Your actual church as it really is is what the victorious
rule of Jesus looks like in this age, though that might seem unbelievable!
Surely God intends something more special looking than this?
Cf. The viral sore throat – antibiotics will not help –
rest, be patient, take ibuprofen - Where are the special magic pills and why am
I not being given then and why isn’t it all sorted out?
There are no special magic church pills. God wisdom and power
in this age look like your ordinary church as it is. This church is the climax
of God’s purposes in this age though it looks unpromising. Our churches is what
God is doing.
Nearly all the imperatives are in second half of the letter
(ch 4-)
2v11, remember, v12
3v13, I ask you not to be discouraged because of my
sufferings for you
WHAT ARE THEY TO REMEMBER AND WHY?
Vv1-10 – what you were to what we are
You were dead (v1)
2:10 – we are recreated that we might walk in good works
From death to life
The following section has the same movement from the past to
the present and from you to we.
2 v similar sections:
You once were; we now are
You once didn’t have; we now have
So remember
V11 an alien voice – called the uncircumcision – a voice
from those concerned with human activity
2 totally different assessments of the gentile Xians
You gentiles lack something and are inferior – this chapter
is written to counter this voice
A voice from outside the church or from within the church
(Acts 20) – Christian Judaizers – gentile believers are not quite the full
shilling
The whole chapter is intended to undo the impact of this
voice
The attitude of v11 is the typical shape of all the
challenges the church faces in every age: there is something vital you still
lack – you need this missing secret ingredient / magic pill – a very easy line
to follow – tell them you can give them what they need
4v14 – crafty, cunning, human scheming
Notice the you and we language
You mainly you gentile believers in contrast to we Jewish
believers 1:12 for all of us who believe, Jew and Gentile
2v1 – their lives as unbelieving gentiles – you & we all,
like the rest
A huge surprise: the logic of the argument does not appear
to demand the change in personal pronouns
V5 – it is by grace you have been saved – v8 – personal
pronoun shift emphasises:
We all once belonged to this world of death and enslavement
The Jewish world is lumped in with the Gentile world
theologically
Cf. Jn 8 – “The Jews” who oppose Jesus children of Satan
Access to salvation is all you language – Gentile salvation
is in focus here – by grace, through faith, not works, no boasting
The Jewish and Gentile plight are the same
Gentile salvation is a grace and faith thing, not a works
and boasting thing – you don’t want to go for Judaizing!
Eph 1 – all God has done for us in Christ, both Jew and
Gentile – Gentile believers already have these wonderful blessings and are the
genuine article
Pl does not want this confidence of Gentile believers
undermined
V11 – Remember v12 what they were, but also the whole of
vv12-22
V12ff – movement from vertical focus in previous section to
horizontal dimension of what God has done
Fellow citizens, the very temple of God
Spatial language v17 – far, Gentile, and near – Is 52 &
57 – peace based on the work of the servant brings restoration and joint access
for Jew and Gentile in the temple, the house of prayer for all nations
Law was removed v14f to make peace between Jew and gentile
The undoing of the dividing wall of hostility and the
annulment of law. The law, Torah, was a dividing wall of hostility making those
under law proudly hostile towards the nations
In the work of Christ, something entirely new has come, a
recreated humanity, one man, a new household, foundation not of Moses and the
prophets but JX
They need to be reassured that the church they now belong to
is the big thing God is doing in this age
The talk of v11 is a manifestation of the old-world order,
not new freedom in X
God’s handiwork and human handiwork: We are God’s handiwork;
the circumcision is human handiwork – a man made, self made system
God’s handiwork is us, us in Christ, the church, the faith
in J community. Though it may look weak it is the real thing and where the
action is.
This chapter determines the shape of distinctive Christian
life:
Walk no longer as the Gentile do, not by Judaizing 4:17 but
because of joint membership of a new creation body – 4:24-5, 28
A new creation ethic
They are what Israel never was – 5:8 – they are light for
the world
Implications:
1:20 – Ps 110 – conquest total victory of the forever priest
king smashing his enemies for the church (v22)
Timothy Gombass (sp?) – God fights in the OT, rescues his
people, proclaims his victory, builds his new temple – vv21-22
Jew and Gentile loving one another is a sign of the
recreating, uniting power of God
The variety of people in church shows new creation raised to
new life power
Cf. School children meeting a friend’s husband at church
incomprehensible to her peers
Some implications / applications:
(1) Something to watch out for: when someone makes you feel
inferior or lacking, your alarm bells should sound – you have every spiritual
blessing and are one with the ascended X – you are God’s handiwork, no human
supplementation is needed
(2) Something to be thankful for: praise God for all the
small signs of new creation power – you are not the creator! Not building your
empire but grateful for the new life, new community Jesus has given
(3) We need to do church by faith not by sight – 2v6f – for
ever God’s brilliance will be demonstrated by the new thing, the church, which
God has created
Only God could do this brilliant think of the church – such
power, kindness, merciful etc. Fantastically wonderful
Your church is central to God’s plan for ever. This is what
God is doing and will do.
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