Episode 5: Ephesians 2:11-22: What price would you put on unity?
Unity. It's something we can often take for granted, but here in Ephesians it's front and centre as one of the most precious consequences of the gospel. Come and explore it with us!
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What particularly has been achieved by the cross of Christ in this part of the letter?
Why is it so important to grasp this?
How does this passage grow our view and vision of the church?
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This episode is sponsored by Crossway.
Crossway publish gospel-centered, Bible-based content that honours our Savior and serves his church. They seek to help people understand the massive implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God.
Check out their website for all their up-to-date resources.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Sarah: You're listening to the Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a Bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. And this season we're in Ephesians, whether you've been listening for a while or you've just found us, we are so pleased you're here.
Felicity: We are so grateful to be sponsored by Crossway this season and we in our Bible study, my local church Bible study, we have used a couple of these Lydia Brownback ‘Flourish’ Bible studies and I highly recommend this style of resource. This one is on Hebrews. We have yet to do this one because it's just come out, but it looks to be as equally high quality as the ones that I've done previously. Hebrews is on our list to do and so this resource will no doubt into play. I really love the way in which Lydia leads us through the texts, giving us enough information and detail to help us plumb the depths of the passage while not spoon feeding the answer. On top of which, beautifully presented, which is always pleasing for the women's Bible study, and so grab your copy at crossway.org.
Sarah: Welcome to Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Sarah, I live in the UK. I'm here with my sister Felicity, who's in the USA. We have our cups of tea at the ready. Felicity, off the back of our conversation last week, just thinking about the kind of hospitality and welcome of just getting people over for a cup of tea, I just had a really delightful moment in the last little while. I've just started praying with an older lady at church and we just meet up once a month and I walked into her house and the kettle was on and small trays were set up with the teacups and just it was all just so beautifully thoughtfully kind of ready, ready for my entrance and it was just like a really lovely kind of it just just the different kinds of welcome like there's a wonderful kind of just come over whenever and just kind of stick the kettle on and we'll just see what we can find in the cupboard there was also a real kind of intentionality of like she was ready for me and she was kind of ready to kind of serve me tea and chat and pray and it was just beautiful.
Felicity: I that. And the anticipation that you felt kind of loved and known in fact, yeah, because she knows you love a good cup of tea. Although if it wasn't lemon and ginger then...
Sarah: Yeah, I felt so welcomed. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't lemon and ginger and she apologised for it being a tea bag and I was like, we don't need to apologise for it being a tea bag, this is brilliant.
Felicity: I actually went to lunch with someone last week and I walked into the house and they had a little whiteboard on there on the side that said welcome Felicity. Again, like just intentional, I know, intentional welcome. There's such value in that, isn't it? It's small things, but actually they're pretty powerful in what they convey, yeah? Love that.
Sarah: Okay, well before we get into our next part of chapter two, Felicity, we've been gradually seeing this bigger picture of church unfold in Ephesians so far, haven't we? We've seen God's purposes are centered on the church, Christ the head, the gathered people of God as the body. There's this growing picture. I want to just hear some reflections on how this is impacting your thoughts about online ministry.
Felicity: Hmm, this, well, this is something that we talk about a lot, isn't it? And it's something which I think and pray about a lot actually, because there is a tension through being in an online ministry, like through producing what we're producing through this podcast, which is not happening in a gathering of God's people in the local sense. And our heart and desire, especially shaped by Ephesians actually over the years that we've been kind of hearing this letter and sort of being steeped in it, is that this online ministry, like being a podcast listener here, would not in any way replace the absolute gold dust that is to be part of your local church family and that kind of real life in person, which in so many ways can feel harder than accessing an online thing like this because people are not straightforward and you're gonna get challenged maybe, there's gonna be some awkwardness, it might even be just, I don't know whether I like the way they do this, it's not, but for that not to be the reason that you would opt out of that, and I think we are constantly, well, seeking to be constantly repeating that, aren't we? Like, get involved in your local situation. That's kind of echoes what we've been talking about. Where would you take it?
Sarah: Yeah, think, yeah, we've had many reflections, and particularly with us turning five and just that we've been reflecting on this a lot, haven't we? But just, well, I guess partly what we're doing here is our prayer is seeking to serve the wider church. We are wanting to serve the wider body, aren't we, and equip people to get the Bible open and to do this in everyday life. And we're just so thankful for the way that people are using this. That was so wonderfully obvious from the birthday survey we did earlier in the year that the podcast has really been used for the wider church and we're so grateful for that. But I think just repeating what we said in our last season actually about this that there's nothing replaces in flesh, in the flesh, life on life. The church is called a body for a reason and I think this, this just confirms that for us. It spurs us on to be just careful in how we're thinking about it and how we're using our language in what we're doing here online. And again, as you say, how we're continually and prayerfully seeking to help people access local church as their first port of call. Yeah.
Felicity: Yeah, yeah. And that we would then, what we're doing here would be a springboard actually for people to grab their local people. Like get, when we say grab a friend, grab a friend, like grab someone, go and sit down in person with someone who maybe you know through your church body. And if you don't know people in that context, then get yourself along to a church in order to develop relationships. And we pray that our conversations here and you listening into this would then wet your appetite for more of this in-person real-life conversational around the word kind of life kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah: Let’s get going into the second half of chapter two though. So we're going from verses 11 through to the end of the chapter, verse 22, and you're going to read for us, Felicity.
Felicity: I am. Verse 11,
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, which is done in the body by human hands, 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. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to ye who were far away, and peace to those who were near for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you're no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit.
Sarah: Thank you, Felicity. So we have at the start of this section, don't we, the word therefore. So this is all in connection to what we've seen before. Last time we were just talking about this extraordinary picture of the gospel, weren't we, coming from death to life, and God's character so wonderfully, lavishly, abundantly involved in his showing his mercy and kindness, and then it's all by grace. And here it's like we've got a bit of a replay but with different language in the sense that he's like, remember what you were and then we're kind of going on a slightly different kind of tangent in terms of how he takes that but it's just striking that here it's a kind of remember again like that where you've come from.
Felicity: Yeah, yeah, it feels like he's doing the sort of micro of the individual, this is who you were, and here we have maybe a broader picture here. So verse 12, remember that you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners in the sense that he's really addressing the Gentiles in this, isn't he? Like you were not part of it. In fact, and the reality of not being part of that really stark without hope and without God in the world and that, just like last time, to sit in that for a moment and just think, wow, without the promise, without what God has been working throughout salvation history, this is where we are, without hope.
Sarah: Yeah, there's no hope for Gentiles without the gospel, without Christ being for everyone. yeah, that is then really good news that we then see the but now in verse 13, it? But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. So it costs nothing less than the very blood of Christ to bring them near but the big but again is just glorious isn't it? It's really good news.
Felicity: Yes, yes, yeah, we love that, love that. And I think in that, just the distinction that's been clearly made is between Jews and Gentiles. So it's like two very different experiences, dependent upon which group you're in. And so when then in verse 14, he says, for he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and destroyed the barrier, that wall of hostility. I think there's two different walls here. There's the wall between Jews and Gentiles, the separate experience, separate destiny even, and then there's actually the wall of hostility between God and all people.
Sarah: Yes, which was reflected between Jews and Gentiles. And so this is a monumental moment where Jews and Gentiles, he's saying, you're one, you're not separate, you're now together. And that language kind of comes out in the next phrase, doesn't it? His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, one body. It's just very clear that there's no longer any separation. There's nothing. It's been destroyed. It's been kind of completely demolished. yeah, the hostility has been put to death on the cross. His death has achieved reconciliation. It's achieved unity. It's achieved peace with God, but also with one another. It's that kind of vertical and horizontal level isn't it of all those things.
Felicity: Yeah. Yeah, and there's no two different avenues into God's presence. All together, united as one body, we are then reconciled with Him. Yeah.
Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, which is just... I think we will never grasp the depth of that because we're not Jews. And we're seeing this 2000 years later, but just the weight of that and the weight of that for Jewish readers, for Ephesian Jews, Ephesian Gentiles to be sitting in the place reading this and just being reminded, wow like one spirit, one body, yeah, all have access to the Father. Even just that statement, they have access to the Father. That's the whole Bible story up to this point, has been access to the Father, you know, how, when, how, how is it gonna happen? And it's happened all through Jesus.
Felicity: Yeah. Yeah. And I love that he preached peace to you who are far away and you who are near and the kind of equality even in the words of that, like he is giving the gospel, the gospel has been given to all of us and therefore we all, as you say, this absolutely amazing reality that we would have access to God the Father. And I love not just access, but in verse 19, 20, members of his household. Like, and when we say household, in those times, of Roman times, household is not just kind of a broad, this is like family membership, isn't it? This is intimate relationship.
Sarah: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, just it's, yeah, it's that kind of, it's topsy turvy, isn't it? It's gone from being foreigners and strangers to now being fellow citizens with God's people, members of his household. And just that kind of picture, this picture of this building that's being given to us here, isn't it? The foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone in that. He's the one who holds it all together. Without him, there would be no building. There would be no temple because actually what is given here is a picture of temple which is a huge big word to be using isn't it to describe this people are now coming together
Felicity: And that is a shift, isn't it? Or it's a shift in our understanding. It's a literal shift in terms of how God is relating to his people. Because up until this point, up until Jesus then, temples, sacrificial obligations, priesthood, all of those things. And yet here we have an intimacy, a directness that through Jesus, we don't actually need the We are the temple and the means by which God is then kind of not only connecting but displaying his glory to the world in that. There's more to the temple than just, there's a horizontal as well as a vertical in that, isn’t there? The display of what God is doing.
Sarah: Yes, but again just coming back to the fact that that is a together thing to display his glory. All this language is you're being built together, you're in it together with others. It's not just you on your own as a temple, it's not like you over there or you over there and somehow you'll be joined a little bit. No, no, this is like kind of formed, united, bonded in every way with the cross by the spirit and just that picture therefore of what it is to be part of this people, what it is to be part of this church, this household, like it's really big, isn't it? Like we're part of something really big. Like yes, our local congregations feel small and weak and do you know, they feel like a drop in the ocean and they are, but actually in the worldwide church, God's doing something really big here.
Felicity: Yeah, and he's choosing to dwell in this gathering of people. It's so big that God would dwell with, dwell in, like when there's been this barrier, this hostility, this impossibility of that, but as a gathered people, one man together, built together, verse 22, to become a dwelling in which God lives. And so as I read that and as I hear that and as I'm just realising what that's all about, I am more and more persuaded that I want to be in this togetherness. Like, I want to be part of the being built up into a dwelling place for God himself. Why would I not want to be in the thing that God is building in which he will dwell? When you think about it in those terms, it's madness to take yourself out of that, I think.
Sarah: Yes, yes, because this is at the centre of his purposes, isn't it? That this is what he is doing. And so you want to be leaning in, leaning into that rather leaning out of that. And so I wonder, but I wonder whether for all of us, whether you're listening, or just as we talk about this together, it's just worth kind of having that kind of question in mind, isn't it? Like, is this my current view of church? And if it isn't, what is shaping my view of church? Is it circumstance on the ground? or is it the truth of God's Word? Because actually I know that I need to be recalibrated by this truth. I need to be reminded that no, this is God's picture of church. This is what He's doing. And that really helps me to endure with things that are hard because I remember the big picture and I know what's going on. And I just wonder whether that's a question that we all need to just kind of ask ourselves every now and then and just kind of be preaching to ourselves with this truth.
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's a really good way of thinking about it. Even just a self-awareness in that, because it might be that church is not feeling like it matches this, but that does not then deny that this is not the truth. Like, this is what God is doing, this is what is unfolding. And whatever the visible kind of felt reality is, this trumps that. And that is a work of the Spirit, isn't it, that we would trust that. That is going back to the prayer of chapter one that the eyes of our heart be enlightened that we would really, really know the wealth of the inheritance of God's gathered people.
Sarah: Yes, and that Christ is at the centre of it and he is our primary identity here. We've been thinking as a church about what it looks like to be an intercultural church at the moment, with all the different nations on our doorstep and what it looks like with a lot of different nationalities in our church, for that to be a healthy space. And was really helpful just hearing the other day from one member just saying, actually, whatever my nationality, Christ is my primary identity and bond with everyone else here and that kind of defines how we love and serve those who are different to us. That defines how we view others and in line with last week's as well with the we have no room to there's no room to boast there's no room to kind of there's no room for one-upmanship here like again he's just levelling that playing field so profoundly isn't he that we all come we all have access to the Father by one spirit and that is just a glorious truth to sit in.
Felicity: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. yeah, well, I think let's pray, let's pray that we would really see that and know that, and that would outwork in the way that we interact with others as well, because what we have here is a picture of this unity. And so that we would then actually live out functionally that this is true and treasure it.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this glorious picture of church that we are being built up together into a dwelling place for you by your spirit, Lord. We praise you for that and we praise you for the unity, the oneness that we read of here. Lord, please would you shape our thoughts, our understanding, our outworking of this that we would truly live out what we read and believe. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts, Lord, that we might know the reality of your church whatever's going on, whatever it looks like, whatever it feels like, we pray that this would be what shapes our understanding. And we pray this in your name. Amen.
Sarah: Amen. Amen. Well, do sign up for our newsletters if you haven't already. We have two separate newsletters. One's called the Monthly Brew. That's when, for when you want to slow down with a cuppa and dig in deeply to a few more things with us and what's going on behind the scenes and that kind of thing. Or the Weekly Biscuit. That's your practical and timely roundup of the week's resources direct into your inbox. Do click the links in the show notes to sign up for either of those to keep in the loop with what's going on and we look forward to seeing you next Friday as we'll be getting into the first half of chapter three together. We can't wait. We'll see you then.
Felicity: We'll see you then. This episode has been sponsored by Crossway.
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