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The way we behave and interact with each other and those outside the church can either pull people toward Christianity or push them away from Christ.
Ephesians 2:11-18 - 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.
What is the new humanity in Christ and how is it different from the rest of humanity?
The new humanity in Christ is the church, a global community of believers who are rescued, redeemed, and restored by Christ alone, faith alone, and grace alone. It is different from the rest of humanity because of how they behave and interact with each other and those outside of the Christian community.
Let me give you a few examples. Last year, a woman with a Hindu background came to Christ. When I asked her what caused her to explore Christianity, she said because of the way her Christian friends live and behave. Another new convert said it was the peace that Christians have, and yet another convert said it was the love of Christians. How do you behave as a Christian as you live in love, peace, and unity?
The problem is that what pulls people toward Christianity also pushes them away from Christ, the Church, and Christianity. They need to experience how the new humanity, the church in Christ, is not only different but better than humanity as we live and interact with each other and those outside the church in love, peace, and unity.
The first half of Ephesians 2 dealt with reconciliation between man and God through Christ. The second half, Ephesians 2:11-18, deals with how God reconciled people to each other by removing hostility between them through Christ making a new humanity that lives in love, peace, and unity.
The big idea is that we are a new humanity that must behave differently from the rest of humanity by living in love, peace, and unity. Only then will we pull people toward Christianity and not push them away from Christ, the Church, and Christianity. We do that by remembering three truths about us: why and how God created a new humanity in Christ and what God expects of the new humanity in Christ.
Why God Created a New Humanity in Christ (Ephesians 2:11-12)
The answer is the hostility that existed between man and God and between people. We know that because the passage twice talks about hostility in verses 4 and 16. The Greek word, echthra, means enmity, the cause of enmity or hate.
In the first three verses of Ephesians 2, we learn that we were born dead in sin and were following the world, Satan, and our own desires, which made us children of God’s wrath by nature. So, rather than killing us, God killed the hostility by creating a new humanity in Christ, as seen in Ephesians 2:14-16, “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.” God took out the source of hostility— hate that makes people feel they are better than others based on race, ethnicity, language, social standing, and religious fervency.
Verse 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—” illustrates with a global implication as it discusses a historical hostility between God’s chosen people, Israel, and the Gentiles. The word, “remember,” in Greek is mnemoneuo which means to recall. It is to actively bring something to mind from the past.
The principle here is, once in a while, we should look back at our ugly past without Christ, not to make us feel guilty but to appreciate where we were, what Christ has done for us, and what we have in Him because otherwise, we run the risk of becoming lukewarm, complacent, and corrupt by our self-righteous, judgmental, legalistic way of life.
This is what happened to the chosen people of God, Israel. God put a bodily sign, circumcision, to make them different and separate so that they can stand out as God’s people as they obey God’s commands, and God lavishes them with His blessings. They took being different and separate as being superior and better than others. It was never meant to produce hostility between Jews and Gentiles but to create humility to show nations God’s love, peace, and unity in Christ.
Two phrases in verse 11, “in the flesh” and “made by hands” are important because they differentiate the intended purpose of God for the sign of circumcision from how it was misused for legalism, racial pride, and ethnic superiority in Israel. It became their identity. Romans 2:28-29 says, “28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”
Now imagine if Jews, who had the law, that is, the commandments and the covenants of God, got it all wrong. Then what hope did Gentiles have without Christ? Ephesians 2:12 says, “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel [that is the community of God’s chosen people] and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
Notice five reasons in that tell us why God had to create a new humanity to bring Jews and Gentiles together: 1) they were without Christ, 2) without Community, 3) without Covenants, 4) without Hope, and 5) without God— without love, peace, and unity that Christ offers.
After Christmas, I took my family on a road trip to Florida. At some point, we stopped at a red light. The guy in the car next to me asked me to lower my window, which I did. Then he asked where I was from. I knew he was asking because of the way I looked. I answered that I was from Pakistan. He said that he was a Palestinian and began to tell me about the nearby Pakistani mosque. Once he was done, I informed him that I am a Christian, not a Muslim. At first, he was surprised, and then he said that it’s the same. I replied that it’s not the same and before I could give him the full gospel, the light turned green, and he drove away. People think Christianity is like every other religion. No, it is not and Christians are not like any other people. We are a new humanity.
It is not that the Ephesians were atheists. They did believed in god. As a matter of fact, they believed in many gods but not the one true God. Today, there are 1.9 billion Muslims, 1.2 billion Hindus, and half a billion Buddhists who also believe in a god or gods. But they all are without Christ, community, covenants, hope, and the God of the Bible.
Application
We need to remember that we were like the rest of humanity— without Christ, without community, covenants, hope, and the God of the Bible. We work toward removing hostility among people by proving love, peace, and unity in Christ.
How God Created a New Humanity in Christ (Ephesians 2:13)
Ephesians 2:13 says “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” which tells us that God created a new humanity in Christ by the blood of Christ. The whole idea of “the blood of Christ” comes from the Old Testament idea of the substitutionary sacrifice. In the Old Covenant, animals were killed and their blood was shed as a substitute sacrifice for the sins of people. However, that sacrifice was temporary. Therefore, the forgiveness was temporary. All of this was the foreshadowing of the true, perfect, and lasting substitutionary sacrifice that God was to provide in His Son Jesus.
Growing up in Pakistan, every year, I saw Muslims competing with each other as they killed millions of animals on Eid-Al Adah, an Islamic feast of sacrifices. They did so to remember Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. But it was a status thing. I wonder, since they believe the son that was to be sacrificed was Ishmael, and not Isaac, would they ever understand that it was a foreshadowing that God was to provide in His own Son, Jesus Christ, one day through Isaac’s bloodline?
Application
You should not devote yourselves to rituals and religious things; rather, live your life in obedience to Jesus because His blood was shed to save you for eternity and not some rites, rituals, or religious works.
What God Expects of the New Humanity in Christ (Ephesians 2:14-18)
Ephesians 2:14-16 reads, “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, [that is reference to Jews and Gentiles] so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” So, there are no two ways to be saved— that is one through obeying the Jewish law, which is often considered as work-based salvation, and the other through faith in Jesus. Rather, there is only one way for all, whether Jews or Gentiles— Jesus.
Jesus neither came to make Jews better Jews or Christians nor did He come to make Gentiles, Jews or Christians. He came to remove hostility between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Him a brand-new humanity completely different from the old one. The new humanity was expected to be the solution to the problem of sin, guilt, shame, and the brokenness of this world. The new humanity was a sample and example of peace: peace between God and man and peace between men. This is why verses 17-18 says, “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.”
I was saved at an early age, but I didn’t fully understand what it meant until I was 25 because though I had peace with God, I did not allow that peace to kill the hostility within me, so I lived under a burden of guilt, shame, and condemnation. One day, it dawned on me: what’s the point of Christ dying on the cross if I had to carry the burden of my sins, guilt, and shame?
Application
God expects from the new humanity in Christ to have and experience the peace of Christ regularly in all sorts of circumstances, preach this peace in Christ in words and actions, and live in peace toward others.
As I close, let me share one of my recent encounters with a new believer who struggled to regularly experience peace in the saving power of the blood of Christ. He was not sure if the blood of Jesus covered all his sins. So, I illustrated by putting a piece of paper between him and me so that he couldn’t see my face. Then I said, this is how it is before God because the blood of Jesus covers us. God doesn’t see us, but the blood of His son, Jesus.
Action Step
If you are a believer and you are unsure what and how many sins are covered by the blood of Jesus, know with complete confidence that Christ’s blood covers all your sins, irrespective of their nature and amount, the sins of the past, present, and future so that we live in love, peace, and unity toward God and others.
Appeal
If you are not a believer yet and you are searching for peace within and with others, if you are searching for love, peace, and unity, receive Jesus. If you do receive Jesus today, please let us know. I want to put you in contact with a mature believer to help you with your walk with Jesus. We all need that.
If you are a believer and you are struggling to experience love, peace, unity, and hope in Christ daily, you too, need a mentor who can walk with you and discuss situations that hinder you from experiencing peace, hope, and unity. We all need that.
We are a new humanity in Christ that never existed before, so we need to behave differently from the rest of humanity. The way we behave and interact with each other and those outside the church can either pull people toward Christianity or push them away from Christ. Do you live in love, peace, and unity with others that pulls people toward Christ or pushes them away from Him? If we want to live for Christ as a new humanity, we all need to help each other to mature, mentor, and multiply. So, I ask, who are you mentoring, and who is mentoring you, because we all need that?
Study Questions
1. In Ephesians 2:11, why does Paul want the Ephesians to remember how, at one time, they were called “the uncircumcision” by the chosen people of God? What is the significance of the phrase “the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hand?”
2. What is it that the Ephesians didn’t have before they became Christians? Read verse 12 slowly and list all possible answers. What it means to be “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel?”
3. What did the blood of Christ do for the Ephesians in verse 5?
4. What should be the result of the peace in Ephesians 2:14-18?
Deeper Study Questions
1. If Christ Himself is our peace (v14), and we have Christ in us, then all believers should live in a permanent state of peace. How does that apply to your life? Do you live in a state of peace— peace within and peace among others around you?
2. If Christ came and preached peace (v17), then as His followers how do you preach and practice peace?
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