in the inheritance of Christ, He leads you through the Son to the Father. And the way that the triune God has come down to you, Father, Son, Spirit, and now resides in you, we get to go back up. The one Spirit leading us through the one Son to the one Father. Now this is significant because there's a interpretation that that dividing wall of hostility is referring to the wall that was separating the Gentiles from the Jews in worship. In Harris Temple, there was a court of the Gentiles. The Jewish system, I'm gonna use our building as an illustration. The baptismal is the Holy of Holies. One priest, once a year, gets to go in there. Where I'm standing would be where the priests are. Right here is where the Jewish men could be. A little further, women and Gentiles. There's a hierarchical system. Only certain people got to go so far, and everybody had to depend upon the one priest to go represent them in the Holy of Holies, God's presence. Brothers and sisters, no matter who you are, where you came from, who you're born to, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you get to go straight into the presence of Almighty God the Father and worship. That's good news. We don't need a priest to go represent us. We don't depend upon one guy who's gonna go before you. You can praise God, you're not depending on me somehow representing you before God alone. Actually, what we're supposed to be doing, church, is being a priesthood of all believers. Representing each other constantly in prayer. If you wanna think about how reconciliation and peace are created and sustained, it's by a church that prays for and with one another. Something amazing about prayer. I can't point to a verse that says this explicitly. It's something I think is implied, and I think it's something I've observed and experienced. If you have a problem with someone, there's hostility. It is impossible, I believe, if you pray for that brother or sister to remain hostile. It's impossible. If you're truly praying for them according to the will of God, God, show them grace. May they grow. God, I would love to see that brother and sister who's done something that's created hostility, that they would no longer, who would no longer have that hostility. I would pray that they would have the peace of God, that they would be flourishing by your grace. Bless them. It is impossible for us to hang on to our hostility when we're praying for one another. I also can guarantee you if you only talk to yourself about the hostility, you will grow in bitterness. There's really two options there, right? You can talk to yourself and remind yourself of all the hostility and you'll grow in bitterness, or you can talk to God and you will grow in grace. In Christ, we're brought near by the blood of Christ. We now have this wonderful access where we get to know the Father. This is why we emphasize prayer on Wednesday night, that coming together as a church to be unified in Christ by His Spirit in prayer. Finally, we'll look at, remember, We're built together. And I'm going to come back to this passage next week, because I'm going to want to spend more time than what I'm going to do this morning. Now, I want you to see that Paul basically uses two different metaphors here. There's one of people, there's a citizenship and a family, and then there's one of a building. Verse 19, so then. He's coming to a conclusion. He's going to give us this grand view of what the church is supposed to look like, and it's very grand. So then. You're no longer strangers and aliens, but you're fellow citizens. We're the saints and members of the household of God. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. So we have two metaphors. First, there's the moving from strangers and aliens to being fellow citizens. Being members of the household. These are relational terms. When we look at other believers, we shouldn't look and say those are strangers. No, you have more in common with a believer than you do with your own physical family if they're not believers. You don't look at each other as strangers and aliens. You're fellow citizens. Well, what does citizenship do? Citizenship means you have certain rights and obligations. When your fellow citizens of the same nation, you have the same rights, and you have the same rules. There's a wonderful joining together of the fellow citizens with the saints. Those are those who are called out. And members of the household of God. Here, I believe we're talking about a family, which is more personal. It's more loving. A family is closer. They have more in common. They're more united in love. A people marked by love who have made promises to one another. One of the things I want to challenge us with here is don't be a stranger and alien. We can think about how those folks might look like strangers and aliens. That's an application we could look at where we kind of posture ourselves to think about those as strangers and aliens. I think one of the dangers we have is just making ourselves separate. Withdrawing. Removing ourselves from being known. One of the most dangerous things you can do is not make yourself known. Your sin. Your struggles. We need other brothers and sisters, other believers to come alongside of us in our sin, in our struggles. Don't make yourself a stranger. Be united with the citizens. Be united with the brothers and sisters so they can pray with one another. Now we see this other Metaphor this other imagery being built. It's a proactivity. There's there's being built on the foundation Of the Apostles and prophets of Christ Jesus himself in the cornerstone the cornerstone being the first one you lay It's important here to realize okay that first cornerstone it has to be right I've been building a lot of walls in my backyard lately and there was one where I started and I'm using these big blocks so as I'm going it wasn't perfectly level and And I thought I was good enough, but when I built a 20-foot wall, it was like four inches off at the end. Immediately, it wasn't that big of a deal. But whenever it's a little off, it just keeps getting more and more off, and eventually I just realized, I don't want to look at that while I'm living here. I don't want to look at that for the rest of my life here. I had to take the whole thing down. That's called repentance. And it was painful, because the blocks were heavy. But that's what happens. If we just have Christ, and we we misunderstand Him and who He is and what He's done and what He's come for us, and it's just a little tilted off, eventually it's gonna show big problems. Him being the cornerstone is a starting point. The prophets and the apostles, those are those who tell us about Christ. That one faith, once we're all handed down. We're built upon that. That's the foundation. The foundation is important. You know what's funny about the foundation? You don't ever actually get to see it. You don't see a foundation, but what you see is the outside. You see how strong the foundation is because when the winds, the rains, when things happen to that outside, the walls and the roof, you see how strong the foundation is. If the foundation's weak, the wall sinks. It's a problem. What we see here, when the church has Christ as its foundation, it's going to be sturdy, it's going to be growing, it's going to be strong. It grows up into a holy temple. The Holy Spirit unites us together and builds us up and grows us. Holy things happen when God's people come together with Christ at the center, at the foundation. It's not just coming together in this building, right? This is a building where the church meets. It's coming together as purchased people, setting aside pride, putting on Christ, and seeking to know how can we be more unified? How can we be more focused? How can we be more Christ-centered in all we say and do? We're given a new life to live together for the glory of Jesus Christ. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you are the great.