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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 19

TITLE: RECONCILED!

TEXT: EPHESIANS 2:14-16

INTRODUCTION: (1) IN THE N.T., THERE ARE AT LEAST FIVE GREAT TERMS, 5 KEY WORDS, THAT SUMMARIZE OUR SALVATION, THAT DESCRIBE THE RICHNESS OF SALVATION IN CHRIST.

* THESE 5 KEY WORDS ARE: JUSTIFICATION, REDEMPTION, FORGIVENESS, ADOPTION AND RECONCILIATION.

** NOW WHEN WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE 5 WORDS MEAN, OUR HEARTS AS BELIEVERS WILL BE FILLED WITH PRAISE AND WORSHIP, AND WILL OVERFLOW WITH GRATITUDE. THERE WILL BE A GLORIOUS RESPONSE.

(2) BECAUSE OF THAT I WANT TO BRIEFLY LOOK AT EACH WORD, THE FIRST ONE BEING JUSTIFICATION.

* IN JUSTIFICATION, THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD GUILTY AND CONDEMNED, BUT IS DECLARED RIGHTEOUS. THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD AS THE ACCUSED AND IS DECLARED RIGHTEOUS.

** THEN THERE’S REDEMPTION – IN REDEMPTION, THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD AS A SLAVE AND IS GRANTED FREEDOM BY A RANSOM PAYMENT.

*** WE ARE BOUGHT OUT OF THE SLAVE MARKET OF SIN, MATTHEW 20:28.

**** THEN THERE’S FORGIVENESS – IN FORGIVENESS, THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD AS A DEBTOR, BUT THE DEBT IS PAID AND FORGOTTEN, HEBREWS 10:17.

(3) IN ADOPTION, THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD AS A STRANGER, BUT IS MADE A SON.

* AND THEN IN RECONCILIATION, THE SINNER STANDS BEFORE GOD AS AN ENEMY AND BECOMES A FRIEND, THE WAR COMES TO AN END, AS PEACE WITH GOD IS MADE.

(4) NOW THOSE FIVE TERMS SUM UP OUR SALVATION AND OUR POSITION BEFORE AND AFTER GOD’S WORK OF GRACE IN OUR LIVES.

* NOW LET ME GO OVER THESE SAME TERMS IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY.

** FORGIVENESS DEALS WITH THE FRUIT, THE SIN OF OUR LIVES.

*** REDEMPTION DEALS WITH THE ROOT, THE CONDITION OF OUR NATURE AS SLAVES TO SIN.

**** RECONCILIATION DEALS WITH OUR CONDITION, ENEMIES THAT BECOME GOD’S FRIENDS AND EXPERIENCE HIS FELLOWSHIP.

(5) ADOPTION DEALS WITH OUR POSITION, AS WE BECOME JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST.

* AND ALTOGETHER IT SPELLS JUSTIFICATION.

** FOR YOU SEE WHEN WE WERE SAVED, THE FRUIT, ROOT, CONDITION AND POSITION WERE ALL TAKEN CARE OF.

*** AND AS THE FRUIT, ROOT, CONDITION AND POSITION ARE TAKEN CARE OF, WE ARE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS, WE ARE JUSTIFIED – PRAISE GOD.

(6) NOW THOSE THOUGHTS LEAD US TO OUR TEXT TODAY. FOR OUT OF THOSE FIVE GLORIOUS TERMS THAT I JUST MENTIONED, WE’RE GOING TO TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT ONE OF THEM, A THEME IN OUR TEXT TODAY, THE TRUTH OF RECONCILIATION.

* AND WE WILL SEE TWO KINDS OF RECONCILIATION, A HORIZONTAL RECONCILIATION AND A VERTICAL RECONCILIATION.

** A HORIZONTAL RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE JEW AND GENTILE, WHERE PEACE BETWEEN TWO ESTRANGED GROUPS IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY CHRIST AND THEY BECOME ONE AND THE WALL BETWEEN THEM IS BROUGHT DOWN.

*** AND WE’LL SEE A VERTICAL RECONCILIATION BETWEEN BOTH GROUPS WITH GOD BY CHRIST.

**** AND IN ACTUALITY HORIZONTAL RECONCILIATION IS THE BYPRODUCT, THE RESULT, THE FRUIT OF VERTICAL RECONCILIATION, MAKING PEACE WITH GOD.

(7) FOR IF YOU ARE ESTRANGED, ALIENATED, AT WAR WITH GOD AND THERE IS NO PEACE WITH HIM, THERE IS NO PEACE WITH YOUR FELLOW MAN, YOU ARE AT WAR AND CANNOT GET ALONG WITH PEOPLE.

* SO RECONCILIATION WITH GOD LEADS TO AND ENABLES US TO BE RECONCILED WITH OTHER PEOPLE.

** ONE IS THE ROOT AND THE OTHER IS THE FRUIT, THE RESULT.

*** BECAUSE OF THAT, I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “RECONCILED!” WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT.

**** AND WHAT A BEAUTIFUL TRUTH RECONCILIATION COMMUNICATES, IT COMMUNICATES PEACE IN A WORLD OF WAR AND IN RELATIONSHIPS THAT NEED RECONCILED, THAT STARTS WITH BEING RECONCILED TO GOD.

(8) AND UNDER THAT THEME, WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS IN OUR STUDY: NO. 1 THE WALL OF SEPARATION, V. 14; NO. 2 THE WAY WE ARE RECONCILED, V. 15; AND NO. 3 THE WORK OF GOD IN RECONCILIATION.

* AND WITH THOSE 3 POINTS AS OUR OUTLINES TODAY, LOOK AT V. 14 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST TRUTH TODAY, THE WALL. LOOK AT EPHESIANS 2:14 PLEASE.

I. THE WALL, (READ V. 14)

A. NOW BEFORE CHRIST, THERE WAS A HUGE WALL, A PARTITION, A BARRIER THAT DIVIDED JEWS AND GENTILES.

* AND IN ALL THE ANCIENT WORLD, THERE WAS NO WALL (WHETHER FIGURATIVE LIKE OUR WALLS OR LITERAL LIKE THE WALL IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE THAT SEPARATED THE GENTILES FROM THE JEWS IN THE COURT OF THE GENTILES).

** THERE WAS NO WALL FIGURATIVE OR LITERAL THAT WAS SO IMPASSABLE AS THE WALL BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE, FROM YEARS OF HATRED BETWEEN BOTH GROUPS.

*** HISTORICALLY, CULTURALLY AND RELIGIOUSLY THE TWO GROUPS WERE DIVIDED. THERE WAS A HUGE WALL BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS.

**** BUT THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH FOR JEWS AND GENTILES, BY SHEDDING HIS BLOOD FOR SINNERS, CHRIST BROUGHT NEAR THE GENTILES WHO WERE FAR OFF, GOING BACK TO V. 13 WHICH WE STUDIED LAST SUNDAY.

1. AS WE COME TO V. 14, CHRIST IS OUR PEACE, HE MADE BOTH GROUPS, JEWS AND GENTILES IN HIM INTO ONE GROUP, BREAKING DOWN, BLOWING AWAY THE BARRIER OF THE DIVIDING WALL.

* NOW LET ME TRY TO UNPACK THESE TRUTHS IN V. 14.

** IN THE GREEK TEXT IN V. 14, THERE IS ONLY ONE PRONOUN HE (OW-TOS), BUT THIS PRONOUN IS IN THE EMPHATIC POSITION, AN INTENSIVE USE, WHICH IS REFLECTED BY THE ADDITION OF HIMSELF IN THE NAS, THE NKJV AND THE NIV.

*** AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS IT EMPHASIZES THAT JESUS ALONE IS OUR PEACE, THERE IS NOT OTHER SOURCE, HE ALONE IS THE SOURCE OF PEACE, JESUS IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE, READ ISAIAH 9:6.

**** AND PEOPLE TRY ALL KINDS OF METHODS AND DRUGS TO HAVE PEACE, BUT JESUS HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE.

2. WHAT LAWS, ORDINANCES, CEREMONIES, SACRIFICES AND GOOD DEEDS COULD NOT DO TO MAKE PEACE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND GOD, JESUS DID.

* AND THOSE THINGS COULD NEITHER BRING PEOPLE INTO HARMONY WITH GOD OR WITH EACH OTHER.

** BUT IN THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF OR THE CROSS, JESUS ACCOMPLISHED BOTH, VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL PEACE.

*** AND BEGINNING HERE IN V. 14, PEACE BECOMES A THEME, FOR A RESULT OF RECONCILIATION IS PEACE.

**** AND THE WORD PEACE ITSELF IS USED HERE IN V. 14, V. 15 AND TWICE IN V. 17 AND USES OTHER PHRASES AND WORDS THAT COMMUNICATE THIS TRUTH, LIKE MAKING BOTH GROUPS INTO ONE IN V. 14, MAKING THE TWO INTO ONE NEW MAN, V. 15 AND MIGHT RECONCILE THEM BOTH INTO ONE BODY IN V. 16.

3. SO PEACE IS A THEME. AND THE TERM PEACE IN BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS CAME TO DENOTE WELL-BEING IN THE WIDEST SENSE, INCLUDING SALVATION, THE SOURCE AND GIVER OF WHICH IS CHRIST ALONE.

* I MEAN PEACE COMES THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE THAT WE PREACH, EPHESIANS 6:15 (READ IT).

** AND WHEN WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD, FOR THE WAR IS OVER, ROMANS 5:1 (READ IT).

*** AND OF COURSE OUR GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF PEACE, READ I CORINTHIANS 14:33 AND PHILIPPIANS 4:9.

**** AND AS WE GO BACK TO OUR TEXT, WE SEE THAT CHRIST IS OUR PEACE, THE SOURCE AND CREATOR OF PEACE.

4. AND CONTEXTUALLY CHRIST IS OUR PEACE, FOR THOSE WHO TURN TO HIM IN REPENTANT FAITH AND HE (CHRIST) MADE BOTH GROUPS, JEWS (THOSE WHO WERE NEAR) AND GENTILES (THOSE WHO WERE FAR OFF) INTO ONE AND BROKE DOWN THE BARRIER OF THE DIVIDING WALL.

* JESUS HAS WELDED THESE TWO DISTINCT GROUPS INTO ONE.

** MEANING: IN JESUS CHRIST, A JEW IS NO LONGER DISTINCT FROM A GENTILE AS FAR AS RELIGION IS CONCERNED.

*** AND LIKEWISE A GENTILE IN CHRIST IS NO LONGER DISTINCT AS FAR AS HIS SPIRITUAL CONDITION IS CONCERNED.

**** HIS PAGANISM IS GONE, HIS UNBELIEF IS GONE, HIS HOPELESSNESS IS GONE AND HIS GODLESSNESS IS GONE.

***** AND FOR THOSE IN CHRIST, THE ONLY IDENTITY THAT MATTERS IS THEIR IDENTITY IN HIM.

5. THERE IS NO JEWISH OR GENTILE CHRISTIANITY, THERE IS NO BLACK OF WHITE, OR RED OR YELLOW CHRISTIANITY. THERE IS NO MALE OR FEMALE CHRISTIANITY. THERE IS NO SLAVE OR FREE CHRISTIANITY.

* THERE IS ONLY ONE CHRISTIANITY AND ONE BODY WITH MANY LOCAL APPLICATIONS OF THAT BODY AROUND THE WORLD.

** GALATIANS 3:28 SAYS – “THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, THERE IS NEITHER SLAVE NOR FREE MAN, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE; FOR YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.”

*** AND BELOVED ALL THOSE GROUPS ARE ONE IN CHRIST.

**** AND CONTEXTUALLY IN EPHESIANS 1:4, THE BARRIER, THE FENCE, THE PARTITION OF THE WALL THAT SEPARATED THE JEWS AND THE GENTILES HAS BEEN DESTROYED, BROUGHT DOWN, BROKEN DOWN.

6. AND THERE MAY BE AN ALLUSION HERE TO THE WALL IN JERUSALEM WHICH SEPARATED THE COURT OF THE GENTILES FROM THE TEMPLE PEOPLE.

* AND THAT’S A POSSIBILITY. BUT THE MAIN TRUTH IS THE WALL IS BROKEN DOWN BETWEEN THESE TWO GROUPS.

** NOW THE WAY THE WALL WAS BROUGHT DOWN IS COMMUNICATED IN V. 15 WHICH IS OUR SECOND POINT TODAY, THE WAY. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

II. THE WAY, (READ V. 15)

A. NOW THE VERB ABOLISHING OR HAVING ABOLISHED, IF YOU HAVE A KJV OR NKJV, IS IN THE AORIST TENSE IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE SIGNIFYING A COMPLETED ACTION.

* AND CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL, IN HIS FLESH, IN HIS BODY, BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIS BODY ON THE CROSS, ABOLISHED, A COMPLETED ACTION, HE ABOLISHED THE ENMITY.

** AND THE WORD ENMITY HERE SIMPLY MEANS, HATRED, HOSTILITY, THE ILL WILL, THE ANIMOSITY.

*** AND CHRIST “IN THE FLESH” IN DYING IN HIS BODY FOR SINNERS, ABOLISHED LIT. BROUGHT TO NAUGHT, OR PUT AN END TO SOMETHING, TO REMOVE SOMETHING INOPERATIVE.

**** AND WHAT WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT WAS RENDERED INOPERATIVE? THE ANSWER IS THE LAW. THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES.

1. THE MIDDLE WALL, WHICH WAS THE ENMITY, WAS BROKEN DOWN, THE LAW WAS ABOLISHED.

* SO THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES SEPARATED THE JEWS AND THE GENTILES, THAT WAS THE GREAT BARRIER.

** AND HERE IN EPHESIANS 2:15, CHRIST BY HIS DEATH MADE THE LAW OF NO EFFECT. HE NULLIFIED IT SO IT IS NO LONGER BINDING.

*** HE ABOLISHED THE ENMITY BY NULLIFYING THE LAW.

**** NOW THE DEBATE HERE COMES FROM WHAT THE WORDS THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES MEANS.

2. NOW EVEN JEWS WERE NEVER JUSTIFIED BY KEEPING THE LAW OF GOD OR BY ANY WORKS, THEY WERE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH AS ILLUSTRATED IN ABRAHAM AND DAVID IN ROMANS 4 (READ ROMANS 4:4&5, 4:20-22 AND GENESIS 15:6).

* AND BELOVED, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN SAVED BY KEEPING THE LAW, FOR ONE OF THE PURPOSES OF GOD’S LAW IS TO SHOW OUR SIN, READ ROMANS 3:20& 3:28 AND GALATIANS 3:24&25.

** SO THE LAW IS USED TO LEAD US TO CHRIST AND FOR US TO SEE OUR SIN.

*** AND OF COURSE THE MORAL LAW OF GOD NEVER CHANGES BECAUSE IT REFLECTS GOD’S HOLY CHARACTER.

**** AND CERTAINLY GOD’S MORAL LAW HAS NOT BEEN ABOLISHED, BUT CHRIST ACTUALLY FULFILLED IT, KEEPING IT, READ MATTHEW 5:17.

3. SO WHAT LAW HAS BEEN ABOLISHED? WELL, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES IS THE CEREMONIAL LAW.

* AND WHEN I SPEAK OF THE CEREMONIAL LAW I’M SPEAKING OF THE CEREMONIES AND LAWS GIVEN TO ISRAEL THAT SEPARATED THEM FROM THE REST OF THE NATIONS AND REMINDED THEM THAT THE MESSIAH WAS COMING.

** AND SPECIFICALLY I’M SPEAKING OF THE FEASTS, THE SACRIFICES, THE OFFERINGS, THE LAWS OF CLEANLINESS AND PURIFICATION, THE DIETARY LAWS AND ALL OTHER SUCH DISTINCTIVE OUTWARD ORDINANCES FOR THE UNIQUE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM THE NATIONS.

*** AND ALL THE CEREMONIAL LAWS WHICH DISTINGUISHED AND SEPARATED JEWS FROM GENTILES WERE ABOLISHED BY CHRIST’S DEATH.

**** THOSE CEREMONIES ARE NO LONGER NEEDED BECAUSE CHRIST HAS COME, THERE IS NO MORE NEED FOR SACRIFICES, TYPES OF THOSE CEREMONIES THAT POINTED PEOPLE TO CHRIST.

4. AND CERTAINLY WE CAN SEE FROM ACTS 10:9-16 AND I TIMOTHY 4:1-5 THAT THE DIETARY LAWS ARE SET ASIDE, AND WE CAN SEE FROM COLOSSIANS 2:16&17 THAT THE SHADOWS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW IS PUT AWAY WITH THE SUBSTANCES OF THE NEW COVENANT.

* COLOSSIANS 2:16&17 SAYS – “THEREFORE LET NO ONE ACT AS YOUR JUDGE IN REGARD TO FOOD OR DRINK OR IN RESPECT TO A FESTIVAL OR A NEW MOON OR A SABBATH DAY,”

V. 17 – “THINGS WHICH ARE A MERE SHADOW OF WHAT IS TO COME; BUT THE SUBSTANCE BELONGS TO CHRIST.”

** NOW BEYOND COLOSSIANS 2:16&17, HEBREWS 10:10 & 12-14 SAYS THIS (READ THEM).

*** AND BELOVED THE TRUTH HERE IS THERE IS NO MORE NEED FOR SACRIFICES, FOR THE PERFECT AND FINAL LAMB HAS BEEN SLAIN, THE LAMB OF GOD THAT TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, JOHN 1:29.

**** AND WITH ALL THOSE VERSES IN MIND, BEFORE CHRIST, JEWS AND GENTILES COULD NOT EAT TOGETHER BECAUSE OF RESTRICTED FOODS, REQUIRED WASHINGS AND CEREMONIAL CONTAMINATION.

5. BEFORE CHRIST THE TWO GROUPS COULD NOT WORSHIP TOGETHER FOR A GENTILE COULD NOT FULLY WORSHIP IN THE JEWISH TEMPLE AND A JEW WOULD NOT WORSHIP IN A PAGAN TEMPLE.

* BUT NOW THE TWO GROUPS CAN EAT AND WORSHIP TOGETHER. YOU KNOW WHY?

** GO BACK TO V. 15. THE TWO GROUPS ARE NO LONGER TWO GROUPS, THEY ARE ONE, ONE NEW MAN, THE RESULT BEING PEACE, THUS ESTABLISHING PEACE, MAKING PEACE.

*** THE FEUD, THE DISCORD, THE ALIENATION IS OVER. THERE IS NOW PEACE THROUGH CHRIST.

**** AND JESUS DIDN’T CHRISTIANIZE THE JEWS OR JUDAIZE THE GENTILES. HE DIDN’T CREATE A HALF BREED IN THAT SENSE, HE MADE AN ENTIRELY NEW MAN. HE MADE THE TWO GROUPS INTO ONE.

6. AND THE NEW PERSON IN CHRIST IS NOT SIMPLY A JEW OR GENTILE WHO NOW HAPPENS TO BE A CHRISTIAN, FOR HE IS NO LONGER A JEW OR A GENTILE IN THAT SENSE, BUT ONLY A CHRISTIAN.

* AND PAUL SUMMED THIS UP IN ROMANS 10:12&13 WHERE HE SAID: “FOR THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN JEW AND GREEK; FOR THE SAME LORD IS LORD OF ALL, ABOUNDING IN RICHES FOR ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM;”

V. 13 – “FOR WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

** AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS REALIZE THERE ARE NO LONGER TWO GROUPS IN CHRIST, BUT ONE NEW MAN, AND THE ONENESS WE’LL SEE IS THE CHURCH, THE ONE BODY IN V. 16.

*** AND AS WE ARE RECONCILED TO GOD WE BECOME ONE IN CHRIST BY THE WORK OF GOD, WHICH IS OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE WORK, LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE.

III. THE WORK, (READ V. 16)

A. NOW THE WORDS “TO GOD” ARE BIG WORDS IN V. 16. FOR THE ONLY WAY DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT ARE AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER, LIKE JEWS AND GENTILES, CAN BE RECONCILED TO EACH OTHER IS TO BE RECONCILED “TO GOD”.

* FOR RECONCILIATION, WHICH HOLDS THE IDEA OF TURNING FROM HOSTILITY TO FRIENDSHIP, FROM WAR TO PEACE, FROM DISCORD TO HARMONY.

** RECONCILIATION TO EACH OTHER IS INSEPARABLE FROM RECONCILIATION TO GOD.

*** FOR YOU SEE AS JEWS AND GENTILES ARE BROUGHT TO GOD THEY ARE BROUGHT TO EACH OTHER.

**** THE WORK OF GOD THROUGH THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED PERFECTLY WHAT GOD INTENDED, BRINGING PEOPLE TO HIMSELF.

1. AND CONTEXTUALLY THINK OF IT THIS WAY. VERSE 13 POINTS TO THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, VERSE 15 FOCUSES ON THE BODY OF THE DYING SAVIOR, AND IN V. 16, PAUL SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS THE PLACE – THE CROSS, WHERE HIS BLOOD WAS SHED AND HIS BODY WAS SLAIN.

* NOW HOW DID THE CROSS ACCOMPLISH SUCH RECONCILIATION?

** WELL, IT PUT TO DEATH THE ENMITY BETWEEN MEN AND GOD.

*** I MEAN THE HOSTILITY BETWEEN MEN AND GOD WAS ENDED IN THIS SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. HE WAS THE ONE WHO RECEIVED THE JUDICIAL SENTENCE OF GOD FOR SIN. HE BECAME SIN FOR US, THE ONE WHO KNEW NO SIN, II CORINTHIANS 5:21 (READ)

2. AND BELOVED, JESUS PAID THE PRICE OF DEATH WHICH A HOLY GOD REQUIRED AND THEREBY SATISFIED DIVINE JUSTICE. JESUS BECAME A CURSE FOR SINNERS ACCORDING TO GALATIANS 3:13 AND BECAME THE MEANS OF THE BELIEVING SINNER TO GOD BY HIS GRACE.

* IT IS THE WORK OF GOD THAT THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED FOR MAN CANNOT EVEN RECONCILE HIMSELF TO HIS FELLOW MAN, MUCH LESS TO GOD, AND THAT’S WHY ROMANS 5:8-11 SAYS (READ VV. 8&9).

** AND VERSES 10 & 11 SAY – “FOR IF WHILE WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE, HAVING BEEN RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.”

V. 11 – “AND NOT ONLY THIS, BUT WE ALSO EXULT IN GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH WHOM WE HAVE NOW RECEIVED THE RECONCILIATION.”

*** AND FOLKS UNDERSTAND THIS, APART FROM CHRIST AND HIS WORD AND GRACE, EVERY PERSON IS HELPLESS, SINFUL AND AN ENEMY OF GOD.

**** COLOSSIANS 1:19&20 – “FOR IT WAS THE FATHER’S GOOD PLEASURE FOR ALL THE FULLNESS TO DWELL IN HIM, AND THROUGH HIM TO RECONCILE ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF, HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS; THROUGH HIM, I SAY, WHETHER THINGS ON EARTH OR THINGS IN HEAVEN.”

3. SO CHRIST MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS AND HE PUT TO DEATH THE ENMITY, THE HATRED, THE HOSTILITY.

* AND NOW JEW AND GENTILE, THROUGH BEING RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH CHRIST ARE NOW RECONCILED TO EACH OTHER AND ARE ONE BODY – THE CHURCH.

IN CLOSING: (1) THE SCOTTISH COMMENTATOR JOHN EADIE WROTE AND I QUOTE: “THE CROSS WHICH SLEW JESUS SLEW ALSO THE HOSTILITY BETWEEN MAN AND GOD. HIS DEATH WAS THE DEATH OF THAT ANIMOSITY.” (END QUOTE)

* AND FOLKS THAT MEANS THE CROSS IS GOD’S ANSWER TO RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, SEGREGATION, APARTHEID, ANTI-SEMITISM, BIGOTRY, WAR AND EVERY OTHER CAUSE AND RESULT OF HUMAN STRIFE.

** FOR STRIFE COMES FROM SIN. AND JUST AS SIN IS THE CAUSE OF ALL CONFLICT AND DIVISION, IT IS ALSO THE ENEMY OF ALL PEACE AND HARMONY.

*** AND BUILT INTO SIN IS THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF PEACE. FOR SIN IS BASICALLY SELFISHNESS, AND SELFISHNESS IS BASICALLY DIVISIVE AND DISRUPTIVE.

**** AND BELOVED, PEACE COMES ONLY WHEN SELF DIES, AND THE ONLY PLACE SELF TRULY DIES IS AT THE FOOT OF CALVARY WHERE JESUS DIED ON A CROSS.

(2) SO THE FIRST QUESTION I ASK IN APPLICATION TODAY IS, ARE YOU IN CHRIST? HAVE YOU BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD?

* IF NOT, YOU REMAIN DIVIDED FROM COUNTLESS OTHER HUMAN BEINGS AND WHAT IS MUCH WORSE, FROM GOD HIMSELF.

** MY BURDEN FOR YOU TODAY IS TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD, READ II CORINTHIANS 5:20.

*** I WOULD CALL YOU TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD BY REPENTANT FAITH IN CHRIST.

(3) LAST OF ALL, IF YOU ARE TRULY IN CHRIST TODAY, ARE YOU ALIENATED AND AT OUGHT WITH OTHER BELIEVERS IN THE BODY TODAY?

* AND WHEN I SPEAK, MY APPLICATION IS TO THE LOCAL BODY, THE VISIBLE BODY, THE LOCAL CHURCH, IT’S MAJORITY USE, BUT EVEN OTHER TRUE CHRISTIANS.

** BUT YOU MAY NOT SEE EYE TO EYE WITH EVERYBODY IN OUR BODY, NO ONE EXPECTS YOU TO, BUT YOU MUST REALIZE THAT REGARDLESS OF DIFFERENT OPINIONS, YOU ARE ONE, AND YOU NEED TO BE LIVING THAT OUT.

*** IS THERE ANIMOSITY, BITTERNESS, HARD FEELINGS? IF THERE IS, ASK GOD TO FORGIVE YOU OF THAT AND THEN ASK THAT BROTHER OR SISTER TO FORGIVE YOU OF THAT. CLEAR YOUR CONSCIENCE TODAY.

**** READ ACTS 24:16, I TIMOTHY 1:5 AND MATTHEW 5:23&24.

(4) AND YOU MIGHT BE THINKING TODAY, RAY, I JUST DON’T FEEL LIKE IT. WELL, MY COUNSEL IS THINK OF THE CROSS AND CHRIST SHEDDING HIS BLOOD FOR YOU AND THAT HE RECONCILED YOU AND FORGAVE YOU, AND USE THAT AS A MOTIVATION TO FORGIVE THEM OR ASK FORGIVENESS.

* EPHESIANS 4:20-32 SAYS (READ THEM). ALSO READ COLOSSIANS 3:13 AND MARK 11:24-26 AND MATTHEW 18:21&22.

** BELOVED, YOU THAT HAVE BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD, BE RECONCILED TO BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE BODY. DON’T IN PRIDE DIVIDE OVER YOUR OPINIONS. MAY WE NOT PUT UP A WALL, BUT MAY IT BE KNOCKED DOWN.

*** AND THE MOTIVATION IS, WE HAVE BEEN RECONCILED.