Welcome to Expository Truths, where we exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with Dr. John Kyle, pastor of Faith Community Church in Vacaville. As Christians, we’re called to know the truth and be able to proclaim it. We can know truth when we know the Word of God, which is precise, without error, and powerful and effective for both salvation and spiritual growth. Enjoy digging deeply with Dr. Kyle as he takes us verse by verse through the powerful book of Ephesians, giving us a marvelous summary of the good news of Christ and its implications for our daily lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 13. Ephesians 2, 13 through 18. The letter of Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians living in the city of Ephesus. Paul wrote this while he was under house arrest in Rome in about AD 62, and he wrote it to lay a proper doctrinal foundation for these believers so they could then live out those doctrines for the glory of God. We’re now in the middle doctrinal section of this book, found in chapters 1 through 3. Chapter 1 began by showing us the many incredible reasons that we should passionately praise our amazing God. And then it ended with a wonderful prayer, a prayer that we today should be praying for ourselves and for each other as we earnestly pursue those things that we are praying for. Chapter 2 began by telling us what we all were before God rescued us by His amazing grace. What was that? Anybody remember? We were… Dead, right? Dead. We were all spiritually dead. The good news is that God is rich in mercy. He is great in love. And because of His incredible, amazing grace, He raised us up from the dead and He gave us life, life, eternal life. And the call now is God’s workmanship. Literally, His masterpiece, His poem, is to earnestly pursue good works that honor and glorify Him. Paul then told the Ephesians to remember what they once were before Christ rescued them. Why? Because remembering the bad exalts the good and ignites our love for him all the more. So the bad is really, really bad, but the good is oh so very good. And that’s what we’re going to look at today. So let’s look. Last week, we got a little preview in verse 13, but we’re going to look at that a little bit more beginning in verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who had made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Now here in today’s passage, we find five amazing truths about Christ that should seriously excite us as His beloved children. First, it says this, Christ has brought us near. Second amazing truth about Christ, He is our peace. Peace pictures the binding or joining together again of that which has been separated. Peace means that the warfare has come to an end. But more than that, peace means the restoration of a broken relationship. Peace is what happens when two people who haven’t been speaking once again become friends. Peace means that a relationship that was once filled with enmity is now filled with joy. Peace is the positive change in a relationship between two people who once were enemies. Peace. Shalom. How can a person be made right before God? How can a sinful, dirty person be clean in the sight of God? How can a sinner be reconciled to holy God? How? By faith. Right? Faith. Oh, look, that’s it. Faith. Jewish believer, Gentile believer, everyone, it’s faith in Christ alone. How good is that? Third, Christ has abolished the enmity. Verse 15, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. This here tells us that when Christ died, he abolished the law. Speaking of the law that’s found in the Old Testament. See, since Christ’s victory and death, highlighted by his resurrection, the old is done away with and now it’s all about Christ. The old was all looking forward to Christ, and when Christ came, died, and rose again, the new has come, and it’s all about Him now. He’s the substance that the shadows of the old pointed to. He’s the reality that the old pictured. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5, 17-18. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. You see what Jesus is saying there? He’s saying that he’s a fulfillment of the law. The word fulfill means to make full, to complete, to finish something that has already begun. And that’s what Jesus does with the law of God found in the Old Testament. So how exactly did Jesus fulfill the law? Well, the law of God is broken up into three parts. The first is a moral law, which is God’s foundational code. The moral law is summed up in the Ten Commandments. Jesus perfectly upheld and kept the moral law of God. Every commandment He obeyed, every moral requirement He met, every standard He lived up to perfectly. Jesus never failed. Jesus never sinned. Jesus never broke one of God’s standards of holiness. These moral laws are summed up in two commandments, which are, first, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And second, love your neighbor as yourself. That’s right. Jesus always did that perfectly, and now as Christians, we meet all the moral requirements of God’s law because we are in Christ. The second part of the law is the judicial law. God’s judicial law was given to Israel to identify them as God’s chosen people. These laws are the ones that seem to bog us down when we’re reading them, talking about laws that relate to agriculture, the settlement of disputes, diet for the people of Israel, cleanliness, dress, and other high standards that God has given to Israel, as His people who were called to be separate from the world. Well, on the cross, Jesus fulfilled not only the moral law, but also the judicial law. So, praise the Lord, we can eat pork and not go against the commandment of God. That was a restriction for the Jewish people so they could be separate from the world, but it’s not a restriction for us in Christ. And so with the cross, the judicial law was fulfilled. The third part of the law is the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law governed the form of Israel’s worship. And look, on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law. In the ceremonial law, sacrificing animals was the heart of all Old Testament worship. But as the perfect sacrifice, praise the Lord, Jesus brought all other sacrifices to an end. See, He fulfills all of it. Now, Please note that while the law of God is fulfilled in Christ, or as Paul says here, he abolished it, look at this, the law of God is still really good, and it has great application for us today because it reveals to us the heart of God, and loving God and loving others is clearly the heart of God for all of us, as well as being clearly outlined for us in the New Testament. But here, Paul is being very clear that those laws that separated Jew and Gentile are now nullified in Christ. Laws like what? circumcision, food loss. Laws that deal with sacrificing animals and so on. See, now it’s all about exalting Christ and loving God and loving others for His glory. And that’s something that every believer in Him can be united in doing. So the enmity, the law is abolished. And then look, verse 15. So as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. How good is that? This tells us that the Jew and the Gentile are now alike in being in Christ. As one noted, through His blood and in His flesh, because of what Jesus did on the cross, the two races are now one. But this one race that comes by grace through faith in Christ is different from what both were before. The Jew no longer must offer sacrifice for His atonement. The Gentile is no longer separated from the atonement. Both are made pure in Christ, and that’s right. One early church preacher says that it’s as if someone took a statue of silver and a statue of lead. They then put them into a forge and then it came out as a statue of gold. They have now not only become one, but they’ve become better. And that’s what Christ has done. And so Christ creates a new race of humanity. That’s not only the joy of individual Christians, but it’s also meant to be the source of peace between us as we see the true oneness that we all have in Him. One concluded, each is to see the other as holy in Jesus Christ and thus to see the irrelevance of human distinctions that would separate hearts. Amen to that. Christ, see, Christ truly unites us together. And He’s the answer to all the messes that we are in, Him alone. Commentator John Eby says it like this. Verse 2. Verse 3. The water of the brazen sea may be poured out, for believers enjoy the washing of regeneration. And the lamps of the golden candelabra have flickered and died, for the church enjoys the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual blessing in itself, and not merely pictured in type, is possessed by the Jewish believer as well as the Gentile believer. And that’s right. And because all who believe are reconciled to God because of what Christ did in our place on that cross, look, now we can truly be reconciled to each other. And that’s all because of Christ. See, we owe all to him, all. And he should be our focus, honoring him, loving him, obeying him, pleasing him, glorifying him alone as our all in all. And because Jesus satisfied God’s righteous demands through his death and paid our penalty in full on the cross, look, God offers complete reconciliation and peace to everyone who trusts in Jesus. To who? Everyone who trusts in Jesus. And we should just be captivated with him today in light of that amazing reality. Look at who he is and look at what he did for us. Romans 5, 7 says, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone will even dare to die. So here’s a question. How many people are you willing to die for? A few, right? There’s some. Your parents, your children, your husband, your wife, there’s a few. This verse tells us that all of us would die for a few other people, but even then it’s rare. But Romans 5, 7 is telling us that God’s love isn’t like that. And as great as it is when a person will die for another person, God’s love is much, much greater. And God went far beyond what any of us would do. I mean, we would never think of doing what Jesus did. Verse 8, but God demonstrates His own love toward us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And that’s incredible, that not only did He die for us to rescue us from hell and wrath, but look, He died for us when we were His enemies. He died for us when we were still sinners, still ungodly, still powerless, and still at war with Him. He didn’t die for his friends. He died for those who hated him. He died for those who rejected him. He died for bad people. He didn’t die for saints. He died for sinners. He didn’t die for his friends. He died for his enemies. He didn’t die for people who loved him. He died for people who hated him. Us. That’s love. Sometimes in this ugly world, people say, where’s the love of God? We see so much killing, so much heartache, so much tragedy, so much pain, so much anger. Where is the love of God? Here it is. Look at the cross. Gaze upon the bleeding form of the Son of God facing God’s wrath against the believer’s sin, my sin, your sin. There you see the unfathomable love of God. And that’s not just good news for the Jews. It’s good news for the Gentiles. It’s good news for pagans like us. It’s good news for wretched sinners like me and you. It’s good news for all of us. No matter how bad we have been. You hear that? No matter how bad you have been. No matter our background. No matter anything. For again, anyone who calls on the Lord for salvation and life will be saved. And that’s a promise. He justifies us. He makes us right. He rescues us from wrath against sin. So come on, hear the heart of Paul and put off everything else and focus on Christ our all in all. He brings true peace with God and He also brings us together in Him. And our call is to glorify Him together until heaven becomes our eternal reality. Fourth, Christ came and preached peace to you who were afar off and… To those who were near, verse 17. Here, Paul is paraphrasing Isaiah 57, 19. Those who are afar off are the Gentiles, and those who are near are the Jews. And while Jesus preached to some Gentiles in his ministry, Paul’s probably referring not only to Jesus’ earthly ministry, but also to his preaching the gospel through the apostles and through others in the early church. The point is that everyone needs to hear the good news of peace with God through the blood of Christ as our substitutionary sacrifice for sin because it’s a message for all of us and all of our children and all of our family members and everyone else. They all need to hear this message. Look, people are desperate for Christ. And if Christ preached peace to those who were near and far off, hey, so should we. Peace. The world doesn’t have it. The world doesn’t have it. They can’t have it because they don’t have Jesus as Savior and Lord. Instead, this world is in chaos. Look around you and it’s clear. Searching and not finding. Groping but not apprehending. Restless, void, empty, at unrest from without and from within. Why? Because there’s no rest for a man until he rests in God. The reason why this world is so full of excitement is because it’s so empty of peace. And the reason why it’s so empty of peace is because it’s so void of God. So we must tell the people around us the good news of Christ. Our true peace. Spurgeon said, Sinners are dying in the street by hundreds. Men are sinking into the flames of eternal wrath, but many Christians fold their arms. They pity the poor perishing sinner, but they do nothing to show that their pity is real. But not here. Not here. Lord, help us to show that our pity is real. Lord, help us to blow the trumpet loudly into the ears of those who surround us. Lord, help us to fulfill our responsibility and our calling by God. Look, your only real hope, your only real hope is found in Christ. Your only real peace is found in Christ. The only way to fill that hole, that thirst, that hunger is Christ. And just as He preached peace to those who were far and near, Jew and Gentile, everyone, so must we. Are you? Fifth, Christ gives us access to the Father, verse 18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now think about that. Here we clearly see all three persons of the Godhead. The Bible is clear that the one true God exists in three eternal persons, each of whom is fully God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are each distinct persons, and yet they are not three gods, but one God. And look, the one God has enjoyed perfect fellowship and love between the three persons of the Godhead from all eternity. And here we see that because of Christ and what He did on the cross for all who believe, and with the divine help of the Holy Spirit, look, sinners like us can now have access to God. Come on, how good is that? That means that Christianity isn’t a religion of rituals, no. No. It’s a personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus God the Son by the indwelling Spirit of God the Spirit. This tells us that God has done and is still doing a lot of work to save us and to keep us. A lot of work. And we deserve none of it, but we get all of it. Both believing Jews and believing Gentiles alike. The word access literally means a bringing near. Think about that. And it describes a continuous and unhindered approach to God. How is that possible for unclean sinners like us? Anybody know the answer? Christ, right? And again, it’s because of what He did for all who believe on the cross that He gains us access to the God of the universe. And this is filled with love and acceptance and passion for all of us as children. Romans 8.16 says it like this. You did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. How good is that? That as Christians, because of Christ, by grace through faith, we’ve been adopted by God into God’s very own family. That’s real access right there. The Greek word for adoption literally means to place one as a son or a daughter who is not formally a son or a daughter. Adoption means to formally and legally declare that someone who is not one’s own child is from here on out to be treated and cared for as one’s own child, including having the complete rights of inheritance. John Murray says that adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself. This is surely the apex of grace and privilege, and that’s right. See, this isn’t a cold act by God when He does this. No, no, no. This is a family act that’s filled with love and care and affection and relationship. And so, because we believed and have therefore been justified, declared righteous by God, which is a legal term, He now tells us that we’ve been adopted by God, same idea, but adoption takes it just a little bit further and expresses the love and the heart of God in saving us. Now, before you were a Christian, you were in bondage. Bondage to sin, bondage to Satan, bondage to judgment. And fear is always beneath that, even though sinful humanity is trying to mask it by ignoring it, drinking it away, or working to cover it up, or whatever. But only Jesus can take that true fear away. Only Jesus, right? I’m no longer condemned. God is now my Father. I’m near to Him now. What a thought. I have access to Him now. What a thought. My eternal fate is sealed and I stand forgiven of all my sin. Jesus paid the penalty for all my sin on the cross. God loves me. And nothing can now separate me from the love of God. What’s there to fear as an adopted child of God now? And so rather than fear, we can now cry out to Him, Abba, Father. Come on, that’s good. That’s what we need. Cry is a loud cry signifying deep emotion. Abba is the Aramaic word for Papa or Daddy, which is a very intimate term. It’s a word of trust. It’s a word of dependence, a word of intimacy, of tenderness, and of love. It’s the same word that the Lord used when He spoke to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we, us in Christ, we can go to the Father like that. Isn’t that wonderful? And He won’t cast us out. Once we were trembling sinners living in fear, and now we are sons and daughters in the beloved care of our good Father. Once we were strangers, now we are family. Once we were shut out, now we are intimate. And now we can go into the presence of the Holy God of the universe, and we can say, Papa, and He will say, I’m here for you, my beloved child. Again, it speaks of love and care and concern and heart and passion. God towards you, His child that He has rescued. That means that you have a new family. The old family’s gone forever, the old master’s gone forever, the old name is gone forever. God is your Father, the Lord Jesus is your Savior, and the Holy Spirit lives in you. This also means that you have a new privilege. You have the same rights as the oldest saints of God. One said it like this. In our world, there are exclusive clubs with members dependent on who you know and on how much money you have. But God has only one level of membership. Everyone who comes into the family of God comes in the same way, because the ground is level at the foot of the cross. He only has one class. Everyone in God’s family has gold cards standing. Everyone is born again. Everyone has full rights. Everyone is at the head of the class. Everyone comes in at the best level possible, believing Jew and believing Gentile alike. How good is that? That’s the point. This isn’t just access. which Christ gives us to the Father. This is loving access, heartfelt access, Abba Father kind of access. So Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, black, white, forget about all that. Focus on Christ and who He is and what He does for everyone who believes and what that means. And then just get on with honoring Him with your life today. Lord, help us. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father. Lord, we love you so very much. We thank you for what you’ve done. Thank you for bringing Jew and Gentile into one family by grace through faith. And thank you for bringing us together. Thank you for saving us. Help us, Lord, to come together and exalt your name. to just focus on giving you the glory in this place and in our own lives. You are worthy. Thank you for your peace and your hope and your love. And thank you that we have eternal glory to look forward to with you and your people. Bless us now. Help these thoughts to penetrate our hearts and minds and to affect the way we live for your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for joining us for today’s exposition from the book of Ephesians on expository truths with Dr. John Kyle. Continue on with us next week at this same time. And to find this sermon in its entirety as well as other sermons, visit vacavillefaith.org. Faith Community Church seeks to exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with a commitment to glorifying God through the pure, deep, and reaching message of the gospel through faithful exposition. Pastor John is the preaching pastor at Faith Community Church of Vacaville, a seminary professor, and a trainer of preaching pastors overseas. Join Faith Community Church for worship Sundays at 9 and 1045 a.m., located at 192 Bella Vista Road, Suite A in Vacaville. To learn more, visit vacavillefaith.org or call 707-451-2026. That’s vacavillefaith.org.
