How Jesus Makes Us One | Ephesians 2:11-18
I was a freshman in HS when rock and roll legend John Lennon (an original member of the Beatles) released the song entitled Imagine. Here are just a few lines.
“Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too.
Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I’m a dreamer. I’m not the only one.
I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.”
Lennon’s message was a call for global unity and peace. He dreamed of a world without division based on religion, politics, nationality, or material possessions. He envisioned a universe without the ultimate separation of heaven or hell. And John Lennon’s song Imagine peaked at # 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1971 not simply because it was musically pleasing, but because – during intensely turbulent times - it expressed the desire of millions who shared his imagined reality where all people might coexist in idyllic oneness.
As attractive as Lennon’s vision may be, the realization of that vision requires more than simply sharing his dream. If vision and desire by themselves were the keys, perhaps then the world might be as one. However, our experience, and the witness of God’s Word confirm that the realization of a world of people without walls of division – globally, nationally, or in our own homes - requires nothing less than the supernatural work of the Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul draws our attention to what Jesus has done to make one new humanity in Ephesians 2:11-18.
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 – remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 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, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, there killing the hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
—Ephesians 2:11-18
What is the solution for such a deeply and hopelessly divided humanity? What is the foundation for true and enduring unity? That is what the apostle Paul has been building in Eph. 1:3-2:10. These are the essential building blocks -
God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (1:4). Jesus died to purchase our redemption and the forgiveness of our sins (1:7). And thus, God has adopted us as his children (Eph. 1:5). And as God’s adopted children we have obtained an inheritance (Eph. 1:11). And right now, the same power that raised Jesus from death to life is at work in us (Eph. 1:19-20). And we have been given the Holy Spirit, and been sealed so that we will persevere in the faith (Eph. 1:13-14). And, in love, God made us who were once spiritually dead, alive in Jesus (Eph. 2:4-5). And in the ages to come, God promises to shower us forever with the riches of his grace and kindness (Eph. 2:7). Which brings us to Eph. 2:11-18.
V. 11 begins, “Therefore.” And the word “therefore” signals that Paul is about to state a conclusion. Paul has arrived at his main point. Everything in Eph.1:3 - 2:10 is the basis for what Paul is about to say in Eph. 2:11 and following. I’ve built my outline on three questions. 1) What problem did the Gentiles face? 2) Why is that problem so serious? 3) What did Jesus do to solve it?
What Problem Did the Gentiles Face?
In Eph. 2:11-13, Paul introduces the situation. It is the problem of a wall – a dividing wall – a dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles. V. 11 again.
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.
—Ephesians 2:11
So, there were two groups of people. There were “Gentiles in the flesh” – meaning by ethnicity, or heredity. And there were Jews “in the flesh” – by ethnicity, or heredity. At that time, all the Jewish males were circumcised, while gentile males typically were not. And the Jews were mocking the Gentiles – calling them “the uncircumcision.” It was crude humor. There’s really no way one could hear someone say, “Hey you, uncircumcised” without a mental association with a particular body part.
Now there is an OT background to all of this. God chose the nation of Israel to be His people. His purpose was they would trust him and obey him. And by pouring out his favor and blessing upon them, all the nations and people groups in the world would see how great and glorious and loving God is. God chose Israel to display his glory to the nations.
That’s why God gave Israel his good law, which taught them how to live by faith, how they would be justified by faith alone in God’s mercy, which would be purchased by the coming Messiah. And God also gave them laws that would make them distinct culturally from the other nations. Things like circumcision. And no pork. And ways to cut, or not cut their hair, and clothes they should or shouldn’t wear. God gave them commandments that would set them apart as distinct, so that the nations could see these distinctions, and see God’s favor and mercy, and say, “Woah! Your God is awesome! We want to learn more!”
Now, if that was God’s purpose, then what happened? What happened is that, though there was always a remnant of believers throughout the OT, the vast majority of Israel turned their backs on God. And they sinned in one of two ways. Some blatantly turned their backs on God and worshipped idols. But over time, more and more Israelites sinned against God in more subtle and deceitful ways – by taking God’s word and distorting it. They twisted God’s Word and turned it into a system of work and performance in which they could boast, and feel good about themselves, and see themselves as being better than the Gentiles. They even added to the law requirements that when they fulfilled them, they could feel even better than the Gentiles.
Imagine God’s law was like a shipment of building materials. And God’s purpose in delivering this shipment of building materials was that they would build a beautiful building where God would reveal his active presence and power. And this building was to show God’s greatness and unreal mercy, so that everyone would hear about who God is, and turn to him, and trust him, and be forgiven by him.
But instead, Israel took those supplies, which God intended to be used to establish a structure to show how awesome he is, and they built a wall around themselves. A big wall. A dividing wall. And they did it because it felt good to feel they were better than the Gentiles. They were above the Gentiles. And they chose to separate themselves from the Gentiles. And therefore, the Gentiles were cut off from them. They shunned the Gentiles. They mocked the Gentiles with crude nicknames. And so, rather than being drawn to God, as they saw God’s greatness and wisdom and beauty and the life-giving goodness of his law, and his Messiah, the Gentiles were separated from God’s people.
And so, there was terrible division and hostility between the Gentiles and the Jewish people. And in the NT you have situations like the Samaritan woman in John 4. She says to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew ask for a drink from me, a woman from Samaria?” The OT never said Jews should not have dealings with non-Jews. That was one of those “add-on” laws created to establish the wall of hostility.
Now this doesn’t mean that their pride and acts of exclusion, made the Jews worse sinners than the rest of us. Hardly. The Gentiles were also sinners, heartbreakingly so. Just re-read Eph. 2:1-10. All have sinned – Jews and Gentiles – and fallen short of the glory of God. All are equally sinful. But the OT never said, if you go into a Gentile’s house you’ll become defiled. Imagine how offensive it would be if someone walked up to your home and said, “I can’t come into your home, because if I do, I’d become defiled.” Imagine, someone saying, “I can’t speak to you. I’d become defiled.” “I can’t eat with you, I’d become defiled.” Imagine the division, the animosity, the bitterness. That’s what’s going on in Eph. 2:11. Jewish people regularly mocking Gentile people. “Oh man. Did you see what the uncircumcision are doing?” Now the second question:
Why Is This Problem (the problem the Gentiles faced) So Serious?
It was deadly serious - in four ways. Look again at v. 12.
Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
—Ephesians 2:12
First, it is one thing to be separated from Christ because we are dead in sin. But another way we are separated from Christ is we were separated from the people of Israel. The Good News of how God would forgive the sins of all who trusted His mercy because of what the Messiah would do was hidden behind this wall of hostility. In other words, we were separated from Christ by our sin, and doubly separated from Christ because of the dividing wall of hostility between us and the Jewish people.
Second, Gentiles were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. Think again about the Samaritan woman. Because of the pride and hostility of the Jewish people, she was alienated from them. No Jewish person would even talk to a Samaritan. They would go out of their way to avoid traveling through Samaria. The Samaritan woman would never hear the good news of Jesus, except for one thing – Jesus went to her. And she was stunned. “Why are you talking to me a Samaritan?” But he did. And he told her the good news. And she was saved that very day.
Third, Gentiles were strangers to the Covenant of promise. The OT was bursting with promises of a God who is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and a Messiah who would forgive sins. It says God is our fulness of joy and our all-satisfying treasure. It says God will help us, strengthen us, deliver us, guide us, comfort us, provide for us, protect us, and withhold no good thing from us. But because we were separated from the very ones who had the OT, by a barrier of hostility and animosity, we knew nothing about the covenant of promise.
Fourth, Gentiles had no hope and were without God in the world. Those are heartbreaking words. No hope. Without God. That is precisely where so many people are today. It is a soul-crushing thing to feel no hope. There is no way out of my situation. But worse to be without God. And Paul wants us to see and feel and think deeply about where we were. So, he says, “remember.” This is the very first command in this letter. And he says it twice. “Remember” where we were. And here’s why we must remember - lest like the Jews we start to boast in our salvation, and we create walls of separation and hostility. Lest we become silent. Lest we become cold and heartless. Lest we isolate ourselves and create distance between us and lost people. Remember what it feels like to have no hope. Remember what it feels like to be without God. Dead in sin. Facing God’s wrath forever. Cut off from Christ by our own sinfulness. AND EXCLUDED from the good news of how God would save us. We were separated from the good news of God’s Word – the Word which the Jewish people had and held behind their wall of mocking pride and scoffing put-downs. There’s a reason to remember. It’s to engender humility and compassion. Third question,
What Did Jesus Do? (How Does Jesus Make Us One?)
Paul’s already explained it in Eph. 1:3-2:10. But Paul’s aim is to amplify it even more so that we never forget the wonder of the miracle Jesus has accomplished for us. So, in vv. 13-18, Paul frames the supernatural work of Christ from yet another angle.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
—Ephesians 2:13
We were far off. We were separated from God because of our sin. We faced God’s eternal conscious punishment forever. This was our doom and our destiny. But Jesus brought us near to God by his blood. He brought his supernatural power upon us. He changed our hearts. He gave us faith. And as we put our trust in him, because of Jesus’ sin-atoning death, we were completely forgiven of all our sin. We were reconciled to God. All God’s promises are true and real for us. We’re no longer far off. God brings us near to himself through Jesus, by his blood.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
—Ephesians 2:14
So, the Jews are over here and the Gentiles are over there. And there’s this dividing wall of hostility between them. The only words out of their mouths to us are crude, mocking insults. But Jesus broke the power of that animosity through the cross. He washes us clean from the hostility, and he removes it from us so that we have peace. And when he saves Jewish people, he does the same thing. He pays for their sins through his death on the cross. He washes them clean from their pride and hostility. And he fills their hearts with peace. And by removing the hostility from the hearts of believing Gentiles, and from the hearts of believing Jews, and filling them with peace, Jesus makes believing Jews and believing Gentiles one. He brings us together. He unites us to one another. This is why in the NT time-period there weren’t Jewish Christian churches separated from Gentile Christian churches lobbing snarky insults at each other. Instead, churches had “kosher” Jews worshipping Jesus side by side with “ham and eggs” Gentiles. It was a miracle brought about by Jesus. There’s more.
(Jesus) abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.
—Ephesians 2:15a
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “I did not come to abolish the law.” But here Paul says Jesus abolished the law. So, in what sense did Jesus abolish the law and in what sense did he not abolish the law?
The whole OT points to the coming of the Messiah. All the prophesies, the animal sacrifices pointed to what the Messiah would do. Circumcision pictured the way the Messiah would cut away sin from our hearts, and make a new covenant. All the food laws and ceremonial laws which distinguished the people of Israel so that the nations would be able to look at them and see who the Messiah was going to be and what he was going to do – all of the OT pointed forward to the Messiah.
And then when Jesus, the Messiah, came, he fulfilled the OT. Clearly parts of the OT were no longer necessary. The sacrificial laws, the animal sacrifices – all those things whose purpose was to point toward the Messiah and what he would do, were now done. Jesus did it. He died on the cross. Things that were meant to explain how God would forgive sin are now all fulfilled in Jesus’ death. Those laws are no longer needed. Circumcision was no longer needed. We don’t need these pointers anymore. Because we have reality right here, and we can see it all around us in this room in our lives. Jesus has made us new.
We don’t need to avoid bacon so that the nations will see we’re different, and learn the truth, and come to know God. With the coming of Jesus, we’re all to go out to all the nations. There’s no longer just one nation. And therefore, distinguishing one nation is no longer important. That’s the sense in which Jesus abolished the law of commandments.
Now of course, this doesn’t mean we should tear out the OT from our Bibles. But it does mean we let Jesus interpret the OT.
(Jesus) created in himself one new man in place of the two.
—Ephesians 2:15b
Paul is thinking – there were two sinful men. A Jewish sinful man, and a Gentile sinful man. And these sinful men are a metaphor representing 2 peoples. When Jesus saves Jews, he so captures them by the beauty of his glory that all they want is Jesus! And when Jesus saves Gentiles, he so captures us by the beauty of his glory that all we want is Jesus! And when a Jewish believer, who, all he wants is Jesus, meets a Gentile, who, all he wants is Jesus, listen – no IMAGINE - they are going to be friends. They’re going to love each other. They going to be in unity with one another. No more dividing wall of hostility. Jesus makes these two into one new man. V. 16,
(Jesus) reconciled us both to God in one body through the cross there killing the hostility.
—Ephesians 2:16
The thing to notice here is that it’s not just the Gentiles who need to be reconciled to God. Even the Jews, who were God’s people – they needed to be reconciled just as much as we Gentiles need to be reconciled to God. The vast majority of Israelites were sinning against God. They had not experienced new birth. Some did. Abraham. Moses. David. Many others. But most had not. So, we ALL – Jews and Gentiles need to be reconciled to God. And there’s only ONE way this happens. Through Jesus’ sin-atoning death on the cross.
(Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
—Ephesians 2:17
He preached to “far off” Gentiles. And he preached to “near” Jews. He preached to the “far off” Samaritan woman at the well. He preached to “far off” Gentiles through the apostles, like Peter did when he preached to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10), and they were saved. But Jesus also preached to those “who were near” – like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
Through (Jesus) we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
—Ephesians 2:18
This is a reminder that we must not think that there is more than one way to have access to God. There is only one way. No matter who you are, the only way to have access to God is through Christ alone.
Now, do you see the miracle of it all? Do you see what Jesus has done? We were dead in sin. We were by nature children of wrath facing God’s judgment. And the answer – the solution – the good news of Jesus the Messiah was possessed by the Israelites. But there was a wall of hostility between us and them. And so, they weren’t going to tell us. And we weren’t about to go and ask them. Pride is a powerful and deadly problem.
But the through the cross, Jesus saves us Gentiles. Through the cross, Jesus saves the Jews. He took away the hostility. When he washed believing Jews and believing Gentiles, the hostility is gone. And now the church is not just believing Gentiles. It’s not just believing Jews. The church is now one new man – one new creation in Christ Jesus. Believing Jews and believing Gentiles loving each other, praying together, embracing each other, worshipping Jesus side by side. It would have been shocking. It would have been beyond what we could imaginable. It still is.
Now how is this supposed to function for us today? First, I believe Paul’s aim is to engender humility. Of all the people in the world, believers in Jesus ought to be the least arrogant, and the most tender-hearted. What did we do to make our dead hearts live? What did we do to make our blind eyes see? What did we do to set our sin-enslaved souls free? What did we do to remove God’s wrath? What did we do to tear down the wall of hostility? What did we do to make us one with those who scoff and mock and ridicule and exclude? Paul says (twice), “remember.” “Remember.” We did nothing. Jesus did it all.
When you consider those from whom you feel separated by a dividing wall of hostility, what is it that you tend to remember? Is it not the painful offense and the stabbing insults? We remember the hurts. But what does Paul command us to remember? Paul commands us to remember the miracle of this great salvation. Remember the glory of God’s salvation accomplished through Christ Jesus. Remember that Jesus SO changes our hearts, and SO humbles our hearts, and SO fills our hearts that that kind of animosity and hostility is forgiven and GONE. Look! Think! Remember what God has done in Jesus. And then take your feelings of self-righteousness, and self-superiority, and self-preservation to the cross, and pray – pray, “Jesus, deal with this. Kill this. Do away with this. Send your power. You’re your Spirit. Crush this pride before it crushes me and those whom you have called me to love.” Remember, there is NO REAL unity, no possibility of real oneness unless it is built on this gospel truth.
If you are not yet trusting Jesus, listen, we are so glad you’re here. And it’s no accident that you’re here. That’s because God wanted you to hear this. God wants you to see what He has done in Christ – to see the beautiful, supernatural, heart-changing work he has accomplished in Christ – so that you will turn and trust Christ. That you will trust Christ to forgive you, trust Christ to change you, trust Christ to satisfy you. God wants you to look at what happened – to see how Jews and Gentiles, up until the time of Jesus were completely hostile and separated from each other. But after Jesus came, and lived, and preached, and died, and rose again, they were together – laying down their lives for one another. How did that happen? It’s supernatural. It’s by Jesus’ power. Do you see Jesus’ power? Do you see his love displayed? Do you see his heart-changing work displayed here? If you see it, then trust him that he can forgive you, and change you, and fill you, and satisfy you that you might experience what it can be to be ONE with people who once were radically separate from you and you from them.