Sermon 7-21-24

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based on the Second Lesson for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Ephesians 2:11-22

Marvelous Household

The section of the Ephesian letter that we have before us this morning reflects the monumental change in world history that occurred two thousand years ago with the coming of Messiah Jesus. The gentile nations were called into the Kingdom of God.

In order to understand the magnitude of this change in world history we have to go back much further than Jesus. In the first eleven chapters of Genesis we read of Yahweh’s work in creating everything that exists. We read how the first two humans, Adam and Eve, separated themselves from their Creator through their Original Sin and in effect became their own gods. We then read how the initial generations of humanity became so sinful and wicked that Yahweh judged earth with a worldwide flood that destroyed everything. But not quite. Yahweh had ordered Noah to build a ship capable of enduring the great catastrophe that was the flood. Aboard the ark enough land animals and humans were saved from the original world to repopulate the present one. And so it is.

But in the initial generations after the flood, the people of that time disobeyed the order Yahweh had given Noah. Humans were to spread out over the face of the earth and repopulate it. But they did not. They remained in one place and started to build a tower there.

We know from Genesis that Yahweh stopped all that. He divided humanity into nations and groups by establishing language groups unable to understand one another. Imagine waking up one morning and being totally unable to remember the language you once spoke.  It’s been totally erased from your memory. In its place there’s now a new language in your brain and on your tongue that you understand without having learned it. Close by there are others you can understand and who can understand you. But the rest are making sounds that are totally unintelligible. What are you going to do?

For one thing, you’re going to stick with those you can talk to. For another, you’re going to move away from the ones you can’t understand. And they’re going to move away from you. And so it is to this day.

But there’s an angle to this history that Genesis doesn’t cover. Instead, it appears in Deuteronomy — the book in which Moses wrote his personal account of the Exodus and Israel’s acquiring of the Promised Land.

We read in Deuteronomy 32:7-9, “7Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the LORD’S portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”

As we’ve noted before, there’s a discrepancy in the Hebrew text at the very end of verse 8. The Hebrew Masoretic text says that Yahweh divided the nations according to the sons of Israel. However, the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, say “according to the number of the sons of God.” Since the copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint are much older than the copies we have of the Masoretic text, the English Standard Version translation of the Bible that I’m using here translates the passage, “according to the number of the sons of God.”

Who are these sons of God? From Scripture, we don’t know much about them. The apocryphal book of 1 Enoch tells us much more. But, sticking with Scripture, we’re told in Job 38:7 that their creation pre-dates the foundation of the earth. We’re told in Job chapters one and two that they gather around Yahweh in a special council. Genesis 6 tells us that a group of them came down and interfered with humanity by impregnating human women. First Enoch tells us that this group was punished for doing so. Their punishment is referenced in Second Peter and Jude in the New Testament.

It’s apparent from Scripture that these sons of God are a specie of created being. This side of the resurrection of the dead, they are greater and more powerful than we are. And at the Tower of Babel, Yahweh put each new nation under the authority of one or more of the sons of God.

However, these sons of God rebelled against Yahweh as we’re told in Psalm 82. They led the nations astray into idolatry. This is the power that the sons of God have over humans. They can quite literally be our gods. Even though we may never see them, they have supernatural power to influence whole nations and peoples. This is what they have done in the past. And it looks like they’re doing the same in the present.

But the era when the disobedient sons of God could lead nations and peoples astray without repercussion ended with the coming of Messiah Jesus. This was prophesied of Messiah in Isaiah 49. And that prophesy was a cornerstone of Paul’s confidence that all nations and peoples would respond to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, speaking to the gentiles in the Ephesian congregation, Paul reminded them of this historic change in today’s second lesson. We read in Ephesians 2:11-12, “11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

In speaking of the circumcised and uncircumcised, Paul was reminding the Gentile believers that there was once a deep gap between Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles followed the false gods. Jews followed the true Creator God, Yahweh. And prior to the coming of Jesus, the only way for a Gentile to follow Yahweh would have been to become a Jew. And here let’s note that the Judaism of the Second Temple era was quite different from today’s Rabbinic Judaism.

In any event, because of the wide gap between Jew and Gentile, Paul listed the gracious gifts God had bestowed upon the Jews — gifts that the Gentile nations had lacked, prior to Jesus. First of all, they lacked the promise of a Messiah — Jesus Himself. Second, they were not part of Yahweh’s Israel. Third, they had never heard the covenants of promise Yahweh had made with Israel. Fourth, they knew nothing about the resurrection of the dead and thus had no hope in the world. Fifth, they didn’t know their Creator. For those of us who are Gentiles, this was the spiritual condition of our ancestors prior to Jesus.

But, then Jesus came and the situation that had been in effect since the Tower of Babel changed. This is expressed in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” In other words, you way out there Gentiles have now been brought near and into the Kingdom of God. The means of Gentile entry in the Kingdom was and remains the blood of Messiah.

The power of the blood of Christ is expressed in the beginning of Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace. . . .” As we’ll see in the rest of verse 14, peace has two dimensions. But, if we isolate the initial part of the verse, it speaks here of the peace we have with Yahweh based on the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ is the atoning sacrifice that has satisfied the wrath of Yahweh against humanity for all the injury we have done to Him through our sin and rebellion. Therefore, because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross in atonement for sin, Yahweh can now approach both Jew and Gentile in peace. He can approach both you and I without having to destroy us in Judgment. In fact, as we learn in chapters 14 through 16 of John’s gospel, Yahweh — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — can even come and indwell those who have believed in Jesus and have been sanctified by His blood.

So, now we get to the second dimension of the peace established by Jesus. We read in Ephesians 2:14-16, “14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”

The mighty wall that once separated the Jews from the Gentiles was the Law of Moses, the Law of God. This was the set of special ordinances that established Jews as Yahweh’s people and established them in a different lifestyle from all other peoples. Indeed, the way modern rabbinic Judaism still sets itself apart through law can be clearly seen in this neighborhood and community every day.

However, the argument of Rabbi Saul of Tarsus — the Apostle, Paul — is that when Messiah appeared, the Law was superseded by something much more powerful — the cross of Jesus Christ. Again, the blood Jesus shed upon the cross satisfied Yahweh’s wrath against all humanity for sin, disobedience and rebellion against His Law. And Paul didn’t get this argument out of thin air. That Messiah would save the Gentiles when He appeared is expressly prophesied in Isaiah 49 and elsewhere in Moses and the Prophets. Paul simply followed the leading of Lord Holy Spirit in stringing these prophecies together to form the proper picture of Messiah’s work and its outcome.

It’s clear throughout the New Testament that the Law is powerless to save sinners from the condemnation and damnation that rebellion against the Law brings. For at the root of our rebellion is the sinful nature we’re born with. And the fundamental desire of the sinful nature is to be its own god, deciding good and evil for itself. And this is what causes all people everywhere to be alienated from their Creator. We simply hate having a Creator to whom we are ultimately responsible.

Now, through the Law, repentant Jews could be partly reconciled to Yahweh through the sacrificial system. Not having the Law, there was no way for Gentiles to be reconciled. However, once Messiah came, both Jew and Gentile could be reconciled to Yahweh — no longer by the blood of animals and temple rituals, but through the sacrificial death of the Son of God upon a cross.

Revealing Himself to the patriarch, Abraham, Yahweh covenanted with him that out of all the nations of the world, Abraham and his descendants would always be Yahweh’s people. Israel would be Yahweh’s portion on earth as we saw above in Deuteronomy 32. And through the covenants, Israel had its identity as a people.

However, in this section of Ephesians, the argument is being made that when Messiah Jesus appeared, Yahweh made a better covenant with Israel through Messiah’s blood. Not only that, but the action Yahweh had taken at the Tower of Babel — expelling the Gentiles from His care — came to an end. It was and is now time for the Gentile nations to be included in Yahweh’s people, Israel. There was only one caveat. The Gentiles would not be joining Israel through the Mosaic covenant. Instead, they would be joining Israel under the New Covenant Yahweh had made with Israel — the covenant of faith in the work of Messiah Jesus. Thus, since the Old Covenant has been superseded by a better covenant made with the blood of Messiah Jesus, Yahweh has forged a new Israel out of the original Israel and the original Gentile nations. This is what we call the Church.

Here, we have to understand that no one is a Christian on their own. Rather, all true Christians have their identity through the body of Christ, His true Church. And that’s why preserving the Church through proper doctrinal teaching is so important.

So, the good news is that the ritual portion of the Law no longer separates peoples. Instead, Jew and Gentile are united in a person — God the Son, Messiah Jesus. And Christians are united in one morality — the proper love of neighbor infused in us by God, the Holy Spirit. This is made clear by what we read in Ephesians 2:17-18, “17 And he [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off [the Gentiles] and peace to those who were near. [the Jews] 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

The word translated “access” means literally to be brought near. So in Messiah Jesus Jews are brought near to the Father in a way the Law could never do for them. And in Messiah Jesus, Gentiles are brought near to the Father who they never had access to at all.

Certainly, members of a family need access to their Father. And this is even more important if this Father is your Creator. However, only those who are equal in righteousness to their most holy and righteous Creator can gain access to Him. So, without Jesus, there is no way for sinners to get close. Only the blood of Messiah that enables forgiveness of sins can bring us close. For where sin is entirely forgiven, only righteousness remains. That’s the Good News of the Gospel.

Now, before going on, we need to be clear about something. The abolishing of the Law by the sacrifice of Messiah does not make Christians lawless or a law unto themselves. Indeed, that would be precisely what the sinful nature desires. That would be hell.

No. All who are in Jesus are united to Yahweh, the source of all righteousness, through Yahweh, the Holy Spirit. And it is the Spirit who washes us with the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus to make it so.

Our second reading this morning closes with much good news for Gentiles. We read in Ephesians 2:19-22, “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Who were the saints at the time Paul was writing? It was all those who had believed Moses and the Prophets and had previously lived in expectation of Messiah for the forgiveness of their sins. These were mostly Jews. But with the coming of Jesus Gentiles could be added to the saints — to Yahweh’s family. For that’s what a household is.

So, when you come to church, understand that this is not the house of God. It’s the household of God. And there’s a huge difference between a house and a household. Therefore, always let Lord Holy Spirit within you make this place part of the household of God.

But, then, suddenly in verse 20 the metaphor shifts. The household of Christ is compared to a “building” — in this case a temple, like Yahweh’s glorious temple that once stood in Jerusalem.

Ancient temples were built as dwelling places for the gods they were dedicated to. This was true even  of Yahweh’s Jerusalem temple. The holy of holies in the Jerusalem temple was considered to be the footstool of Yahweh’s throne.

Yahweh’s Jerusalem temple still existed when Paul was writing the Ephesians letter. However, the coming of Messiah created a new temple. It wasn’t a temple of stone made with hands. It was a temple of human souls united into a holy structure by Lord Holy Spirit. This structure of spirit, soul and body is us together. And in us — His temple — Yahweh dwells. This is the marvel of Christ’s Church.

Having pastored for nearly 50 years now, I know of all the trouble we sinners can create for God and each other within Christ’s Church. But none of it can change the Word of God in any way. Therefore, all God’s people have to do to make the Church what it’s meant to be is to believe God’s Word. Yahweh has declared us to be His household through Messiah Jesus. Therefore, Come Lord Holy Spirit, and through faith in the Word, make our attitudes and actions worthy of what you say we are — the household of God. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.