ONE NEW MAN CREATED IN JESUS CHRIST

Ephesians 2:11‑22

Key Verse: 2:14-15

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.”

In the previous passage Paul explained how we were saved when we were dead in our transgressions and sins. God made us alive by the blood of Jesus and called us to be his workmanship in Christ Jesus to do good works. Today’s main theme is the reconciliation of the Jews and the Gentiles in Christ and the unification of all mankind to become one in Christ. Jesus destroyed the barrier through his body and brought peace to all men. He created a new community of people, Jesus’ church. We became citizens of the kingdom of God, part of God’s family, and part of his holy temple. The main work of Jesus is to destroy the dividing wall of hostility, abolish the law, and create one new man in him. Jesus changed separation into reconciliation and hostility into peace through his death on the cross. The glory of a Christian is to have peace with God, to have access to the Father God, and to become a member God’s family and the holy temple. May God bless us to become one in Christ through this passage. I pray that we all may enjoy God’s peace and love through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PART I. REMEMBER THAT YOU WERE SEPARATE FROM CHRIST (11-12)

In this part Paul describes the condition of the Gentiles before they came to Christ. What was the situation of the Gentiles before they came to Christ? Look at verses 11-12 "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised' by those who call themselves 'the circumcision' (that done in the body by the hands of men)--remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” In these verses, Paul said “remember” twice: “remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth” and “remember that at that time you were separate from Christ.” Why do we have to remember our past status before conversion? It is not so that we fall into self-pity and self-condemnation. It is not for us to have a guilty party. It is to remember God’s love. It is to give thanks and honor to God’s wonderful grace. It is not to forget God’s salvation. F.D.R used to rally Americans during the WWII by saying, “Remember the Pearl Harbor.” George Bush can encourage U.S. troops in Afghanistan with, “Remember 9-11.” He says this for us not to forget people who sacrificed their lives to save lives. Do you remember your wedding anniversary? You celebrate your wedding anniversary to renew your honeymoon spirit and revive your commitment. In the same way we remember our past to renew our relationship with Christ. The covenants of the promise made the Jews different from all the other people. But we, the Gentiles, did not have the covenant of God. As a result, we had no God and no hope. We were excluded from citizenship. M. Joshua Kim has to pay $7,000 tuition while state resident has to pay just $2,500. Why? Because he is not a U.S. citizen. Many people want to have U.S. citizenship because it gives them many privileges. They will be treated well and receive all the blessings that America promises. But we were excluded all spiritual blessings because we were foreigners to the covenants of the promise. More than anything else, we were separate from Christ. Think about life without Christ. We would still remain in darkness. We would be miserable because we do not have any real hope and vision. We may pursue a pleasure-seeking life style saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”(1 Cor. 15:32c) But our final destiny would be eternal hell after we labored hard from one job to another to survive in this competitive world. But Jesus changed our life forever! Shep. Ricardo Rivera from Guatemala has a spiritual name called Shepherd “Thank You”. He will share his ‘Thank You’ testimony at our conference because he found the meaning of his life when he met Jesus. Life without Jesus is a tragedy in itself. We have to remember that we were the Gentiles in the past but now we are in Christ.

Think of you past life. The description of our past life is so dark and hopeless. “Without hope and without God in the world.” Man was made in the image of God, but before we accepted Jesus, we did not know God. One young man seemed to have it all. He was born into wealth. His future looked so bright and hopeful. But he had no meaning because he was without God. He despaired for lack of hope and killed himself. Man needs hope, but apart from God, there is no lasting hope for man.

PART II. JESUS CHRIST IS OUR PEACE (13-18)

This part shows the outcome of Jesus’ blood for us. Look at verse 13. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” The blood of Jesus began to have a wonder-working power in our lives. The blood of Jesus brought us near to God and his promises. We were no longer strangers. We were no longer excluded from God’s promises. We were no longer separated from Christ. Look at our spiritual names. Through the blood of Jesus we became God’s covenant people. The blood of Jesus began to bring all people together to become God’s chosen people. When a Roman centurion who was excluded from the covenant of God saw the blood of Jesus, he suddenly confessed, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39b) This Gentile soldier was able to draw near to God through the blood of Jesus. What did Jesus do to create one new man in us?

Look at verse 14. "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...." Jesus is not just a peace-maker or a peace-giver. He is peace itself. This means that there is no real peace without Jesus. Tolstoy wrote a novel called “War and Peace.” Once I attempted to read this book and gave up because it was so long. Tolstoy wrote this book to promote peace among men because war brought deaths and tragedies and miseries to millions of people. But he could not find peace in this world and died shouting, “Life is tragedy! Life is tragedy!” President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat won the Nobel Peace prize due to their efforts to bring peace in the Middle East. But today there is no peace in the Middle East. There are many walls of hostility. South Korean President Kim DaeJung won the Nobel Peace prize in 2001 due to his Sunshine policy to bring peace with his communist counterpart North Korea. But then there was a gun battle in the Yellow Sea between North and South right after the World Cup soccer tournament. Though Korea used to be one nation, she is divided between democratic South and communist North and they have been bitter enemies since the Korean War. Kim could not destroy the walls of hostility between South and North. He failed to bring peace between the two. But Jesus is our peace because he made the two one. How?

First, he destroyed the barrier. Here the barrier refers to the barrier existed between the Jews and the Gentiles, engrained in the law and built up by years of war and oppression. Jesus destroyed that barrier and made the two one. Jesus destroyed the walls of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles, thus made the two one. We see these barriers in John 4. In that passage, there were barriers and walls of hostility between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. But Jesus destroyed the barriers and walls of the hostility by asking the woman, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4:7) Jesus broke the racial barrier between the Jews and the Samaritans, the gender barrier between man and woman, and the communication barrier between God and sinners. Jesus initiated his love conversation with the woman, thus destroyed the walls of hostility.

We celebrated when the Berlin Wall between the West and East Germany came down. We celebrated when the walls of the Iron curtain came down in the former Soviet Union. But there are barriers and walls of hostility in the world. Karl Marx viewed the barrier between the haves and have-nots as man’s fundamental problem. Lenin adopted his idea and founded the communist system to destroy the class struggle between the rich and the poor. But he created a bigger barrier among the people. In America there are many human barriers such as race, culture, gender, class, digital divide, religion, ethnicity, and language. Who can destroy all these barriers? U.S. government tries to adopt a policy of diversity saying “strength through diversity.” But Uncle Sam cannot solve all of our problems. There is no answer to that. But Jesus broke all those barriers among us. Look around our fellowship. It is Bible fellowship. It is Jesus fellowship. We are one in Christ. We have no barriers and no walls of hostility among us because we have Jesus, our peace. No one can be one without Jesus. If we do not have Jesus in our heart, we can easily build the barrier and walls among us and we can be divided into many different groups. “Oh, I belong to the “Alpha” group and you belong to “Beta” group. My group is more spiritual than yours. Oh, I came from this chapter and you from another chapter. We are different. My Bible teacher is better than yours. I am tall and you are short. I like sausage pizza and you mushroom pizza. I am a vegetarian and you are a meat-lover.” Then division can happen easily. But when we belong to Jesus and we can be one. Without Jesus we cannot be one. But with Jesus we can be one. Jesus is our peace who destroyed the barrier and the walls of hostility.

Second, he abolished the law in his flesh. Look at verse 15a. “By abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.” Jesus abolished the old system governed by the law and established new system governed by God’s grace. Romans 7:4 “You also died to the law through the body of Christ that you might belong to another.” According to the Jewish law we have to be circumcised to become God’s people and offer animal sacrifices every year to receive the forgiveness of our sins and follow certain dietary laws written in the Leviticus. Moreover, we have to be born a Jew to enter the inner temple courts, and have to be born a Levite to enter the temple itself. These laws set the barriers between the Jews and the Gentiles. But Jesus met all the requirement of the law through his death on the cross. Jesus set us free from all the commandments and regulations to make us one. He could not just pronounce us free but had to first die so as to abolish the law that bound us. Jesus opened the door for us to become children of God -- not by the law but by faith in him. The cross of Jesus symbolizes the horizontal relations with fellow men and vertical relationship with God.

Third, Jesus created one new man out of the two. Look at verse 15b. “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.” Here the words ‘one’ and ‘new’ and ‘create’ have a significant connotation. “One” means that there is only one group in Jesus. There are no elements of cultural, classical, racial, geographical division in Jesus. Jesus unified us through his death on the cross. There is only one family, one race, one language, one ethnicity, one goal, and one fellowship in Jesus because he created one new man out of the two. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from Jesus because we are one. And if we all individually have unity with God then we necessarily will be also be one with one another. Death cannot separate us from Dr. Daniel Hong because we are one. What is in common between the backgrounds of S. David Brogi and me? Nothing. But Jesus made us one. He is my brother in Christ and a spiritual son. What is common between Jay and Sarah B.? Nothing. But Jesus made them one. Jay is sister to Sarah B. in Christ and a Bible teacher. Who was Anthony Ahmed? He was a Muslim. But Jesus made him one among us. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s say together, “Hello, my brother, Hello, my sister.” We all are one big family in Jesus. We can sing together and work together and praise God together. “New” means that Jesus is the beginning of a new history. The barriers were destroyed and the walls were removed and the hostility ended. Then the new history called “A.D.” began. Human history can be divided two parts-before Christ and after Christ. “Create” does not mean remodeling or repair. It means that we are born again into a new person. We are born again into the kingdom of God. We are no longer in Adam but in Christ. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Our life can also be divided into two parts-before Christ and after Christ; between the old and the new. Our old life was filled with hostility, division, darkness, hopelessness, and death. Our new life is filled with love, hope, faith, life, and unity. Are you living in the era of BC or AC? Are you in the old creation or the new creation? We all are new men in Christ.

Fourth, Jesus reconciled the Jews and the Gentiles to God through the cross. Look at verse 16. “And in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” I am pessimistic about putting to death their hostility between the Israelis and Palestinians. We were hostile to God when we were under the power of sin. Then we were burdened and weary because we became the objects of God’s wrath. When we sinned against God, hostility existed between God and men. There was no peace as long as this hostility existed. Intense hostilities existed between the North and South due to their view of slavery when Lincoln was the president of United States. Eventually this hostility exploded into the Civil War. The hostility was extinguished only after the South surrendered after the loss of many soldiers. The Union was preserved with heavy cost and sacrifice. But the problem is that no one can extinguish hostility between God and sinners. No one is happy as long as he or she is hostile to God. No one has peace if there is hostility with God. There is a bumper sticker saying “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.” Jesus reconciled all men to God by paying the price of sin through his death on the cross. Sin demands blood sacrifice as the only payment. Jesus shed his blood for our sins. Jesus removed the barrier between God and men through the cross. Jesus put to death hostility between God and men. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Jesus came into this world to reconcile men to God. Therefore, at the birth of Jesus, the host of angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Lk 2:14). Amen. Amen. Through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, glory to God and peace on earth. Look at verses17 and 18. “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Through his death, he glorified God and gave peace on earth. Jesus preached the message of peace. Not only Jesus reconciled us to God, but also he gave us mission to preach the message of reconciliation. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful in the mountains are those are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Today the world is filled with hatred, hostility, division, and war. What is our mission in this hostile world? It is to deliver the message of peace and reconciliation. We should not deliver the message of division and condemnation and self-righteousness. We should proclaim the message of love and grace. We should become ambassadors of peace to all mankind starting from one person near us. By his blood Jesus made it possible for us to come to God and call him "Daddy" (18). Jesus opened the door for us to come to God because he removed the wall of hostility and destroyed the barrier. We could not go to God without blood sacrifice before. Now we can go to God through Jesus. Jesus is our door to God (John 10:7, 14:6) To access money in the bank we need an access code or a pin number. Our access code to approach God is Jesus. We can call God as “Abba” (Father) through Jesus.

In conclusion, look at verses 19-22. Jesus created a new community of people through his church. Through this new community we all became fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. This foundation of this new community goes back to the apostles and the prophets. I am connected to the apostles. I am a part of God’s eternal history. Jesus is the cornerstone for the church. All things are connected to the head stone. Each member is precious in this new community. Each has function in the new Christian community. The stones in a wall are stacked tightly together. This illustration emphasizes the unity of coworking of believers. Our many talents come together to form a vessel where the Holy Spirit dwells in our midst. This is the spiritual temple or house of God.

This is the beauty of God. This is the church universal connecting all believers to Jesus, our cornerstone. Jesus is the head of the church. We are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. God gathers his people through his church. The work of God’s salvation continues through his church. It is the ongoing work of God. It is a work in progress. May God bless you to become one in Christ. I pray that God may bring the season of Christ to America and us. Let’s read the key verses 14-15.