If you walk around our parking lot any given Sunday (except maybe today), you will see all types of bikes. One rider may be on a Harley-Davidson. Another may be riding an Indian. Somebody else may be on a Honda, Yamaha, Triumph, or something completely different.
The bikes are different. The riders are different. Their backgrounds are different. Their stories are different.
But once the kickstands go up and that group pulls out onto the highway, something changes. They are no longer simply a collection of individual riders – they are riding together.
They follow the same road captain. They travel the same route. They watch out for the rider ahead of them and the rider behind them. When somebody has trouble, the group does not leave them alongside the road. They stop. They help. They look after one another because they are traveling toward the same destination.
Church, that is a powerful picture of what Jesus Christ intended His church to be.
We are not all alike. We have different histories, personalities, preferences, gifts, experiences, and testimonies. But when Jesus saves us, He brings us together under one Lord, through one cross, by one Spirit, into one family.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that specializes in division. People are divided by race, politics, money, culture, social status, and personal preferences. Tragically, sometimes churches allow things to divide them that Jesus Christ died to overcome.
In Ephesians 2:14-22, Paul reminds us that Jesus did more at Calvary than save individual sinners – He created a new people.
There had been a massive divide between Jews and Gentiles. For generations there had been hostility, separation, and religious distinction.
But Jesus went to the cross. And the same cross that reconciled sinners to God also reconciled people to one another.
The Gospel does not merely change our relationship vertically with God. The Gospel changes our relationship horizontally with one another.
Christ did not simply save us – Christ united us.
So how does Jesus take people who are so different and cause them to ride together as one?
CHRIST BREAKS DOWN THE WALLS (Ephesians 2:14-15)
Paul begins, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.”
Notice that Paul does not merely say Jesus gives us peace. He says Jesus is our peace.
Our world constantly talks about peace. Governments negotiate for it. Organizations promote it. Families want it. Nations want it.
But humanity is much better at talking about peace than producing it.
Why?
Because our deepest problem is not outside of us. Our deepest problem is inside of us. Sin separates us from God, and that same sin produces separation between people.
Paul says Christ “has made both one.” The “both” refers to Jews and Gentiles.
The Jews possessed the law, covenants, promises, and heritage of Israel. Gentiles were considered outsiders. But Jesus changed everything.
Christ did not simply convince Jews and Gentiles to tolerate each other. He made them one.
Paul says Christ “has broken down the middle wall of separation.”
There was a literal picture of this separation in the Jerusalem temple. Gentiles could enter only so far. A boundary prevented them from going farther. That wall essentially said:
- You can come this far, but no farther.
- You are outside.
- You do not belong.
But Paul says that through Jesus Christ, the wall has come down. The cross accomplished what human effort could never accomplish.
And church, when Jesus tears down a wall, we have no business rebuilding it.
If Christ destroyed the wall of hostility, prejudice has no place in His church. Bitterness has no place. Superiority has no place. Favoritism has no place. Pride has no place.
We cannot stand beneath a cross that reconciles sinners and then build walls between people Jesus died to save.
Verse 15 says Christ created “in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”
Jesus did not make Gentiles become Jews. He did not make Jews become Gentiles. He made both something new.
Their deepest identity was no longer determined by ancestry, culture, or nationality. Their identity was now found in Christ.
The world says peace comes when everybody agrees. Jesus says peace comes when people come to Him. The world says peace requires negotiation. The Gospel says peace required a cross.
Jesus did not negotiate our peace – He purchased our peace with His blood.
So here is the application: If Christ tore down the wall, don’t rebuild it.
- Don’t rebuild it through prejudice.
- Don’t rebuild it through bitterness.
- Don’t rebuild it through grudges.
Don’t build a wall because somebody does not look like you, think like you, dress like you, ride what you ride, or come from where you came from.
Jesus Himself is our peace. And He not only broke down the wall, notice:
CHRIST BRINGS US BACK TOGETHER (Ephesians 2:16-19)
Verse 16 says, “And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
It would be easy to think that the greatest problem in this passage was hostility between Jews and Gentiles. It wasn’t. Their greatest problem was their separation from God.
Before they needed reconciliation with each other, they needed reconciliation with God. And that is true of every one of us.
Our greatest problem is not economic, political, relational, or educational. Our greatest problem is sin.
Sin separates sinful humanity from a holy God, and nothing we can do can bridge that separation. But Paul says Jesus reconciled us to God “through the cross.”
- Not through religious effort.
- Not through good works.
- Not through baptism.
- Not through church membership.
Through the cross. At Calvary, Jesus dealt with the sin that separated us from God. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow! And because the price has been paid, reconciliation is available through faith in Him.
But notice that Paul says Christ reconciled “them both” to God “in one body.” The cross has both a vertical and horizontal dimension.
If you and I have both been reconciled to the same Father by the same Son through the same cross, neither of us has grounds to look down on the other.
Verse 18 says, “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
Through Him-Jesus Christ.
We both-Jew and Gentile.
Have access-we are welcomed into God’s presence.
By one Spirit-the Holy Spirit.
To the Father-God receives us as His children.
There are no first-class and second-class Christians. Every one of us arrived at the foot of the cross the same way – as sinners needing grace.
You may have a different story than the person sitting beside you, but you needed the same blood, the same grace, and the same Savior.
Then Paul says in verse 19, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” That is a summary of verse 12.
I love those words, “No longer.”
- You were dead – but God made you alive.
- You were far away – but Christ brought you near.
- You were separated – but Christ made peace.
- You were strangers – but now you belong.
Your past may explain where you came from, but your past does not have the authority to define who you are in Christ.
Paul says we are now “members of the household of God.” Not merely citizens – family. And family changes how we treat each other.
And if we are family, we don’t leave somebody stranded alongside the road.
There are no lone riders in biblical Christianity – We need each other.
Christ has brought us back together – and now:
CHRIST BUILDS US INTO SOMETHING GREATER (Ephesians 2:20-22)
Paul changes the imagery in verse 20. We were a family; now we become a building, “…having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
The church was not built upon human ideas, philosophy, political movements, or cultural trends. It was built upon God’s revealed truth centered in Jesus Christ. That is why God’s Word must remain central.
- Methods may change.
- Music styles may change.
- Buildings may change.
- Technology may change.
- Culture will certainly change.
But the truth does not change. Then Paul points us to the most important part of the structure, “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
In ancient construction, the cornerstone determined the alignment of the entire building. Every other stone was positioned in relationship to it. Paul says Jesus is the Cornerstone. Everything in the church must line up with Him.
- Our preaching must line up with Christ.
- Our worship must line up with Christ.
- Our ministries must line up with Christ.
- Our relationships must line up with Christ.
- Our lives must line up with Christ.
Riders understand alignment. If the front end of your motorcycle is badly out of alignment, eventually you’re going to feel it. The bike begins pulling. Tires wear improperly. Handling can become dangerous. Something isn’t lining up the way it was designed to line up.
The same thing happens spiritually. When our lives stop lining up with Jesus, something begins pulling us off course. Jesus Christ is our fixed reference point.
Culture moves. Opinions move. Public approval moves – Jesus does not. So quit building your life on things that move.
- Don’t build your life on feelings – they change.
- Don’t build your life on money – it comes and goes.
- Don’t build your life on personalities – people will eventually disappoint you.
Build your life on Jesus. He is the Cornerstone.
Then verses 21–22 say, “In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Notice that phrase: “being fitted together.” God does not randomly throw stones into a pile and call it a church. He fits believers together.
- Every person has a place.
- Every person has a function.
- Every person matters.
Unity does not mean everybody becomes identical. Unity means our differences are surrendered to a common Lord and used for a common mission.
In a group ride, every motorcycle does not have to be identical. What matters is that everybody is moving in the same direction and following the same leader.
Church, Jesus does not call us to be identical – He calls us to be united. He calls us to Ride together as one!
Some preach. Some teach. Some sing. Some encourage. Some pray. Some give. Some open their homes. Some work with children. Some quietly help somebody who is struggling.
Every stone matters because the Builder chose where to place it. And sometimes being fitted together is uncomfortable.
We all have rough edges. Sometimes God uses another believer to teach us patience. Sometimes we have to forgive. Sometimes we have to surrender a preference. Sometimes we have to listen. Sometimes we have to carry somebody else’s burden.
Isolation allows us to hide our rough edges. Community gives God opportunities to shape those edges.
Christianity was never intended to be lived entirely alone.
Yes, you personally trust Christ. You personally pray. You personally study God’s Word. You personally obey God. But Christianity is never merely “Jesus and me.”
God saves us individually and places us into a body collectively.
A single brick sitting by itself cannot become a building. A single stone sitting in a field cannot become a temple. Its purpose becomes evident when it is connected with the other stones. And so does ours.
CONCLUSION
Church, look around. We came from different places. We have different personalities, struggles, backgrounds, and testimonies.
- Some of us grew up around church.
- Some of us spent years doing everything we could to stay away from church.
- Some came to Christ early.
- Others still bear scars from years spent traveling the wrong road.
But Jesus found us. Jesus saved us. Jesus brought us near. And Jesus placed us together.
- Because of Christ, the walls have come down.
- Because of Christ, we have been brought back together.
- And because of Christ, we are being built into something greater than ourselves.
So don’t rebuild the walls Jesus tore down. Don’t become a lone rider. Don’t allow preferences, pride, bitterness, or hurt to separate you from the people Christ has called you to love. Stay lined up with the Cornerstone. Stay connected to the family. And keep following Jesus.
