On Friday night I gave the virtual youth talk. Doing talks in lockdown is a blessing and curse. It is convenient as you can write your talk and then record it and get it out of your system in a short time frame. The bad thing is that the talk doesn't benefit from much reflection and fine tuning. Normally I would write my talk on Tuesday, that night we would have a small group discussion on the passage, then I would tweak the talk on Wednesday and on Friday I would go over it and make some slides for it. The below talk feels like a first draft that hasn't undergone more reflection and tweaking over the process. I think I didn't untangle the idea of being far away and brought near with the idea of being hostile and then having pace very well. It is kinda muddled a little (the passagedoes entwin these ideas).
You can view this talk online or have a scan over my notes below.
In our culture, we see that there is a gap between our Indigenous peoples and everyone else and we seek to restore this balance. While today Aboriginals have the same passports, citizenship, access to welfare and can vote as everyone else in Australia, there are still prejudices and large societal obstacles to overcome. On almost any metric whether it be health, life expectancy, education or access to Bunnings, our Indigenous people are behind, and not only this but there is also still tension between races. This is not cool. Tension between races is not cool.
Tension between anyone is not cool. I don’t know how you cope with arguments and tension in your household. Do people build up and explode or does someone in your house just not talk and give you a blank for a period of time? I don’t know about you, but I have this pressure in my stomach when I am in this situation. There is some sort of tension in the air and you want to make it right, but you might not know how to restore it. Or you do know what the problem is, and it involved you admitting that you were at fault.
In this talk today, we have two simple points, but they are life-changing. I know virtual youth isn’t that great, and there is this virtual wall between us, but please listen up for the next few minutes as I point out two simple truths from the end of Ephesians 2.
First, we will see that you were separated from God and each other, (and then)
Second, we will see that it is Christ who has reconciled you to God and each other.
Separated from God and each other
When Paul wrote this letter to a new church in Ephesus, in their culture there was a massive tension between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews looked down on the pagan Gentiles and thought they were better than them, they after all thought they were God’s chosen ones. It was God who made a whole bunch of promises to the people of Israel. This caused a gap between these two races, the Jews would try and separate themselves from everyone else, for the Gentiles in their mind were outside and away from God’s plan.
Paul here pushes the idea further. There was a gap between the Jews and Gentiles, but there was also a gap between people and God.
Verse 2:11-12
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.We may sometimes think that because God made us in his image, that by default God is pleased with us[1]. That God can not be angry with us because we are his handiwork. However, in this passage, Pauls says no. We were separated from Christ, we were excluded. We aren’t just seen as a stranger to God, which may sometimes imply that we are just unknown and we would get along if only we were introduced, but just before this passage, it says that everyone was disobedient and deserving of God’s anger for our sin.
The sad truth is that by nature we are in rebellion against God. That we do not like nor want God and part of the reason why we are far from God is because we like it that way. We think without God we can do what we want, which on the face of it sounds good. However, without guidance on how we should live, we get into all sorts of trouble and become enslaved to sin and ourselves. We then start to build up barriers between each other. We get angry and annoyed when things don’t go our way, we blame others for our inconveniences, and we seek our own ends over everyone else.
The bad news is that we are disconnected to God and each other and we can not get ourselves out of this mess. We are lost and dead in our sins.
Christ has reconciled you to God and each other
But the good news is, that Jesus comes down to reconcile us to God and each other. Our passage goes on:Verse 2:13-18
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.In Jesus, he overcame the Jew/Gentile distinction and removed their racism and hostility. Now, under Christ, these two divided groups can become one. Jesus is our peace, He preached peace to everyone and because of him we all, Jew or Gentile, everyone, has access to God by the same Spirit. Everyone is the same.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
We see here that this is because of the cross. It says so in the passage.
Verse 13: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Verse 16: Jesus reconcile both [Jews and Gentiles] to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility
This is huge. Not only does this say that Jesus’ death on the cross brings peace between each other, but also there is peace between us and God.
We were far off and enemies towards God and yet, Jesus still came and died for us, putting to death our hostility and now we have peace. Peace with God and peace with each other. Jesus formed a new group of people, one that isn’t divided, one that is united.
The passage goes on to expand on what this now looks like using a few metaphors:
Verse 2:19-22
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.We are now part of this one new nation, one new family, one new building. We can be united with people because Jesus is our foundation, and we are built off Him and together the Spirit comes and lives in us.
Do you feel distant from your friends in lockdown? Screens and phones are useful for connection, but they are just not the same in person. Being cut off from others is not great for your mental health. But we do have hope, that this lockdown will end, we will see each other in person again, and when we do it would be a joyous occasion. For it is good to be near, to be brought back together again.
If you’re tuning into this virtual youth and you are not sure about God and Jesus please be reconciled to God. You are far off from God and need to be rescued. As some of you may have read last week, man is destined to die and after that face judgement (Heb 9:27). Apart from Christ, we are all far from God and hostile towards Him. But please trust in Jesus. “now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13)
If you are a Christian, please consider how might you treat those you are in lockdown with. If Jesus has brought about peace between you and God, how might you live now as someone who has experienced this peace? Blessed are the peacemakers. How might you be a peacemaker? Also, how might this strengthen your relationship with God. You are now brought near to him; you can hear from Him in His Word and talk to him at any time even in lockdown. You have immediate access to God because of Jesus.
[1] I took this point from Mark Dever, RECONCILIATION (Jul 15, 2001). He broke this passage into three parts, but I conflated his two point as I thought they were the same.
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