Ephesians Study 6: United in Christ

Introduction

Hello again to everyone who is joining me today. My name is Sarah Bradbury, and this is Garden to Glory: The Mystery of God.

You are listening to the sixth installment of our study on the book of Ephesians. In our last study, we explored the desperate state of mankind without Jesus, expounding on the problem of sin and death when we follow after Satan instead of God.

Today, as we study verses 11-18 of Ephesians 2, we will look further at the obstacles that kept Gentile believers far from God prior to being united to Jesus Christ. We will also see that the work of Jesus overcomes all barriers – even generations of prejudice and racism – and unites people together.

So let’s begin by reading our passage today, Ephesians 2:11-22:

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 

In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.

For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. 

He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from Him and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.

One of the most difficult tasks for a modern-day Christian is to read the Bible with the knowledge and understanding of the culture in which it was written. This becomes particularly problematic when we get to this issue of Jew versus Gentile. 

The Mystery of the Gentiles

As we have already looked at in a previous study, the people of God are not limited to any one race – even the Jewish one. The New Testament makes this clear and even emphasizes that this has always been the case. Including all nations into the family of God has always been the plan.

However, as my husband Ben pointed out when he first read my study on the people of God, it wasn’t always clear that God’s plan was to include all nations into the family of God.

He’s right. In fact, the Apostle Paul echoed that very sentiment in Ephesians 1 when he said, “God has now revealed to us His mysterious will regarding Christ.” Also, in a future study on Ephesians 3, we will read verses 3-6 from Paul, where he says:

As I briefly wrote earlier, God Himself revealed His mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by His Spirit He has revealed it to his Holy apostles and prophets.

And this is God’s plan: both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.

So, while I contend – along with Paul and other New Testament writers – that the people of God have always been made of believers regardless of race, it is also true that the people of God before Jesus came were primarily Jewish people. 

The understanding that Gentiles could draw near to God was a fact that was deeply hidden and obscure. There are some references to this in the Old Testament, but the average person would not have known this aspect of God’s plan. It was, in fact, a mystery.

In the grand story of humanity, time, and culture, this mystery created great obstacles to the average Gentile – even if they did attempt to draw near to the God of Israel.

Worship in the Past

Our traditions of how to worship God today are extremely different than the experience of the Jewish people in the time of Jesus and before.

In the Old Testament period, the Jewish people honored God by following an elaborate structure of laws. These laws were tangible representations of spiritual truths that the people of Israel did not fully understand. In fact, we still don’t completely understand what all the symbolism meant even to this day.

Some of what we can grasp is that the animal sacrifices made to take away sin were not about the animal. They were pointing to the death of Jesus on our behalf. Also, sacrifices of incense are compared to the prayers of the saints in the book of Revelation.

The service of priests on behalf of the people points to us – believers in Jesus – serving as a royal priesthood that makes prayerful intercession for the world. 

The High Priest who alone was able to enter the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament temple was a picture of Jesus, our true High Priest, who alone was worthy to make the ultimate sacrifice for us and enter the presence of God.

All of these things were beautiful truths that God shared with the nation of Israel in tangible forms through laws and practices that they did not fully understand. Nonetheless, they took these things seriously and stewarded their responsibility to follow these guidelines.

Unfortunately, they took this responsibility so seriously that they did not stop with only the commandments God had given them to follow. They also began to add more rules and guidelines as time went on in an attempt to keep themselves from even getting close to breaking one of these laws.

This is what it meant to be the chosen nation of God: to reflect who God was to the world by being the people who knew and followed God’s commandments. They considered themselves righteous among the unrighteous nations around them, and most of them believed themselves to be better than everyone else because they knew and served God.

All of this was based on the knowledge that because they were Jewish, they had been chosen to be God’s people. They had a special relationship with God because of their blood connection to Abraham and the sign of circumcision (the physical proof that they were subject to God’s law). 

All of this gave many Jewish people great pride and confidence that they were better than everyone else. As Paul said, the Gentiles were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews.

Understanding Circumcision

Just in case someone reading or listening to this study is unfamiliar with circumcision, I will give a basic explanation. My apologies to anyone who did not want to hear about male sexual anatomy today, but here we go…

Men are born with a little piece of retractable skin at the tip of their penises. This skin is called “foreskin,” and it is basically the penile equivalent of the appendix in that it can be removed without making a noticeable difference in function. Removing this piece of skin is called “circumcision.”

As is true of the appendix, many people will debate whether or not this piece of skin actually does serve a purpose. Different groups land in different camps as to whether or not it is medically beneficial to regularly circumcise baby boys.

I, however, do not have any foreskin in this game! So, I will let any men or medical professionals debate that issue on their own if they are so inclined.

What I will say about circumcision is that it was a big deal in the Jewish world, and it’s still practiced today. As a Gentile myself (and a woman at that!), I have only had to consider the choice of circumcision when it came time to give birth to male babies of my own. Circumcision is a choice that is typically made for you long before you can decide whether or not you think it matters.

While adult men can be circumcised, it is much easier to have it done when you are an infant. In Jewish culture, circumcision is performed when a baby is eight days old. This was a practice God had commanded the nation of Israel to follow with all their male children.

Circumcision was a visible sign that a man belonged to God’s people. The fact that it would be hard for a man to be circumcised as an adult – and that it would need to be a choice made by the parents – gave this sign an exclusiveness that kept Gentiles out of the club of God’s people.

Also, having the primary sign of spiritual eliteness be a ritual involving the penis makes it easier for men to assume superiority over women. Of course, this tendency toward dominance is definitely not exclusive to Jewish men, but we can see this social and spiritual hierarchy in the setup of the temple in Jerusalem at the time Jesus walked the Earth. 

The Temple

The temple was a physical building that was meant to be the dwelling place of God. It was where His spiritual presence dwelled physically with His people Israel.

This temple had a room deep inside called “The Holy of Holies.” This room was where God’s presence was located. No person was allowed in this room on a regular basis. However, one time a year, the High Priest – someone who needed to meet a strict list of requirements– could enter this room. This could only take place after he purified himself with rituals and sacrifices. Even then, a rope was tied around his ankle so the other priests could pull his body out in case he was struck dead for not following all the guidelines perfectly.

A thick fabric curtain called “the veil” separated The Holy of Holies from an outer chamber called “The Holy Place.” The Holy Place was accessible by all the priests who made sacrifices for the people. Even still, requirements of birth, physical fitness, and cleansing rituals were required of these men.

The average Jewish person could not enter these two rooms. Thus, they were kept at a distance from God’s presence. This was a sign of our inability to approach God because of our sin. 

The Jewish people took these signs of separation even further than what God had instructed. Outside of The Holy Place, they built an area in which Jewish men could gather to worship God called “The Israelites’ Courtyard.” Women and Gentiles were not allowed to enter this space. Notice, in this case, that women were not included when they used the term “Israelites.”

The physical distance between the person worshipping and the physical presence of God grew based on their assessment of a person’s worthiness.

Just before the wall that enclosed The Israelites’ Courtyard was “The Women’s Courtyard.” This indicated that being a Jewish woman was still considered better than being a Gentile!

A Place for the Gentiles

Outside of the main temple building and down the steps was a short wall about five feet tall. This wall was called “The Dividing Wall.” On it, there were signs warning anyone who was not Jewish to keep out or be killed. It was outside of this wall that Gentiles who wanted to serve God could come to be near Him. 

This area was called “The Court of the Gentiles.” It was also the place where many merchants set up shop to sell animals for sacrifices and where we read of Jesus overturning tables.

Mark 11:15-17 says:

When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and He stopped everyone from using the temple as a marketplace. 

He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

Knowing that this courtyard was the place where Gentiles could pray to God really helps us understand the significance of Jesus’ actions here. The Gentiles were viewed as unimportant and unholy. Because of this, the people had no hesitation about conducting business and trying to make a buck in the middle of what was supposed to be a place of worship.

This was the state of Gentiles prior to Jesus. Most of them were completely unaware of God because their nation and culture did not teach about Him. And even those who wanted to draw near were kept at a distance. 

If they didn’t live in Jerusalem, they likely would have difficulty traveling to the physical temple of God. Even if they moved closer, they were separated by walls and hindered by the distain of the people who were supposed to make the ways of God visible to the world.

Things that Divide Us

It’s difficult for us to fully wrap our minds around the depth of this division in the hearts and minds of the people of that time. However, humanity in general is all too adept at finding reasons to be prejudiced against groups of people we see as “other.”

As humans, there is little that can separate us more clearly than a difference in skin color. However, when it came to the divide between Jew and Gentile, the difference was all the more drastic due to the nationalistic view of God held by the Jewish people. 

The Jewish people believed that their superiority was obvious and ordained by God Himself. Unfortunately, many groups of people have made similar claims throughout history. 

We can see a very comparable situation in our country today. Many politicians who claim the name of God make unjust laws or break just ones in order to harass and deport law-abiding immigrants or excuse themselves and others from our obligation to help the poor and needy.

The logic here is the same as that of 2,000 years ago with the Jewish people: we believe we are the people God really loves, not you. We believe we have earned our place of freedom or wealth and that you are trying to take something from us that you do not deserve.

The rhetoric today is that anyone who is not a citizen is a “rapist,” “murderer,” “drug dealer,” or “gang member.” Thus, they deserve to be kicked out. Those who do not make enough money to pay for food and medical care are “lazy” or abusing the system.

What is interesting about the situation of our day is that the people who are kidnapping and abusing immigrants and the immigrants who are being abused and kidnapped often claim the same name of Jesus. The same is true of the people voting to cut food programs and healthcare and those who will be most hurt by those cuts. I’ll let you take a wild guess about whose testimony I’m more likely to believe!

The Obstacles of Being Gentile

While the Jewish people 2,000 years ago did not have the size and political power to be as big of a harassment to the Gentiles as our government can be to immigrants today, they did control the temple of God and held the laws of God.

This meant that the Gentiles would always remain at a distance from the God they desperately needed. This is what Paul is pointing to when he reminds his Gentile audience about the difference Jesus makes.

In the first part of our passage in Ephesians 2:11-12, Paul says:

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews who were proud of their circumcision even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 

In those days, you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

At this time period in history, Gentiles had all sorts of barriers between themselves and the presence of God. They would not have been circumcised as babies. As they grew up, they weren’t taken to the temple to observe holy feasts. They didn’t have the law of God read to them. 

Most of them would not have even heard about the God of Israel. Even if they did, they wouldn’t have known much about Him. They certainly would not have been told that this God was for them.

As adults, if Gentiles lived near enough to Jerusalem, they could bring sacrifices to the priests. However, even then, they were barred from participating in certain types of offerings.

Obeying the Old Testament law – at least in its fullness – was something that simply was not possible to accomplish unless you were Jewish. Even then, the sin nature of all people meant that every Jewish person failed at this also.

For Gentile people of this time period, there was no hope of becoming the people of God. The divide between a Jew and Gentile was as great or greater than the divide between a Democrat and Republican today.

Made One in Christ

However, Jesus dying on the cross changed everything. In Matthew 27:50-51a, we read about an interesting event that happened at the moment of Jesus’ death. It says:

Then Jesus shouted out again, and He released His spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

This curtain was the one that formerly separated the presence of God from all people. But at the moment of Jesus’ death, that separation was no more. 

Now you no longer have to be a Jewish high priest cleansed by rituals and sacrifices to timidly enter the presence of God. Instead, as believers, we can all come boldly to God’s throne because of our unity with Jesus.

As we read in Hebrews 4:14-16:

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

The walls that kept most Jews, women, and especially Gentiles away from God have been demolished. The requirements of being present at the temple, making ritual sacrifices, and living perfectly are no more. Because of this, the reason for the divide between Jew and Gentile no longer exists.

There is no group that is more holy or qualified to access the blessings of God than any other group. Instead, all people who have faith in Jesus are joined to Christ.

As we read in Galatians 3:26-29:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are His heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

All of us who have believed in Jesus have died to our sins and have put on the righteousness of Christ. We are part of His body and one with Him. 

This means that no one can accuse you, a believer, of any lack. If it is required that you are Jewish to obtain the promises of God, then you are Jewish, because Jesus was Jewish, and you are one with Him. If it is required that you are male to serve God, then you are male, because you are one with Jesus, who came as a man to fulfill the law.

If it is required that you be sinless to enter God’s presence, then you are sinless, because you are one with Jesus and have put on His righteousness. 

In Jesus, we have the foundation to reconcile every ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, and gender divide. 

Paul highlights just how successful this uniting work of Jesus has been for the Gentile believers in Ephesians 2:13-22, which says:

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. 

Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from Him and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.

Now Gentiles are no longer stuck behind a wall that separates them from the people of God. And even the Jewish people who were able to draw nearer to the presence of God in the temple have access to God’s presence that no one could have imagined prior to Jesus.

The reasons for hostility – not only between the Jews and Gentiles, but between all people – have been put to death. Now believers can not only come boldly into the presence of God, but believers contain the presence of God. 

We don’t need to go to the physical building that was once located in Jerusalem. We are the temple of God, and we carry His Holy Spirit in us.

Bringing it Home

This means that through the work of Jesus on the cross, we have been united with people of every race, culture, gender, and position, and we have been united to God Himself. 

So, let’s discuss a few takeaways from this passage.

1. Know that there is nothing left to separate us from God.

Jesus Himself has brought us peace. He died to make us one with each other and with God. The work of Jesus is so powerful that bitter racial divides lasting centuries became irrelevant, and sin that had separated all humanity from God’s presence for thousands of years has been cancelled.

It may be hard for some of you to believe that you can be so deeply loved by God. Perhaps it is easier for you to realize that your sin simply does not have even a fraction of the power that the blood of Jesus does. God’s love for you is not based on what you have done; it is based on what Jesus did. 

However bad your sin may be and however unworthy you may feel, there is no sin so powerful that it can’t be overcome by the blood of Christ.

1 John 1:9 says:

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Precious child of God, run to His love!

2. Know that there is nothing left to separate us from others.

In Philippians 2:6-11, we read these words regarding Jesus:

Though He was God,
He did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.

Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;
He took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.

When He appeared in human form,

    He humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor
and gave Him the name above all other names,

    that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

    and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

We are very familiar with the concept of “white privilege” in this country, but Jesus had more privilege than any billionaire child in America could dream of. However, unlike the wealthiest among us, Jesus did not flaunt His privilege. He willingly gave up everything in order to share it with us.

Whatever reason you can come up with for deciding that you are superior to anyone else, the example of Jesus coming to Earth and dying on our behalf puts to death any notion that we have anything to hold over others.

It also shows us that our response to any privileges we may have should be to use those privileges for those who do not possess them.

3. Know that God’s presence is with you.

As our passage in Ephesians tells us, we are part of the temple of God. God’s Spirit is within us. As a result of this, we have the immense privilege of speaking to God directly.

Like the priests in Old Testament Israel, we have access to the presence of God that people who have not yet believed in Jesus do not have. 

1 Timothy 2:1-6 says:

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 

For there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone.

So today, as we marvel at the great work of reconciliation that God has done through Jesus and wait to see all things united under Christ, we will part ways for now with this blessing:

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

To help you meditate on the principles we have discussed today, I have made a short Spotify playlist that you can find here.