Biblical Blueprints, Part 2 – The Foundation of the Church

Transcript

JRS 52
Biblical Blueprints, Part 2—The Foundation of the Church
Ephesians 2:13-22
09/22/24
Jesse Randolph


Well, one of the more vivid memories I have of early childhood is sitting in the classroom in third grade at Westmont Elementary School in Huntington Beach, California when the Whittier earthquake struck. It was a 5.9 on the Richter scale, it caused some $368 million in damage, trump change, I'm sure, these days. But what I remember all these years later is feeling the jolt. And I remember looking out the window as this 8 or 9-year-old and seeing a rain gutter pop off the roof across the courtyard. And I remember seeing stucco kind of flaking and falling off the wall there in front of me. And I remember being led by our teacher in a single-file line to the outdoor lunch tables where we would be out of the way of falling debris. See, earthquakes in California like tornadoes here in Nebraska are just a part of life, part of what you grow up with.

And that's true even in California churches. In fact, I was reading an article this week about a church in northern California called Rio Dell Baptist Church which experienced some damage after a 6.4 earthquake. The earthquake happened on December 20 and when asked by a news reporter if the church would be meeting and assembling a few days later on Christmas, the pastor, a man named Rod Sanderson, said that they would. They weren't going to let a literal earth-shaking event stop them from meeting or gathering. And as he continued to describe the condition of the church property, Pastor Sanderson went on to mention that the “windows are broken,” “walls have moved,” and “some doors won't shut,” but the building, he said, wasn't in danger of collapsing, it didn't need to be demolished. And that's because, in his words, “[t]he foundation is in pretty good shape.”

Now with that statement, of course, this pastor was speaking in physical terms. He had been asked about the physical condition of the physical church building where this church gathered physically so he naturally answered in physical terms about physical windows and physical doors and the physical foundation. But at the same time, and I really don't think he meant to do this, but by saying what he said when he said that “[t]he foundation is in pretty good shape,” I think Pastor Sanderson was making a massively significant theological understatement. And that's because the foundation of the church, the church universal and the church local, is not just in pretty good shape. It's in excellent shape. It's in pristine shape, it's in perfect shape. And that's not because of the physical materials that the church foundation under this building, what it is made of, rather it is because of who that foundation is.

Turn with me in your Bibles if you would to Ephesians 2. This morning we're going to be working our way through Ephesians 2, and specifically verses 13-22, just to give you a run-up to where we'll be. Look at Ephesians 2:13, God's Word reads, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace. And might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity. And He came and preached the good news of peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

So we're back in our “Biblical Blueprints” series, welcome to week #2. Last Sunday morning we looked at Acts 2 as we considered the formation of the church, and we saw there that the church has a birthday, namely the day of Pentecost. And then last Sunday evening Pastor Mike took us through a workshop style message on what it means to sow or invest one's life into the church. This morning we're considering a new topic as we build out on this theme of God's plans and purposes for the church, and our topic this morning is this, “The Foundation of the Church.” And again, we're going to look at that question of the foundation of the church, what is the foundation of the church through the lens of the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians, you know if you've been around the church for a while, is one of Paul's prison letters, his prison epistles. And he wrote this letter under the direction of the Holy Spirit somewhere around 60-61 A.D. while he was a prisoner under house arrest in Rome. And at the heart of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is #1, the nature of the Christian's calling by God, we see that in Ephesians 1-3; and then part #2, is how the Christian is called to live for God which we see in Ephesians 4-6. But also, and this is important in terms of stage setting for this morning, Paul's letter to the Ephesians provides certain vital teachings on how believing Jews and believing Gentiles have been brought into one new organism, one new body, that being the church.

Now to give us a bit of a running leap into the text we'll be in today, let's go all the way back to the beginning of Ephesians 2. I just read Ephesians 2:13-22, that will be our focus for this morning, but let's go all the way back to Ephesians 2 in the beginning of the chapter to see our own bleak spiritual biography. We'll start in Ephesians 2:1. It says, “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler or prince of the power of the air.” Two American poets who I think we all at some point in our high school education learned about were Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe. Both had this fascination with death in their writings, in their poetry. Emily Dickinson once wrote,
“Because I could not stop for Death --
He kindly stopped for me --
The Carriage held but just Ourselves --
And Immortality.”
Edgar Allan Poe wrote,
“Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone --”
I bet they were both fun hangs.

But let me tell you, as dark as those sentiments are, they are like a warm splash of sun compared to what Ephesians 2:1 says. Ephesians 2:1 tells us not that we were born without a purpose or that we were born into the wrong home or that we were born into unfair circumstances. Instead Ephesians 2:1 tells us that we were born without a spiritual pulse, we were born dead, lying lifeless on the table, cold, blue, breathless spiritual corpses. Not only were we born sinners but we lived in our sin and we loved our sin. That's what verse 1 means when it says in verse 2, “in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world.” So we were born into this world as spiritually dead sinners. And not only were we born into this world, but we loved the world and we ran headlong at different speeds and in different seasons to the various different sources of wickedness in this world. For some it was drunkenness, for some it was illicit drug usage, for some it was sexual immorality, for some it was shady business practices, for some it was a chest perpetually puffed out with pride.

Whatever it was, though, we loved it. Like a pig in slop we wallowed around in the filth of this world. But ultimately that sin we indulged in, that sin we engaged in, it didn't leave us fully satisfied. Rather, it left us with this gaping hole in our heart, one that we couldn't even identify. And that's because the one in whose power we walked, the ruler, the prince of the power of the air, as Satan is described here, had blinded our eyes. Satan is a deceiver and Satan had deceived us in our sinful condition to believe that darkness was light and that wickedness was good and that sin would satisfy. But of course, it never would. Instead, verse 2, Satan played on that “spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” That's a reference to those who remain in their state of spiritual blindness today, of whom Paul gives this sobering reminder in verse 3 where he says, “among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”

In other words, you and I are inherently no better than those who remain dead in their sin today. I mean, we're better off now, to be sure, but we're no better. In its natural condition, in its native environment my heart is as black and depraved as the most savage criminal that any one of us could imagine. And the truth is, so is yours. So we don't live by the ‘thank God that I'm not like that other person’ mantra, ‘thank God that I'm not like that tax collector.’ Rather we say, there but for the grace of God go I. Look at verse 3 again, “we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” And this means, as Paul expresses it here at the end of verse 3, that we “were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” We were ruled by that fallen, sinful nature that we were born with. We were subjects of the ruler of this world, Satan. We were perpetual rebels against our Creator. We ignored the fact that as Thomas Watson once noted that with every breath we take we suck in mercy. And because of God's hatred of sin and His hatred of sinners, those who disregard His existence, those who deny His holy demands, we were, verse 3, “children of wrath.” We were deserving objects of God's wrath, meaning had we died physically, had our bodies expired while we were yet in that spiritual condition, what we faced was God's wrath, the pouring out of His measured fury in the everlasting flames of hell.

Ephesians 2:4, “But God…” Two of the most powerful, beautiful words in all of Scripture. “But God…” “But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” We were dead in sin, we had no spiritual life, we faced punishment for our sins, we faced judgment, we faced wrath. But then an entirely new chapter of our spiritual biography begins as God on account of His great mercy, on account of His great love, made us alive. He brought us to life. Here we were, dead as a doornail with no spiritual pulse, no spiritual heartbeat and God gave us life, spiritual life. He made us alive together with Christ.

And then this little line at the end of verse 5, “by grace you have been saved,” which was then repeated and emphasized in verse 8, “by grace you have been saved through faith.” Salvation is a gift of grace, it is received through faith in Jesus Christ. It isn't deserved, it certainly is not earned. Rather, it is a “gift of God,” verse 8, “not of works, so that no one may boast.” Those who have been redeemed, those who truly have been saved understand that the eternal life they now possess is not because of them but in spite of them. We remember the words of Jonathan Edwards that “we contribute nothing to our salvation but the sin that made it necessary.” He was right. Salvation is a God-bestowed gift, it's all of grace. And this gracious gift of salvation we've been given, assuming we have all received that gift in this room, shouldn't produce apathy and it shouldn't produce stagnancy. No, look at verse 10, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” God created us uniquely to do good works, not so that we can go to heaven, but because we are going to heaven.

Now for many of us what I've just laid out for you is familiar territory. You've heard the basics of Ephesians 2 before, you've heard it taught here surely several times. We understand that we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Well, as I noted earlier a key theme that Paul is developing here in Ephesians and in Ephesians 2, a strong undercurrent to this letter, is how both Jews and Gentiles who put their faith in Christ can lay claim to the benefits of true saving faith. And how both Jews and Gentiles who have put their faith in Christ have been brought into this one organism, this new organism known as the church. And we see this theme start to come out in verses 11-12. Up to this point Paul has been addressing his audience in more general terms like in Ephesians 1:1, “to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.” But here in Ephesians 2:11 he brings in another truth about his audience which is that they are Gentiles. See, at this time in history from the standpoint of biblical revelation there really were just two people groups in the world. There were the Jews and then there were the Gentiles. The Jews were the descendants of Abraham, the ones on whom, Deuteronomy 7, God had set His love, the ones whom Zechariah 2:8 calls “the apple of His eye.” And then there were the Gentiles and everyone else, the “goyim,” those who were not Jews. These were separate groups and historically they were treated much differently than each other. For instance, salvation through Christ was first offered to the Jews, to Jesus' people, the people of Israel. And even after Jesus ascended back to heaven in Acts 1:8, the message of His gospel started with the Jews, it started in Jerusalem and then Judea, etc. Not only though were the Gentiles treated differently than the Jews from a salvation standpoint, they were treated differently from a social standpoint. And we see some of that picked up here in Ephesians 2:11. And remember as Paul says this he himself is an ethnic Jew now writing to Gentile believers there in Ephesus. He says, “Therefore,” verse 11, “remember that formerly you -- the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands.” Paul here is bringing out that historical truth that in the eyes of the Jewish people of his day, those of the so-called Circumcision as he calls them, the surrounding Gentiles, the “goyim,” were considered to be on this lower rung of the social ladder. They were the dogs, they were alienated socially. But worse yet, and we pick this up in verse 12, they were alienated spiritually. It says, “remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

So not only were the Gentiles of Paul's day derisively referred to as the Uncircumcision by the so-called Circumcision, even worse was that they were without Christ. They were not only aliens and strangers to the people of Israel, but you see it there in verse 12, that they were without hope, they had no hope. They were without God in the world. Their biggest issue was not that the Jews wouldn't accept them, instead their biggest issue was that in light of their spiritual rebellion, God had rejected them. They were godless, they were Christ-less and they were hopeless. And that's a description, an apt description not only of the former condition of these Ephesian Christians to whom Paul is writing in his original context, but that's an apt description of our former godless, Christ-less, hopeless state in which we all once lived and existed.

Let me just say this in case there is somebody here this morning who is not a follower of Christ, who is not saved. Your biggest issue as you sit here this morning in whatever chair that you've found is not that the bills are coming due in October and your biggest hope and your biggest concern is not about how the election results turn out. Your biggest issue is not trying to fret over how the holiday schedule is going to work out, or your grief over that broken relationship. Your biggest issue rather is that a godless, Christ-less life is ultimately a hopeless life, a life in which you will go through various seasons and stages, a life in which you'll go through various experiences, a life in which you will punch passports and add candles to the birthday cake, but a life which ultimately if you don't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is hopeless and fruitless and pointless. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ all that you have put your hope in, in this life, you have to know this, is like sand in an hourglass that is fleeting away. What you need to do is put your hope in the life to come, eternal life which goes on forever. And that can only be found by putting your faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you at Calvary some 2000 years ago. Not to put your hope in the fleeting things of this world, the fleeting pleasures of this world. No, true hope is found, true and exclusive salvation is found in Jesus Christ and His bloody cross. So, friend, if you haven't put your faith in Christ, do it today. Don't leave here without trusting in the finished work of Christ on your behalf on the cross.

All that is introduction. We're finally at the part of the text that I want to make sure we cover this morning as we consider this topic of “The Foundation of the Church.” I do have three points for you, they are not alliterated, but our first point for this morning, verse 13, is “A Bridge Extended.” Look at verse 13, it says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” There is a clear contrast that is being marked off here as Paul starts with those words, “But now…” Couple that with the word “formerly” that you also see in verse 13 and what's being communicated here is that who we are now is clearly different than who we were before. For these Ephesian Christians they had not only been relationally separated from the Jews, more importantly they had been relationally separated from God. Formerly they had no hope, formerly they were without God in the world. “But now,” verse 13, what? They had been rescued, they had been rescued from that place of alienation and estrangement and separation. Instead they had been, you see it there in verse 13, “brought near.” See, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God places us in Christ Jesus. And because we are now in Christ Jesus, we who once were far off from God have now been brought near.

And as we continue to get deeper into Ephesians 2 this morning we're going to see that Jesus not only brought near these Gentile believers in Ephesus, He created a new entity, a new organism in which that old enmity between Jew and Gentile would forever be abolished. A new entity in which believing Jews and believing Gentiles would now be one in Christ, no longer alienated from each other, but now in Christ united with each other. We think of Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek,” nor Jew nor Gentile. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Actually if you would turn with me over to Acts 2, we were there last week of course when we looked at the formation of the church and as we were blazing our way through Peter's sermon at Pentecost. But if you go to Acts 2 Peter says something interesting in that sermon that we didn't really spend much time on last week but I want us to note it now because it fits in with what we're doing here in Ephesians 2.

Look at Acts 2:37, Peter has given the first part of his sermon there at Pentecost, the crowd there has been “pierced to the heart,” it says in verse 37, and then those in the crowd say, “Men, brothers, what should we do?” And then look at Peter's answer in verses 38-39, it says, “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.’” Now there in context, Peter's reference to you and your children would be to the Jews, while his reference, I believe, to all who are far off is to Gentiles, future Gentiles who would be folded in according to God's perfect plan. And now here back in Ephesians we have Paul several years later now picking up on this same idea which is that through faith in Christ it's not only Jews but Gentiles, those who formerly were far off, who are brought near to God, meaning they were brought into a right relationship with God. And by what means? By the blood of Christ, there at the end of verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Now bringing this over to our day the same truths apply. We were once separated from God and for one reason, our sin. We think of Isaiah 59:2 which says, “your iniquities,” your sins, “have made a separation between you and your God.” But now we who have put our faith in Christ, no matter our background, have been brought near to God. Once estranged from God we've now been brought near to God. And by what means? Again, the blood of Christ. Before any single one of us can enjoy the privilege of being brought near to a thrice holy God, we first need to be cleansed of our sins through the blood of One who is Himself God, the blood of Christ. Only that can do it for us. And the blood of Christ mentioned here in verse 13 is a reference to our Lord's death. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the spotless Lamb, when He died on the cross on our behalf He paid the penalty for our sin, the very thing that stood in the way of our being in relationship with this holy God. Our sin was removed, it was eliminated, it was taken away. It's exactly how it is phrased, by the way, in Colossians 2:14 where it says, “Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” So when a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ, when they believe upon His death and resurrection, His blood washes away their sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It's true. That's the point here in verse 13. No matter a person's background, whether Jew or Gentile, if they have put their faith in Jesus Christ they have been brought near to God, they have been restored to a right relationship with God and now they become one with each other, now brothers and sisters in Christ, gathered under the shadow of His bloody cross. There was this gulf, there was this chasm at one time between us and God but now this bridge has been extended. That's the idea here in verse 13.

That brings us to our second point now which is “A Wall Broken.” Verse 13 we see “A Bridge Extended,” verses 14-18 now we're going to see “A Wall Broken.” Let's look at the text, it says, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity. And He came and preached the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who are near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

And what's happening in these five verses is that Paul is expanding on what He has just articulated back in verse 13. And here he is laying out in more detail the fact that not only is there now peace in Christ between Gentile believers and Jewish believers, but there is peace in Christ between God and all those who put their faith in the Son of God. In other words, this wall of hostility, what Paul calls this dividing wall of partition there in verse 14, it not only divided men but it divided God and men, but now it has come tumbling down, now it has been broken down. And it has been broken down on account of the peace that is now offered through faith in Christ.

Let's unpack a little further. Back in verse 14 it says, “For He Himself is our peace.” That language there is emphatic, it could be read as He alone is our peace or only He is our peace. For centuries of coexistence there had been this tension and this conflict between Jews and Gentiles, but the Law couldn't bring peace between them, compliance with human work standards and animal sacrifice standards couldn't bring peace between them, but Christ could. He Himself is our peace, Christ alone is the provider of peace between Jew and Gentile in His body. He, after all, is the Prince of Peace.

Well, after highlighting the fact, verse 14, that “He Himself is our peace,” Paul next notes that He made both groups one. Which groups? Jews. Gentiles. Those are the groups, they've been made one in Christ. And as we read on we see that Christ has made these groups one by breaking “down the dividing wall of the partition.” Now some have said this is referring to some sort of physical wall, they refer to the old wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from where the Jews could worship in the old Jerusalem temple. The only thing is that wall that existed between the court of the Gentiles and the court of the Jews in the Jerusalem temple, it still existed by the time Paul wrote this letter. So that wall actually hadn't been broken, so I don't really think that argument is all that persuasive. Others have said that this reference to the dividing wall refers to the thick curtain in the temple that separated the Holy Place from that interior place, the Holy of Holies. But that word is very clearly referring to a curtain, not a wall. So I'm not persuaded by that interpretation either.

A better answer, I think, and one that is supported by the grammar of the passage is that the dividing wall of partition that is mentioned here is not a physical barrier but is describing something we've already noted here, which is that spiritual enmity that had existed for centuries between the Jews and the Gentiles, that enmity that had separated them. Now you are in Christ, Paul is saying here, and that dividing wall, that wall of spiritual enmity has been broken down. It is crumbled, it is gone, there is no more separation, there is no more enmity, there is no more hostility between Jew and Gentile. Not in the body of Christ. When Christ died on the cross He tore down that wall, that wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile came down and then He brought them together as one in this new organism, His body, the church.

Now in verses 15-16 we get more detail as to how this enmity has come to an end through Christ and how this animosity between now believing Jews and now believing Gentiles has ended and that's by having the cross of Christ supersede the Law of Moses. Look at the beginning of verse 15. Christ broke down that dividing wall of partition, how? “By abolishing in His flesh,” that's a reference to His death, “the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances.” See, part of the animosity that existed between Jews and Gentiles historically speaking was that Jews attempted in some respects to keep the Law with its commandments and its ordinances while Gentiles were completely unconcerned with those matters. And those different approaches to how to handle the Law, if at all, was a barrier between them. But Christ, we know, is the end of the Law. Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” And so this source of former Jewish/Gentile hostility and conflict and tension is now gone. As followers of Christ we don't, today, put our faith in law-keeping, we put our faith in Christ, we put our faith in His death and His resurrection. Whether we come from a Jewish background or a Gentile background, we remember and we rejoice in the truth of Colossians 2:14 once again, that Christ “Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees,” that's law language, “against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Christ, in other words, destroyed that barrier that the Law had presented, He broke down that wall. So through His death He not only ended the hostility between Jew and Gentile and abolished the enmity between them within His body, not only did He do so by putting aside “the Law of commandments contained in ordinances,” as it says here in verse 15, He did so, as it says at the end of the verse, so “that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace.”

And what is that new man? Well, we get a clue in verse 16. The new man is synonymous with the one body mentioned there, and that one body is what? The church. God has reconciled both groups, Jew and Gentile, and He has done so through this new organism, formerly a mystery, known as the church. In the church Gentiles don't become Jews, Jews don't become Gentiles. Rather, both Jew and Gentile become Christians. There is this whole new identity, this new man in this singular body. And as we read on we see that this body, the church, is made up of reconciled people. Verse 16, He “might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having Himself put to death the enmity.” The church is made up of reconciled sinners. Romans 5:10, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” We've been reconciled to God which was accomplished through the cross by which Christ put to death the enmity, it says. So He was put to death on the cross but by doing so He put to death the enmity that existed between us and God. And then also we've been reconciled to other believers, specifically in the context here of Ephesians, by that dividing wall between Jew and Gentile which came tumbling down so that this new man, this one body, is now made up of Jew and Gentile. All backgrounds, all skin tones, all tongues, tribes and nations. And this reconciling work of God has come about by what? Verse 16 tells us, “through the cross.”

Now briefly in verse 17, it says, “And He came and preached the good news of peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near.” That's drawing from Isaiah 57:19 where it says, “’Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will heal him.’” And the message of the gospel, the good news, indeed is this message of peace. We remember that in our former unbelieving state we were not only spiritually dead in the eyes of God, we were at enmity with God, we were at war with God. And yet Christ came, offering peace. John 16:33 He says to His disciples in the upper room, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.” And He brought peace. Through His victorious death at Calvary Jesus declared that the war is over and the treaty between God and us is now inked in His blood. He made, Colossians 1:20, “peace through the blood of His cross.”

And now having been reconciled, and now having this peace, reading on into verse 18 we see we have something else. We have access to God the Father. Look at verse 18, “for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” Note the trinitarian language there. We have access to God the Father in the Holy Spirit through Christ, and specifically through His death on the cross. It's through Christ that we can cry out, “Abba, Father.” It's through Christ that we know that our God and Father will never leave us nor forsake us. It's through Christ that we can draw near as the author of Hebrews says, “to the throne of grace for help in time of need.” Jesus then, He brought reconciliation to those who would believe upon Him, namely the church. He brought peace to relationships which were once marked by enmity with others and with God. And He grants access, we see here in verse 18, to the God that we once were at war against.

And if I can for just a minute, consider the type of people He did this for. I mean, I know our moms and grandmothers think we're really special and we're really swell and we're really neat, but we're really not. No. Consider just these three statements from Romans 5 and what they say about the type of people Christ died for, the type of people He reconciled to Himself. Romans 5:6, “Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:8, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:10, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” Ungodly, sinners, enemies. Spiritually impotent, unregenerate, rebels. Unrighteous, ungodly enemies with dirty hands and filthy hearts. That's who we were and yet He brought us in.

To summarize what we've established so far through our study of Ephesians 2 is that we once were spiritually dead and hopeless, but God saw fit to rescue us and save us. “By grace you have been saved.” We've seen that He brought us near to Him, we who once were far off from Him. We've seen that He broke down these walls that once divided us, not only from one another but from Him. We've seen that we are now a part of this church, His church, the new man, the one body which is made up of Jews and Gentiles, meaning today all types. We've seen that we are now all one in Him and in verse 18 we see that we have access in one Spirit to the Father. Because of Christ's death on the cross, we've been reconciled with God, restored to this right relationship with Him as we prepare to spend an eternity worshiping and glorifying Him.

And as we consider our topic for this morning on “The Foundation of the Church,” we really get to the heart of it here in verses 19-22. Look how it reads, it says, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Here is our third point for this morning, “A House Built.” So we've seen “A Bridge Extended,” “A Wall Broken,” and now “A House Built.”

Let's pick it up in verse 19, it says, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.” Now that direct reference to “you” there in verse 19 is the same as it has been throughout. Paul here is addressing Gentile believers. Now the immediate context, of course, for Paul are those Gentile believers right there in front of his face, you know, in Ephesus at that time. But of course, as the Spirit moved him to write what he wrote, this applies to all modern believers just like you and me sitting here today. Because of the salvation that we've been given, because we've been brought near, because we've been given peace with God through Christ, because we've been reconciled in one body to God through the cross, and now because we have access in one Spirit to the Father, we are, as the text says here, “no longer strangers and sojourners.” That's who we once were. Look back at verse 12, that's who we used to be. “Remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” That is who we were before, that was chapter 1 of the spiritual biography. But no longer. No. Verse 19 says, “You are no longer strangers and sojourners but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.”

Now in the context here, have to make sure I make this clear, with references to dividing walls being broken down between Jew and Gentile, note that what Paul isn't saying here is that Christians today aren't actually sojourners vis-a-vis the world. I am going to try to make it even more clear. We are sojourners when it relates to the world, right? We're just passing through this place. Philippians 3:20 says, “our citizenship is in heaven.” Or we think of that line from Hebrews 11:16, there is the whole ‘hall of faith’ there and he is talking about the Old Testament saints and he says, “they aspire to a better country, that is a heavenly one.” So we are sojourners and exiles in this world. But what Paul has in mind here in verse 19 when he says, “You are no longer strangers and sojourners,” he's not saying you are not strangers and sojourners in the world, he's saying you are no longer strangers and sojourners vis-a-vis Israel. Now as Gentile Christians, now that you are in Christ, you are no longer outcasts, you are no longer to be kept at arm's length, you are no longer aliens, you are no longer dogs, you are no longer outsiders, you are no longer the uncircumcision. That's what he is saying. There is no more division, there is no more separation, not in the body of Christ. Rather, in Christ we have all, Jew or Gentile, been made part of one family, that family being the body of Christ, the church. Maybe I could put it this way. Just like you wouldn't call a member of your own family at Thanksgiving a sojourner or stranger, so, too, would we not give that label to a member of God's family, the church, whether they come from a Jewish or Gentile or whatever background.

Reading on here in verse 19 we see that he says “you are fellow citizens with the saints.” So “you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints.” In context, what this means is that Gentile believers in Christ enjoy the same privileges as Christians as do their ethnically Jewish brothers and sisters in the Lord. Those who came from a Gentile background were not to be considered any longer as being part of a lower tier or a lower caste. They are fellow citizens with Jewish believers in Christ. And then this language at the end of the verse tells us that Gentile believers, like Jewish believers, “are of God's household.” They are part of the church. I Timothy 3:15 Paul says, “I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the support of the truth.” God's household, in other words, is the church, the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

As we move on to verse 20 we see that the church, the household of God, the pillar and support of the truth is built on something. Better yet, it is built on Someone. Look at Ephesians 2:20, the household of God has “been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” Now something to note is that the terms “apostles and prophets” there, they both are referring to New Testament offices in this context. Apostles were a New Testament office and there were prophets in the New Testament era as well. Turn to Ephesians 4:11, “And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” And these New Testament prophets, the ones mentioned here in Ephesians 4, the ones mentioned over in our text, Ephesians 2, they received new revelation pertaining to the mystery of the church, this new entity, this new organism known as the church. In fact, we see that connection between New Testament prophets and the church in Ephesians 3. Look at Ephesians 3:5. Here Paul, speaking of the church, the mystery of the church, says, “in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.” He's talking there about New Testament prophets receiving revelation pertaining to the mystery of the church, something that was not previously known to the sons of men, he says. Now there were Old Testament prophets, too—Haggai, Joel, you name the Old Testament prophets—but he's not talking about Old Testament prophets here, he's talking about New Testament prophets. And one of the reasons we know that is that the Old Testament prophets wouldn't have known about the church. The church was a mystery to the Old Testament prophets. We went through that in detail last week when we established that the church wasn't born in the Old Testament, it was born at Pentecost in Acts 2.

And here's another question we need to sift through, still in verse 20. Are the apostles and the prophets themselves the foundation of the church or is Jesus Christ the foundation? Now in an initial read I'll grant that it may appear as though the apostles and prophets are playing one unique role in the church, foundation, while Jesus plays a different foundation in the church, cornerstone. That's how it looks at first glance, but for a couple of reasons I don't think that's quite right. First of all, and I'm going to try to keep this short, the words “apostles and prophets” there are what is known as a subjective genitive form. I'm not going to tease all that out right now, but what that means is when something is in a subjective genitive form it means it is the originating agency of something else. Clear as mud? Here is what I mean. Apostles and prophets, because we have a subjective genitive here, I think what it is saying is that they are not necessarily the foundation, but rather they laid the foundation. There is a slight distinction there. They aren't serving as the foundation, rather they laid the foundation. Now that might sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I really don't think I am.

I think this is a matter of Scriptural integrity. In fact, if you go over to I Corinthians 3 you'll see something really interesting here. I Corinthians 3 and we'll just start in verse 10 for a little bit of context. It says, “According to the grace of God which was given to me,” this is Paul speaking, “like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,” that sounds apostolic, he was an apostle, “and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.” Then look at verse 11, “For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid which is Jesus Christ.” So here Jesus isn't described as the One who lays the foundation, right? No, He is described as the foundation. And that squares up with what we see back in Ephesians 2 where those words, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” appear to be referring in the Greek language not to the apostles and prophets being the foundation but instead being those who laid the foundation. So the apostles and prophets laid the foundation for God's household, the church, and they did so through what? Through the divine revelation they both received and the divine revelation they provided which we now know as our written New Testaments.

But the actual foundation of the household of God is who? Jesus Christ. And Jesus also, as we see here at the end of verse 20, is the cornerstone. The whole phrase reads, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” In ancient building practices the chief cornerstone, we know, was carefully placed at the lower front corner of the building and it was crucial because the entire building was lined up with that cornerstone. It was a matter of structural integrity. Walls lined up and were angled according to where that cornerstone was placed. Other parts of the building fit into that cornerstone. The cornerstone essentially framed up the entire structure, it supported everything, it unified everything, it connected everything. It was essential. If that stone were removed the entire building would collapse. That's an apt description of Christ and His centrality to the church. He is the head of the church, He is the foundation of the church, He is the cornerstone of the church.

Back in Isaiah 28:16 God spoke of laying down a cornerstone in Zion in that original Israelite context. It says, “Therefore,” this is Isaiah 28:16, “thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.” Well, later in His plans for history He would also supply a cornerstone for this new entity, formerly a mystery, known as the church, who is Jesus and who to the Jews of His day, we know from I Peter 2:8, was “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” But I Peter 2:7 also says, “The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the chief corner stone.” That's Christ. He is the cornerstone of the household of God, the cornerstone of the church, and it is through Christ and in Christ that the church grows. Not just numerically, though Christ provides that as well, but in holiness, in purity.

Look at Ephesians 2:21, it says, “in whom,” meaning in Christ, “the whole building, being joined together is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.” The whole building there is referring to the household of God, the church, and it is being joined together, meaning the various parts of this building, this household, aren't being haphazardly thrown together. Rather, they are being skillfully fitted to each other, there is no stone out of place. Rather, every stone, in the case of the church, every living stone, every believer, every member of the church has been perfectly put in place by the Master Builder, God Himself. And then at the end of verse 21 it says this building, this church “is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.” The church is this living, growing organism and it grows in a certain direction. It grows upward in holiness. I Peter 2:5, you “are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood.” And it's being built inward in love for one another. In fact, look over at Ephesians 4:15 for a cross reference, the kind of building that God is doing in the church. Ephesians 4:15, “but speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the properly measured working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” What a vivid picture of this building, the church, being joined together, growing into this holy sanctuary in the Lord.

Well, as we turn to verse 22 and close, just a brief observation here. Ephesians 2:22, it says, “in whom,” again that's a reference to Christ, “you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Note that, going back to the three points for this morning, as those for whom a bridge has been extended back to the God with whom we were once estranged, as those for whom that dividing wall has been knocked down so that no matter our cultural or religious backgrounds we can now have access to God in fellowship with one another, as those for whom this foundation has been laid by the apostles and the prophets and their writings about Christ, as for those who are now part of this household of God whose chief cornerstone is Christ, note what it says here in verse 22. We aren't building our own little silos, we aren't building our own little kingdoms, our own little fiefdoms, our own little fan bases in the church. No, it says we “are being built together.” As members of one another we “are being built together into a dwelling of God.” And how? “In the Spirit,” meaning by the Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells any individual believer in this assembly of individuals known as the church.

As we wrap up here, let's be encouraged. I pray we will be encouraged, I pray we will be encouraged that the foundation of this church is unshakable, the foundation of this church is secure. And that's because the foundation of this church is Jesus Christ Himself. So with all of our ideas and all of our programs and all of our conferences and all of our ministries and all the rest, let's never forget whose house this is, and the Spirit by which He builds it and the foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord on which it all rests. Psalm 127:1, “Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Amen.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for these reminders from Your Word this morning. We thank You for what You have revealed to us in this chapter of Ephesians which in some ways might sound a bit dated from the standpoint of Paul's ministering in his context to Jews and Gentiles and all the former tensions that existed between them, but I pray that we would see what You were doing there in that context -- we would understand what You were doing in that context. And we would seek to apply it to our lives, individually, into body life here today. God, thank You for Your perfect plans, thank You for how You dealt with Israel in the past, thank You for how You are dealing with the church today which is made up both of Jew and Gentile. Thank You that You are not done with Israel, that a day is coming where there will be salvation for believing Jews in the future. God, thank You for our privileged position to live in this era of history in which we live where it is a parenthesis, as many have called it, this church age, and I pray that we wouldn't lose sight of that, that behind it all, above it all is You, God, an all-wise, all-perfect God who is bringing all things to pass for Your glory. God, I know there is a lot of information today, I know there is a lot of detail, but I pray that what this series would do would be to engender a love for You, God, a love for Your church, a love for one another that would mold us and shape us to be a more useful tool, a more useful church in Your hands for Your glory. Thank You for this time of worship. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.