Ephesians 2:11-22.
11.
-
“uncircumcised”
o Slang term for a group of people other than/ different from who you are
-
“Gentiles by birth” people are who they
are from birth
o The religious Jews looked down upon all others because they were not born Jews
What they were saying is that because you
are different from me, you can’t have my religion
You can’t share in my religion
This still happens today. People attend church based on the kind of people that already go there
-
rich churches
-
blue collar
-
country
-
city
- black/ white
sometimes within the church, we form groups
with people who are similar and we ignore the rest
the beautiful hang out with the beautiful
12.
Things change gears
-
“at one time you were separate from Christ”
o The Religious and lofty Jews were focusing on nationality, but Paul turns the focus to what it really is all about
-
As Gentiles, they were “not allowed” to partake of Jewish religion
o (There was even a dividing law in the temple)
o (Even though the Old Testament allowed room for foreigners to worship God, the people set up their own rules)
-
The issue is Christ, not our differences
o Paul is telling us to overlook the differences we have with each other and focus on Christ
13.
-
the focus really is “you who were once far away have
been brought near by the blood of Christ”
We are not going to focus on our differences
but our Similarity
No matter how different people are, we
are held together by a common bond. Jesus Christ
14-18.
He is our Peace (14)
He has made the two one (14)
He has destroyed the barrier (14)
-
Diving walls create hostility
-
Division creates hostility. What divides us destroys
us.
o I even find myself pushing people away who I don’t agree with…destroying the relationship I have with them
He has created one new man out of
two (15)
He has made us into one body (16)
We both have access to the father
by the same spirit (18)
No matter how different we are, as Christians,
we are one, we are the same because of Jesus inside us
So, what does that make us???
19.
Fellow citizens
God’s people
Members of God’s household
WE ARE FAMILY…
…held together by the Word of God
and Jesus Christ most importantly (20)
We were not born Christian. We were born people, born into some type of family unit
But now we are part of this new, crazy
family called the church.
Some of us were raised in the church
but most of us are still trying to figure this thing out.
None of us ever really figure things
out but some of us live under this illusion that we’ve got it figured out, we’ve become spiritual, and “you
lost people” need to get your act together.
Some of us reach a point where we cross
over to the other side, we separate ourselves from the new believers, from those who believe differently, from the “new
in town,” from those who are not like us. We become comfortable (like the
Jews) separating ourselves from the Gentiles.
Remember what it was like when you
first accepted Christ, How awkward you felt, how new it all was to you, how badly you wanted to be accepted by the group and
now you are the group, but how are we approaching the new, new people.
Some of us are missing the bigger part
of our family. We look across the room at our brothers and sisters and refuse
to talk to them. Refuse to spend time with them.
Refuse to be brothers and sisters with each other.
God took two different people and made them one. God took opposites and
united them. God can take us, no matter how different we are, and unite us. We are united by the Message of the cross.
We become a new kind of Family
Paul uses a word to describe this new family
Koinonia: A close community of people.
1 fellowship,
association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse. 1a the share which one has in anything, participation.
1b intercourse,
fellowship, intimacy.
1c a gift jointly
contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship.[1]
Koinonia is when lives are intertwined and dependant upon each other
Example found in Acts 2:42-47
To
the fellowship (42)
(42) they as a group were devoted to Bible,
Prayer, Communion (keeping Christ as the focus) and KOINONIA – EACH OTHER
Everything
in common (44)
Let’s look at how Jesus sees the
church family (those who are Christians)
Matthew 12:46-50.
Jesus saw fellow believers as His true
family
Blood is thicker than water but Jesus’
Blood is thicker than family blood
Jesus’ blood is the family blood
You are close to your earthly family but
you are supposed to be as close if not closer to your Christian family
I am not telling you to place the church,
as an earthly structure, above your earthly family
Modern day church is a new concept.
In the days of old, they were just people believing in jesus seeking the same
cause together
But I am letting you know that your relationship
with Jesus is to be placed above your earthly family…
…and sometimes
that causes a separation
Matthew 19:28-29
28Jesus said to
them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed
me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who
has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother[a] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Some will leave so they can go other places and spread the Gospel, but some will be
forced to leave because they stand up for the Gospel
Luke 9:57-62
57As
they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
has no place to lay his head.” 59He said to another man, “Follow
me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go
and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me
go back and say good bye to my family.” 62Jesus replied, “No
one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom
of God.”
Once again we see this principle of our relationship with Jesus and the Gospel as more
important than earthly relationships.
Some of us have a great sense of community
outside the church…with our extended family, with those we work with, groups. Clubs, etc. but we are missing it at church.
We may even have little communities within
the church but we are missing the greater community of the church.
Today I want to encourage you to love your
church family the same ways, or better than you would love your earthly family.
Reach out to your church family and be
a family with everyone.
How do we be a church family?
(Ask yourself how does an earthly family
function?)
Earthly families:
-
help each other when in need
o 1 John 3:17. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but
has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
-
laugh together, cry together
o 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with
the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives,
so also through Christ our comfort overflows
-
spend time together/ hang out/ do things together/ talk
o Hebrews 10:25. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
-
they are a team/ work along side each other/ give and take/ doing things for each other
o 1 Corinthians 12:14, 26-28. 14Now
the body is not made up of one part but of many. 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its
parts should have equal concern for each other.26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is
honored, every part rejoices with it. 27Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.
§ When someone does not work, the rest of the body compensates and drags you along or cuts you
off
§ The quickest way to feel like you are a part of the church family is to invest yourself in the
work of the church
-
motivation is love, sometimes feels like obligation but deep down because you love them
-
fight then forgive
-
share life….koinonia
-
sticking together through the tough times. (believers
sharing our problems with each other)
The more we look into the Scriptures, the
more we see God’s principles applying to our Family
Why is it important to see ourselves as
family?
1 John 3:10. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil
are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother
People see that we are God’s children
because we follow His commands and we love our brothers and sisters
Acts 2:47. praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved.
It is a necessary ingredient for
churches to have if the Lord is going to bring people to them to be saved.
What Father in their right mind would send
his children to a group of people who can’t function as a family?
When we combine our church family to our
earthly family,
Christ mixes in,
becomes a part of,
influences
the lost of our earthly we family.
If we keep our families separate,
the lost of our earthly family don’t get to experience God the way He designed it to be.
If we are to love our family more than
earthly family it makes sense to care for our churchly family as much if not mare than earthly
Closing
Take time to respond to whatever God has
put on your heart.
If you need to join this family, you need
to put your faith in Jesus. Today is the day.
[1]Strong, James. Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. Ontario:
Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1996.