One in Christ

One In Christ – Sermon Notes             Pastor Mike Snodgrass

Ephesians 2:11-3:13                       February 8, 2026

Theme: The central theme to this letter is that:

• 1. All things are created for ultimate unity in Jesus! This message brings hope to a hopeless, wandering world. Our world struggles for meaning, truth and Paul expresses that this hope is found only in Christ!
  2. Obtain liberty through Christ! This is incredibly relevant for today’s culture and today’s church! WHY?
  3. The Church is the mechanism and place where this all happens! In a world so divided and hostile, the Church is to lead the way by showing the literal divided humanity coming together as one under Christ!
  4. Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, (a collection of churches most likely) made up of “Gentiles” or non-jewish peoples.

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Review:

• We left off last week at chapter 2:10. Last week’s passage was describing how we are alive in Christ. How through Jesus, Paul is praying that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened.
• He wanted us to know three things:
  • the hope to which he has called us.
  • The riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
  • and finally the incomparable power for those who believe.
• Paul than began emphasizing the back and forth between the individual “As for YOU”(2:1) and the body “made US alive in Christ” (2:5)
• Paul reminds that we are “saved by GRACE through FAITH”(2:8)
  • This new life isn’t something we earn by doing good things. Instead, good works naturally grow out of the new life God gives us through His grace.
• The question that I left you with: What is He calling you to do? As the eyes of your heart are opened and He pours wisdom and revelation into you? AS FOR YOU… Where is He calling you to expand your tent?

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Today’s message is found in Ephesians 2:11-3:13. Please follow along in your Bible or on a Bible app. Follow the Sermon Notes through the Church Center App as well.

We are going to start at the end in order to emphasize what Jesus has done and will do through His Church! Chapter 3:7-13 Today we are reading out of the English Standard Version.

Chapter 3 versus 7-13:

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[d] God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

• Remember who Paul is writing to. An audience in Ephesus of Gentile or non-Jewish race and ethnicity.
• In biblical terms, a “mystery” refers to a divine truth that was previously hidden but is now revealed by God. This concept is prevalent in the New Testament, particularly in Paul’s writings. This was a radical revelation in Paul’s time and remains a foundational truth for the Church today.
• Paul is making a case of his authority to preach and express this “mystery”. The “mystery” pertains to the previously hidden truth that Gentiles are fellow heirs in Christ
• The term “manifold” suggests a rich, multifaceted wisdom, indicating the complexity and depth of God’s plan.
  • Think of a diamond and how the light hits and reflects off of all of the various cuts and angles of that stone.
  • The manifold wisdom also reflects God’s ability to use diverse means and people to accomplish His purposes, as seen throughout biblical history.
• to the rulers and authorities
  These terms often refer to spiritual beings, both good and evil, in the heavenly realms. This suggests that the church’s role is not only earthly but cosmic, impacting the spiritual realm. Colossians 2:15 speaks of Christ disarming these powers, indicating their subjugation through His work. The church’s existence and mission demonstrate God’s wisdom to these spiritual entities.
• in the heavenly realms
  This phrase points to the spiritual dimension of reality, which is a recurring theme in Ephesians (Ephesians 1:3, 6:12). It underscores the idea that the church’s mission has implications beyond the physical world, affecting the spiritual order. This reflects the biblical worldview that acknowledges both visible and invisible realities, as seen in 2 Corinthians 4:18, which speaks of the eternal nature of the unseen.
• we may enter God’s presence
  The ability to enter God’s presence was once restricted to the high priest under the Old Covenant, who could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year (Hebrews 9:7). Through Christ’s atoning sacrifice, the veil was torn (Matthew 27:51), granting all believers direct access to God. This access is a fulfillment of the promise of a new covenant relationship (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
• with boldness and confidence
  Boldness and confidence reflect the assurance believers have in approaching God, not based on their own merit but on Christ’s righteousness.

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“Jim Crow”

Thought: The phrase “Jim Crow” comes from a 19th-century minstrel song and stage character performed by white actors in blackface. The character mocked and stereotyped Black Americans. Over time, the name became shorthand for laws and practices that enforced racial inequality.

Rise of Jim Crow (Late 1800s – Early 1900s)

Southern states passed laws that mandated segregation and restricted Black civil rights. These laws affected nearly every area of daily life:

Segregation Laws

• Separate schools
• Separate bathrooms and water fountains
• Separate train cars and buses
• Separate hospitals, restaurants, and theaters
• Separate entrances to buildings

Division of “Us vs. Them”

• Black vs. White (U.S. racial history): Division based on skin color and racial ideology.
• Jew vs. Gentile (biblical/ancient world): Division based on ethnicity, covenant identity, religion, and cultural practices.
• In both cases:
• One group was often treated as insiders with privilege.
• The other group was labeled outsiders or inferior.
• Social barriers were reinforced by law, custom, and tradition.

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The modern cultural context and comparison of Jew vs. Gentile and Black vs. White have differing histories, contexts and ultimate outcomes and ARE NOT IDENTICAL! However, it is a comparison to draw our understanding of what a revolutionary concept the readers of this letter were hearing! And what you and I are a part of today!

ESV  Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

• The Jews believed the Gentiles were created to fuel the fires of Hell. Likewise, the Gentiles hated anyone not like them.
• Remember, through our text in verses 1-10 showed that BOTH Jews and Gentiles were spiritually alienated from God, but there was an even greater distance for Gentiles’ alienation. Verse 12 states at that time you were separate from Christ
  • They were stateless and not part of the Messianic people –
    • excluded from citizenship in Israel
  • They were friendless –
    • and foreigners to the covenants of the promise,
  • They were hopeless and godless –
    • without hope and without God in the world.
  • For the Gentiles, history was going nowhere. There was no Messiah, no hope. That is the way it is today also, apart from Christ…
  • What happens as a result of this separation and what Paul states as “far away” is alienation. Alienation from God and alienation from man with all its dehumanizing and debilitating effects.

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13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

• Those far away were the Gentiles and those who were near were Jews.
• Remember what Jesus said in John 14:26 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”…
  • JESUS IS OUR PEACE!!!
  • Verse 14: For he himself is our peace…
• Verse 14: destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility
  • In Herod’s Temple there was a wall that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the rest of the Temple, and on the wall written in Latin and Greek was a statement forbidding Gentiles to enter.
• Verse 15: by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations
  • Abolished the law? – In Matthew 5:17 at the sermon on the mount, Christ stated that he, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”.
  • Christ fulfilled the Moral Law but abolished the Jewish Ceremonial Law.
    • The washings and cleanings
    • The Sabbath restrictions etc.
    • All of the barriers, the things “I had to do” are gone and now,
    • Through GRACE we are saved!!!
  • Moral law refers to commands that deal with right and wrong behavior — principles of justice, holiness, and love that reflect God’s character.
  • Ceremonial law refers to regulations governing Israel’s worship practices, rituals, and symbols that set them apart as a distinct covenant people.

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19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

• Citizenship was an even greater source of pride in the ancient world. In the Greco-Roman culture to which Paul was writing in Ephesus, citizenship was highly personal. One’s city, or polis, provided one’s identity.
• Upon believing, these outcasts moved to the very center of God’s purpose. Interlopers became insiders, aliens heirs, the lowest class first class.
• John Calvin – “Those who were formerly profane and unworthy…have now become partners with the godly, have now the rights of citizens along with Abraham, with all the holy patriarchs, and prophets, and kings, nay – no better than that, with the angels themselves”.
• Paul uses specific imagery to convey what Christ has done! A physical building but consisting of three things:
  • A foundation – The foundation of the new temple is God’s Word
  • A cornerstone – The cornerstone decided the architectural unity and symmetry
  • Building blocks – you too are being built together. The Gentiles were excluded from the Jerusalem Temple by a wall and signs threatening death. But now, Christ they actually form the wall of the “new temple”.

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CH. 3 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is[c] that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

• “Mystery” – the Greek word musterion means something which is beyond natural knowledge, but has been opened to us by divine revelation through the Holy Spirit.
• The open secret, which was not understood in times past, is that Jews and Gentiles are:
  • Fellow heirs
  • Members together
  • Sharers together – fellow partakers
• In view of this miraculous togetherness, there is no room at all in the Church of Jesus Christ for separation. There is no room for people who say they believe what Paul says about the mystery, but do not practice it or think this doesn’t apply to us…

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Back to where we started…

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[d] God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.