Sermon Central
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Unified In Christ Series
Contributed by Carl Willis on May 16, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: In Christ there is no division of class,nationality or race. The ground is level at the foot of the cross and our identity is in Him.
Unified in Christ
Ephesians 2:11 (NLT)
Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
Born an Outsider
Status was based on the external
• Uncircumcised
• Considered unclean
• Unchosen
• Separated from God’s favor
• Circumcised
• Thought of themselves and pure as righteous
• Nationality
• Religious practice
The heart remained unchanged
Ephesians 2:12 (NLT)
In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God’s people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
Separated from Christ
Living without Christ
• Separation from the blessings of God
• Separation from the promises of God
• A life without hope
Lack of Unity
• Prejudice
• Separation
Ephesians 2:13 (NLT)
But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.
You Belong
Your life was bought with a price
• Paid for by Jesus
• The price was his body and blood
No longer distant
• Sin separates man from God
• Jesus paid the price of sin
• Abolishing the divide
• Drawing you close to God
Ephesians 2:14 (NLT)
For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us.
Jesus the Mediator
Breaking down the wall of hostility
• The ground is level at the foot of the cross
• All have sinned and come short of God’s glory
We are one
• Through Christ the Jew and Gentile have been brought together as the body of Christ
• The body works together for the glory of Christ
Ephesians 2:15-16 (NLT)
By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. [16] Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
No Longer Under the Law
The law brought exclusion
• The gentile was condemned by exclusion
• The Jew was condemned by failure to comply
Romans 3:20 (NLT)
For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.
No Longer Under the Law
The law brought exclusion
• The gentile was condemned by exclusion
• The Jew was condemned by failure to comply
Living in grace
• The law no longer separates but unifies
Romans 7:4 (NLT)
So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.
Ephesians 2:17-18 (NLT)
He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. [18] Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
The Good News
The message is for all people
• Jew
• Gentile
• No one is excluded
Only through Christ
• Salvation is found
John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Ephesians 2:19 (NLT)
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Welcome to the Family
Citizens of the kingdom of Heaven
• Not based on nationality
• Not based on race
• Based solely upon the blood of Jesus
Sons and daughters
• Adopted into the Kingdom
• Joint heirs with Jesus
Ephesians 2:20 (NLT)
We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
God’s House
The church is not a building
• The church is the people of God
• Not bound by place or time
Built upon a foundation of faith
• The faith of the prophets
• The faith of the apostles
