and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it.And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
4 sermons cite this verse
I'll read again from Ephesians 2, verses 11 to 18. We'll continue with the teaching we've been doing in it. Ephesians 2, verse 11 goes, Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcised, 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. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the hostility, the dividing wall, 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, and in this 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 you who were far away and peace to those of you who were near, for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. …
… His purpose was to make in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace. And in this 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 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. And let's end our reading of God's word right there. Now, we're going to enter into a new subject. We're going through the book of Ephesians, and we're looking at it verse by verse, and we're going to open up a new subject tonight. And we won't get very far in it because we need to be a little briefer than usual because we've got to meet God at his table over the bread and the cup. But to prepare ourselves for that, I'd like to at least begin to delve into a new area. what we've seen for the last two weeks is that one of the evidences of God's power in the world, one of the key evidences that God is powerful, is how in the church he can get people who ordinarily could not live together, could not get along, and in the church he makes them one. …
… out of the two, thus making peace, and in this 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 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. Let's end right there. Now, we want to go back to the basic subjects we introduced last week, and we want to move on elaborating on them, applying them for one more week a little bit more thoroughly. Last week we said that if you read the book of Ephesians, Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the last chapter ends with a mighty prayer for the readers. Paul is praying that the readers will have a grasp on the greatness of God's power. And therefore, Paul thinks there's nothing more healthy for us and nothing more important for us than to understand that the God that we worship is a God of power. And Paul says he wants us to know the surpassingly greatness, the surpassingly great power of God, the surpassing greatness of his power. Then if you understand that, then you can see all of chapter two as actually simply an elaboration of that prayer. In chapter two, which is 20 verses, Paul gives us first one evidence for God's power, and then in the last 10 verses, a second evidence of God's power. …
… nickels, and dimes. What would I do with it? Well, I don't know. What would you do with it? You better look at Ephesians 2, verses 11 to 20. Read it. Read it this week. Read what it says about the church. It's a bank account, and it's in your name. What have you been doing about it? Well, we're only getting started. Let's get started. Paul very humbly lays down a foundation principle and says, and I'll just summarize it here and then we'll unpack it. He says, if you understand the cross, any two people should be able to get along. and if you're not getting along two people who say they believe you're not thinking about the cross you don't understand it you're not taking it in see look he says verse 14 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 making peace, and in his one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death the hostility. Now, let me show you a very interesting case study and the principles that we're supposed to draw out of it. …