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Our Life Through God's Eyes
Scripture: II Corinthians 5:14-17
C.I.: Our New Life in Christ
During the month of June…. – Today we are going to see “Our New Life in Christ.”
I. Our Lives Before & After Jesus, (Ephesians 2:11-18)
A. The Situation of Man Before Jesus , (vs. 11-12)
1. “Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision'
by the so-called ‘Circumcision,' which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember….”
( vs. 11-12a ).
a. There are both benefits and dangers to remembering our past:
1) Some of the dangers include;
a) Allowing past relationships to keep us from following Jesus, ( Lk. 9:61-62 ), “And
another said, ‘I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at
home.' – But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and
looking back is fit for the kingdom of God'” – ( Matthew 10:37 ), “He who loves
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
b) Allowing past successes or failures to keep us rooted in place instead of growing in
Christ, ( Phil. 3:13-14 ), “…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching
forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.”
2) Some benefits include;
a) Remembering Jesus words, ( Lk. 24:8 ), “And they remembered His words.”
b) Remembering how far Jesus has brought us, ( Heb. 10:32 ), “But remember the former
days, after you were enlightened, you endured a great conflict of suffering.”
b. Paul wants us to “remember” the things we were “without” as non-believers, ( v. 12b ).
1) “Without Christ” : “…remember that you were at that time separate from Christ…”
a) Ephesian Gentiles (like many today) can have their own religion. But it isn't God's.
b) ( Acts 19:34 ), “When they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from
them all as they shouted for about 2 hours, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”
c) A two hour pep rally for an god! – Many today do the same and call it “worship.”
2) “Without citizenship” : “…excluded from the commonwealth of Israel….”
a) Not only did they not have God's Messiah, they also didn't have God's people!
b) But today, those who have Jesus in their lives have a wonderful citizenship, ( cf. Phil.
3:20 ), “For our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a Savior.”
3) “Without covenants” : “…strangers to the covenants of promise.”
a) Covenants = binding agreements with God.
b) Two of God's former covenants were with Abraham & Moses (10 Commandments).
c) ( Gen. 12:1, 3 ), “Go forth from your country and from your father's house to a land
which I will show you … and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who
curse you; and in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
4) “Without hope” : …having no hope” = the worst two words in the Bible (e.g., diagnosis,
war, relationships, etc.)!
a) ( I Thess. 4:13 ), “We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who
have fallen asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.”
5) “Without God” : ( Eph. 2:1-2, 4 )?
a) These had been on a journey to hell! – ( Ephesians 2:1-2 ), “But you were dead in your
trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit now working in
the sons of disobedience.”
b) Before being saved life was hopeless! We need to remember how far God has
brought us!
c) What is truly sad in our nation today is that people are looking to the government,
and not God, to provide all these things!!!
B. The Situation of Man after Jesus, (vs. 13-18)
1. Jesus brings us near to God, ( v. 13 )
a. “But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ.”
1) Notice that only those who are “in Christ Jesus” are brought near. This is an important
concept in Ephesians.
a) ( Eph. 1:3 ), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with ever spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
(to see all blessings in 1:3-14)
b) Thus, there are no blessings for those who are “outside” of Christ, but rather curses!
2) Yet the benefits of the “blood of Christ” is available to all those who are “in Christ.”
a) Cleanses, ( Heb. 9:14 ), “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God?”
b) Redeems, ( I Pt. 1:18-19 ), “…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable
things like silver and gold from the futile way of life you inherited from your fore-
fathers, but with precious blood, as from a lamb without spot or blemish, the blood of
Christ.”
c) Releases, ( Rev. 1:5 ), “To Him who loved us and released us from our sins by His
blood.”
3) Contrary to current P.C. ( politically correct ) doctrine, there is only one way to come into
God's presence – HIS WAY!!! ( Jn. 14:6 ), “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the way, and the truth,
and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
2. Jesus brings us peace with God, ( vs. 14-15 )
a. “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of
the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus
establishing peace.”
1) The “two groups” = Circumcision & Uncircumcision, i.e., .Jews & Gentiles.
2) The “dividing wall” that separated these two groups were the 10 Commandments & all the
other ordinances and regulations that went with them.
3) Thus, these laws (10 Commandments) are not longer in effect (i.e., they've been abolished)!
a) ( Rom. 7:6-7 ), “But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by
which we were bound, so that we serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in oldness
of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! For I would not
have come to know sin except through the law; for I would not have known about
coveting if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.'””
b) ( Gal. 3:23-25 ), “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being
shut up from the faith that was later to be revealed. Therefore the law has become
our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith
has come we are no longer under a tutor.”
4) “Enmity” = “Deep hatred,” – our violation of God's law put “hatred” between us and Him.
a) Today we can have “peace” because Jesus removed the Old Law and established
peace between us and God (and also between us and every other Christian)!!!
b) Therefore, Jewish Christians & Gentile Christians – are all unified under the new
covenant of Christ!
3. Jesus brings us reconciliation with God, ( vs. 16-18 )
• “…and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. – And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near, for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”” – “Reconcile” = restore to friendship, harmony.
1) “reconciled them both in one body.” In Ephesians, the “body” = the church of our Lord!
a) ( 1:22-23 ), “He put all things into subjection under His feet, & gave Him as head over
all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
b) ( 4:4 ), “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of
your calling.”
c) ( 5:23 ), “He Himself is the Savior of the body.”
2) “Preached peace” = The only way possible to have peace in our life is to have God in our life!
a) Peace was the message Jesus preached (not religion, not traditions, not “doing our
own thing,” etc.)!
b) Today it is only possible to have God in our lives when we have Jesus in our lives
c) This message then is both our Mission & our ministry!
1)) ( II Cor. 5:17 ), “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature, old things have
passed away, behold, new things have come.”
2)) ( II Cor. 5:20 ), “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God
were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God.”
CONCLUSIONS:
“All spiritual blessings are in Christ” : But only two passages teach us how to get “into Christ,” ( Gal. 3:26-27; Rom. 6:3-4 )!
This is the same thing Jesus said in Mark 16:16 , “The one who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.”
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