WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:05.259 Father, we ask that you grant us self-knowledge. 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:09.759 Father, grant us not so much self-knowledge that we just get really depressed, 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:14.939 but help us, Father, to have a proper self-knowledge of who we are 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:19.240 in light of you, in light of the real world. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:23.820 And so, Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with gentle but deep power 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:28.980 as we open and look at this confusing passage of Scripture. 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:32.960 And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:34.179 Please be seated. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:45.140 So, one of the things that I have to warn people about when I'm trying to help them 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:50.519 to learn how to preach better is that sometimes you can give an analogy or an example. 00:00:51.120 --> 00:00:55.980 And what happens is it doesn't actually help people to think about what's next in the sermon. 00:00:55.979 --> 00:01:00.719 It gets them thinking about what I've given the example about. 00:01:00.839 --> 00:01:03.719 And before you know it, they've spent 15 minutes on the example, 00:01:04.039 --> 00:01:06.640 and they're not paying any attention to my sermon whatsoever 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:12.060 because they get sort of captivated or mad or angry or delighted about my example. 00:01:12.179 --> 00:01:16.500 So, I'm going to take that risk right now with my opening example. 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:20.819 Canada doesn't have universal health care. 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:26.519 If you think about it for a second, I used to think Canada had universal health care. 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.460 And then one day, quite a few years ago, I had a conversation with somebody 00:01:29.460 --> 00:01:32.460 and just asked me to think this very simple thought experiment. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:36.060 Daniel Alfredson, this is when he was still playing for the senators, 00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:42.200 Daniel Alfredson hurts his leg on an evening, a Saturday evening at 9 o'clock. 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.799 You hurt your leg on a Saturday evening at 9 o'clock. 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:47.560 Who's going to have their MRIs done quicker? 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.280 Who's going to have the surgery done quicker? 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:51.980 How's that going to work out? 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.700 And, you know, I have to confess it never dawned on me that, in fact, 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:00.560 gosh, Daniel Alfredson doesn't have to wait as long as I would have to wait 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:02.379 if we both hurt our legs the same night. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:05.719 This just sort of came up. 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:11.020 And this recognition that we don't actually have universal health care 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:16.460 is connected to what can often happen to us when we come face to face with it. 00:02:16.579 --> 00:02:22.699 And it can reveal a type of enmity and resentment about others. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:29.759 So a friend of mine, he'd had some sort of minor but important surgery done, 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:30.919 but they botched it. 00:02:31.079 --> 00:02:33.000 The surgeons botched it for whatever reason. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.000 And he went in, and obviously they were looking at it, 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:38.560 and they were going to have to redo the surgery. 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:45.060 And he was telling me this like a couple of days after he'd been in to see his doctor, 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:46.159 the GP or whatever. 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:51.000 And the doctor told him, because he couldn't actually go see the specialist, 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:57.020 the doctor told him that he had to wait a month to call up the specialist, 00:02:57.379 --> 00:03:01.420 not to see the specialist, but to make an appointment to see the specialist. 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:05.659 And the appointment would then be maybe three months after that. 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:10.939 And then, of course, he'd have to wait after that for the surgery. 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:14.619 Now, I'm telling you this all very calmly. 00:03:15.119 --> 00:03:19.539 He was almost spitting mad about this. 00:03:20.079 --> 00:03:23.199 And as he's telling me this story, he keeps going. 00:03:23.339 --> 00:03:25.859 And he's not making any political comments whatsoever. 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:32.520 He says, do you think Justin Trudeau or Scheer or Elizabeth May would have to wait that long 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:35.440 just to call to make an appointment? 00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:40.820 And he was just livid and furious. 00:03:41.220 --> 00:03:46.500 And that sort of underlying enmity that we actually do have about social class 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:52.280 and other types of things like that emerges when you're faced with something like this. 00:03:52.540 --> 00:03:53.760 Now, why am I mentioning him? 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:59.099 One of the things which is very puzzling about this passage of Scripture for us as Canadians 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:04.579 is that when we look at this passage about differences and dealing with differences 00:04:04.579 --> 00:04:09.919 and dealing with the other, what happens is we talk about the text 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.579 and think about the text out of one side of our mouth. 00:04:13.239 --> 00:04:16.459 It's like we have two minds or we are schizophrenic 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:19.019 and we forget about one part of us when we look at it. 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:24.399 And so we just sort of think, well, you know, this text is just talking about trying to live 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.299 with differences and living with the other. 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.039 But in Canada, we don't have to worry about that because in Canada, we're all one. 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:35.539 In Canada, we don't have those types of enmity that exist in other cultures or other places. 00:04:35.539 --> 00:04:36.319 But we forget. 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:39.939 I mean, as I said, my example just right off the top, all of a sudden, 00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:43.120 he's face to face with botched surgery with those long wait lines. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:47.459 And the enmity, the anger, is there instantly. 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:51.519 It's not as if you had to think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:52.600 It's instantly there. 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:57.399 That at an unrecognized level, there's enmity. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.240 Which is why at the same time, on one level, we Canadians would say, 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:05.879 well, I don't know why we need to have Jesus and deal with these things about the other. 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:08.800 Because, you know, in Canada, you know, we don't have those things. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:14.960 But on the other hand, we forget all of a sudden about French and English differences. 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:19.600 As I've been learning from some of my Francophone friends, 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:23.600 between Francophone Ontarians and Francophone Québécois differences, 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:26.019 and between black and white and everything else like that. 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:27.259 There's lots of differences. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.259 And not often hidden, but outward enmity. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.240 So this text is talking about something in the very, very real world. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:41.600 What happens when you become a Christian in a world where there is lots of division, 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:45.280 where there's others, where people are broken down and separated? 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:48.800 And on one level, we try to hide it in Canada, but in many places in the world, 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:50.540 it's just right up front. 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:52.160 It's right in your face. 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:56.259 I've shared with you before, if you haven't, I'll tell you the story again. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.259 When I was in Angola a couple of years ago, very, very, very, very, very poor country, 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:04.699 and about a 10-minute walk, this is one of the, if you've traveled in third-world countries, 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:07.699 this is one of the things which is curious about the third-world countries, 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:11.680 is you can have, like, literally, I'm walking down the street, 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:13.560 and I'm having to avoid the garbage, 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:18.620 and when I walk, I have to step over the little streams in the street, 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:22.319 because that's sewage overflow, and that's how I'm walking, 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.060 and the road is like this. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:28.079 It keeps the traffic at a slower speed, because it's so bumpy. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:36.139 But then 10-minute walk from where I was staying was a mall that could have looked like it was in Canada, 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:40.459 like it's just weird, surrounded with poverty, 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.919 and a mall that looks like it was in Canada, 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:49.500 with a movie theater that showed the same movies that were playing in Ottawa at the same time. 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:55.240 And I come up to the mall, and there's lots of security guards, right, 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:56.879 because there's lots of poor people in Angola, 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:01.300 and because I'm white, and obviously not from Angola, 00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:03.279 they just let me in. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:04.759 I mean, there's no, they're not looking at me. 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:07.439 I mean, they're looking at me a little bit, because why is this white guy here? 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:12.240 Because part of Angola I'm in, there's like, there's virtually nobody who's white, right? 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.120 So they look at me a little bit like that, but they don't, I mean, I'm just, I'm accepting. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.500 But they just, for many parts of the world, they just, the fact that there's differences, 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:20.680 the fact that there's hierarchies, they just accept it. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:21.300 They're proud of it. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.340 It's in that world that Paul is writing. 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:28.120 So in some ways, you see, for an Angola, it might be easier for them to read this text, 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:31.240 because they're just open about the fact that there's differences. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.300 Just one more example from Angola. 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:35.480 Huge lineup to get gas. 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:39.699 And one of the things which was so interesting about the huge lineup to get gas, 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:42.480 I mean, I mean a huge lineup to get gas, 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.259 that twice while I was there, somebody just came and sauntered up to the front 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:48.780 and got their gas and left, and nobody commented. 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:51.700 And I asked my guide, and they said, well, they're whatever, 00:07:51.840 --> 00:07:55.700 they're with the ruling party, or they're, you know, they're this tribal person, 00:07:55.700 --> 00:07:56.960 and they just go to the front. 00:07:57.700 --> 00:08:00.240 And nobody disagreed, they just, that's just the way the world works, right? 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:03.879 So, easier for them than us, but that's what they're looking at. 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:04.879 So let's look at the text. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.460 It's a long introduction to an important topic, 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:13.560 and it's Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 to 22. 00:08:13.739 --> 00:08:16.680 Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 to 22. 00:08:17.299 --> 00:08:22.139 And what's just happened before this is that Paul has talked about 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:25.679 how we're made right with God by having faith in Jesus. 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:31.060 And it's God's grace that we receive by faith, 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:33.819 and our faith is in Jesus, and there's no works, 00:08:33.819 --> 00:08:35.620 there's no ground for us to boast. 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:39.399 And out of that, we are to live a life that reflects that, 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:40.940 that we do good works. 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:43.720 But now Paul's going to deal with, well, 00:08:44.060 --> 00:08:47.460 how does that affect the fact that in the world there's division? 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.279 You see, in Paul's day, they were very, very open about divisions. 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:53.840 There were citizens and non-citizens. 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:55.419 There were slave and free. 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:57.120 There were men and women. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:58.720 They were very open about the divisions. 00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:01.299 And the divisions mattered. 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:04.620 In the city of Ephesus, which is where this is written at the time, 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:08.340 there were 250,000 people who lived in Ephesus. 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:12.179 And the second largest city in the Roman Empire. 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:16.139 But how many citizens were there in Ephesus? 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:18.019 250,000 people? 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:19.440 There were 1,000 citizens. 00:09:20.100 --> 00:09:21.100 1,000 citizens. 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:23.659 250,000 people, but only 1,000 of them are citizens 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:25.500 with full rights and protection. 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:27.840 And they wouldn't have hid it. 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:30.000 It would have been just on display. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.480 So what does it mean to be saved by grace and a Christian 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.179 in a world where there's such division? 00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:38.200 That's what Paul is going to walk towards. 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.379 And if you don't have your Bible, it'll be up on the screen, 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:43.179 at least parts of it. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:45.000 Did I do the... 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:46.960 Yes, there we go, the right one. 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:48.139 So verse 11. 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:50.000 Yes. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:10:15.480 Now just sort of pause here. 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:21.279 Circumcision, of course, is sort of the defining rite or ritual 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.539 that you needed to have to become a part of the covenant people 00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:26.460 of the Jewish people. 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.879 And for Jewish people at that time, and still, I guess, 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.320 to some extent today, the whole world was divided 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:33.940 between Jews and non-Jews. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.180 And if you're a non-Jew, you're a Gentile. 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.159 So what Paul is doing here is he's actually walking towards 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:40.980 the biggest problem. 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:45.659 And it's, is God, in fact, behind maintaining division? 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:47.820 So that what's going to happen when you become a Christian? 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:50.920 You're a slave Christian, or you're a woman Christian, 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:54.360 or you're a freedman Christian, or you're a citizen Christian, 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:58.440 or you're a former pagan Christian, or you're a former Jewish Christian. 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:01.500 Is that how things are going to work? 00:11:02.340 --> 00:11:04.360 And you'll notice up there that, first of all, 00:11:04.420 --> 00:11:08.080 it's not as obvious in English, but in the original language, 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:10.899 Paul uses distancing language throughout this. 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:13.960 By which it means that he's saying that not necessarily 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:16.399 that he thinks this way, but this is how people think. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.720 And he puts a very, very subtle thing in here 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:23.320 to get us to think about things in a bit of a different way. 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:25.139 Look again when he says, 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:28.519 remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, 00:11:29.180 --> 00:11:31.800 and then called the uncircumcision by what is called 00:11:31.800 --> 00:11:35.320 the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands. 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:37.220 And what Paul is saying here, 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:42.879 basically the same word is used two different ways in the New Testament, 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.220 and you have to sort of figure it out by context. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.120 Usually when Paul uses the word flesh, 00:11:48.140 --> 00:11:51.700 he means that part of us which is in rebellion against God. 00:11:52.760 --> 00:11:54.120 But there's another use, 00:11:54.300 --> 00:11:56.240 usually for instance in the Gospel of John, 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:57.420 the other use is used, 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:01.019 and that just means flesh is a way of referring to the fact 00:12:01.019 --> 00:12:03.399 that we are frail and finite. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.519 Frail and finite. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.240 And so what Paul is saying here is, 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:12.220 just for a moment, 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.059 people make these divisions between Gentile and not, 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:17.399 between circumcision and not, 00:12:17.419 --> 00:12:20.899 but what really is ultimately circumcision and uncircumcision? 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:23.960 It's something that we do with our hands, 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:25.399 on the body, 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.039 and it emerges out of frailty and finiteness. 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:33.840 And in fact, all human divisions, 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:35.139 isn't that what they emerge out of? 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.319 I mean, people go to war, 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.159 over religion. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.139 They go to war over class differences. 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:41.740 They go to, 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:44.419 they fight for parking spots. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.639 They make distinctions of rank, 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:49.240 and they make big deals sometimes 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.199 about race and ethnicity and language. 00:12:51.319 --> 00:12:52.399 But all of these things, 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:52.939 what do they do? 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:54.059 If you think about it for a second, 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:55.460 they all emerge 00:12:55.460 --> 00:12:58.860 out of that which is finite and frail. 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:01.799 Which is one of the reasons why, 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:02.960 when we think back of, 00:13:03.319 --> 00:13:04.779 when I came to the Eganville, 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:07.059 I was a pastorate in Eganville, 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.379 one of the things that people like to tell me is, 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:10.439 if you've ever go to Eganville, 00:13:10.579 --> 00:13:10.840 there's, 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:15.360 the Bonachere River divides the little village of Eganville. 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:16.939 Eganville has about 2,000 people. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:18.000 It divides the village. 00:13:18.419 --> 00:13:20.659 And on one side of the village 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:23.579 is a huge Roman Catholic church 00:13:23.579 --> 00:13:25.259 that you can see from everywhere. 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:27.779 And on the other side of the village, 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:28.679 on the other side of the river, 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:29.740 there's lots of churches. 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:31.120 There's a big Lutheran church 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.439 and then smaller churches 00:13:32.439 --> 00:13:33.299 and smaller churches. 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:34.939 And one of the things that they like to tell me 00:13:34.939 --> 00:13:36.899 was that at, 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:37.779 there were many, 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.200 many years where at the, 00:13:39.439 --> 00:13:40.419 I'm not making this up, 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:41.819 at the Anglican cemetery 00:13:41.819 --> 00:13:43.279 on the top of the hill 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:44.379 on one side of the river, 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:45.720 they had a cannon, 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:47.439 decommissioned cannon, 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:49.919 pointed at the Catholic church. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:56.299 Now, we all chuckle. 00:13:56.919 --> 00:13:57.779 And they chuckle. 00:13:58.519 --> 00:13:58.879 But you know, 00:13:58.939 --> 00:13:59.679 why do we chuckle? 00:14:00.139 --> 00:14:02.419 It emerges out of finiteness and frailty, 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:02.919 doesn't it? 00:14:03.199 --> 00:14:03.879 And it passes. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:05.159 That's what happens 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:06.379 with anything that just emerges 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:09.059 out of frailty and finiteness, 00:14:09.099 --> 00:14:09.579 it passes. 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:12.120 It's a big, big deal. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:13.799 In whatever, 1930, 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:14.759 it's a big deal. 00:14:15.699 --> 00:14:17.240 But now, later on, 00:14:17.719 --> 00:14:18.699 at best we just think 00:14:18.699 --> 00:14:19.379 it's really funny. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:21.179 But at the same time, 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:21.919 we think it's funny, 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.759 we don't realize our own ways 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.539 that we make divisions 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:27.159 out of frailty 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:30.079 and out of finiteness, 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:31.479 out of flesh 00:14:31.479 --> 00:14:34.819 that has no real ultimate power. 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:38.219 And so, 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:40.399 Paul begins by that, 00:14:40.459 --> 00:14:41.979 but he also adds this other thing, 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:43.899 which it seems as if God in the past 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:45.299 has made this big distinction 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:47.659 based on rules and commandments 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:48.360 and ethnicity 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:49.879 between one people 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:50.700 and all the others. 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:51.460 But now, 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:53.060 he's talking to a group of people 00:14:53.060 --> 00:14:54.919 who are mainly ex-pagans, 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:56.899 and he said, 00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:58.000 so just remember, 00:14:58.120 --> 00:14:59.539 it begins with therefore, right? 00:14:59.620 --> 00:14:59.840 Remember, 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:00.399 so therefore, 00:15:00.560 --> 00:15:02.340 you're made right with God 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:03.539 by what God has done 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:04.139 out of grace 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:04.779 through Jesus, 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:06.039 and you receive it by faith 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:06.840 with no works. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:08.639 So how does that fit in 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:09.360 with this fact 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:10.060 that in the world, 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:11.220 there's all these divisions? 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:12.639 Well, 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:14.440 let's look what he says. 00:15:15.180 --> 00:15:16.480 He says this, 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.019 verse 13, 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:22.460 but now in Christ Jesus, 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:25.139 you who once were far off 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.019 have been brought near 00:15:27.019 --> 00:15:28.720 by the blood of Christ. 00:15:28.920 --> 00:15:30.820 But now in Christ Jesus, 00:15:31.540 --> 00:15:34.460 you who once were far off 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.139 have been brought near 00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:38.860 by the blood of Christ. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:39.899 And the blood of Christ 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:41.440 is just a very graphic way 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.480 of referring to the fact 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:43.720 that Jesus died 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:45.460 a sacrificial death. 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.240 And what Paul is saying here, 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:50.440 which is very significant, 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:51.000 is, 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.100 well, you know what's 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:57.240 at the back of his mind 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.200 is a particular type of image, 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.000 which is hard for us Canadians 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:02.960 to get into our mind, 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:03.820 but it's very important. 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:04.840 You see, 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:05.700 when we think about 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:06.759 these types of things 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:07.320 in Canada, 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:08.200 we don't realize 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:08.620 that we have 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:10.260 two different types of stories. 00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:11.780 The average Canadian 00:16:11.780 --> 00:16:13.720 has two stories 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:15.860 running as the background story 00:16:15.860 --> 00:16:16.760 in their minds, 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:17.560 in our minds, 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:18.980 when we think about these things. 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:20.280 And one of the things 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:21.100 that we think about 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:22.400 is that the reason 00:16:22.400 --> 00:16:23.420 we don't really have to take 00:16:23.420 --> 00:16:24.500 the claims of Christianity 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:25.420 very seriously 00:16:25.420 --> 00:16:26.000 is because, 00:16:26.180 --> 00:16:26.720 as we all know, 00:16:26.800 --> 00:16:27.800 evolution is true. 00:16:29.040 --> 00:16:30.120 And on the other hand, 00:16:30.180 --> 00:16:31.340 we have this other story 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:32.360 going on in our mind 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:33.140 that human beings 00:16:33.140 --> 00:16:34.340 are fundamentally good. 00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:36.600 And those are the fundamental 00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:38.180 sort of baseline stories 00:16:38.180 --> 00:16:39.399 going on in the back 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:39.899 of our mind, 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:41.180 and we often express it 00:16:41.180 --> 00:16:43.259 just out in the front. 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:44.019 And we never sort of 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:45.360 actually think about them 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:46.000 and look at them. 00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:47.360 And Paul knows 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.420 that both of these stories 00:16:48.420 --> 00:16:49.639 have great, great problems. 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:50.879 So, for instance, 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:52.440 the idea of evolution, 00:16:52.920 --> 00:16:53.440 and that means 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.460 God doesn't exist. 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:57.200 A few years ago, 00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:57.740 Louise and I 00:16:57.740 --> 00:16:58.440 were out walking 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.480 after dark. 00:17:00.900 --> 00:17:02.180 This is when we still lived 00:17:02.180 --> 00:17:03.139 on Robina Street, 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:04.779 and we were right by the edge. 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:06.559 We walked right by the edge 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.019 of the green belt. 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:10.700 And as we were walking 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:12.420 along the grass, 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:13.519 the green belt, 00:17:13.879 --> 00:17:15.059 a big wall of trees 00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:15.740 in the green belt 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:16.420 right over there, 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:17.619 all of a sudden, 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.379 we heard the most 00:17:19.379 --> 00:17:23.599 fearsome scream 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:24.900 and squealing 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:26.720 of an animal being attacked. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:29.460 And for the next, 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:30.720 it seemed like a long time, 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:31.420 but it was probably 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:32.639 only 90 seconds, 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:34.080 you'd hear this 00:17:34.080 --> 00:17:37.020 heart-rending scream 00:17:37.020 --> 00:17:38.740 of an animal being attacked 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:40.180 followed by thrashing 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:41.360 and silence 00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:42.820 and then another scream 00:17:42.820 --> 00:17:44.500 and silence 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:45.259 and thrash, 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:46.100 like thrashing, 00:17:46.100 --> 00:17:47.380 and then this final 00:17:47.380 --> 00:17:49.280 long scream, 00:17:49.520 --> 00:17:51.240 scream, squeal, 00:17:51.320 --> 00:17:52.140 which all of a sudden 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:52.980 was cut short. 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:57.519 the strong eats the weak. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:02.700 And when some people 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:03.799 talk about evolution 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:04.599 being true, 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:06.420 they don't really 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:07.440 think about the fact 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.079 that that means 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:08.940 that the strong 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:10.200 eat 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:11.660 the weak. 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:15.920 but if, in fact, 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:17.580 we all come to be 00:18:17.580 --> 00:18:18.740 because the strong 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:20.019 eat the weak, 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:24.080 well, then, 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:24.920 how in Canada 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:25.720 can you actually 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:27.019 try to understand 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:28.400 or believe 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.600 that the strong 00:18:30.600 --> 00:18:32.380 should be taxed more 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:34.980 or that 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:37.580 we should give 00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:38.500 aid to another 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:39.440 country that's 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:40.660 tearing itself apart? 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:41.280 Like, 00:18:41.360 --> 00:18:42.240 if the governing 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:43.480 story about 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:44.320 why God 00:18:44.320 --> 00:18:45.260 doesn't exist 00:18:45.260 --> 00:18:45.780 and we don't have 00:18:45.780 --> 00:18:46.220 to pay any 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:47.060 attention to him 00:18:47.060 --> 00:18:47.420 and how we 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:48.380 understand ourselves 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:49.380 is that the strong 00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:51.040 eat the weak 00:18:51.040 --> 00:18:52.100 and the strong 00:18:52.100 --> 00:18:52.740 survive 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:53.240 and the weak 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:53.700 die 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:54.600 and the strong 00:18:54.600 --> 00:18:55.100 just keep 00:18:55.100 --> 00:18:55.940 getting stronger 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:56.720 because the strong 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:57.260 eat the weak, 00:18:58.440 --> 00:18:59.140 where does love 00:18:59.140 --> 00:18:59.660 and concern 00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:00.360 for other people 00:19:00.360 --> 00:19:00.800 come in? 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:01.080 Like, 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:01.440 huh? 00:19:01.540 --> 00:19:01.700 Like, 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:02.400 how does that fit? 00:19:08.100 --> 00:19:09.060 And how is it 00:19:09.060 --> 00:19:09.560 that we think 00:19:09.560 --> 00:19:09.900 that we're 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:10.960 fundamentally good 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.080 when, 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:12.560 as I gave 00:19:12.560 --> 00:19:13.400 in that illustration, 00:19:13.620 --> 00:19:14.300 all it takes 00:19:14.300 --> 00:19:15.300 is the tiniest 00:19:15.300 --> 00:19:16.040 little bit 00:19:16.040 --> 00:19:17.580 of effect 00:19:17.580 --> 00:19:19.120 on our lives 00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:21.120 and waiting times 00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:22.620 as my friend 00:19:22.620 --> 00:19:23.400 was telling me 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:24.240 about the fact 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:24.540 that you have 00:19:24.540 --> 00:19:25.360 to wait a month 00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:26.180 just to actually 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:27.120 make an appointment 00:19:27.120 --> 00:19:28.240 that would be 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:28.920 three months 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:29.540 after that 00:19:29.539 --> 00:19:30.619 you know what? 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:31.720 And that little 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:32.279 tiny thing 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:32.859 on one hand 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:33.920 not very significant 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:35.259 reveals this 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:36.500 deep enmity 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:37.159 and anger 00:19:37.159 --> 00:19:37.799 within him. 00:19:40.819 --> 00:19:41.599 You see, 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:42.899 Paul, 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:43.879 as he's thinking 00:19:43.879 --> 00:19:44.480 about all of 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:44.980 these things, 00:19:45.159 --> 00:19:45.759 he has 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:46.799 a very, 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:47.519 very different 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:48.839 baseline story 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:50.539 by which he 00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:51.879 understands things. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:53.599 And the baseline 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:54.500 story that he 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:54.960 has 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.440 is that 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:57.200 all things 00:19:57.200 --> 00:19:58.039 came to be 00:19:58.039 --> 00:19:59.440 out of the 00:19:59.440 --> 00:19:59.859 Father 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:01.139 and the Son 00:20:01.139 --> 00:20:01.759 and the Holy 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.259 Spirit, 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:03.240 three persons, 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:04.099 one God, 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:05.240 living in harmony 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:05.799 and unity. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.539 And out of this, 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:08.279 in a sense, 00:20:08.399 --> 00:20:09.700 fundamental harmony 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:10.399 and unity, 00:20:10.399 --> 00:20:11.539 they work together 00:20:11.539 --> 00:20:12.220 to create 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:13.139 all things. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:14.639 And human 00:20:14.639 --> 00:20:15.440 beings, 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:16.680 at some point 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:17.019 in time, 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:17.759 after they were 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:18.659 created good 00:20:18.659 --> 00:20:19.779 and created 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:20.639 to be in harmony 00:20:20.639 --> 00:20:21.420 with each other 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:22.420 and harmony 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:23.099 with themselves 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:23.759 and in harmony 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:24.359 with God, 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:25.720 it is out of 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:26.119 harmony, 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:26.619 it is out of 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:27.379 life and love 00:20:27.379 --> 00:20:27.939 and harmony 00:20:27.939 --> 00:20:28.659 that human 00:20:28.659 --> 00:20:29.099 beings are 00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:29.500 created. 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:31.219 And enmity 00:20:31.219 --> 00:20:32.699 and hatred 00:20:32.699 --> 00:20:33.839 comes into 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:34.339 the world 00:20:34.339 --> 00:20:36.119 when Adam 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:36.559 and Eve 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:37.359 decide that 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:37.739 they don't 00:20:37.739 --> 00:20:38.619 trust God 00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:39.459 and they 00:20:39.459 --> 00:20:39.799 want to be 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:40.279 like God 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:40.859 themselves. 00:20:41.639 --> 00:20:42.139 And if you 00:20:42.139 --> 00:20:42.639 go back 00:20:42.639 --> 00:20:43.099 and you read 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:44.039 Genesis 3, 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:45.099 the second 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:45.819 they decide 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:47.139 that they 00:20:47.139 --> 00:20:47.759 want to be 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:48.319 like God 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:49.179 themselves, 00:20:51.459 --> 00:20:51.679 well, 00:20:51.739 --> 00:20:52.219 here's the thing, 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:52.639 isn't this how 00:20:52.639 --> 00:20:53.139 it works? 00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:54.519 If both 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:55.039 Louise and I 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:55.419 want to be 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:55.860 God's, 00:20:55.860 --> 00:20:56.100 aren't we 00:20:56.100 --> 00:20:56.380 only going 00:20:56.380 --> 00:20:56.840 to fight? 00:20:57.640 --> 00:20:58.100 We can only 00:20:58.100 --> 00:20:58.440 have one 00:20:58.440 --> 00:20:58.840 God. 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:01.539 And if all 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:02.160 of my kids 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:02.560 want to be 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:02.960 God as 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:03.259 well, 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:04.160 we're just 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:04.400 going to 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:04.660 fight. 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:07.960 And the 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:08.340 fact of the 00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:08.820 matter is, 00:21:08.860 --> 00:21:09.180 as you go 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:09.600 back and you 00:21:09.600 --> 00:21:09.940 read that 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:10.420 story, 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:11.019 as soon as 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:11.380 there is 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:12.620 this desire 00:21:12.620 --> 00:21:13.019 to be 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:13.860 like God, 00:21:14.340 --> 00:21:14.840 the first 00:21:14.840 --> 00:21:15.240 thing that 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:16.180 happens is 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:16.620 that they 00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:17.380 realize that 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:17.700 they are 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:18.200 at enmity 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:18.980 with themselves, 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:19.480 they feel 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:20.019 uncomfortable 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:20.779 with themselves, 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:21.220 and they're 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:22.019 at enmity 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:22.700 with God, 00:21:22.820 --> 00:21:23.620 they blame 00:21:23.620 --> 00:21:24.220 God for 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:24.680 what's going 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:24.900 on, 00:21:24.900 --> 00:21:25.180 and they're 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:25.620 at enmity 00:21:25.620 --> 00:21:26.100 with each 00:21:26.100 --> 00:21:26.340 other. 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:26.740 Each of 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:27.259 them blames 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:27.980 somebody else 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:28.460 for what's 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:28.960 going on, 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:29.440 and all of 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:29.759 a sudden 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:30.060 there's 00:21:30.060 --> 00:21:30.580 enmity, 00:21:31.340 --> 00:21:32.960 and enmity 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.180 has come 00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:34.600 into the 00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:34.980 world. 00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:37.720 And because 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:38.460 human beings, 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:39.220 separate from 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:39.580 God, 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:39.960 are just 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:40.420 frail and 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:40.740 finite, 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:41.340 they cannot 00:21:41.340 --> 00:21:42.300 fix themselves. 00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:42.419 themselves. 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:44.659 And so 00:21:44.659 --> 00:21:45.079 what's being 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:45.819 described here 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:46.119 in this 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:46.839 Bible verse 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:47.399 is that 00:21:47.399 --> 00:21:47.859 Christ, 00:21:48.980 --> 00:21:49.700 the creator 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:50.740 and sustainer 00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:51.079 of all 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:51.460 things, 00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:51.879 God, 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:52.259 the son 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:52.680 of God, 00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:53.399 takes upon 00:21:53.399 --> 00:21:54.240 himself human 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:54.859 flesh and 00:21:54.859 --> 00:21:56.579 enters our 00:21:56.579 --> 00:21:57.000 mess. 00:22:00.500 --> 00:22:01.419 Enters our 00:22:01.419 --> 00:22:01.759 mess. 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:02.779 If you go 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:03.319 back and you 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:03.859 read Genesis 00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:04.539 1 to 11, 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:05.000 this is the 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:05.599 other type of 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:06.000 story. 00:22:06.139 --> 00:22:06.559 It's a very, 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:07.279 very interesting 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:07.799 story. 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:09.539 All religion 00:22:09.539 --> 00:22:09.899 and all 00:22:09.899 --> 00:22:10.639 spirituality 00:22:10.639 --> 00:22:11.119 and much 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:11.779 philosophy 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:15.339 and just the 00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:16.419 common way 00:22:16.419 --> 00:22:16.899 of thinking 00:22:16.899 --> 00:22:17.579 about things 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:17.980 is this 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:18.500 idea that 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:19.000 somehow or 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:19.440 another we 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:21.240 can still 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:22.240 reach out 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.919 towards God 00:22:22.919 --> 00:22:23.299 or become 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:23.839 like gods 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:24.440 ourselves. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:27.680 That somehow 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:28.099 or another 00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:28.759 that's just 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:29.000 going to be 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:29.240 able to 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:29.559 happen. 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:30.460 But there's 00:22:30.460 --> 00:22:30.980 this ancient 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:31.680 story where 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:32.339 in Babel it 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:32.819 brings that 00:22:32.819 --> 00:22:33.720 whole first 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:34.579 11 chapters 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:35.399 to a 00:22:35.399 --> 00:22:35.960 significant 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:36.500 end. 00:22:37.019 --> 00:22:37.480 It's very, 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:38.180 very comical 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:38.579 but very, 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:39.279 very powerful 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:39.860 story. 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:42.059 The human 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:42.819 race is all 00:22:42.819 --> 00:22:43.960 one and 00:22:43.960 --> 00:22:44.480 they're traveling 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:44.980 from one 00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:45.460 place to 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:46.740 another and 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:47.220 they decide 00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:47.620 they want to 00:22:47.620 --> 00:22:48.299 make a tower 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:48.779 that reaches 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:49.220 all the way 00:22:49.220 --> 00:22:49.640 to heaven. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:50.720 And so they 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.180 make this 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:51.759 tower that 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.099 they're all 00:22:52.099 --> 00:22:52.360 very, 00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:53.039 very pleased 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:53.460 at and 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:53.880 there's a 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:54.599 note of 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:55.660 irony in 00:22:55.660 --> 00:22:56.079 the text. 00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:56.460 If you go 00:22:56.460 --> 00:22:56.880 back, it's 00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:57.420 not as obvious 00:22:57.420 --> 00:22:58.079 in English but 00:22:58.079 --> 00:22:58.519 it's there in 00:22:58.519 --> 00:22:58.880 the original 00:22:58.880 --> 00:22:59.420 language. 00:22:59.779 --> 00:23:00.079 There's a 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:00.360 note of 00:23:00.360 --> 00:23:00.940 irony that 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:01.460 God's in 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:02.400 heaven and 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:02.960 he says, 00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:03.640 in a sense, 00:23:03.700 --> 00:23:03.980 it's one of 00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:04.500 those early 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:05.079 texts which 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:05.759 show that the 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:06.319 Old Testament 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:07.079 teaches something 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:07.480 like the 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:07.759 Trinity. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:08.659 And it's 00:23:08.659 --> 00:23:09.119 as if God 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:09.439 says, 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:10.119 look at 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:10.799 those human 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:11.460 beings down 00:23:11.460 --> 00:23:11.679 there. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:12.159 They're doing 00:23:12.159 --> 00:23:12.759 something that's 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:13.339 so very, 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:14.019 very tiny, 00:23:14.139 --> 00:23:14.879 I can't even 00:23:14.879 --> 00:23:15.639 see it from 00:23:15.639 --> 00:23:16.059 up here. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:16.399 Remember, 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:16.779 they're down 00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:17.240 there thinking 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:17.679 that they've 00:23:17.679 --> 00:23:18.079 built this 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:18.659 tower that's 00:23:18.659 --> 00:23:19.079 reaching to 00:23:19.079 --> 00:23:19.299 heaven. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:20.539 But God 00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:21.279 says, 00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:21.859 look at 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:22.019 that, 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:22.460 they've made 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:23.019 something down 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:23.199 there, 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:23.759 good grief. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:25.099 I wonder 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:25.639 what that is. 00:23:25.679 --> 00:23:26.279 It's so far 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:26.839 away and so 00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:27.679 tiny, I can't 00:23:27.679 --> 00:23:27.960 see it. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:28.359 I guess I 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:29.319 better go down 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:30.240 to see what 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:30.639 it is. 00:23:31.919 --> 00:23:32.480 And the 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:33.319 result of 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:33.779 this human 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:34.419 desire to 00:23:34.419 --> 00:23:35.159 reach God 00:23:35.159 --> 00:23:36.259 is that human 00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:36.759 beings are 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.619 scattered and 00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:40.079 divided. 00:23:41.379 --> 00:23:42.019 And so it 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:42.379 is that the 00:23:42.379 --> 00:23:43.099 Bible teaches 00:23:43.099 --> 00:23:43.839 that just as 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:44.200 with our 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:45.039 original parents, 00:23:45.140 --> 00:23:45.480 Adam and 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:45.839 Eve, the 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:46.400 more that we 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:47.319 try to see 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:48.319 and be like 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:49.059 God, the 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:49.740 more that what 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:50.379 happens is 00:23:50.379 --> 00:23:51.559 enmity and 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:51.960 division. 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:53.180 And we are 00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:53.759 frail and 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:54.259 finite and 00:23:54.259 --> 00:23:55.079 cannot fix it. 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:55.740 So what Paul 00:23:55.740 --> 00:23:56.420 is describing 00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:57.740 right here is 00:23:57.740 --> 00:23:58.400 that Christ 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:00.359 comes down. 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:02.339 We who are 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:03.619 far off, 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:05.619 Christ comes 00:24:05.619 --> 00:24:06.500 to where 00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:07.479 we are 00:24:07.479 --> 00:24:08.899 and dwells 00:24:08.899 --> 00:24:09.879 among us 00:24:09.879 --> 00:24:11.139 to accomplish 00:24:11.139 --> 00:24:12.179 something that 00:24:12.179 --> 00:24:12.659 we cannot 00:24:12.659 --> 00:24:13.239 accomplish 00:24:13.239 --> 00:24:13.959 ourselves. 00:24:14.879 --> 00:24:16.079 It's described 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:16.419 here. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:17.639 Look at 00:24:17.639 --> 00:24:18.479 verses 14 00:24:18.479 --> 00:24:19.179 to 16. 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:21.019 For he 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:21.959 himself 00:24:21.959 --> 00:24:23.000 is our 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:23.439 peace, 00:24:23.959 --> 00:24:24.559 who has 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:24.959 made us 00:24:24.959 --> 00:24:25.599 both one 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:26.299 and has 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:26.979 broken down 00:24:26.979 --> 00:24:27.539 in his 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:28.059 flesh 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:30.339 the dividing 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:30.939 wall of 00:24:30.939 --> 00:24:31.599 hostility 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.299 by nullifying 00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:35.019 the law 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:35.859 of commandments 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:36.639 expressed in 00:24:36.639 --> 00:24:37.259 ordinances 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:37.779 that he 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:38.379 might create 00:24:38.379 --> 00:24:39.220 in himself 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:39.879 one new 00:24:39.879 --> 00:24:41.079 man in 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:41.500 place of 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:41.899 the two, 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:42.700 so making 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:43.259 peace, 00:24:43.799 --> 00:24:44.220 and might 00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:45.559 reconcile us 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:46.180 both to 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:46.799 God in 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:47.460 one body 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:47.960 through the 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:48.399 cross, 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:49.220 thereby 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:50.680 killing the 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:51.259 hostility. 00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:52.619 Some of you 00:24:52.619 --> 00:24:53.099 might remember 00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:53.559 that last 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:53.940 week I 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:54.460 described, 00:24:55.059 --> 00:24:55.599 Paul gave 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.019 this very 00:24:56.019 --> 00:24:57.000 powerful image 00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:57.319 of how 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:57.919 every human 00:24:57.919 --> 00:24:58.359 being is 00:24:58.359 --> 00:24:58.720 like a 00:24:58.720 --> 00:24:59.180 corpse. 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:00.839 Apart from 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:01.199 Christ, 00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:01.839 I had 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:02.579 roses up 00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:02.859 here, 00:25:03.199 --> 00:25:03.500 and I 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:03.799 used the 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:04.459 example of 00:25:04.459 --> 00:25:05.039 every human 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:05.439 being is 00:25:05.439 --> 00:25:05.759 like a 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:06.439 cut flower. 00:25:07.139 --> 00:25:07.559 The one 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:07.899 thing we 00:25:07.899 --> 00:25:08.500 know when 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:09.079 a baby is 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:09.799 born is 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:10.179 that the 00:25:10.179 --> 00:25:10.639 baby will 00:25:10.639 --> 00:25:11.019 die. 00:25:11.939 --> 00:25:12.500 That's just 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:13.119 as soon as 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:13.419 there's a 00:25:13.419 --> 00:25:13.899 zygote. 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:14.439 It's just 00:25:14.439 --> 00:25:15.980 we're like 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:17.039 cut flowers. 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:17.839 We're separated 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.559 from God 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:19.299 and we 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:19.899 will die. 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:21.359 And I 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:22.559 described how 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:23.619 Paul earlier 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:24.559 describes how 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:26.559 salvation works 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:26.959 is that 00:25:26.959 --> 00:25:27.779 everything to do 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:28.099 with our 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:28.899 salvation is a 00:25:28.899 --> 00:25:29.220 gift that 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:29.679 comes from 00:25:29.679 --> 00:25:29.919 God. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:30.720 Even our 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:31.560 speaking and 00:25:31.560 --> 00:25:32.279 asking Christ 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:32.800 to come into 00:25:32.800 --> 00:25:33.580 our lives is 00:25:33.580 --> 00:25:34.180 something that 00:25:34.180 --> 00:25:35.240 God gives us 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:36.080 the power by 00:25:36.080 --> 00:25:36.740 his grace. 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:38.539 And Paul gives 00:25:38.539 --> 00:25:39.740 these powerful 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:41.380 images that 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:42.120 it's as if 00:25:42.120 --> 00:25:43.600 I'm lying 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:44.220 there dead 00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:45.800 or I'm the 00:25:45.800 --> 00:25:46.440 cut flower 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:48.759 and I ask 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:49.279 Christ to 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:50.380 come and 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:50.820 it's as if 00:25:50.820 --> 00:25:51.560 Christ puts 00:25:51.560 --> 00:25:52.140 his arms 00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:52.980 around me 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:54.340 and holds 00:25:54.340 --> 00:25:56.320 me and 00:25:56.320 --> 00:25:57.779 completely and 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:58.620 utterly becomes 00:25:58.620 --> 00:25:59.140 in a sense 00:25:59.140 --> 00:25:59.880 we're both 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:00.580 different but 00:26:00.580 --> 00:26:01.200 he becomes 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:01.620 at one 00:26:01.620 --> 00:26:02.180 with me. 00:26:03.040 --> 00:26:03.240 And I 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:04.020 described last 00:26:04.020 --> 00:26:04.980 week how 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:05.560 on one level 00:26:05.560 --> 00:26:05.940 of course 00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:06.740 the cross 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:07.160 is something 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:07.500 that took 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:08.080 place once 00:26:08.080 --> 00:26:08.440 at time 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:08.900 in history 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:09.480 but because 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:09.940 it's God 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:10.260 the son 00:26:10.260 --> 00:26:10.780 of God 00:26:10.780 --> 00:26:11.900 who has 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:12.360 taken on 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:12.700 flesh 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:12.940 who's 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:13.220 dying 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:13.780 it's also 00:26:13.780 --> 00:26:14.240 something 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:14.620 which is 00:26:14.620 --> 00:26:15.360 taking place 00:26:15.360 --> 00:26:16.060 outside of 00:26:16.060 --> 00:26:16.640 time and 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:17.220 therefore is 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:18.380 available to 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:19.140 everybody who 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:19.520 lives in 00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:19.900 time. 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:20.620 And what 00:26:20.620 --> 00:26:21.320 happens is 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:21.820 that Christ 00:26:21.820 --> 00:26:22.440 comes and 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:22.960 takes me 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:23.280 who is 00:26:23.280 --> 00:26:23.720 dead 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:25.040 and he 00:26:25.040 --> 00:26:25.900 unites 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:26.700 himself to 00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:27.940 me so 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:28.259 that what 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:28.880 happens is 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:29.340 on the 00:26:29.340 --> 00:26:30.880 cross I 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:31.480 die with 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:31.980 Christ. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:37.620 And after 00:26:37.620 --> 00:26:38.559 the cross I 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:39.220 am co-made 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:39.900 alive with 00:26:39.900 --> 00:26:41.620 Christ and I 00:26:41.620 --> 00:26:42.480 am co-raised 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:43.440 with Christ and I 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:44.140 am co-seated 00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:44.779 with Christ. 00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:45.960 Christ and 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:46.359 in this 00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:47.420 profound act 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:48.240 of identification 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:49.119 of Jesus 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:49.859 with me who 00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:50.220 has come 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:50.799 down from 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.440 heaven and 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:52.879 is united 00:26:52.879 --> 00:26:53.420 to me. 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:54.399 In this 00:26:54.399 --> 00:26:55.559 profound act 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:57.220 of uniting 00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:01.160 the sin 00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:02.599 that deserves 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:03.180 punishment 00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:05.200 becomes his 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.200 and the 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:07.660 righteousness 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:09.319 that is his 00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:10.720 becomes mine. 00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:12.379 And now 00:27:12.379 --> 00:27:13.139 Paul takes 00:27:13.139 --> 00:27:13.819 this further 00:27:13.819 --> 00:27:14.359 image. 00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:15.119 It's not 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:15.459 as if 00:27:15.459 --> 00:27:16.019 there's a 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:17.899 Muslim way 00:27:17.899 --> 00:27:18.319 to become 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:18.879 a Christian 00:27:18.879 --> 00:27:19.500 and then 00:27:19.500 --> 00:27:19.899 there's 00:27:19.899 --> 00:27:20.879 a special 00:27:20.879 --> 00:27:21.599 gospel for 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:21.959 Muslims. 00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:22.319 And it's 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:22.759 not as if 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:23.439 there's a 00:27:23.439 --> 00:27:24.919 slave's way 00:27:24.919 --> 00:27:25.339 of becoming 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:25.939 a Christian 00:27:25.939 --> 00:27:26.359 and so 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:26.679 there's a 00:27:26.679 --> 00:27:27.299 gospel for 00:27:27.299 --> 00:27:27.679 slaves. 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:28.019 And it's 00:27:28.019 --> 00:27:28.479 not as if 00:27:28.479 --> 00:27:29.079 there's a 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:30.219 citizen's way 00:27:30.219 --> 00:27:30.699 of becoming 00:27:30.699 --> 00:27:31.299 a Christian 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:31.919 so there's 00:27:31.919 --> 00:27:33.500 a citizen 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:34.179 gospel and 00:27:34.179 --> 00:27:34.639 there's a 00:27:34.639 --> 00:27:35.459 male way 00:27:35.459 --> 00:27:35.759 and a 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:36.419 female way 00:27:36.419 --> 00:27:36.939 or anything. 00:27:37.059 --> 00:27:37.439 No, no. 00:27:37.879 --> 00:27:38.379 In every 00:27:38.379 --> 00:27:39.099 single human 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:39.979 being there's 00:27:39.979 --> 00:27:40.439 that same 00:27:40.439 --> 00:27:40.679 thing. 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:41.079 But now 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:41.639 Paul takes 00:27:41.639 --> 00:27:42.079 this very 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:42.740 very different 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:43.219 image. 00:27:43.220 --> 00:27:44.539 Because the 00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:44.880 fact of the 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:45.480 matter is I 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:45.980 don't know the 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:46.519 depths of my 00:27:46.519 --> 00:27:47.839 own hostility and 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:48.600 enmity towards 00:27:48.600 --> 00:27:48.900 others. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:49.839 I don't know the 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:50.700 full depths of the 00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:51.519 enmity that I have 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:52.440 at myself and my 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:53.880 past and different 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:54.539 parts of me. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:55.460 I don't know the 00:27:55.460 --> 00:27:56.559 full extent at which 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:57.579 I am at war within 00:27:57.579 --> 00:27:58.819 myself, at war with 00:27:58.819 --> 00:27:59.900 my wife, at war with 00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:00.940 my kids, at war with 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:02.620 my church, at war with 00:28:02.620 --> 00:28:03.940 the citizens, at war 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:04.500 with creation. 00:28:04.620 --> 00:28:05.799 I don't understand the 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:06.400 depth of the 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:07.200 hostility and the 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.339 enmity that I have. 00:28:08.339 --> 00:28:09.759 And what happens is 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:10.939 it's just almost as 00:28:10.939 --> 00:28:12.480 if a parent who 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.480 loves their child 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:14.279 who's getting so 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:14.980 angry and they 00:28:14.980 --> 00:28:15.939 just hug their 00:28:15.939 --> 00:28:16.819 child and hug 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:17.839 their child and hug 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.039 their child until 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:20.659 the enmity and the 00:28:20.659 --> 00:28:22.079 hostility and the 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:22.779 anger and the 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:24.379 screaming somehow 00:28:24.379 --> 00:28:25.599 comes another to a 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:25.879 stop. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:27.000 But in a far more 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:28.259 profound way that 00:28:28.259 --> 00:28:29.500 Paul illustrates it, 00:28:29.679 --> 00:28:30.619 the enmity that I 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:31.639 have towards God and 00:28:31.639 --> 00:28:32.259 the enmity that I 00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:33.000 have towards others 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:33.559 and the enmity I 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:34.359 have towards myself 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:35.079 that Christ 00:28:35.079 --> 00:28:37.980 embraces me and I 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:39.639 become one body in 00:28:39.639 --> 00:28:40.799 him and it's as if 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:41.980 all of that enmity, 00:28:42.179 --> 00:28:43.480 all of that hostility, 00:28:43.699 --> 00:28:44.659 all of that is 00:28:44.659 --> 00:28:47.099 swallowed up by him 00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:48.539 in his death upon the 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:48.939 cross. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.480 Like some of us, as 00:28:57.480 --> 00:28:58.419 we get closer to 00:28:58.419 --> 00:28:59.460 Christ, begin to know 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:00.939 even now in small 00:29:00.939 --> 00:29:01.879 ways on this side of 00:29:01.879 --> 00:29:04.059 the grave, the ways 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:05.000 that our anger and 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:06.099 enmity and hostility 00:29:06.099 --> 00:29:07.079 are swallowed up by 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:07.720 his love. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.019 But when we see 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:12.259 Christ face to face 00:29:12.259 --> 00:29:14.240 and the full depths 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.440 of our enmity and 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:18.059 hostility and anger 00:29:18.059 --> 00:29:20.259 are made clear to us, 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:21.579 we will just stand 00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:22.900 amazed at what Christ 00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:23.819 has done for us. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:31.880 It's all swallowed. 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:33.640 It's all consumed. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:36.539 It's all dealt with 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:38.740 as he clutching us 00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:39.599 to himself. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:41.619 In all of the 00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:42.119 divisions. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:43.559 And he doesn't do 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:44.519 this just one way for 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:45.279 one group and a 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:45.839 different way for 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:46.279 another group. 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:47.259 It's just everybody 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:47.980 with their own 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:48.960 different hostilities 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:49.539 and their own 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:50.900 different differences 00:29:50.900 --> 00:29:51.819 which we all think 00:29:51.819 --> 00:29:52.720 are so important. 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:55.599 They're all dealt 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.119 with and swallowed 00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:59.180 and consumed in 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:00.359 Jesus who's come 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:00.920 from heaven. 00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:02.000 He's not finite. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:02.920 He's infinite. 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:06.500 He is love himself. 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:08.039 He is light himself 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:09.420 in which the darkness 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:10.700 cannot survive. 00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:14.519 He is love himself. 00:30:17.819 --> 00:30:19.119 And it's a work of the 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:19.720 full Trinity. 00:30:20.579 --> 00:30:21.539 You see this whole thing 00:30:21.539 --> 00:30:22.359 about how Paul, 00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:23.400 remember I said how Paul 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:24.920 has this other story 00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:26.539 and you look here and 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:27.440 you'll see how the whole 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.259 Trinity is at work in this 00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:30.900 profound act of peace. 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:32.440 Verse 17 and 18. 00:30:33.099 --> 00:30:34.240 And Jesus came and 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.259 preached peace to you 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:36.359 who were far off and 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:37.140 peace to those who 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:37.559 were near. 00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:42.160 For through him we 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:43.720 both have access in 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:45.019 one spirit to the 00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:45.339 Father. 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:46.879 See that? 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:48.059 The Holy, the Trinity 00:30:48.059 --> 00:30:48.980 working together 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:50.059 through Jesus. 00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:52.259 All human beings have 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:53.599 access in one Holy 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:55.180 Spirit to the one 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:55.660 Father. 00:30:57.319 --> 00:30:58.099 See this is the 00:30:58.099 --> 00:30:59.079 profound thing which 00:30:59.079 --> 00:30:59.639 we see in the 00:30:59.639 --> 00:31:00.039 Gospel. 00:31:01.919 --> 00:31:02.779 We don't have to 00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:04.219 puzzle over how in 00:31:04.219 --> 00:31:04.980 a world where the 00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:05.879 strong eat the weak 00:31:05.879 --> 00:31:07.139 we should love one 00:31:07.139 --> 00:31:07.500 another. 00:31:08.159 --> 00:31:09.000 And we don't have to 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:10.059 puzzle over how we 00:31:10.059 --> 00:31:11.799 can have this fervent 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:13.779 delusional idea that 00:31:13.779 --> 00:31:14.839 we're perfectly good 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:15.899 yet at the same time 00:31:15.899 --> 00:31:16.959 our friends say look 00:31:16.959 --> 00:31:17.819 at how they hurt me 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:19.359 and we do these 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:20.119 wrong things and we 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:20.679 get upset with 00:31:20.679 --> 00:31:21.500 people's pride. 00:31:24.159 --> 00:31:25.419 In terms of how God 00:31:25.419 --> 00:31:26.959 created human beings 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:31.160 to be we were made 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:33.120 to be at peace with 00:31:33.120 --> 00:31:34.319 ourselves, at peace 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:35.120 with each other, at 00:31:35.120 --> 00:31:35.620 peace with the 00:31:35.620 --> 00:31:38.480 creation out of the 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:40.180 Father and the Son's 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:41.259 eternal love for each 00:31:41.259 --> 00:31:42.559 other and the Holy 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:43.059 Spirit. 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:48.680 And in redemption we 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:49.620 see the Father and the 00:31:49.620 --> 00:31:50.100 Son and the Holy 00:31:50.100 --> 00:31:51.100 Spirit moving and 00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:52.019 working to bring an 00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:53.620 end to peace, to bring 00:31:53.620 --> 00:31:54.680 an end to hostility and 00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:55.819 enmity that we might be 00:31:55.819 --> 00:31:56.359 at peace. 00:31:58.240 --> 00:31:59.259 And then the text 00:31:59.259 --> 00:32:00.419 continues to give us 00:32:00.419 --> 00:32:01.639 an idea and an image 00:32:01.639 --> 00:32:02.279 of what it will be 00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:04.859 like as we live now 00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:05.639 and as we move 00:32:05.639 --> 00:32:06.519 towards the future. 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:08.439 Look at verses 19 00:32:08.439 --> 00:32:09.339 and following. 00:32:10.139 --> 00:32:10.879 So then you are no 00:32:10.879 --> 00:32:12.220 longer strangers and 00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:14.700 aliens but you are 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:15.899 fellow citizens with 00:32:15.899 --> 00:32:16.899 the saints and members 00:32:16.899 --> 00:32:17.819 of the household of 00:32:17.819 --> 00:32:18.159 God. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.500 Just pause here for a 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:20.679 second. 00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:22.480 Paul uses the language 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:23.799 stranger as a legal 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:24.879 term in the Roman 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:26.260 empire as is aliens. 00:32:27.300 --> 00:32:28.180 So strangers are 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:29.280 people who had no 00:32:29.280 --> 00:32:30.700 rights whatsoever. 00:32:31.380 --> 00:32:32.860 Zero rights. 00:32:33.620 --> 00:32:34.860 Zero rights. 00:32:35.940 --> 00:32:38.060 Aliens had in Ephesus 00:32:38.060 --> 00:32:40.020 a limited number of 00:32:40.020 --> 00:32:40.920 rights and protections 00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:42.020 and obligations but 00:32:42.020 --> 00:32:42.900 they were very, very, 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:43.520 very limited. 00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:45.180 But you are fellow 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:45.760 citizens. 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:46.700 Citizen is the third 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:47.000 class. 00:32:47.080 --> 00:32:47.620 I don't know what the 00:32:47.620 --> 00:32:48.680 full statistics are to 00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:50.260 the 250,000 people in 00:32:50.260 --> 00:32:50.560 Ephesus. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:51.840 A thousand only were 00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:52.280 citizens. 00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:53.259 I don't know how 00:32:53.259 --> 00:32:54.079 many had the status 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:54.940 of aliens and how 00:32:54.940 --> 00:32:55.619 many had the status 00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:56.299 of strangers. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:57.700 But Paul here says 00:32:57.700 --> 00:32:58.859 this remarkable thing. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:00.980 So then you are no 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:02.240 longer strangers and 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:03.680 aliens but you are 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:05.379 fellow citizens with 00:33:05.379 --> 00:33:06.859 the saints and members 00:33:06.859 --> 00:33:07.819 of the household of 00:33:07.819 --> 00:33:08.779 God built on the 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:09.599 foundation of the 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:10.720 apostles and prophets. 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:12.379 Christ Jesus himself 00:33:12.379 --> 00:33:14.039 being the cornerstone in 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:15.220 whom the whole structure 00:33:15.220 --> 00:33:16.259 being joined together 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:17.319 grows into a holy 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:18.279 temple in the Lord. 00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:20.200 In him you also are 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:21.579 being built together 00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:22.839 into a dwelling place 00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:23.779 for God by the 00:33:23.779 --> 00:33:24.099 Spirit. 00:33:24.879 --> 00:33:27.779 So Paul gives, so the 00:33:27.779 --> 00:33:28.599 congregation would have 00:33:28.599 --> 00:33:29.420 had men and would have 00:33:29.420 --> 00:33:29.879 had women. 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:30.839 It would have had 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:32.700 slaves and free. 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:33.319 It would have had 00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:35.079 citizens probably and 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:35.920 non-citizens. 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:37.259 And it would have had 00:33:37.259 --> 00:33:39.839 because it was a world 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:41.119 city and a port. 00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:42.039 It would have had 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:42.899 people of different 00:33:42.899 --> 00:33:44.279 races and different 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:45.720 ethnicities. 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:46.680 It probably had Romans 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:47.599 and Greeks and it 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:48.819 probably had some Jews 00:33:48.819 --> 00:33:49.259 and it would have 00:33:49.259 --> 00:33:50.059 had other different 00:33:50.059 --> 00:33:50.459 people. 00:33:51.379 --> 00:33:52.179 And what he said is 00:33:52.179 --> 00:33:52.939 the way you have to 00:33:52.939 --> 00:33:54.199 understand yourself is 00:33:54.199 --> 00:33:54.859 that there's not a 00:33:54.859 --> 00:33:56.919 slave church and a 00:33:56.919 --> 00:33:58.259 citizen's church and a 00:33:58.259 --> 00:33:59.079 black church and a 00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:00.859 white church and a 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:01.699 woman's church and a 00:34:01.699 --> 00:34:02.359 man's church. 00:34:03.219 --> 00:34:04.259 The way you are to 00:34:04.259 --> 00:34:05.639 understand yourself is 00:34:05.639 --> 00:34:07.000 that given that Christ 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:09.019 has so embraced you, 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:13.880 so embraced you at the 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:15.000 deepest levels of your 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.699 soul and spirit, so 00:34:16.699 --> 00:34:18.739 embraced you, become 00:34:18.739 --> 00:34:20.259 closer to you than you 00:34:20.259 --> 00:34:21.699 are to yourself, closer 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:22.819 to you than your own 00:34:22.819 --> 00:34:23.339 breathing. 00:34:24.299 --> 00:34:25.819 And in being so close 00:34:25.819 --> 00:34:27.639 to you, the enmity and 00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:28.759 the anger and the 00:34:28.759 --> 00:34:29.779 hostility and the 00:34:29.779 --> 00:34:30.919 jealousy and the pride 00:34:30.919 --> 00:34:32.000 that you have is in a 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.699 sense swallowed up by 00:34:33.699 --> 00:34:35.000 him and dealt with by 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:36.099 him in his death upon 00:34:36.099 --> 00:34:36.699 the cross. 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:38.379 And a righteousness of 00:34:38.379 --> 00:34:39.699 Christ which is not your 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:41.599 own, that his perfect 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:42.579 relationship with the 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:44.059 father, his perfect life 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:45.779 love and light, that 00:34:45.779 --> 00:34:47.779 somehow now clothes you. 00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:50.739 This has been so 00:34:50.739 --> 00:34:51.440 powerful. 00:34:52.779 --> 00:34:53.759 And it's not, and it's 00:34:53.759 --> 00:34:55.299 how every single human 00:34:55.299 --> 00:34:56.799 being is made right with 00:34:56.799 --> 00:34:57.179 God. 00:34:57.519 --> 00:34:59.320 And so God himself has in 00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:01.099 effect for every Christian 00:35:01.099 --> 00:35:02.739 created a brand new human 00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:03.179 being. 00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:06.299 And so how are you to 00:35:06.299 --> 00:35:07.320 understand how to live? 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:11.559 You are to live in such a 00:35:11.559 --> 00:35:12.760 way that you are modeling 00:35:12.760 --> 00:35:14.600 to put to death the 00:35:14.600 --> 00:35:16.620 divisions that the world 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:18.980 believes are so important. 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:20.380 Why? 00:35:21.900 --> 00:35:23.320 Because whether you are a 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:26.280 slave in Ephesus or 00:35:26.280 --> 00:35:27.300 whether you are a freed 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.160 man or a citizen, every 00:35:29.160 --> 00:35:30.380 single one of you is 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:32.720 equally a citizen in 00:35:32.720 --> 00:35:33.460 Christ's kingdom. 00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:36.000 What else are you? 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:38.019 Whether you are a slave, 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:39.500 whether you are black or 00:35:39.500 --> 00:35:42.059 white, whether you are 00:35:42.059 --> 00:35:43.880 Greek speaking or Roman 00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:45.239 speaking or some other 00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:48.019 language, whether you are 00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:50.500 old or young, every single 00:35:50.500 --> 00:35:52.159 one of you in Christ should 00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:53.659 understand that they are a 00:35:53.659 --> 00:35:55.860 child in God's household. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.420 Your father has a 00:36:00.420 --> 00:36:02.340 household and you're all part 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:02.639 of it. 00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:04.659 And then he gives this third 00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:06.199 image and you are to 00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:09.159 understand yourself as 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:11.079 that God has chosen you 00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:13.859 and he's now made you a 00:36:13.859 --> 00:36:14.719 living stone. 00:36:15.500 --> 00:36:16.679 And he's chosen you and 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:17.559 he's chosen you and he's 00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:18.500 chosen you and he's chosen 00:36:18.500 --> 00:36:19.379 you and he's chosen you 00:36:19.379 --> 00:36:20.399 he's chosen you he's chosen 00:36:20.399 --> 00:36:20.679 you. 00:36:20.799 --> 00:36:22.039 You're each living stones 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:23.940 and he's taking these 00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:24.599 living stones. 00:36:24.759 --> 00:36:26.420 He's taking them and he's 00:36:26.420 --> 00:36:27.460 not making you like a 00:36:27.460 --> 00:36:27.799 temple. 00:36:28.019 --> 00:36:29.500 Doesn't say like he says he's 00:36:29.500 --> 00:36:31.500 making you into a temple. 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:34.840 A temple 00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:37.500 where he dwells. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:41.119 One temple 00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:42.840 that he's building 00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:44.519 out of living stones. 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:47.300 And a temple is where people 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:49.300 go to meet God and it is through 00:36:49.300 --> 00:36:51.400 that temple, these living stones 00:36:51.400 --> 00:36:52.760 unworthy as we are 00:36:52.760 --> 00:36:54.960 that the world can meet God. 00:36:56.639 --> 00:36:57.420 You see one of the things 00:36:57.420 --> 00:36:59.159 which is so interesting in this text 00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:01.259 is that when he says 00:37:01.259 --> 00:37:03.119 that Christ came and preached peace 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:04.899 to those who are far off in here 00:37:04.899 --> 00:37:07.359 what he's saying is that 00:37:07.359 --> 00:37:09.259 when you and I, when this church 00:37:09.259 --> 00:37:10.779 when we proclaim Christ 00:37:10.779 --> 00:37:13.500 it's Christ 00:37:13.500 --> 00:37:14.980 proclaiming. 00:37:17.819 --> 00:37:19.019 Because we're his temple. 00:37:23.420 --> 00:37:25.339 So as we're gripped by the gospel 00:37:25.339 --> 00:37:27.480 as we're truly gripped 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:28.099 by the gospel 00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:29.679 as it becomes real to our hearts 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:31.179 all racism 00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:32.480 and all prejudice 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:33.920 should wither and die. 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:35.860 And as we are gripped 00:37:35.860 --> 00:37:36.699 by the gospel 00:37:36.699 --> 00:37:38.139 as it becomes deeper 00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:39.519 and more real to our heart 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:40.440 when we understand 00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:42.320 what Christ has done for us 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:45.119 our desire to build bonds 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:45.679 of affection 00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:46.740 between other churches 00:37:46.740 --> 00:37:47.360 should grow. 00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:49.920 And as the gospel 00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:50.539 grips us 00:37:50.539 --> 00:37:51.480 as we understand 00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:54.719 that the story 00:37:54.719 --> 00:37:56.139 which is the true story 00:37:56.139 --> 00:37:56.699 of the world 00:37:56.699 --> 00:37:57.400 and of the universe 00:37:57.400 --> 00:37:58.519 is not that 00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:00.780 the strong eat the weak 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:01.880 and somehow or another 00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:02.519 we developed 00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.159 but that the Father 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:04.800 and the Son 00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:05.639 and the Holy Spirit 00:38:05.639 --> 00:38:06.780 created human beings 00:38:06.780 --> 00:38:07.920 and when we had fallen 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:08.760 and brought enmity 00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:09.780 into the world 00:38:09.780 --> 00:38:11.179 the Father and the Son 00:38:11.179 --> 00:38:11.840 and the Holy Spirit 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:13.300 act to bring redemption 00:38:13.300 --> 00:38:15.099 and out of that redemption 00:38:15.099 --> 00:38:15.860 there is to be 00:38:15.860 --> 00:38:17.300 this one new humanity 00:38:17.300 --> 00:38:17.840 which is 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:19.340 every person who's in it 00:38:19.340 --> 00:38:20.960 is part of God's one household 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:22.240 that we're all citizens 00:38:22.240 --> 00:38:23.039 in one kingdom 00:38:23.039 --> 00:38:24.260 that we're all living stones 00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:25.079 in one building 00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:26.620 and if you think about it 00:38:26.620 --> 00:38:26.980 for a second 00:38:26.980 --> 00:38:27.920 in the book of Revelation 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:30.019 you see that there is no temple 00:38:30.019 --> 00:38:31.440 because the entire world 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:32.380 becomes in a sense 00:38:32.380 --> 00:38:33.500 God's dwelling place 00:38:33.500 --> 00:38:35.160 and we are in that world 00:38:35.160 --> 00:38:35.920 so we know that 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:36.700 from the past 00:38:36.700 --> 00:38:37.260 and the present 00:38:37.260 --> 00:38:37.900 and the future 00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:39.660 there is just 00:38:39.660 --> 00:38:41.900 citizens in one kingdom 00:38:41.900 --> 00:38:43.800 one new humanity 00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:45.280 and that as we draw 00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:46.160 close to Christ 00:38:46.160 --> 00:38:47.380 racism and prejudice 00:38:47.380 --> 00:38:48.240 should die 00:38:48.240 --> 00:38:49.019 where the gospel 00:38:49.019 --> 00:38:49.599 is not real 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:50.380 to our hearts 00:38:50.380 --> 00:38:54.460 but when you stand 00:38:54.460 --> 00:38:55.800 in such a story 00:38:55.800 --> 00:38:56.519 gripped 00:38:56.519 --> 00:38:57.639 by the wonder 00:38:57.639 --> 00:38:58.280 of what God 00:38:58.280 --> 00:38:58.920 has done for us 00:38:58.920 --> 00:38:59.599 in the gospel 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:01.559 when we look at the world 00:39:01.559 --> 00:39:05.400 when we look at the world 00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:07.340 not only do we pray 00:39:07.340 --> 00:39:08.480 for the bonds of affection 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:09.179 between churches 00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:09.900 to increase 00:39:09.900 --> 00:39:12.900 but if Christ 00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:13.900 so acted 00:39:13.900 --> 00:39:15.199 to bring an end 00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:16.039 to hostility 00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:17.739 so will I 00:39:17.739 --> 00:39:22.079 so will I 00:39:22.079 --> 00:39:23.139 so should we 00:39:23.139 --> 00:39:25.179 please stand 00:39:25.179 --> 00:39:37.980 Father some of us 00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:38.539 know we have 00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:39.619 anger problems 00:39:39.619 --> 00:39:41.440 and 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:43.619 others of us 00:39:43.619 --> 00:39:44.460 don't think we do 00:39:44.460 --> 00:39:47.019 and some of us 00:39:47.019 --> 00:39:47.679 Father know 00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:48.460 that we struggle 00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:49.259 with enmity 00:39:49.259 --> 00:39:50.579 and prejudice 00:39:50.579 --> 00:39:52.039 and racism 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:54.139 and class 00:39:54.139 --> 00:39:54.880 consciousness 00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:56.880 and some of us 00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.099 don't realize 00:39:58.099 --> 00:39:58.820 that those things 00:39:58.820 --> 00:39:59.779 are probably 00:39:59.779 --> 00:40:01.059 going on in our minds 00:40:01.059 --> 00:40:01.639 and our hearts 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:02.199 and our lives 00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:03.000 in different ways 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:05.360 and we give you 00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:06.179 thanks and praise 00:40:06.179 --> 00:40:06.579 Father 00:40:06.579 --> 00:40:08.679 that Jesus knows 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:09.099 us better 00:40:09.099 --> 00:40:09.539 than we know 00:40:09.539 --> 00:40:10.079 ourselves 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:11.000 and that when 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:11.940 he unites himself 00:40:11.940 --> 00:40:12.639 to us 00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.139 that he comes 00:40:15.139 --> 00:40:16.039 closer to us 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:16.460 than we are 00:40:16.460 --> 00:40:17.119 to ourselves 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:18.840 and he knows 00:40:18.840 --> 00:40:20.780 and experiences 00:40:20.780 --> 00:40:21.840 the full depth 00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:23.039 of our prejudices 00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:24.320 and our angers 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.380 and our enmity 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:26.880 and our anger 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:27.860 and hostility 00:40:27.860 --> 00:40:29.820 and he tastes it 00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:30.460 full 00:40:30.460 --> 00:40:31.619 with nothing 00:40:31.619 --> 00:40:32.240 left out 00:40:32.240 --> 00:40:33.880 and he deals 00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:34.780 with all of it 00:40:34.780 --> 00:40:35.340 in his death 00:40:35.340 --> 00:40:36.179 upon the cross 00:40:36.179 --> 00:40:36.760 out of love 00:40:36.760 --> 00:40:37.340 for us 00:40:37.340 --> 00:40:39.139 that we might be 00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:39.720 your children 00:40:39.720 --> 00:40:40.659 in your household 00:40:40.659 --> 00:40:42.179 citizens in your 00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:42.579 kingdom 00:40:42.579 --> 00:40:43.699 living stones 00:40:43.699 --> 00:40:44.920 in your temple 00:40:44.920 --> 00:40:45.699 where you will dwell 00:40:45.699 --> 00:40:47.360 Father we thank you 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:48.059 for the cross 00:40:48.059 --> 00:40:48.639 we thank you 00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:49.220 for Christ 00:40:49.220 --> 00:40:50.500 make us disciples 00:40:50.500 --> 00:40:51.119 of Jesus 00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:51.800 who are gripped 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:52.639 by the gospel 00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:54.699 learning to live 00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:55.840 for your glory 00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:57.400 and this we ask 00:40:57.400 --> 00:40:58.500 in Jesus' name 00:40:58.500 --> 00:40:59.659 and all God's people 00:40:59.659 --> 00:41:00.039 said 00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:01.219 Amen