But Now In Christ Jesus…

Introduction

I’m going to start this morning with something that pertains to everyone who I guess you could say is of accountable age this morning. I want to talk to you about what I want for you. Yeah, I’m talking to you. Very personal this morning. What I want for you. A new car. Wouldn’t that be nice if I could provide that and Jesse likes this particular model? He wishes he could fix us all up with one of those. Well, maybe something a little bit more realistic than that. That’d be nice. I got something better in mind. Something a little more realistic.

Bacon. Scott’s happy with this. Did you put that on there, Scott?

Perhaps something a little more relevant, especially for some of our members who struggle with physical infirmities. If I could only provide perfect health and the absence of pain. But that’s just not the nature of our world. I wish I could provide that. I know how difficult it is. How about limitless wealth? No concerns about money ever again. Limitless wealth. Actually, I can help you with this a little bit. Not from the standpoint of money and material things.

But what I want for you is for you to be in Christ. And that’s what this lesson is about. If that is what we can accomplish, our time will have been well spent. Our perception of things is often not as clear as it ought to be. And that’s what Paul is talking about that mirrors the song that we’ve just sung, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 18. I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened, that you might know what limitless wealth really is all about. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints? Now that’s what this is all about.

What I want for you. If you are in Christ, if you are functioning in Christ the way God intends, what Jesus anticipated when he died on the cross for your sins, you have come into possession of the hope of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And he says about that in chapter 2 and verse 7, in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us. Now notice that phrase in Christ Jesus. In fact, not only do we have the hope of his calling and the riches of his kindness, he has lavish such among us. And I love that word in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 8. Why is it that we often fail to perceive that?

Why does Paul pray that the eyes of their heart might be enlightened? Because misplaced values and worldly affections often prevent the proper perception of these things. May the Lord indeed open our eyes through his providential care to the things that really matter most. Riches, glory, inheritance. What’s not delight in those expressions? And even more the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. Do not neglect or underestimate the effectiveness of his power.

I can live successfully as a Christian. The Lord can assist me to overcome in the midst of overwhelming obstacles to faithful servants.

That’s what’s available in Christ. I want to take you this morning to chapter 2 of the book of Ephesians.

As he describes how we come into Christ. And I want to begin reading in verse 11. I would love to go through the whole chapter, and I’ve already referred to several verses in this context. And I want to come back to the beginning of chapter 2 momentarily. But after he has explained salvation by grace through faith, and that we are created in Christ Jesus, again that expression in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

He being a Jew. And he’s already in chapter 1 talked about those of us who were the first to hope in Christ, speaking of the Jews and his Jewish brethren. But now Gentiles are coming in to Christ. And he begins to address them in chapter 1 and verse 13 when he says, In him you also, Gentiles, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And so he comes over to chapter 2 and says, all of us who are in Christ were created in Christ Jesus for good works that we should walk in them. And then he says, therefore remember that formerly you were Gentiles in the flesh.

1. Remember You Were Separate From Christ

Who are called uncircumcision. Now we saw all of that in the Old Testament. As David faces Goliath, this uncircumcised Philistine. Circumcision set the nation of Israel, the covenant people of God, apart from those who were heathen Gentiles who worship false gods. You were formerly that. You were uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision. There’s a different circumcision now. It’s not of the flesh, but of the spirit or the heart. The New Testament describes. So they’re the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands. Okay, so he’s writing to those who are now in Christ, and he says, You were formerly Gentiles, and then he says this. Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ. Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.

There are three points to this sermon. I’m not going to reveal what the three points are until I’ve talked about all the little individual points. And I’m going to show you what Paul is doing in Ephesians chapter 2. But the first section of this is all found in verse 12. And my clicker’s not working, so I’m going to stand here and do this, hitting the spacebar. He says, You were separate is the first term he uses in verse 12, you Gentiles. And what I want to say about these six things that I’m going to show you is none of these should appeal to us. None of these should seem desirable to us. He says, You were separate. You were on the outside looking in. Israel, those of the circumcision, they were in.

They were God’s covenant people. You were without. Now that doesn’t mean that God didn’t have a plan for the Gentiles in the Old Testament. Jonah was sent to the Gentiles and preached repentance. Obviously, something was hanging in the balance in Assyria in terms of their soul salvation. And so God sent Jonah to preach to them. That’s what the whole story of Jonah is about. God had dealings with the Gentiles, but they were not the covenant people, the people of promise. Israel was. And so he says, you were separate from the blessings associated with that covenant, being God’s covenant people. He says, you were separate. You were on the outside looking in. We don’t really like that concept, do we? Whatever group we want to be in, we don’t like to be on the outside looking in.

He says, you were excluded. They were not included in the sphere of God’s blessings. They were strangers. And I might add it is better to be strangers in this world. Aliens and strangers abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul of 1 Peter 2 and verse 11. Better to be strangers in this world as they look at us than to be strangers to the covenant of promise. No hope. Emptiness, vanity, futility, helplessness. Without God. This verse has struck me for a long time. Again, I don’t want to be associated with any of those things. I don’t desire any of that. Without God, there’s no worse condition than that. You map up the worst possible condition. That’s it.

Without divine assistance. Lawrence Kelly made an interesting observation at Southside this week when Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission in Matthew 28, go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. It is sandwiched between two important concepts. Number one, God has absolute authority and affirmation of authority. All authority has been given unto me in heaven and earth. And then what follows that is a promise of his presence. And I thought that’s interesting.

God has all authority, I’ll be with you. And lo, I’ll be with you always, even to the end of the age. Without God in the world.

2. But Now, Brought Near by the Blood of Christ

Even boatloads of money and fame are no fix for life’s ills. That’s where the Gentiles were before this new covenant. But then notice verse 13. We’ve already emphasized this phrase when he says, but now, not so anymore. That is awful. Separate, excluded, strangers, no hope without God in the world. But now, he says, You have been, you who were formerly far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Brought near. That goes to the concept that was delivered in the very first sermon in the book of Acts, anticipating the flow of Gentiles into the kingdom. Remember that in Acts chapter 2, when 3,000 were baptized and received the word. It says, repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for those who are afar off. As many as the Lord our God shall call. So even in the very first sermon, I don’t know if Peter really understood the implications of what he had said in Acts 2 and verse 39, when he said, For those who are afar off, he probably thought just far distant places, but God has in mind all men, Jew and Gentile, as many as the Lord our God shall call by the blood of Christ. We ought to conduct ourselves in our sojourn here. Remember, I talked about being strangers in the world. We ought to conduct ourselves in our sojourn here with fear. Interesting expression in 1 Peter 1 and verse 17. Reverence and respect for God.

For you were redeemed, he goes on to say in verse 18, not with perishable things, but with the precious blood of a lamb, without spot and without blemish. Don’t ever forget the fact that we come into Christ at great cost. The blood of Christ. And he himself is our peace. A guy named Banning preached a great sermon about that particular phrase on Tuesday at the South Side lectures, where he talked about the peace that comes to us in Christ. First is a peace with God. He brought peace where there was alienation and separation from God. He brings us into union with God. That’s what in Christ is all about. Gentiles being separate and excluded have now been included and brought near.

But I think that’s a very good and apt analogy for this. Somebody said, would you even go if you were invited? Yes, I would. I would go. I’d like to talk to President Obama about a few things. And if I had the opportunity to go to the White House, that’d be a big deal. I’d be excited about that. I’d actually be concerned about my manners and all of that, sitting at the dinner table at the White House. And some of us might look at that and say, well, I wouldn’t be particularly thrilled about that. Maybe if somebody else was president, some future former president was in the office, I might be excited about that. But even if, even if that person, the best president ever.

Maybe you loved and adored the president. Can you imagine inviting little old Tony from Tombaugh, Tomball, Texas? Where’s that? I get that all the time. Much more Decker Prairie. Invited to the White House. How amazing would that be? But what about being invited to the table of the King of Kings? And the Lord of Lords. That’s the invitation of the gospel. He himself is our peace. He brings us into union with a perfect God, though we have been imperfect. And he will go on to say that what stood between covenant Israel and the Gentiles has been done away. That covenant had been fulfilled and removed. The law, the enmity that was brought about by the law, the law of Moses, a national law. That had been removed, that enmity, that division between Jew and Gentile, is done away, and God has come and preached peace to those who are far away and peace to those who are near.

3. Thrive in Our Upward Calling as Fellow Citizens

He’s not excluding the Jews. For through him in verse 18, we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer outside looking in. You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints. And are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. So notice where things started for us. Not too desirable, not too pleasurable. But now, Gentiles who have embraced this message of salvation in Christ, by grace have you been saved through faith, Ephesians 2 and verse 8, have now been brought near, brought near by the precious blood of Christ, who became our peace with God, and thus peace with others.

And now, Jew and Gentile are fellow citizens. People of all classes of society. There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor free female, bond or free, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We’ll conclude with that text in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 28. Fellow citizens, now with this glorious purpose, we are people in whom God resides. As we saw in our study in the Bible class in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the temple of God. That is what you are. And with that comes tremendous responsibility, a tremendous sense of purpose to what Jesus calls us to be and how he calls us to think and how he calls us to talk. And how we behave. Built together.

Again, coming under the control and influence of the Holy Spirit, living as he directs. As we saw in a sermon a few weeks ago, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Okay, I told you there were three points to all of this, and that’s what I’m getting to. What are these verses in Ephesians 2, 11 through 22 tell us about being in Christ and our regard for it? The first thing that he’s doing is he’s reminding us to remember where we came from. We can lose sight of that awful condition where we found ourselves lost in sin. Remember, as Peter would tell his audience in 2 Peter chapter 1, people are blind and short-sighted, oftentimes, having forgotten the purification of their former sins.

You need to appreciate where you came from. I’m a Gentile. Most of us, we might have some Jewish people in our ancestry. I don’t know. But probably most of us are of Gentile descent. If we had lived in old covenant times, we would have been uncircumcised. Not a part of the covenant of promise, like the Jews were. On the outside looking in. But more than that, we are on the outside because of our sin. And that while we were yet sinners, notice this in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, and while you were dead in your trespasses and sins, you walked according to the course of this world, under the control of the devil and his subjects in verse 2. Sons of disobedience. You were by nature children of wrath.

Listen. If we don’t end up in this fear, children of wrath, you don’t want any part of the wrath of God. By nature, children of wrath. And then this contrast in verse 4, but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions. He made us alive. God acted while we were still dead to bring us near by the blood of Christ. And that leads me to the second point. We need to appreciate where we now are. We’ve been brought near at great cost. And then we, as a result, must thrive in our upward calling. Three points from Ephesians 3, 11 through 22. Well, that begs the question. How? How do I come in to this fear in Christ?

4. How Do I Come Into This Sphere?

You should notice that all the good stuff is in Christ. People find benefit in associations and affiliations of all kinds. That’s what makes people tick. Their involvement in particular groups, going to particular places, hanging out with said group. There’s no sphere like this in Christ. No other sphere of belonging rivals this or is anything close. That’s the only place to lay hold of all these promises. And thus we need to emphasize this fear above all others. And that’s where our problem comes in oftentimes. We need to give attention to this fear above everything else. Well, what does this say? Again, this is about relationships. So how do I come into relationship? Remember when we saw that the blood of Jesus brings us near Revelation chapter 1 and verse 5, it says we’re released from our sins by the blood of Christ.

That statement is made in passing as we’re about to see a picture of Jesus, the reigning king in Revelation chapter 1. We have been released from our sins by the blood of Christ. So does that mean that when Jesus shed his blood, that immediately, automatically, every person that has ever lived came into Christ? Well, that’s obviously not what it means. The New Testament talks about people being lost, and a majority of people. Jesus Himself said it. There’s a broad gate and a broad way that leads to destruction. And many are going in there. So we weren’t automatically as a result of Jesus shed blood brought into Christ. That’s what Acts chapter 2 is all about. 3,000 people received his word and received access. They came into Christ.

How did that happen? How does the blood of Christ work? By our embracing this message. Signing on to the Lord’s will for us by spiriting. In likeness of his death and resurrection, we die to sin. That involves our repentance. We die to sin because we believe he died for us. We died to sin. We’re buried with him in baptism. Romans chapter 6 says, and we rise to walk in newness of life in likeness of his resurrection. This passage clearly tells us how we receive the benefits of Christ’s blood and come into this sphere. And there’s no other way than this. I don’t see how so many people miss this, other than the fact that the devil sways people to not embrace this simple message. And Paul says the same thing in Galatians chapter 3.

Conclusion

We quoted verse 28 a minute ago about how in Christ there’s neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, bond or free. A couple of verses prior to that, he explains and says, You are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Or as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. So there’s really two things to conclude with here. Number one, have you come into this sphere? Where all blessing is, where all the ultimate stuff is. The promise of immortality. Have you come into this sphere? Your sins being washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ as you were baptized into Him. Have you come into this sphere? That’s what I want for you. That’s where you need to be, not excluded from the life of God.

And secondly, if you have come into this sphere at some point in the past, how much are you appreciating it now? And that’s really what he’s writing to these people in Ephesus about. He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. They saw this once upon a time when they first embraced this message, but over time, again, because of misplaced values and affections, we can lose sight of these monumental and incredible and magnificent. There’s not enough adjectives to describe this. What we’ve come to. Or as the Hebrew writer would say in Hebrews, well, you have come to Mount Zion. It’s the pinnacle of human existence. In Christ is where it’s at. So the second thing I would say is number one, are you in this fear?

And number two, are you appreciating where you’ve come? And is that evident in how you’re living? And what you’re emphasizing in your life. So that’s what I want for you. And I couldn’t want anything more or anything better than that. And if we can help you to come into that sphere or to appreciate that sphere better, and you need to respond publicly. Come now while we stand and say.