14 Oct Gospel People 02 – Passport

Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹ 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— ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ 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, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Let me start with one of the easiest but hardest question at the same time. “Can we just get along?” I think all of us know what the right answer to this question is. Especially if you are Christians. You know exactly what the right answer is. You do not need me to tell you. You know. I know. The answer is, “Yes! Of course we can get along.” But let’s be honest. How many of you have people in your life that you find it very hard to get along with? Raise your hand. Next question. How many of you find those people in the church? Just know that if your hand is not raised, you are lying and angel of death is writing down your name right now. All of us have someone that we find it very hard to get along with in life. We love the idea and concept of peace. Our society promotes peace all the time. But a brief look at the history of the world tells us that it is humanly impossible to have peace with one another. It is humanly impossible for us to simply just get along with one another.

Let me tell you one story. Back when I was in Dallas, I had a good friend who is an American. He is as white as one can be. I met him in my first semester in Bible College and we got along really well. We have lots of similarities. We love playing guitar, we taught English to the international students, we love sushi, Korean food and girls, and most importantly, he had a car and I did not, but I had my parent’s money and he was broke. So, we had this unspoken agreement where he gave me ride and I bought him food. But then, we had this idea that I thought was a wonderful at that time. “Since we get along so well, why don’t we become a roommate?” Now, how many of you can predict already what happened next? Let me tell you the gist of it. It was not a wonderful idea. It was a very bad idea. It did not take long before my Asian-ness and his American-ness collided and it created a wall in my relationship with him. Let’s not talk about two people from two different cultures. Many of us have difficulties getting along with our own siblings. If you know what I’m talking about, say “Amen.”

“Can we just get along?” Theoretically, yes. Practically, I won’t say no but I’ll say it’s very hard. We know how hard it is to get along with people who are like us. It is not easy but it is still somehow doable. That is why we naturally drift toward people who are like us and avoid people who are not like us. But here is what I want to drill into your mind. As the gospel people, I don’t think we have that choice. Yes, it is easier for us to get along with those who are like us but if we believe the message of the gospel, then we do not have that choice. At the heart of the gospel is a man who gave his life for his enemies so that his enemies may become his families. The gospel demands that we are able to get along with one another, especially with other Christians. And our passage for today tells us that getting along with one another is not a social issue but it is a gospel issue. What is at stake is not only your relationship with one another but what is at stake is the gospel itself. For gospel people, peace with one another is not a choice to be considered; it is a life to be pursued.

So, few things I want to do today. First, we are going to look at what this passage teaches us about living together as gospel people, and then I want to outline to you few things that RSI will pursue as a church in the light of this passage. So first, let’s take a look at this passage. Three things that this passage shows us. The problem; the solution; the result.

The problem

Ephesians 2:11-12 – ¹¹ 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— ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Note that we can see the tension already in verse 11. Let me give you a quick context of the passage. Ephesians is written by Apostle Paul to the church (or possibly churches) in Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the major city in Roman Empire. The church in Ephesus was growing and Paul wrote this letter to help them thrive even more as a church. However, just like most churches in the New Testament, we can see that there is a tension within the church. This tension is caused by two groups of people within the church – the circumcision and the uncircumcision; the Jews and the Gentiles. Gentiles means everyone who is not Jewish. One of the main problems that Paul addresses in this letter is the tension between the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews and the Gentiles are very different from one another. Not only that they are different, but verse 14 and 16 tells us that there is hostility between them. It means that they do not like one another. So, we have two different groups that hates one another in the same church. The question is, how can these two groups get along in the same church? But before we go there, we need to ask the question, why do they hate one another? Why is there wall of hostility between them? You might be surprise with the answer. The cause of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles is the Law of Moses. Let me explain.

In the beginning, when God chose Abraham to start a world-restoration program, God made it clear that God will bless Abraham and made him into a great nation. God will give Abraham a great name and Abraham will be a blessing. But it does not stop there. The purpose of God blessing Abraham is so that all the families of the earth shall be blessed through Abraham. It’s crystal clear. From the very beginning, what God had in mind was to bless the whole world through Abraham’s descendants. Then out of Abraham, we have this nation called Israel, the Jews. God then took Israel out of Egypt, formed them into a nation, and gave them the laws through Moses, the Mosaic law. These laws supposed to govern the life of Israel as a nation and make them different from every other nation. You can read the book of Deuteronomy if you want to know the details. Basically, in Deuteronomy God says, “The reason that I give you the law is so that you can bless other nations around you. The reason I give you the law is so that you can show the world a different kind of nation, a nation that is marked with love and justice. I want you to live differently so that the Gentiles may notice how different you are and that they may be attracted to know me. Israel, I want you to obey the law so that you will attract the Gentiles to me.” Are you with me? The law is good and the purpose of the law is good.

But what happen along the way is that Israel has forgotten the purpose of the law of Moses. They remember the law. They uphold the law. They live out the law. But they forgot the purpose of the law. Rather than using the law to attract other nations to God, they used the law to differentiate themselves from other nations. The law became their identity and they began to despise other nations who do not have the law. They look down on nations that are different from them. The law that supposed to attract other nations become the reason they hate other nations. In fact, by the time of New Testament, the relationship between the Jews and Gentiles have become so bad that they not only look down on one another, they hated one another. It got so bad to the point that if a Jew marry a Gentile, the family of the Jewish person would carry a funeral for him or her. And Josephus, a Jewish historian, writes that in the Jerusalem temple that was built by Herod the Great, there was a literal huge wall that separate the Jews and the Gentiles. Gentiles are not allowed to walk pass this wall. And there was a big sign in the wall that said, “Trespassers will be executed” (not prosecuted). Imagine you walk in to this church and you read a sign on the wall partition that says, “Indonesian only. Non-Indonesian will be killed on the spot.” And all the ushers carry a gun ready to fire anytime. It was that bad.

So, what is the problem? Some of you might think, “Well, they were old fashioned. We are more open minded than them. We won’t repeat the same mistake as them. We no longer live by the Law of Moses. We have nothing to worry about. We are better than them.” Here is my argument. I don’t think we are better than them. I think we are still trapped in the same problem as the Jews. Here is the problem with the Jews. They have the law. And the law is good. It is God’s good gift for them to thrive as a nation. But then they elevated the good gifts of God and made it their identity. And once the law became their identity, they despised the unclean Gentiles who did not have the law. As a result, the good gift of God that God gave the Jews become the reason for them to hate the Gentiles. And let me tell you. We are still repeating the same mistake today. There is something about our hearts that takes the good gifts of God (strength, talents, value) and elevate them up to an absolute value, and we look down on those who do not share the same value as us. Oh, how we do this all the time. We got our self-worth by finding what is special and unique about us, elevating it up to ultimate position, look at those who do not have what we have, and we say, “I am not like you. I am different from you. You need to be like me.” We feel better by looking down on others. Essentially, the problem is that we take what is good about us and makes it our identity that makes us feel superior to others. And this creates hostility. Our strength becomes a dividing wall of hostility.

Let me give you two examples. A cultural example and a personal example. First, cultural example. Have you been to a wedding between an Indonesian and an Australian? I have. Let me tell you what happened. In that wedding, you will see two groups of people: Indonesian and Australian. Here is what’s interesting. The two groups received the same wedding invitation. It tells you the exact same thing. It shows you where the wedding will be and what time it will start. But let me tell you what happen on the day of the wedding. The invitation clearly says that the wedding ceremony starts at 10 AM. However, the way the two groups responded to the same invitation is very different. I won’t tell you which group is which. You figure out yourself. But one group looks at the invitation and takes that as “I need to be there by 9:59 AM at the latest”, while the other takes that as “I have until 1 PM to be there. The limit is an hour late into the wedding lunch, not the ceremony.” So, one group is already on their seats by 10 AM and the other shows up anytime between 10:30 to 1 PM. And let me tell you what they are thinking at that wedding. One group thinks, “Oh, look at these people. They do not know how to respect time. They don’t respect the Groom and the Bride. How dare they come to the wedding so late?” And now that the other group sense the other group hostility toward them, they begin to think, “At least I take shower. Did you take shower this morning? I bet you don’t. That’s why you can come on time.” Am I right? Okay, I admit I dramatize the example a bit but we see this playing out before our eyes all the time. Rather than admitting that we are different, we elevate our strong point and use it to look down on others.

Second, a personal example. This is embarrassing but this is true. You can disagree with me but I think that right now I am the best preacher in RSI. “Errr.. Yos, you are the only one?” Yep, that’s my point. After Ps. Achien left for Melbourne, you are stuck with me. I am the best preacher in RSI whether you like it or not. The other three are still in training. They don’t count yet. They will eventually become better preachers than me but not yet. Too soon. I need to keep them humble for now. So, in this little pool called RSI, I am the best preacher. But if I leave this little pool of RSI and jump to a slightly larger pool called YouTube, I am no longer the best preacher. If you open our church YouTube channel and look at my video sermon, it takes a week for it to reach 50 views. Some of the sermons does not even reach 50 views. But if I look at other churches YouTube channel, the sermon might have just been uploaded for one minute, and it already has more than 100 views. And do you know what the respond of my heart is? “People loves them because they are great communicators. But the sermon is so shallow. It’s all milk and no meat. They don’t preach the gospel. I preach the gospel deep and wide. I preach solid food. I bet the people in my church can beat them in theological fight anytime.” Now can you see what happen? Is it bad that I preach the gospel? Of course not. We are committed to grow deep and wide in the gospel. The gospel is God’s good gift for us. But somehow my heart elevates my role as a preacher of the gospel and makes it my identity. Now I look at those who are different and more successful than me and I think to myself, “I am better than them.” I forgot that the only reason I can believe and trust in the gospel is because God opened my eyes to see the beauty of the gospel. It is God’s good gift to me. I have no reason to boast. But I elevate the good gifts of God and turns it into a dividing wall of hostility.

This is what we do all the time in the church as well. We create barriers with one another. We create walls between different races. The White, Black, Asian, Hispanic. We create walls between the educated and the less-educated. We create walls between the successful and the failures. We create walls between the good looking and the not so good looking. We create walls between the rich and the poor. We create walls between the healthy and the sick. We create walls between those who are from good families and broken families. We create walls between the young and the old. This is what we do. In fact, we have gotten so accustomed to our walls that we do not even realize the wall exists. We see these walls as common sense. We see these walls as way of lives. We differentiate people in the church according our walls. Let me be very blunt with you church. I love you but you need to hear me clearly. These walls are not acceptable. These walls are not a preference issue. It is not social issue. It is not a cultural issue. It is not a race issue. Let me tell you what it is. It is a sin issue. These walls exist because of the sinfulness of our hearts and we as a church should not tolerate it. Do you hear me? The problem with division in the church is a sin problem.

The solution

Ephesians 2:13-18 – ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ 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, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

If sin is the problem, then the gospel is the only solution. How does the gospel destroy the wall of hostility? Three ways. First, the gospel puts everyone on equal level. In verses 11 and 12, Paul talks about how the uncircumcision is different from the circumcision. The circumcision, the Jews, have access to many things that we as the gentiles do not have. William Hendriksen summarised our condition as Christless, stateless, friendless, hopeless and Godless. Or to sum it up, we are those who were far off from God while the Jews are those who are near to God. That’s verse 11 and 12. But verse 13 begins with “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We are no longer far but we have been brought near. And not only that, but verse 17 tells us that Jesus came to preach the same message of peace to those who are far and those who are near. What does it mean? It means that it does not matter who you are. You might be part of those who were once far off. You might grow up in a broken family. You might have no idea about the Bible and Christianity. You might be a drug addict. You might be a serial killer. You might be homeless. You might be an adulterer. You might be John Wick. Or, you might be those who were near. You might grow up in a nice loving family. You might go to church every Sunday. You might be a Nobel prize winner. You might be the richest person in Kingsford. You might be the president of a country. You might be a pastor of a big church. It does not matter who you are. The gospel put everyone in the same playing field. There is no good people and bad people. There is no kind people and mean people. The gospel tells us that all of us rebelled against the almighty God. All of us are sinners in need of reconciliation with God. And Jesus came to preach the message of peace to all of us. The gospel puts everyone on equal level.

Second, the gospel gives us the same access to God. This access is Jesus. At the cross, Jesus fulfilled the moral law of God and abolished the ceremonial law that divided Jews and the Gentiles. At the cross, Jesus took down the wall of hostility that is caused by sin by becoming sin on our behalf. At the cross, the sinless one became sin so that we might receive a new life. By his death at the cross, Jesus brought peace between us and God. Because our problem is sin, the first thing that we need is peace with God. And the cross gives us that peace. Because Jesus paid for your sins, God is no longer angry at you. He is no longer hostile toward you. You are now covered in Christ’s righteousness and you have the access to God the Father.

Third, the gospel creates a new identity. I love this. Get this right. What the gospel does is not making a Jew becomes a Gentile, or a Gentile a Jew. This is not God’s solution. God has no interest in homogenization. What God does is God took both Jew and Gentile and put them in the fire of the cross of Christ. And out of that fire, comes out a brand-new man. This man is not half Jew and half Gentile. This is a new kind of man. A new humanity. A new identity. This new identity is not defined by our race, background, talent, social standing, etc. This identity is defined by who they are in Christ and what Christ has done for them. That’s why Paul boldly declares in Colossians 3:11 – Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. We have been given a new passport. And that passport says that we are Christians.

It means that there should be no barriers between us. How can there be one? We are all one in Christ. If there are barriers between us, that means that Christ is divided. It does not mean we have to agree on everything. We may not see eye to eye in everything but as Christians, the unity that we have with one another is greater than unity that we have with anyone else in the world. In Christ, we are closer to one another than we would be to an identical twin who does not know Christ. It means that right now I have a lot more in common with a widow in Africa who is also a believer than I do with people of the same race, same school, same age who is not a believer. Are you with me?

It also means that our primary identity is in Christ. So, if you are Indonesian, believing in Christ does not make you less Indonesians. The gospel does not remove our cultural distinctiveness but the gospel gives us a greater identity. Yes, you are Indonesian. But you are Christian first, Indonesian second. You are Christian first, Australian second. I am Christian first, preacher second. You are Christian first, business man second. House wife second. Architect second. Student second. Parent second. We are first and foremost Christian.

The result

Ephesians 2:19-22 – ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Paul gives us three images that the gospel turned us into. It’s beautiful. It gets more intense every image. First, the gospel makes us fellow citizens. We are not stranger to one another. We are the citizens of the kingdom of God. We have the same King and we are protected by the same right of the kingdom. Every citizen of the kingdom of God has the same right. If you are a Permanent Resident or citizens of Australia, then you would know that there is a huge different between the right that you have and those who are not Permanent Resident. I remember when I was diagnosed with leukaemia, one of the concern I had was, “How am I going to pay for all these treatments?” Just think about it. I was in and out of hospital for almost 5 months. And for the first treatment, I was in the hospital for 1.5 months straight. And I was treated with what they called ICE treatment. It is the strongest chemotherapy treatment available. And not only that, I became a vampire for those 5 months. I constantly needed red blood and platelet transfusions. It’s amazing what those bloods do to you. One moment you are feeling extremely weak, the next moment you become superman. But how much would all those treatment cost? I have heard lots of stories of how people in Indonesia have to sell their houses and apartments in order to pay for cancer treatments. Do you know how much I paid? And I’m not lying or exaggerating. I paid nothing. Not a single dollar. The government paid for all of it because I am a resident of Australia. I am protected by the right of this country. But this right is not only available for me. I do not receive this right because I am a better resident than you. It is equally available for all the residents of this country. Every citizen of the kingdom of God, does not matter who you are, have the same right.

Second, the gospel makes us family. We are members of the household of God. The image gets more intense. We are not only fellow citizens, but we are also family. When we believe the gospel, we are adopted into the family of God. God is not only our King but he is also our Father. That means now other Christians are not just fellow citizens, but they are our brothers and sisters. Therefore, the church is not only a place where we gather once a week. This church is our home. When we come to this place on Sunday, we do not say “I am going attend RSI”, we say “I am home.”

Third, the gospel makes us a holy temple. The intensity increases again. From fellow citizens to family to a holy temple. In order to build a temple, you need to join stones together to form the whole structure. That is why Peter in 1 Peter 2 refers to Christians as living stones. We are living stones that is joined together to form a holy temple. It simply means that we desperately need one another. In Christ, we are united in such a way that every stone is crucial to build the temple. No one stone is more important than the other. All of us have a role to play in building the temple of God. But what is most important about this temple is the foundation and the cornerstone. The foundation of the temple is the apostles and the prophets, which is another way of saying that the foundation of the temple is the Word of God. The temple must be built with the Word of God as its foundation. But this temple also has Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. What is a cornerstone? Cornerstone is what hold the structure together. Without it, everything falls apart. So, get this picture. All of us have a role to play in building the holy temple. With the Word of God as the foundation and Jesus as the cornerstone, God joined us together to form a holy temple. And then something amazing happened. The temple becomes the dwelling place of God. The Sovereign God of the universe makes us his dwelling place. So now, the church is not a place that you go. The church is not a building. The church is not ROCK Centre, Artarmon. There is nothing special about this place. This is just an ordinary building. The church is the people of God. Wherever the people of God gather, that’s the church. I love the way Chandler puts it. “God is not building a place; he is building a people.”

And what is the goal of all this? Ephesians 3:10 – so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. With another word, when the world looks at the church, they can’t help but see the wisdom of God being manifested. The church is different from every organizations in the world. The church is a supernatural community that is formed by the gospel. The way we do church must reflect the truth of the gospel because it is through the church that God manifests his wisdom to the world. The church must be the kind of supernatural community that is formed by the gospel.

Applications

So, what does it mean for us as a church? Do we need to get along? The answer is YES. We must make it a priority for us to get along with one another. There are 4 things that we must do as a church.

1. We have to do everything we can to remove barriers within the church. We already talked about it so I don’t want to spend long on this. Remember that walls within the church is a sin issue. It is something that we need to deal with seriously. The way we do church must show that Jesus has destroyed the wall of hostility. There is no more wall between different groups of people in the church. To create walls within the church is an insult to the work of Christ at the cross. This also affect we do small groups. When we think of small groups or KM, we want our small groups to be filled with people who are like us. People who are in the same boat as us. People who understand us. So, we tend to create small groups based on similarity. And let me tell you. It works. People find it easier to get along with one another in small groups when the small groups is filled with people who are just like them. This is very evident to me during our church anniversary celebration. I was scanning the room trying to see who come and who does not from RSI. And it was really easy. Do you know why? Because all RSI gathered in the same corner. But in doing so, what we are doing is we are actually building walls within the church. We created separation between the RSI and the non-RSI. But if we take the gospel seriously, if we are serious about removing barriers within the church, then our community need to be the kind of community where John Piper and Justin Bieber can sit and have fellowship with one another.

2. We have to strive to become a multi-cultural church. Don’t be quick to say amen. Here is what I know about most of us. We love the idea of a multi-cultural church but we hate the process of becoming one. Why? Because it is extremely uncomfortable. Just think about it. Becoming a multi-cultural church means that we need to learn to let go of our preferences. A lot of time when we think of a multi-cultural church, we think of a church that consists of people with different skin colours worshipping God the way we worship God. That is not a multi-cultural church. That’s a multi-colour church. We have no problem having people from different tribe, nations and tongue worship together as long as we do it our way. But that’s not going to happen. In order for us to be a multi-cultural church, then we have to be multi cultures. And this is very uncomfortable. Let me give you two examples. Imagine that instead of singing all Hillsong during the worship, we change one of the song to Christian dangdut. How would you feel? Let me confess that just the thought of it gives me a goose bump already. It is extremely uncomfortable. And this is only one small thing. Parents, I love you but I am going to offend some of you. Hear me out on this. If we are serious about becoming a multi-cultural church, then you have to be okay with your children marrying someone who does not share the same ethnicity as you. I know some of you will not like for me for saying this. Yes, there might be some legitimate reasons for why you want your children to marry people with same ethnicity as you. I don’t doubt that. But if you can be honest, for many of you, the reason you resist the idea of your children marrying people of different culture is because you think that your culture is superior. With another word, you are racist. Okay, let’s move on before I get into trouble. I want you to hear this words from John Piper. It’s beautiful. “We love Christ-exalting diversity because we love the gospel.” The church that we see in revelation consists of people from every tribe, nation and tongue worshipping the Lamb who was slain. Jesus shed his blood and gave his life to form a multi-cultural church. The church of eternity is a multi-cultural church. Therefore, the church of today should strive to reflect the church of eternity.

3. We have to be comfortable with being a messy church. Here is what I mean. Every Christian in the church has a role to play. Every stone is joined together to form a temple. So that means that any given time in church, we should find both mature Christians and baby Christians. Praise God for the mature Christians. Praise God for those of you who know how to feed yourself in the Word and how to live out your Christian lives. We need more of you. But we also need to praise God for baby Christians. If you are a parent, you know this. Raising a baby is an extremely tiring work. Baby Christians are those who do not know how to feed themselves. They are those who are still learning how to crawl and walk and continue to stumble. They are those who continually make a mess. They need lots and lots of attention. They will take out most of your energy and time. And here is what’s worse. They have nothing to contribute. They demand so much of you and they give you nothing in return except occasional smile and a lot of poop. Am I right? But here is what I know about that baby. Even though that baby contributes nothing, they are still part of your family. You don’t give up on them. You continue to clean their mess. You continue to teach them how to walk. You continue to feed them. You don’t say to your baby, “If you do not start wiping your own butt by the time you are 9 months old, I am kicking you out of the family.” You can’t expect a 9 months old to act like a 9 years old. They are babies. And as you continue to feed them and train them, they will eventually grow and become mature. If they are not growing, then something is wrong with them. Here is where I am going with this. A healthy church is a church who continues to win people to Christ. With another word, a healthy church is one who is always filled with baby Christians. Therefore, the house is always messy. And we have to be comfortable with that. It means that the church is alive. A messy church is a healthy church. But here is what I want you to get. Even though they are baby Christians, they are not less Christians than those who are mature. Both the mature Christians and baby Christians have a role to play in the purpose of God. God joined together living stones that consist of both mature and baby Christians to form a dwelling place for him.

4. We have to be anchored in the Word of God as our foundation and Christ Jesus as our cornerstone. It means that everything we do as a church need to be governed by the Bible. We do not do things because it works. We do things because “it is written.” The word of God is our foundation. But we also need to put our hope in the finished work of Christ. Jesus is what holds the building together. Without him and his finished work at the cross, everything falls apart. The gospel is reason why everything works. Without the gospel, everything crumbles. Therefore, we must hold fast to the message of the gospel.

Discussion:

1. What is the purpose of the Mosaic Law for the Jews in relation to the Gentiles?
2. What creates wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles? How does it apply to us?
3. Explain the 3 ways the Gospel is our solution to the problem.
4. We have been given a new passport: We are Christians. Explains what does it mean.
5. Can you see walls in your life that create hostility between you and your family in Christ? What are you going to do about it?
6. “In Christ we are united in such a way that every stone is crucial to build the temple.” What are some implications of this statement for our KM?
7. How can we create community that is not define by our walls but rather by the gospel?
8. What does it mean to have the Word of God as our foundation and Christ Jesus as our cornerstone?