Unified Humanity In Christ Jesus

Good morning everyone. Let’s turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2. We’ll continue our studies from the book of Ephesians. Let’s turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 and we’ll read verses 11 till 22. Ephesians 2, verses 11 till 22. “Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

“But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who are near, for

“through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for your word. As we come to meditate upon your word, O Father, we pray that you would, Lord, bring

the conviction, and we pray, God, that you would shape our convictions, Lord, based upon your word. It was grace to submit to the teaching of your word. And may you love the Spirit of God to work in our lives for God. And we pray that you would establish all of us in your truth so that, Lord, we would mature, Lord, as the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, blessed time in Jesus Christ and we pray. Amen. Paul reminds these beautiful truths of God and the gospel in this epistle. In our previous studies we have seen them and the first chapter, Paul

reminds them of God’s amazing grace towards his people. He speaks about our spiritual in Christ Jesus, and how the Triune God is at work in purposing, accomplishing, and applying those blessings in our lives. And the goal of God’s work is that we would be holy and blameless before Him. And since God possesses us, we be to the praise of His glory. He also prays for God’s him better and we would realize the might of God’s power which is at work in our lives.

In the second chapter, Paul speaks about how God has changed us. Before we came into Christ, we were all in a state of deadness. We were dead to God and in our sins. We inherited a sinful nature from Adam and we walked according to the course of this world. We were under the enemy’s grip. We lived in the lusts of the flesh. We were by nature the children of God’s wrath, and we were saved from that state by God’s mercy and his initiation. God made us alive by the mediation of Christ Jesus. And all believers are God’s workmanship. Right? And today we will look at the second half of chapter 2.

And Paul in this portion, he traces out a profile. All believers fit into this profile. The first portion of chapter 2, in the first portion of chapter 2, Paul says we were spiritually dead and were made alive. And in this second portion of chapter 2, Paul says we were once alienated and now we are brought near to God. And the title of the sermon is “The Unified Humanity in Christ Jesus.” From verses 11 till 22, this entire section is appropriately structured grammatically and thematically, and Paul seamlessly moves from one theme into another. In this passage we find three conjunctions. If you can see there, you know, we divide this passage into three parts or three things. We’ll find the first conjunction in verse 11. It starts with “therefore,” and some of the versions it could be “but now” or “then,” and this connects us naturally to the

previous section. And here Paul reminds us of our former state, our alienation. And Paul moves to the next stage in our spiritual life. Christ’s redemptive work brings us near to God. Look at verse 13. He begins with another conjunction, “but now.” Here he speaks about our reconciliation. Then he moves to the next stage in our Christian life. Look at verse 19. We’ll find another conjunction. “So then.” Here we are being built into a dwelling place for God.

Firstly, alienation. Verse 11. It says, “Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by the human hands.” As I mentioned, this section begins with a conjunction. That is, “therefore.” It is a link between the two paragraphs or two thoughts. In chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, Paul emphasizes that all, both Jews and Gentiles, as dead in their trespasses. And if anyone is ever saved, it’s totally, purely by the grace and the mercies of God. We are the workmanship of God. And in the following paragraph, Paul describes the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ Jesus.

And what is the connection between these two thoughts? Humanly speaking, bringing these two parties together and calling them as one group is close to impossible. There could be a potential problem in these churches, which Paul was addressing. And by way of reminder, Paul reminds them that both Jews and Gentiles are by nature dead in their trespasses.

Any thoughts of superiority, any thoughts of superiority should be removed. And he wants them to be united, which he teaches in chapter 4. The early church comprised mainly of Jewish Christians, and there was a history of animosity between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would not even eat with Gentiles, calling them unclean dogs. On the other hand, the Romans were highly proud of their culture. Anyone who wouldn’t speak Greek was considered as a barbarian.

Like in these days, you know, English is a famous language. If anyone doesn’t speak English, you know, people tend to look down on them. They were also harshly anti-Semitic. You know, the Romans, knowing the potential for racial tension, Paul may have written this to avoid any potential conflict. Or maybe there was already tensions brewing up in the community. In verse 11, Paul distinguishes between the two parties here. Uncircumcision, which is a Gentile group, and circumcision, the Jewish group. And the phrase here, “the so-called uncircumcision,” shows that the hostility between the two groups has come from the Jewish side, since uncircumcision was a term of scorn for a long time. But in Paul’s mind, that circumcision or uncircumcision doesn’t

hold any value because we know that circumcision was only a sign. And Paul shows us elsewhere that Abraham was counted, the father of Jews was even counted. He was counted as righteous by faith alone, not because of circumcision. A covenant was made before circumcision. We see that in Romans chapter 4. Even for a Jew to be saved, even for a Jew to be saved, it was by faith alone.

Not circumcision, because it was only a sign. Look at verse 11. The Gentiles are Gentiles according to the flesh. And Jews were circumcised in the flesh. And neither matter for their right standing before God. In Christ, both Jews and Gentiles are the same.

But here, you look there, Paul wants his Gentile audience to remember who they were. And this broadly applies to all of us here because none of us are from the Jewish background. Right? Us to remember. Look at verse 12. Paul reminds us of five things here, that number one, we are separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world. When you say that Gentiles are separate from Christ, we can ask another question. Are Jews not separate? Is that not the point of Paul in Romans chapter 2 and 3?

All have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Not even one who seeks after God. No, none is righteous. Was that not the point of Paul? But here the point is not only by nature, but also by covenant. There was a covenantal separation. God made a covenant with the house of Israel. The unbelieving Gentiles were separated from the spirit of God’s revelation of himself.

And such revelation was only available to the Jews. And Gentiles separated from Israel did not have the hope of Messiah. They did not have the messianic promise and the privileged status with God that Israel’s covenant relationship with him brought the benefits that came with that covenantal relationship to the Jews.

And Jews had covenants and promises. More importantly, they had the hope of Messiah. All the covenants of Israel looked forward to the Messianic fulfillment. This is how the Gentiles are separated from Christ. Gentiles worship, on the other hand, a pantheon of deities. We do not worship the true and the living God. And to be without God is to be without hope in this world. And we are doomed for sure.

Why do you think Paul is reminding us of all this? Because naturally, it is impossible to graft ourselves into the covenant community of God, which has a messianic hope. It’s impossible for us to be grafted in there. Paul here wants to highlight the miracle of grace.

It’s only by grace, it’s by grace alone that we are grafted in. Wants us never to forget where we are brought from. An undeserving, unworthy state. You might have been born into a wealthy family, a noble family. You might be from a high caste or an educated family. People of this world value this.

And sometimes as believers we are sold out to such thoughts, and it doesn't matter to God. Sometimes we use a language for people who lived a horrible criminal life, who come from a criminal background. We say, if someone had come to know God from that background, we would say it is a miracle.

it's a miracle that such a person saved now. But do you know the reality? It takes a miracle of God's grace for all of us to be saved. We will all be equally dead in our trespasses, and we all are alienated from God. That's our reality and our position before God.

Without God's work in us, it is impossible for any of us to be saved. It takes the miracle of God's grace to make us the people of God. That brings us to the next point. We are alienated. And how are we reconciled to God and with the Jews?

Verse 13, it says, “but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Now this portion again begins with the phrase “but now.” It talks about the time. “But now” in the original Greek, it talks about the time, the current conditions. This is said in contrast with the word “formerly” in verse 11, which also speaks about time. And “at the time” in verse 12, you see there, but now again, it talks about time. At that time, we who are once far off from God and hope, but now this time have been brought near.

How? By the blood of Christ. It is by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. What is so unique about the sacrifice of Jesus? This is typified in the Old Testament temple. You remember all the Jews were forbidden from the holy and the most holy places in the temple? The priest could enter the holy place, but into the most holy place only a high priest would enter once in a year, on the Day of Atonement, with the blood of the sacrifice.

And the book of Hebrews sheds light on this. The old covenant high priest would enter to offer sacrifice for his own sins and then for the people's sins. We read those details in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 27, “and this they did every year,” which means they had to offer the sacrifice again and again. But unlike the old covenant high priest, Jesus is the eternal high priest who came down from heaven. He took upon himself a form of man, because he was born of a virgin. He lived like a man, but he never— He was righteous. He pleased the Father perfectly. He never sinned.

He was without sin. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” He offered up himself once for all. He offered himself for our sins. It pleased God to offer him for our sins. He is the lamb and the priest. Our sins were laid on him. He suffered under the wrath of God, which was burning hot against our sins. It pleased God to crush Jesus for our sins. Our sins deserve punishment.

We deserve to be crushed under God's rod. But Jesus interposed. He came in between. The rod fell on him. He was crushed in our place. Jesus died in our place and rose again on the third day. And the writer of Hebrews also says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, “when he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.” You know, this is a beautiful picture of completion.

Unlike the Old Testament high priest, they would enter into the holy of holies once a year. Every year. And here you see the eternal high priest entered the heavenly tabernacle and he sat down at the right hand of the majesty. That's a picture of completion. And the writer of Hebrews also says Jesus continues forever as the high priest, as a priest. He died once for all for our sins forevermore. He is God and man forever. The writer of Hebrews continues to say in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, “therefore he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

We are reconciled to God through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and no one can separate us from God because of Christ's perfect sacrifice. All that the old covenant anticipated has been fulfilled in the new and the better covenant, which is mediated by the better High Priest, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are brought into that covenant.

Because naturally it would have been impossible for us to be part of the old covenant. The old covenant was made with the house of Israel and according to Jeremiah chapter 31, even old covenant anticipates a new covenant which would be made with the house of Israel and Judah.

And we are brought into that covenant through the mediation of the new and the better high priest our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 14: “For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”

Jesus reconciled his people to God through his death and reconciled them to each other. In particular, he reconciled those of the Jewish descent with those who are of the Gentile descent. You know, the Jerusalem Temple had a notable feature. A wall inscription facing the outer courtyard that served as a warning to the Gentiles. The inscription made it clear that if a Gentile entered the inner courts, they would be held solely responsible for their death.

It was indeed a dividing wall. And thankfully, all these barriers are broken on the cross. And all enmity, according to verse 15, all enmity is broken through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself is our peace. He brings these two people together. Those who are not once people, once the people of God, have now become the people of God.

Verse 17, “he came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Now Paul alludes here to Isaiah, especially Isaiah chapter 52 and chapter 57, where the Lord’s servant proclaims the peace and the Lord’s favor. The Lord’s servant is the suffering Messiah of Isaiah chapter 53. And he is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Jesus is said to have proclaimed peace to those who are far and to those who are near. Who are the far and who are near? Far are the Gentiles and the near are the Jews. And this is, of course, after his resurrection and displays Paul’s conviction that through his ministry and that of the other apostles, Christ himself speaks and acts. We see that particularly in Acts 10, verse 36, where they were preaching peace through Jesus Christ.

Peace with God and one another is the essence of the gospel. Look at verse 15. The Mosaic law had ordinances and teachings on purity and separation. Those rituals made them distinct from other nations. This whole body of legislation or ordinances was invalidated by Christ as part of his work of the new creation.

The new covenant in Christ made the old one obsolete. The rules and the rituals that once made the Jews distinct are no longer in force. They are now no longer a distinct nation. We must understand that God chose Israel for a purpose. And what is that purpose?

He created this distinction to bring Messiah into this world. And once the Messiah came, Israel as a nation lost its distinction. Now, through the Messiah, salvation is available to all kinds of people. Look at verse 16. Now God brings these two groups together and reconciles them into one body. Into one body. And these two hostile groups are part of one church.

The unity of the church is the central concern of this epistle. And look at verse 18. Now both Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father in one Spirit through Christ. Notice here all the three members of the Trinity here. The word access means to draw near to God and to enjoy Him forever, which is the greatest good for His creatures. And in the Old Covenant, access to God was severely restricted even to the Jews.

But now through Christ’s atoning work and reconciling work, believers can enter the And later in Ephesians, Paul says that in Christ, in chapter 3, he says that we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith. This is the accomplishment of redemption. That is the access to God.

And one more thing. Horizontal reconciliation dominates this passage. All relationships in the church are essential. We need reconciliation between the high and the low class. High and the low caste. Educated and the uneducated. Posh and the non-posh. I don’t know the opposite of posh.

This kind of divide is strong in this world. But it is in the world, but how can we tolerate such distinctions in the church? How can you tolerate them in your mind as a redeemed believer? All the distinctions are in our mind. You may not show them outwardly, you may smile at everyone, but if those distinctions are still there in your mind, you’re still there. That means you’re not still, you’re not reconciled in some way. You think that you are better, you’re better than the other person him.

Whereas the Bible says all are dead, all come short, all have sinned, no one is righteous. Remember this, we're all far away from God, alienated from the covenant promises with our hope. All the standards of this world doesn't matter. This thought that this thought that my particular class or that particular race are better, you know, that is snobbery. Know what snobbery is? It is the thought that somehow we are inherently better.

No human race is better. We all need God’s evaluation of us. And we need His grace. How you gripped by your former state before God? How you gripped by that state. Do you value the costly reconciliation accomplished by the sacrifice of Lord Jesus Christ?

That is the pattern for our reconciliation with others. All other distinctions are broken. Do not bring them back into the Church of God. Do not bring them back into Christian lives. The church and every Christian should display that new bought unity. Do you know what God desires to accomplish by creating one blood-bought united body? That’s a description in the in the following verses, in verses 19 to 22. God wants to accomplish something greater, a dwelling place of God. Today if you look at an average church, what do we see? Do

you see it as a dwelling place of God? Or conflicts, disagreements, fights? What do you see in the churches? What do you see here? Verse 19. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household.”

Now, believing Gentiles have been united in one body to God, according to verse 16, along with the believing Jews of both the Old and the New Testament periods to Christ’s substitutionary mediation. Therefore, any disparity between the two groups regarding their status in God’s eyes has ended. It has come to an end. And Paul says, is so that now this God created unity will become God’s habitation, the dwelling place of God.

You see here, well used the Greco-Roman citizenship categories here. Strangers, aliens, citizens. In a Greek city states, a stranger was a total foreigner with no rights and privileges. An alien, he could be called as a resident alien, was a non-citizen who lived in the city and was treated as a neighbor. And a citizen had complete protection and rights.

Paul's point here is that believing Gentiles are not second-class citizens in the house of God. They are now full citizens with full privileges in God's household. They are one. Believing Gentiles are more longer aliens and strangers but fairer citizens along with the believing Jews. Now they are part of the same kingdom. Not only the kingdom, they are now part of the same family. They are household of God. Believers, however, are not included in God's family as slaves or freedmen. You know what we see here? But all have been adopted into the family of God as sons.

We are the household of God. That’s a picture. We are the family of God. We have all come into this household of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Jesus, it destroys all barriers. Since we have come into this family, this household, the church is built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets.

What material is used for this building? You know what material is used? The foundation on which the Ephesian saints are built is the ministry of the apostles and prophets. We see that in Acts 2, verse 42. Do the apostolic teachings became the norm for doctrine. It was also primarily from the apostles that we have the New Testament writings. And like a foundation, once their foundational work was that it was done, that’s why there are no more apostles today, in the sense that Paul was a person who was handpicked and trained by Jesus.

And who are these prophets? The studies on prophets is very abstract in the New Testament. We will study this when we come to chapter 4. But in passing I want to mention that some say that these prophets are the Old Testament prophets, and some say that they are the prophets like Agabus in Acts 11. But it is crucial for us to understand and observe the word order here. It says “apostles and prophets,” not “prophets and apostles,” right? If it could have been probably worded prophets and apostles, but here it says “apostles and prophets.” And these prophets gave inspired revelation to the new covenant communities, which led to written apostolic revelation such as the one we are now reading.

Nevertheless, the revelation from the prophets was consistent with the apostolic teaching. And these teachings build the church. Nothing else. And there are so many, there are many so-called teachings today. And those teachings are polluting the church today. We need to examine whether those teachings are consistent with the apostolic teachings. Are consistent with the sound doctrine. Are consistent with the New Testament writings.

Do not accept every wind of doctrine. God builds his church not based on a new revelation, but on the old apostolic teachings with Jesus as the cornerstone. And in Christ, the whole structure made up of Jews and Gentiles is joined together and is built, and Christ is a central element in the foundation of the church.

But cornerstones are not used today, not as much as it was used in the past. In the olden days, a cornerstone was part of the foundation and it was laid first in one corner to make a stone building square. And Christ is a central element in the church foundation of the new covenant era.

During the Old Testament era, the temple in Jerusalem was a center for orthodox worship. Now, in the New Testament era, God has a different temple. What is it? Verse 21. The Holy Temple now consists of the believing Jews and the Gentiles, bought by the blood of Jesus, joined together in one spiritual house.

And that unity is made by the Spirit of God. Look at verse 21. Christ as the cornerstone, “in whom the whole building is interconnected and grows together into a holy temple in the Lord.” Verse 22: “in whom you also are being built up, built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Verses 21 and 22 are one sentence and clarify that building in verse 20 is actually the temple and therefore a dwelling place of God. It’s interesting to observe here that the word for temple here, it’s not a generic word used for temple. This refers particularly to the shrine, the inner housing of the temple where the deity dwelt.

In the Old Testament era, God dwelt in the temple’s holy of holies, where the ark was situated. But the church now includes both Jews and Gentiles. And the Lord’s presence dwells within it through the Spirit. This Christian temple of which we are now a part is growing into a cosmic temple that will transcend all the glories of all the buildings.

This temple is not made of human hands. It is made of once hostile humans but now a family of God by the grace of Christ Jesus. This temple which consists of humans from different tribes and tongues now knitted together to be the dwelling place of God and His glory is transcended. Sure.

God is building this temple as His dwelling place through His Spirit. Do you see this? Do you see what God is doing? Do you understand this? Are you one with God on this building program? Do you anticipate to see the future glory of this marvelous temple, the church of the living God? Do you see the marvelous glory of that? Do you anticipate for that?

Or do you have any other selfish agendas, carnal agendas while being in the church? And this should cause us to surrender them to the cross of Jesus Christ. Because our selfish agendas are directly against the Holy God. We are putting our sins against God as God’s opponents.

The clear implication from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 to 22 is that every single believer, no matter what their ethnic background, sex, social identity, income or anything has equal standing with all the saints. Enlighten as a full citizen of the inaugurated new creation by the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord.

This message applies to every race, ethnicity, or economic status. This message applies anywhere. Anywhere race, ethnicity, or economic status divides Christians from one another. No, you remember the book of Revelation? There’s a beautiful picture there in that vision, in Revelation chapter 5. In that vision, we have a beautiful picture. The book of Revelation shows us a beautiful picture where believers from every tribe and language, and people, and nation, are around the throne, and they worship around the throne, around God’s throne.

That’s a beautiful picture. You might be white, you might be black, you might be yellow, whatever color. You might be that caste, this caste, you might be educated, you might be non-educated. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. We should kill those thoughts in our minds. We should not entertain the thoughts of superiority based on our race, our education, or the family. No. Christ has divided. Better we do not entertain those thoughts in our minds. Let us be conformed to those thoughts. Have this beautiful picture before us that one day before God’s throne we’re going to stand and we are from every tribe, every tongue.

There will be civilized people from the civilized community and the uncivilized barbarian community. We aren’t impacted by our own righteousness but with the righteous robes of Christ. We stand before that throne of God singing hallelujahs. That’s a picture that we need to have on our minds.

However, the church on earth often does not reflect that diversity. We fail. We fail in our preferences, in our choices of friends. We want to only hang out with those who are like us. We want to marry only those who are, no, better looking, highly educated, who have well-paid jobs, who are from high class, right?

We all have these divisions in our minds, thinking that these things give us some value. The church on earth does not reflect that diversity. Very rarely and unintentionally we may contradict the gospel by refusing to worship, fellowship or serve with those who look, speak and act differently from us.

The gospel unites believers as one family and one temple as stated in Ephesians chapter 4. Jesus, also known as the Prince of Peace in Isaiah chapter 9 and Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14, has brought peace to his people. And it is important that we strive towards unity and acceptance in the church, just as it will be in heaven.

We must strive, we must strive then to display the unity that Christ has secured on the cross. There we do not have contrary agendas here because we are saved by the divine mercy. Let us be grateful to God. Let us yield ourselves only to God.

Let this agenda become ours. Let us not bring divisions that the world exalts. Let us strive for that unity and display that beautiful picture of unity which is anticipated in the Bible. Let’s pray this, look into our hearts this morning. Let us examine our motives, our intentions, our thoughts.

Let us appreciate what God has accomplished in Christ Jesus, which was humanly impossible. Firstly, to secure our salvation. And secondly, bringing unity among the people from different backgrounds. Let us be thankful and be grateful to God. And if there are any contrary thoughts in our hearts, let us bring them to the cross of Jesus Christ. His grace is powerful to cleanse us, to help us overcome of any weaknesses, any shortcomings.

His grace is powerful to transform our lives, to conform us into His standard. Let us praise God for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, where he has not only destroyed sin and its power, he also destroyed all enmity, all barriers that divides us.

And this is the goal God is building, a unified humanity in Christ Jesus for His glory. As we reflect on this, in the same manner let us also take part in the Lord’s Supper. As the elements are brought to you, I request the brother and sister to come forward.

Let us be thankful for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not reconciled with your fellow brother, make that effort for the sake of Christ. Paul said, This loaf of bread is a symbolic representation of the body which was given for us on the cross.

And in the same way, He took the cup after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” This cup is also a symbolic representation of the blood that was shed for us on the cross.

And it’s a commandment that we all take part in these elements worthily, and let there be no unworthy matter. Let there be no distinctions in our minds, right. And it is all, it is required that only believers have believed the gospel and also witnessed the waters of baptism may take part in these elements, and who are in right standing with your fellow brethren may take part in these elements, and rest of us may refrain from these elements. And yeah, so those who do it, do it thoughtfully, remembering the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the rest of us haven’t yet believed the gospel, haven’t yet surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is our plea with you this morning, that Christ is the only way. He only offered, God offered our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. He alone can take away our sins. He suffered in our place for our sins. Our sin deserves God’s anger and His wrath. We all deserve to die. And no one can save us from our sin and the state of condemnation. Only Christ, because He died for us on the cross and rose again on the third day, He alone is sufficient to save us. He is righteous. He never sinned. And God imputes his righteousness into his believers and gives us a right standing and he cleanses us with his precious blood from all our sins.

He will clothe us with his righteousness. So it’s a plea with you all to believe in the gospel and come to the cross. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for this time. Thank you, Father, for your great love. Thank you for your great mercy. We confess that we are undeserving people. We are sinners. We have sinned against you. We loved our sin. Lord, we were separated from you. But Lord, in your good intention, according to your kind will, Lord, you have purposed to save us. And you have sent your begotten son to this world to suffer and die for our sins.

We thank you, Father, for a large sacrifice on the cross, where you crushed him for our sins. We thank you, Lord, for his substitutionary atonement on the cross, his shed blood and his death on our behalf. We thank you, God, for his resurrection. Father, we thank you for the that finished work on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and because of which you have saved us. We thank you, Lord, for bringing all of us together into one body. We praise you. We worship you, God. Lord, we also plead with you that we all would stay united by your grace and that unity in Christ Jesus be maintained by the Spirit of God in our congregation as well, Father. We bless your great name, our Father in the Lord. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you.