Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 6/27/10:
1. Whereas Paul looked at the benefits of salvation from an individual point-of-view in Ephesians 2:1-10, in 2:11-22 he looks at the benefits of salvation from a corporate viewpoint.
2. Paul’s main points are that God, through the death of Jesus, provides:
-peace that overcomes division and alienation, vv. 11-13
-peace that makes reconciliation possible, vv. 14-18
-peace that makes possible a new living organism, the church, vv. 19-22
3. Author Ralph Martin writes concerning this: “The world we know is fallen divided and suspicious, Paul holds out the prospect of a reconciled, unified, amicable society, whose microcosm is seen in the church of God’s worldwide, transnational, and reconciling family.”
4. Before the cross of Christ, Gentiles were without hope of a redeemer, were not accepted as full members into God’s people, were without covenantal promises from God, without hope because they were without God. As Harold Hoehner writes: “The Gentiles were in a desperate situation. They had no meaning, hope, purpose, direction in life.” This is the situation of anyone today who is without Christ as Savior.
