You may or may not know that I don’t mind the odd game of golf. Now, if you asked me why I would enjoy the odd game, I really couldn't tell you. It must be the challenge to actually hit the ball straight or something like that. Now, you may not have noticed this before, but Golf spelled backwards is Flog. The Webster definition of Flog, in case you were wondering, is "To beat or strike hard and repeatedly with a cane." That's exactly what I would like to sometimes do with a golf ball.

There is a story about a golfer who, I think, must have played his golf game like me. As this particular golfer approached the first tee, which was a very difficult hole because the green was surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. He then decided that the hole was too difficult to risk the new ball on so pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: "USE THE NEW BALL!" Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee. Now the voice from above shouted: "TAKE A PRACTICE SWING!" With this, the golfer stepped backward and took a swing. Feeling more confident, he approached the tee when the voice again rang out "USE THE OLD BALL" - believe me. Golf is a bit like that.

One thing about golfing, is that there is a certain elitism or exclusivism in being a member of certain clubs. A person has to be able to pay out, in some cases, thousands of dollars just to join. So if your not rich, then your not part of the club. I guess some people get to be a part of the club by inheriting their parent's membership to the club.

One thing about us Aussie's is that we hate exclusivism. We like people to be on the same plain as us - if their not, then we try to find some way to bring them down.

In this passage we are looking at today, we are reminded again by Paul that there was a huge chasm between the Jew and Gentile. That is, anyone who was not born a Jew, or had gone through the right legal processes to become a Jew - then they were regarded in a significantly lower light.

Let's look at verses 11,12 or Ephesians 2

1. FORMER DIVISION (vv11, 12)

Two key points come out from these verses. First, we were separated from one another and secondly we were separated from Christ.

One of the attitudes of this world is described in a phrase, "You're different from me, and I resent you for that."

On Tuesday we celebrate Australia Day - a day to remember the start of a nation. We celebrate naturalization events all over the country. We pride ourselves for our ethnic diversity, and yet there are still many tensions between ethnic groups, including ourselves, in our nation. A part of our humanity is that we create barriers between races, countries, religions, genders, social and economic classes, denominations, schools, communities, teams and families. Now not all of this is bad, differentiation is necessary for identity, but the human tendency to create barriers is a distortion and sin. Distinction and uniqueness do not have to lead to division.

This is exactly the problem there was in the division and barriers between Jew and Gentile. A Jew would only speak to a Gentile if they absolutely had to. Even for those Gentiles who wanted to worship God at the Temple in Jerusalem had to stay in the outer courts of the Temple area. It is said that a sign was chiseled over the doors that led into the Temple area itself, that if any Gentile entered that area they would lose their life.

You see, outside of Christ and His will, division exists.

2. Separated from Christ

The second thing that this passage expresses is that we were once without hope and without God in this world.

Living without hope is a horrible thing. I cringe each time I hear of a suicide - just this last week I received an email from a pastor in the US informing us that a fellow pastor had committed suicide.

I always think to myself, "What was it in this persons life that they lost so much hope that they wanted to kill themselves to escape." LOST HOPE. No hope for future, no way of seeing things will improve, no hope for healing in one's life of the hurts they have had to carry.

This passage pointedly says that without God, there is no hope. But it doesn't leave us in the air. The passage goes on to describe how we find hope, how we find contentment, how we find belonging, how we find peace instead of anguish, how we find love and unity with one another.

Let's read through verses 13-18.

1. NOW FOUND IN PEACE (vv 13-18)

A theologian named Gilbert Bilezikian said this about these verses,

Three things verses 13-18 bring out. We are brought together in Christ, peace is made and we are unified by One Spirit - the Holy Spirit.

1. Brought Together in Christ

It is only through Christ that the walls of prejudice can come down. Christ came to break down that barrier between us and him and between each other.

Have you ever thought about that? Look around you today, how many of us would have anything to do with each other had it not been for Christ's death on the cross and our faith and trust in Him. You see, in terms of a community we were once divided. Our prejudices and differences were a barrier for any relationship. In Christ things are different. Through the cross all the designs of God for the creation of the new community are achieved. Verse 13 says, those who were far away are "brought near through the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:13). Christ has made us one by "abolishing in his flesh" (v. 15) which were the obstacles to true community. And "through the cross" (v. 16), he reconciled us into one body by bringing to an end our alienation and hostility. Bilezikian says, "The cross, in other words, not only provides for our reconciliation to God in its vertical dimension, but it also makes possible reconciliation among humans with its horizontal embrace."

Sadly, we sometimes operate only on the vertical dimension. We say, I can have my faith in God privately without any commitment to a local church. And I guess you may, but you miss the full blessing of community. You see Christ not only created us for relationship with Him, but also created us for relationship with one another. That's why we have membership. It is a way that we encourage people to commit themsleves to a local church community and to be a functioning component of that body.

You know, sometimes we treat the church as an institution. It's an organisation we attend on a weekly basis. We get fed, get encouraged, get rebuked, catch up with friends, organise some social activities, then go home. Then we go through the same process again the following week. But God never intended the church to be an organisation or institution - He has meant it to be a living organism. One that functions together, one that worships together, one that serves together, one that loves together - this is the type of community He desires and the type of community we, as a church need to strive for.

2. Peace is Made

Previously I spoke about lost hope - what is the opposite to lost hope?

Peace is one incredible thing. Can you imagine what peace must be like for those who go through war? Say you live in a war torn region. You go to bed at night not knowing if a stray missile will blow apart the room that you are sleeping in. You hear machine gun fire all night, you hear of friends who have lost loved one's. Inside your gut you feel anguish, doubt, despair, confusion, uncertainty, lost hope. Then peace is made and hope for a future is restored.

Twice in these few verses we are told that peace is made between us and God because of Jesus. We are told that Jesus Himself is our peace and what is achieved through this peace is restoration with God and restoration with one another. Paul says that through Jesus there is one new man - a symbol of unity and love - that is His purpose.

So in Christ we find reason, we find purpose, we find identity, and we find spiritual and emotional healing. The war around us has been brought to an end, we now need to discover the new person and people we are called to be.

Not only do we have peace, but the Holy Spirit also unifies us.

3. Unified by One Spirit

This is the result of what Christ has done. Eph. 4:4-6 says, "There is one body and one spirit - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

This is an essential part of a church's life. Paul said to the Philippians that they should strive side by side with one mind and stand firm in one spirit. He told them to be one in spirit and purpose (2:2). He also reminded the Colossians that they were members of one body because Christ is all and is in all.

Let me return to Phil 2:2 that we are to be one in spirit and purpose. If I were to ask you what our purpose as a church was, what would be your answer? Would you know? If so, are you making yourself available to be actively involved in the pursuit of the fulfillment of that purpose?

Well, over the next several weeks we will be looking at the purpose of the church and specifically our purpose as a church. But I don’t want this just to be talk, we need to be involved. I hope and pray that over the next weeks the Lord will be showing you where and how to be involved.

1. MADE CITIZENS OF THE KING (vv 19-22)

The last few verses of this passage describe to us the outcome of us being a new community in Christ. We are citizens of God's household and are God's Holy Temple.

1. Members of God's Household

As I mentioned earlier, on Tuesday there are going to be Naturalization or citizenship ceremonies all around Australia celebrating together there naturalization as officially becoming Australians.

In Christ, we become citizens of Heaven, citizens of God's Kingdom - A citizenship that has greater ramifications then that of becoming a citizen of a nation.

What does it mean in verse 19 that we are members of God's household? We know that a church building is sometimes called God’s house. In reality though, God’s household is not a building, but a group of people. He lives in us and shows himself to the world through us. People can see that God is love and that Christ is Lord as we live in harmony with each other and in accordance with what God says in his Word. This is how we are to live as citizens of God’s kingdom and members of his household.

A part of this is that we are also God's Holy Temple. This is described in verse 20.

2. God's Holy Temple

In A.D. 70 the Romans destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem. Up to this point the Jews dependence and assurance of the presence of God was through the Temple. As a result they were lost and confused over the destruction of this Holy Place.

But in Christ the church as a people is now God's new Temple and all believers are his priests. In John 2:19-22 we find that early in His ministry Jesus predicted that he would rebuild the temple as his body through the death and resurrection. This body of Christ is God's sacred and Holy Temple, his people within who his Spirit lives.

There are four implications that come from this that is relevant to us today.

1. We live with God if we are In Christ and he lives with us. We communicate with God and He with us. Faith is something that is relational, not merely a decision based upon set beliefs.
2. Life, salvation, hope and resources for life flow from the Lord to those in Christ. We recognize that God is the giver of all things.
3. Worship and giving thanks are a natural part of life. It troubles me that many people find it hard to get to church by 9.30am simply because we miss the component of corporate worship. Sometimes I wonder what we give the Lord when we can't get up early enough to join in worship together.
4. The character of God is our guide. So Christians are to imitate God.

I want to finish by describing 4 things that the church is to be:

1. The Church is to be a place of peace

This peace isn't just about good feelings - it is about relationships. Remember that our vertical relationship with God is bound to and expressed through our vertical relationships with people. Therefore a church is to be a group of people who live out and exemplify to the world around us the peace that comes from Christ.

 

2. The Church is to be a community

Our relationship with God not just a private thing. Note that verse 14 doesn't say, "he is my peace," it says, "he is our peace".

Too often we focus our energies of portraying Christianity as a relationship with God for the individual. But the New Testament isn't about "Lone Ranger" Christianity. The individual's relationship with God is vitally important, but so too is the corporate nature of our collective relationship with God. 1 Cor. 12:13 and Gal. 3:27-28 describes how when a person is baptized into Christ, they are also baptized into the Body of Christ. As I said previously, this is why we encourage people to become members - it helps in the process of the corporate nature of our walk with God.

3. The Church is to be Christ centered

The church exists only because of Christ and His purposes. We are to exemplify His character, not the characteristics of people. The church has many traditions and rituals, but it is not about any of these things. The church is about Jesus Christ, and the other pieces of the picture only come in to display the role of Christ in the church. Therefore, a churches purpose, ministries, direction and activities should all reflect in some way the central focus - namely Christ.

4. The Church is to be the people

The church isn't to be a program people put together for others to watch. Neither is it a building that people come and meet in.

The people are the participants who join together to worship and fellowship with God who is present with them as a group.

Ministry isn't something done by someone we pay to do it - it is something for everyone as we function as a living organism together fulfilling our various roles to fulfill Christ's purposes.

Our value as a church is placed on people and should never be placed upon programs, buildings, or material things.

The bottom line is this. The purposes that Christ has given the Church - us - is to love Him through worship and obedient living; love One another though care encouragement and ministry; and love the world by reaching out with the gospel.

By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 24 January 1999