June 10, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To conquer division, you must conquer the sin that divides.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Division runs deep, but doctor Tony Evan says, the cross goes.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Deeper because what Jeesub came to do was erect harmony
where there was hostility.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We may live
in a world that's divided, but God has already designed
a plan to bring people together, and it starts with
the Church. Today, doctor Evan shows how Jesus breaks down
the walls that divide us. Let's join them in Ephesians
(00:40):
chapter two, verse eleven for a look at how believers
can experience true unity without losing their God given uniqueness.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Three words will help you to appreciate this passage Separation, reconciliation,
and unification. First eleven two twelve talks about two kinds
of separation that existed in the Church that Paul wants
to address. One the social separation as seen in the
(01:11):
words uncircumcision and circumcision.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
He calls them gentiles in the flesh.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That is, as people look at other people.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
This is who you are.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
As men recognize differences, that's who you were, and he
says that was an unenviable position to be in.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Why because you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Have to understand that Gentiles were scorned by Jews.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
They were called the gentile dogs. They were viewed as unclean.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Galatians two verse eleven, and following after Peter had learned
his lesson from God, guess what happened. He was eating
pork chops with the gentiles. Finally found out that pig
he'd been missing all of his life. Wasn't that bad?
So he's eaten the pork childs with the Gentiles.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And guess what. Some of the men of the circumcision
came in. That means Jews.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
They came in and saw Peter, their pastor and fearless leader,
fratnizing with the Gentiles, and said, basically, how dare you
eat with them? We got to go to heaven with them,
and when we get there with fellowship. But from there
till end they belong on this side of town and
you belong on that side of town. And nobody crosses
(02:31):
these tracks. These are two separate worlds. That text says
that Peter was so intimidated by the Circumcision, the Jews,
by his own race, that he backed up from the Gentiles,
and can you imagine how they felt and went to
the Jews because he could not associate with them and
keep his Jewish friends. They're part of the church, but
(02:55):
they're bringing into the church the old standards of measurement,
the old standards of adjustment, the old standards by which
social acceptability is measured.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Those of us who are.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Aware of American history knows that the Church was one
of the prime promoters of segregation in the history of
our country, bringing the standards outside of the church into
the church and making them God's standard and then dead
to quote Bible verses on top of it, that is
(03:30):
the atmosphere that he is addressing. He is addressing an
atmosphere where they were separated. And what you have to
understand is sin always separates. They were separated socially, but
that was really because they were separated spiritually. Please notice
(03:50):
the lines here that we are given in verse twelve.
They were separated from Christ. In other words, they had
no hope of a messiah. Not only that, but they
had no hope, so they were hopeless. He says, in fact,
first that's only a fourth says that we don't sorrow
as those who have no hope.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And do you know the Gentiles had no hope.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
They had no hope, They didn't know what to look
forward to, no clear perspective on eternity. Let me tell
you something about hope. You have to have two things
to have hope.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
You have to have a promise to look forward to,
and you have to have somebody who can pull off
the promise.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
That is why Christians have hope, because not only do
we have the promises of scripture, they're backed up by
somebody big enough to pull it off. Now, this separation
led to the need for reconciliation. And this is where
our Savior comes in. But now verse thirteen says, that's
(04:47):
a lot like verse four of chapter two. But God,
but this time, he says, but now in this alienation
and separation, look at what happens in Christ, Jesus. You
were formerly a far have been brought nia by the
blood of Jesus Christ referring to as sacrificial death. Now,
let me tell you why you have disharmony, between races,
(05:11):
between couples, between friends, between anybody. The reason why you
have separation always is related to sin. Why because sin
is driven by selfishness. You see people sin because they
want to satisfy self.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
That's why you're sin.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
You want to do something that pleases you even though
it doesn't please God. And the thing that pleases you
that doesn't please God is sin. Now, if you get
two people living in the same house and both are selfish.
I want my way, she wants her way, or vice versa, you.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Will automatically count on it.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
ARECTV wall of separation, you can bake on it. Once
you introduce selfishness to a relationship, you will automatically bring
separation in the relationship. To conquer division, you must conquer
the sin that divides. What you cannot do is inaugurate
(06:17):
authentic relationship unless you deal with the spiritual issue of sin.
So what God did in Christ by his blood was
deal with sin. Now not this verse fourteen. In fact,
you'll see it all through this section. He says in
verse fourteen, he himself is our peace. He himself is
(06:40):
our peace. Notice what he says in verse seventeen, he
came and preach peace. He came and preach peace. What
he is saying is that Jesus Christ brought harmony or
the basis for harmony where there was division. Now this
is a very important what I'm getting ready to get
into now, because not only affects Jews and Gentiles, it
(07:01):
afflects backs and whites, and Hispanics and Asians. It affects
husbands and wives and parents and children. Because what Jesus
came to do was erect harmony where there was hostility.
His death was about bringing things together. The word reconciliation
means to bring together again that which was split up,
(07:23):
to bring together again. Now you remember, in World War
two Europe was divided. It was divided from the Warsaw
Pack and NATO. Germany was split right down the middle,
and to separate East Germany from West Germany, they erected
the what Berlin Wall. That was the natural result of
(07:47):
the dividing of Europe as the outcome of World War two.
Two different lands, two different philosophies, communism versus democracy, two
different peoples, always on the verge of either a hot.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
War or a cold war.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That wall represented hostility. Now, notice what Jesus did in
verse fourteen. He himself is our peace. So our peace
is a person who made both groups into one Jew
and Gentile and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
This is a Berlin wall.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
There's a real wall you see in the Jerusalem Temple
one built by Herod. There was the wall of the Gentiles.
It separated the Gentile court from the Jewish court. A
gentile better not try to climb over that wall. You
(08:47):
in East Germany, you try to climb over that wall.
When it was up to West Germany, they had men
there with rifles to take you down.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
No climbing over this wall.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
In Biblical days they had in the caught the wall
that separated the Jews from the Gentiles.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And the Bible says of the Book of Acts.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
They sought to kill Paul because they thought he was
bringing a gentile.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Over the wall.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
This was serious stuff. This was death stuff. That's how
much the hatred was into Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ death
on the Cross, he says, obliterated the wall, the Berlin Wall,
spiritual Berlin wall that separated people who were separated for years. Now,
the implication this is staggering, as you'll see in a moment.
(09:37):
But what Jesus did was he broke down the barrier.
That is what that wall represents. By doing what turning
two groups into one group. Now you can't turn.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Two in the one and still have two, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
This new group that would incorporate Jews and Gentiles is
called the Church. That's the unique entity, this thing called
the Church. Heaven's new community would be a new race,
almost like a third race, a third race of people
who would be brought together in one family, based on
(10:20):
one person, Christ, who did one act, and that was
by his blood tear down the hostility. Now, what was
the hostility to put up the wall in the first place?
While he tells us in verse fifteen, by abolishing in
his flesh the enmity, the conflict, strife, division, which is
(10:45):
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in himself
he might make the two in the one new man,
thus establishing peace that is deep.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Christ tore down every wall that once divided us. But
to fully appreciateiate that, we need to understand where the
walls came from in the first place. Doctor Evans will
have that for us when he returns in just a moment. First, though,
I want to let you know that the message we're
exploring today is just one part of a powerful series
from doctor Evans called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the mundane.
(11:18):
In it, he unpacts the rich truths of Ephesians to
show how God can transform even our most routine moments
into opportunities for spiritual impact. This complete two volume, sixteen
part series is available as our thank you gift when
you support the work of the Alternative with your generous contribution.
But that's not all. When you contact us today, we'll
(11:40):
also include Tony's book Kingdom Living, filled with practical biblical
guidance to help you grow stronger in your faith, deepen
your relationship with God, and live out your identity in
Christ every day. This special double offer is only available
for a limited time, so be sure to visit us
right away at Tony dot org to make your donation
(12:02):
and request the Ordinary Holy Series and Kingdom Living Book,
Or if you prefer, give us a phone call it
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two and
let one of our resource team members help you. I'll
repeat that contact information after part two of today's message.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And this fat too.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Many of us want to throw in the towel before
we've thrown up the prayers.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Doctor Tony Evans says Christians have a habit of under
using or overlooking our most valuable spiritual resource.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Great is available, but only at the Throne, and you
can only approach the Throne through prayer.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
You can deepen your connection with the Lord through our
in depth course on Kingdom Prayer at the Tony Evans
Training Center. You'll discover how God has wired the world
to work by prayer and experience for yourself how it
connects Heaven with Earth and time with eternity. You'll not
only gain a new understanding and appreciation for prayer, you'll
(13:00):
actually pray in transforming ways you've never experienced before. The
course is intense, but you've can work through it at
your own face and get all the help you need
through our online fork And of course there's custom content
from Tony not available anywhere else. Connect with the Tony
Evans Training Center at Tonyevans dot org. It's like having
(13:22):
a seminary on your smartphone or other device. Start today
Tonyevans dot org.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
If you read the Old Testament, as I said earlier,
the Jews had laws given it in by God.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Right, let me tell you about the essence of those laws.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
The essence of those laws separated what was clean and
acceptable to God and what was unclean and unacceptable to God.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
So let's break that down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
If you were a righteous Jew, pig feet, you would
not eat pig feet, you would not eat You read
the way, because then the law Pixie were unclean.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So with chilins, ham.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Hocks and all that other stuff, all right, that was unclean.
God called it unclean. If you ate that food, then
you became unclean because you ate that which was unclean.
Now what you think them gentiles like eat pig feet,
(14:26):
hog mass, chilins, pork chops, hamhocks. They were eating this
stuff all the time. So not only were they born
unclean because the Jews didn't like them that they weren't Jews,
but they lived unclean because they enjoyed the very things
that the Jews were restricted from because they were unclean.
(14:48):
So the Jewish law was a wall because it's separated
that which was clean versus that which was unclean.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But here's the good news.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
In the death of Jesus Christ, the ceremonial laws were
no longer in force. He canceled them out, so that
no longer could you appeal to your diet or to
any other ceremony to observing a certain day, to doing
(15:19):
things a certain way as a means of separation, because
Jesus Christ abolished that as a standard by which unclean
and clean was measured. Now you may raise the question
and why God ever set the stand in the first place. Well,
God created Israel to be a unique people. He gave
(15:40):
them unique laws, unlike any of the other nations. He
gave them unique guidelines like nobody else had, so that
they would become a light to the nations. Because they
would be so peculiar, people would want to know, why
are you so different? The same thing God says to
the Church today, We are a peculiar people. The gentiles
(16:01):
would say, you don't need poor chops. Why then, the
Jew was supposed to open his Bible and to say,
because we have to be cleaned before God, and that
would lead him into Jewish evangelism to explain who the
true God was and that he had unique standards. Author
of the Old Testament, God criticizes Israel for being like
the other nations, because when you like the other nations,
(16:23):
you lose your witness. But when Jesus Christ died, he
abolished the need for the ceremony because the ceremonies were
all there to point to the need for a savior.
Once the savior comes, you don't need the ceremony anymore.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
So it was abolished. Not only did he abolish.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Or nullify the ceremonial law, but he kept perfectly the
moral law, the Ten commandments.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He never sinned.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Now you know what, You're not going to have it
because you've never sinned. Do you know why you're going
to have it. You're going to heaven because Christ has
covered you with his righteousness. So that's what Jesus did
by abolishing it, and he made the two verse fifteen
in the One New Man establishing peace. Now, let me
tell you why this is important. This is important because
(17:15):
if you don't see yourself as part of the New Man,
you'll keep functioning like you're part of the old Man.
Not only was the wall torn down, but the Bible
says when Jesus died, the veil in the temple was rent.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Then you know what the veil was.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
The veil is what kept you from going into the
holiest of all, which was where God's glory was. So
there was a wall to keep you from hooking up
with other folk. And that was a veil to keep
you from hooking up with God. When Jesus died, he
saw two problems, not one. You can now relate to
God and you can now relate to one another through God.
He solved two problems. That leads to the third thing, unification.
(17:56):
First of all, new citizens. So then you're no longer
stranger than aliens. There was that a foreigner, right, that's
a foreigner. A stranger or an alien is a foreigner.
You are no longer foreigners. Gentiles used to be foreigners
even though.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
They lived there.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
To the Jewish world, you are not a foreigner because
he didn't just come to gain us peace vertically. He
came to grant us peace horizontally. Then why don't we
have peace?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Because we want to live in the flesh and not
in the spirit.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
His final illustration is a building having been built us
the building motif. He says three things about the building. One,
the building is on the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. What does that mean, Well, they were responsible
for recording and proclaiming the Word of God. The apostles
and the prophets laid the biblical foundation for the church.
(18:54):
So what he is saying is that the church is
situated on Christ and his word for Christ is the foundation.
But their job was to take the truth of Christ
and recorded and communicated. So that's why First Timothy three
fifteen says that the church is the ground and pillar
of the truth. It is the foundation of truth. That
is the Word of God is the standard by which
(19:17):
we measure our relationships.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
The Word of God understanding.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Secondly, he's the cornerstone, Christ himself being the cornerstone.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
That's a picturesque word. Let me tell you what the
cornerstone was.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
The cornerstone related to the architectural design of the building,
and the cornerstone was the alignment stone by which the
unity and symmetry of all the other stones would be measured.
In other words, the cornerstone was so situated that in
order for the building to be straight and be positioned right,
all the other stones had to properly align themselves to
(19:54):
the cornerstone. So Jesus is the alignment stone. We ought
to all be in li with him. Now what does
this say? He uses the word temple. You know what
the temple was. It was where God hung out. Your
body is the temple of God. But so collectively we
represent the temple of God. And if we are unified
as a body, then guess what we will be. We
(20:14):
will be the hangout of God. We will be where
God's hangout was. That was his glory, that was where
he hung out. And God is not hanging out in
a lot of churches today because they're using false criteria.
Jesus is not the cornerstone. The apostles and the prophets,
that is, the word of God is not the standard.
And every brick is not fitting in. We got bricks
(20:37):
that want to isolate themselves from the building, yet hang
around the neighborhood. Every brick has been positioned to fit in.
Unity is what he's talking about. Moving in the same direction.
Let me close with this passage Teco Corinthians five, verse eighteen.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us
(20:57):
to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation verse twenty. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were entreating through us. We beg you, on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Now here's what I want to close with.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
God in Christ has not only been the reconciler, He
has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Did you hear that.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
You have a job to do, and that is to
be a reconciler. You know, the problem is a lot
of us are not reconcilers because we keep the divisions going.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
We keep mass going.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
He says, you are my ambassador, and you are to
be the reconcilar. We are to be the promoters of
racial harmony, of class harmony. We are to be the
promoters of family staying together and not breaking up. We
are not to be promoting and godless agenda, but done
based on truth and righteousness, not based on race and culture.
(22:05):
Because sometimes people are wrong and they do need to change.
But the standard is we must promote reconciliation.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Doctor Tony Evans laying out God's plan of reconciliation that
begins with believers and the church, and he'll return with
a final word in just a moment. Today's message, Heaven's
New Community is part of Tony's powerful series called Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane, a sixteen part exploration
(22:35):
of the Book of Ephesians that shows how everyday life
can become a stage for God's extraordinary work for a
limited time When you support the ministry of the Alternative.
With your donation, we'll send you the complete two volume
audio collection along with a special bonus, Tony's book Kingdom Living,
Patched with Biblical wisdom to help you grow in your
(22:57):
faith and purpose. Don't miss this opportunity. Visit Tonyevans dot
org today or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two to make your request again. That's Tonyevans
dot org or one eight hundred eight hundred three two
two two. Before doctor Evans returns a quick heads up,
(23:20):
a new episode of Stories from the Storyteller is just
days away. On Bunny's birthday, a tiny gift leaves her
disappointed until it turns into a big surprise. At storytime,
Poppy shares the parable of the mustard Seed, showing how
God can turn small beginnings into something great. If the
(23:40):
kids in your life haven't discovered this animated series yet,
now's a great time to share it. Learn more at
tonyevanstv dot com. That's tonyevanstv dot com. And speaking of stories,
sometimes the best part of a story is the one
you never saw coming. Tomorrow, Doctor Evans explores the mystery
(24:02):
of the church, revealing God's plan that has become believers
everyday mission. Right now, he's back with these closing words.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
When we adjust to the cross, we'll be God's new
hangout and he'll feel at home with us because we're
doing his thing, not our thing. Then you'll see some
answer prayer, you'll see some powerful presence, you'll see some
supernatural activity. Why if he can trust us with what
cost him his son, his life, and that is reconciliation
(24:31):
up and reconciliation up. That's Heaven's new community.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
That is the Church.
To conquer division, you must conquer the sin that divides.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Division runs deep, but doctor Tony Evan says, the cross goes.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Deeper because what Jeesub came to do was erect harmony
where there was hostility.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We may live
in a world that's divided, but God has already designed
a plan to bring people together, and it starts with
the Church. Today, doctor Evan shows how Jesus breaks down
the walls that divide us. Let's join them in Ephesians
(00:40):
chapter two, verse eleven for a look at how believers
can experience true unity without losing their God given uniqueness.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Three words will help you to appreciate this passage Separation, reconciliation,
and unification. First eleven two twelve talks about two kinds
of separation that existed in the Church that Paul wants
to address. One the social separation as seen in the
(01:11):
words uncircumcision and circumcision.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
He calls them gentiles in the flesh.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That is, as people look at other people.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
This is who you are.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
As men recognize differences, that's who you were, and he
says that was an unenviable position to be in.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Why because you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Have to understand that Gentiles were scorned by Jews.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
They were called the gentile dogs. They were viewed as unclean.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Galatians two verse eleven, and following after Peter had learned
his lesson from God, guess what happened. He was eating
pork chops with the gentiles. Finally found out that pig
he'd been missing all of his life. Wasn't that bad?
So he's eaten the pork childs with the Gentiles.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And guess what. Some of the men of the circumcision
came in. That means Jews.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
They came in and saw Peter, their pastor and fearless leader,
fratnizing with the Gentiles, and said, basically, how dare you
eat with them? We got to go to heaven with them,
and when we get there with fellowship. But from there
till end they belong on this side of town and
you belong on that side of town. And nobody crosses
(02:31):
these tracks. These are two separate worlds. That text says
that Peter was so intimidated by the Circumcision, the Jews,
by his own race, that he backed up from the Gentiles,
and can you imagine how they felt and went to
the Jews because he could not associate with them and
keep his Jewish friends. They're part of the church, but
(02:55):
they're bringing into the church the old standards of measurement,
the old standards of adjustment, the old standards by which
social acceptability is measured.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Those of us who are.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Aware of American history knows that the Church was one
of the prime promoters of segregation in the history of
our country, bringing the standards outside of the church into
the church and making them God's standard and then dead
to quote Bible verses on top of it, that is
(03:30):
the atmosphere that he is addressing. He is addressing an
atmosphere where they were separated. And what you have to
understand is sin always separates. They were separated socially, but
that was really because they were separated spiritually. Please notice
(03:50):
the lines here that we are given in verse twelve.
They were separated from Christ. In other words, they had
no hope of a messiah. Not only that, but they
had no hope, so they were hopeless. He says, in fact,
first that's only a fourth says that we don't sorrow
as those who have no hope.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And do you know the Gentiles had no hope.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
They had no hope, They didn't know what to look
forward to, no clear perspective on eternity. Let me tell
you something about hope. You have to have two things
to have hope.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
You have to have a promise to look forward to,
and you have to have somebody who can pull off
the promise.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
That is why Christians have hope, because not only do
we have the promises of scripture, they're backed up by
somebody big enough to pull it off. Now, this separation
led to the need for reconciliation. And this is where
our Savior comes in. But now verse thirteen says, that's
(04:47):
a lot like verse four of chapter two. But God,
but this time, he says, but now in this alienation
and separation, look at what happens in Christ, Jesus. You
were formerly a far have been brought nia by the
blood of Jesus Christ referring to as sacrificial death. Now,
let me tell you why you have disharmony, between races,
(05:11):
between couples, between friends, between anybody. The reason why you
have separation always is related to sin. Why because sin
is driven by selfishness. You see people sin because they
want to satisfy self.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
That's why you're sin.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
You want to do something that pleases you even though
it doesn't please God. And the thing that pleases you
that doesn't please God is sin. Now, if you get
two people living in the same house and both are selfish.
I want my way, she wants her way, or vice versa, you.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Will automatically count on it.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
ARECTV wall of separation, you can bake on it. Once
you introduce selfishness to a relationship, you will automatically bring
separation in the relationship. To conquer division, you must conquer
the sin that divides. What you cannot do is inaugurate
(06:17):
authentic relationship unless you deal with the spiritual issue of sin.
So what God did in Christ by his blood was
deal with sin. Now not this verse fourteen. In fact,
you'll see it all through this section. He says in
verse fourteen, he himself is our peace. He himself is
(06:40):
our peace. Notice what he says in verse seventeen, he
came and preach peace. He came and preach peace. What
he is saying is that Jesus Christ brought harmony or
the basis for harmony where there was division. Now this
is a very important what I'm getting ready to get
into now, because not only affects Jews and Gentiles, it
(07:01):
afflects backs and whites, and Hispanics and Asians. It affects
husbands and wives and parents and children. Because what Jesus
came to do was erect harmony where there was hostility.
His death was about bringing things together. The word reconciliation
means to bring together again that which was split up,
(07:23):
to bring together again. Now you remember, in World War
two Europe was divided. It was divided from the Warsaw
Pack and NATO. Germany was split right down the middle,
and to separate East Germany from West Germany, they erected
the what Berlin Wall. That was the natural result of
(07:47):
the dividing of Europe as the outcome of World War two.
Two different lands, two different philosophies, communism versus democracy, two
different peoples, always on the verge of either a hot.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
War or a cold war.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That wall represented hostility. Now, notice what Jesus did in
verse fourteen. He himself is our peace. So our peace
is a person who made both groups into one Jew
and Gentile and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
This is a Berlin wall.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
There's a real wall you see in the Jerusalem Temple
one built by Herod. There was the wall of the Gentiles.
It separated the Gentile court from the Jewish court. A
gentile better not try to climb over that wall. You
(08:47):
in East Germany, you try to climb over that wall.
When it was up to West Germany, they had men
there with rifles to take you down.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
No climbing over this wall.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
In Biblical days they had in the caught the wall
that separated the Jews from the Gentiles.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And the Bible says of the Book of Acts.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
They sought to kill Paul because they thought he was
bringing a gentile.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Over the wall.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
This was serious stuff. This was death stuff. That's how
much the hatred was into Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ death
on the Cross, he says, obliterated the wall, the Berlin Wall,
spiritual Berlin wall that separated people who were separated for years. Now,
the implication this is staggering, as you'll see in a moment.
(09:37):
But what Jesus did was he broke down the barrier.
That is what that wall represents. By doing what turning
two groups into one group. Now you can't turn.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Two in the one and still have two, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
This new group that would incorporate Jews and Gentiles is
called the Church. That's the unique entity, this thing called
the Church. Heaven's new community would be a new race,
almost like a third race, a third race of people
who would be brought together in one family, based on
(10:20):
one person, Christ, who did one act, and that was
by his blood tear down the hostility. Now, what was
the hostility to put up the wall in the first place?
While he tells us in verse fifteen, by abolishing in
his flesh the enmity, the conflict, strife, division, which is
(10:45):
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in himself
he might make the two in the one new man,
thus establishing peace that is deep.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Christ tore down every wall that once divided us. But
to fully appreciateiate that, we need to understand where the
walls came from in the first place. Doctor Evans will
have that for us when he returns in just a moment. First, though,
I want to let you know that the message we're
exploring today is just one part of a powerful series
from doctor Evans called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the mundane.
(11:18):
In it, he unpacts the rich truths of Ephesians to
show how God can transform even our most routine moments
into opportunities for spiritual impact. This complete two volume, sixteen
part series is available as our thank you gift when
you support the work of the Alternative with your generous contribution.
But that's not all. When you contact us today, we'll
(11:40):
also include Tony's book Kingdom Living, filled with practical biblical
guidance to help you grow stronger in your faith, deepen
your relationship with God, and live out your identity in
Christ every day. This special double offer is only available
for a limited time, so be sure to visit us
right away at Tony dot org to make your donation
(12:02):
and request the Ordinary Holy Series and Kingdom Living Book,
Or if you prefer, give us a phone call it
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two and
let one of our resource team members help you. I'll
repeat that contact information after part two of today's message.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And this fat too.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Many of us want to throw in the towel before
we've thrown up the prayers.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Doctor Tony Evans says Christians have a habit of under
using or overlooking our most valuable spiritual resource.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Great is available, but only at the Throne, and you
can only approach the Throne through prayer.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
You can deepen your connection with the Lord through our
in depth course on Kingdom Prayer at the Tony Evans
Training Center. You'll discover how God has wired the world
to work by prayer and experience for yourself how it
connects Heaven with Earth and time with eternity. You'll not
only gain a new understanding and appreciation for prayer, you'll
(13:00):
actually pray in transforming ways you've never experienced before. The
course is intense, but you've can work through it at
your own face and get all the help you need
through our online fork And of course there's custom content
from Tony not available anywhere else. Connect with the Tony
Evans Training Center at Tonyevans dot org. It's like having
(13:22):
a seminary on your smartphone or other device. Start today
Tonyevans dot org.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
If you read the Old Testament, as I said earlier,
the Jews had laws given it in by God.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Right, let me tell you about the essence of those laws.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
The essence of those laws separated what was clean and
acceptable to God and what was unclean and unacceptable to God.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
So let's break that down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
If you were a righteous Jew, pig feet, you would
not eat pig feet, you would not eat You read
the way, because then the law Pixie were unclean.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So with chilins, ham.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Hocks and all that other stuff, all right, that was unclean.
God called it unclean. If you ate that food, then
you became unclean because you ate that which was unclean.
Now what you think them gentiles like eat pig feet,
(14:26):
hog mass, chilins, pork chops, hamhocks. They were eating this
stuff all the time. So not only were they born
unclean because the Jews didn't like them that they weren't Jews,
but they lived unclean because they enjoyed the very things
that the Jews were restricted from because they were unclean.
(14:48):
So the Jewish law was a wall because it's separated
that which was clean versus that which was unclean.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But here's the good news.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
In the death of Jesus Christ, the ceremonial laws were
no longer in force. He canceled them out, so that
no longer could you appeal to your diet or to
any other ceremony to observing a certain day, to doing
(15:19):
things a certain way as a means of separation, because
Jesus Christ abolished that as a standard by which unclean
and clean was measured. Now you may raise the question
and why God ever set the stand in the first place. Well,
God created Israel to be a unique people. He gave
(15:40):
them unique laws, unlike any of the other nations. He
gave them unique guidelines like nobody else had, so that
they would become a light to the nations. Because they
would be so peculiar, people would want to know, why
are you so different? The same thing God says to
the Church today, We are a peculiar people. The gentiles
(16:01):
would say, you don't need poor chops. Why then, the
Jew was supposed to open his Bible and to say,
because we have to be cleaned before God, and that
would lead him into Jewish evangelism to explain who the
true God was and that he had unique standards. Author
of the Old Testament, God criticizes Israel for being like
the other nations, because when you like the other nations,
(16:23):
you lose your witness. But when Jesus Christ died, he
abolished the need for the ceremony because the ceremonies were
all there to point to the need for a savior.
Once the savior comes, you don't need the ceremony anymore.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
So it was abolished. Not only did he abolish.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Or nullify the ceremonial law, but he kept perfectly the
moral law, the Ten commandments.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He never sinned.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Now you know what, You're not going to have it
because you've never sinned. Do you know why you're going
to have it. You're going to heaven because Christ has
covered you with his righteousness. So that's what Jesus did
by abolishing it, and he made the two verse fifteen
in the One New Man establishing peace. Now, let me
tell you why this is important. This is important because
(17:15):
if you don't see yourself as part of the New Man,
you'll keep functioning like you're part of the old Man.
Not only was the wall torn down, but the Bible
says when Jesus died, the veil in the temple was rent.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Then you know what the veil was.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
The veil is what kept you from going into the
holiest of all, which was where God's glory was. So
there was a wall to keep you from hooking up
with other folk. And that was a veil to keep
you from hooking up with God. When Jesus died, he
saw two problems, not one. You can now relate to
God and you can now relate to one another through God.
He solved two problems. That leads to the third thing, unification.
(17:56):
First of all, new citizens. So then you're no longer
stranger than aliens. There was that a foreigner, right, that's
a foreigner. A stranger or an alien is a foreigner.
You are no longer foreigners. Gentiles used to be foreigners
even though.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
They lived there.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
To the Jewish world, you are not a foreigner because
he didn't just come to gain us peace vertically. He
came to grant us peace horizontally. Then why don't we
have peace?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Because we want to live in the flesh and not
in the spirit.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
His final illustration is a building having been built us
the building motif. He says three things about the building. One,
the building is on the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. What does that mean, Well, they were responsible
for recording and proclaiming the Word of God. The apostles
and the prophets laid the biblical foundation for the church.
(18:54):
So what he is saying is that the church is
situated on Christ and his word for Christ is the foundation.
But their job was to take the truth of Christ
and recorded and communicated. So that's why First Timothy three
fifteen says that the church is the ground and pillar
of the truth. It is the foundation of truth. That
is the Word of God is the standard by which
(19:17):
we measure our relationships.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
The Word of God understanding.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Secondly, he's the cornerstone, Christ himself being the cornerstone.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
That's a picturesque word. Let me tell you what the
cornerstone was.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
The cornerstone related to the architectural design of the building,
and the cornerstone was the alignment stone by which the
unity and symmetry of all the other stones would be measured.
In other words, the cornerstone was so situated that in
order for the building to be straight and be positioned right,
all the other stones had to properly align themselves to
(19:54):
the cornerstone. So Jesus is the alignment stone. We ought
to all be in li with him. Now what does
this say? He uses the word temple. You know what
the temple was. It was where God hung out. Your
body is the temple of God. But so collectively we
represent the temple of God. And if we are unified
as a body, then guess what we will be. We
(20:14):
will be the hangout of God. We will be where
God's hangout was. That was his glory, that was where
he hung out. And God is not hanging out in
a lot of churches today because they're using false criteria.
Jesus is not the cornerstone. The apostles and the prophets,
that is, the word of God is not the standard.
And every brick is not fitting in. We got bricks
(20:37):
that want to isolate themselves from the building, yet hang
around the neighborhood. Every brick has been positioned to fit in.
Unity is what he's talking about. Moving in the same direction.
Let me close with this passage Teco Corinthians five, verse eighteen.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us
(20:57):
to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation verse twenty. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were entreating through us. We beg you, on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Now here's what I want to close with.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
God in Christ has not only been the reconciler, He
has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Did you hear that.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
You have a job to do, and that is to
be a reconciler. You know, the problem is a lot
of us are not reconcilers because we keep the divisions going.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
We keep mass going.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
He says, you are my ambassador, and you are to
be the reconcilar. We are to be the promoters of
racial harmony, of class harmony. We are to be the
promoters of family staying together and not breaking up. We
are not to be promoting and godless agenda, but done
based on truth and righteousness, not based on race and culture.
(22:05):
Because sometimes people are wrong and they do need to change.
But the standard is we must promote reconciliation.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Doctor Tony Evans laying out God's plan of reconciliation that
begins with believers and the church, and he'll return with
a final word in just a moment. Today's message, Heaven's
New Community is part of Tony's powerful series called Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane, a sixteen part exploration
(22:35):
of the Book of Ephesians that shows how everyday life
can become a stage for God's extraordinary work for a
limited time When you support the ministry of the Alternative.
With your donation, we'll send you the complete two volume
audio collection along with a special bonus, Tony's book Kingdom Living,
Patched with Biblical wisdom to help you grow in your
(22:57):
faith and purpose. Don't miss this opportunity. Visit Tonyevans dot
org today or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two to make your request again. That's Tonyevans
dot org or one eight hundred eight hundred three two
two two. Before doctor Evans returns a quick heads up,
(23:20):
a new episode of Stories from the Storyteller is just
days away. On Bunny's birthday, a tiny gift leaves her
disappointed until it turns into a big surprise. At storytime,
Poppy shares the parable of the mustard Seed, showing how
God can turn small beginnings into something great. If the
(23:40):
kids in your life haven't discovered this animated series yet,
now's a great time to share it. Learn more at
tonyevanstv dot com. That's tonyevanstv dot com. And speaking of stories,
sometimes the best part of a story is the one
you never saw coming. Tomorrow, Doctor Evans explores the mystery
(24:02):
of the church, revealing God's plan that has become believers
everyday mission. Right now, he's back with these closing words.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
When we adjust to the cross, we'll be God's new
hangout and he'll feel at home with us because we're
doing his thing, not our thing. Then you'll see some
answer prayer, you'll see some powerful presence, you'll see some
supernatural activity. Why if he can trust us with what
cost him his son, his life, and that is reconciliation
(24:31):
up and reconciliation up. That's Heaven's new community.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
That is the Church.
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