In Ephesians 2, after glorifying Christ as the one far above all rule and authority and power and dominion–noting that Jesus has all these in the present tense, Paul shares the Gospel. If we read Ephesians 1 before we read Ephesians 2, which seems to make perfect sense as a way to read, we see that the gospel message is based upon the present authority of Christ. While there are theological parties who disagree on the timing of a “millennial reign” of Christ, no Christian should ever disagree about the present lordship and authority of Christ over all things, and especially the church (Ephesians 1:18-23). In Ephesians 2:1-16, Paul writes about our sin. We were dead in our trespasses, not able to revive ourselves. In Christ, God raises us up. He does so that He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ (Ephesians 2:7). He saved us by grace through faith so that we cannot boast as if we attained salvation by any work or confession of our own.
What is this about being raised up, having my eyes opened again? If we are dead, there is no hope. I cannot will to draw breath again because my brain and lungs do not work; they can’t work. Though we lay lifeless, God raises us up in Christ. He does so that He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ. We cannot boast because we are dead. Dead men tell no tales. God brings life and flesh to my dry bones. That’s humbling. Why should I be entitled if it’s never my work or will in view? Boasting is what facilitates injustice in the first place.
Remember, God’s love is unconditional. He receives the glory. God’s work is about restoration, not destruction.
Look with me particularly at Ephesians 2:17-22:
And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our 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, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 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 of God in the Spirit.
He, Jesus (cf. Ephesians 2:13), came and preached what? Did He preach condemnation? Did He preach judgmentalism? Did He preach war? Did He preach destruction and mayhem and wrath upon the world? What does the text say, Jesus preached peace. What kind of peace? Jesus preached peace between God and people—both Jews and Gentiles, those who were near and those who were far off (cf. Ephesians 2:12-16). This causes me to recall, again, the basic biblical storyline:
God creates the world and people (Genesis 1-2).
People pursue their own righteousness rather than God’s (Genesis 3).
The world is cursed through Adam because of his selfish actions (Genesis 3).
The world derogates into injustice, wickedness, and violence under the rule of people (Genesis 4-6).
God hates what people have done to His world and pours out His wrath (Genesis 7-8).
God promises never again to destroy the world on account of people (Genesis 8-9).
God intervenes so that the whole world does not become holistically corrupt, wicked, unjust, or violent again (Genesis 10-11).
God chooses a nation (Israel) for Himself through which He will bring the fullness of justice and peace to the earth (Genesis 12-Deuteronomy 34).
Israel fails to bring peace and justice to the earth as a nation, but God has promised to accomplish it through Israel and not by Israel (Joshua 1-Malachi 4).
The Messiah, God in the flesh (cf. Isaiah 9), comes as a descendant of Israel. Atones for the sin of His people and promises to save the world, not condemn it (Matthew 1-John 21; emphasis on John 3).
The Church takes the word of God to the world, making disciples of all nations, in order to see the kingdom of Jesus take over the entire world by way of peace, not violence (Acts 1-Revelation 21).
When the kingdom is fully consummated, Christ will dwell with His people on the new earth without crying, death, nor pain (Revelation 22).
Following Genesis 8, God intervened so that He would not have to ever again destroy the earth on account of people. Following the advent of Christ, God declares peace between Himself and people, a peace that cannot be broken. Why? Christ paid the debt incurred by human sin. His payment places no conditions upon us. The entire Bible tells the story about how people caused war and violence, but God brings about peace and justice. He does so in such a way that humanity, His image, is redeemed rather than annihilated. Christ preached peace. Yet, I fear, in our zeal for righteousness, we are guilty of preaching exactly the opposite thing from what Christ preached—and we manipulate the Scriptures to teach the opposite kind of message.
Christ preached peace because we both, Jews and Gentiles, have our access through Him in Spirit to the Father. Without placing any conditions upon us, God explicitly and plainly made Himself available to all people through Christ in the Spirit–again, without condition.
Because Christ has instituted peace between God and people, those who are in Christ are no longer strangers and aliens like Gentiles were under the Mosaic Law. Because of Christ, Paul claims we are now part of God’s household. We are citizens in His kingdom with the saints. Do you see that in the text? Paul places the kingdom concurrently with himself—in the present tense. It is a kingdom of peace. If we are in Christ, we are citizens right now. We don’t have to wait until some future undisclosed date. We are the people of God through Christ in the Spirit now. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
Look at what Paul writes about the foundation of our citizenship. We have been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The prophets foretold the kingdom. The apostles (The Twelve and Paul) proclaimed the fulfillment of the kingdom. We heard about the kingdom from what they wrote down, which has been collected into the set we know as The Holy Bible. We stand on their backs. Jesus is the cornerstone. The whole building depends on and is sustained by Him. Now, in the current age following Christ’s advent, the whole building, Christ’s kingdom, is being fitted together and is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.
It is not only my dry bones that are receiving life and flesh. Others are, too. God is bringing us together, not tearing us apart. He is building us together into His dwelling place. I’m just a single brick amongst other bricks. If I choose to be a lone-wolf or elevate myself or consider myself to be more important than I am or neglect the gathering, I leave a hole in the wall. Jesus isn’t merely building up a bunch of individuals. He is shaping us to build individuals together into His true temple.
According to Paul, Jesus is being faithful to His promise in the Old and New Testaments. He is not destroying. The wrath of God is not being poured out because it was satisfied once-for-all at the cross. Because Jesus finished the work, God’s wrath will never be poured out on the whole world again. God meant what He said in Genesis 8:21-22. Instead, Jesus is building His kingdom. His kingdom is not buildings but people. He is fitting people together into a holy temple. This temple is a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
When I read about the people of God being built into one temple, I think about Matthew’s Gospel; Matthew records Jesus as teaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. It was near, about to come. By the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus claimed that all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him—The kingdom had finally come. He tells two parables about what the kingdom is like following His resurrection. The kingdom is like a mustard seed, which starts out small but grows to overshadow all the other plants in the garden (Matthew 13:31-32). It is like leaven, which begins and eventually leavens the whole lump of dough (Matthew 13:33-35). Paul, here, teaches the same thing, only depicting the church as a building—a temple—being built. God started with the prophets and apostles. Upon them, he is putting together an entire building. Far from the episodes of apocalyptic destruction we often hear from pulpits in the modern day, God is building something. We are not just sticking our heads in the dirt and waiting to be raptured from this planet. God is working. He is expanding. He is progressing. We are not merely awaiting a future kingdom. God is building now, and we are a part of that. Just to clarify, this is not a statement about a so-called “Millennial Kingdom”. Paul doesn’t have “millennium” in view in this pericope, and I try not to make arguments for or against any possible future happening because I think such debates most often distract us from the actual message of the Scriptures. Only Revelation 20 mentions a 1,000 year reign and Revelation is so full of apocalyptic imagery that no one interprets all of it literalistically. Even your staunchest Dispensational, who interprets the 1,000 years as futuristic and literalistic changes his hermeneutic when interpreting other parts of John’s apocalypse (e.g. claiming that the beast in Revelation 13 “represents” either Satan or the Antichrist). In one place, most people try to use a literalistic hermeneutic. In another place, they use a symbolic hermeneutic, and their interpretation of the whole book falls apart simply because their hermeneutic is inconsistent. Since it is obscure and at least surrounded by symbolic language, which we can agree upon no matter your eschatological view or hermeneutic, we certainly shouldn’t remove it from its context and read our interpretation of Revelation 20 into Ephesians 2. We too often tend to overcomplicate things by introducing ideas into the text that a specific text does not address. Paul does not do that. Paul believes that Christ is king and reigns. Look at Paul’s words. We are being built into one temple, not two or three or thousands. Christ only has one body. Both Jews and Gentiles are being built into the same temple. There is no division. There is unity in Christ. Thus, I get to make the same point I have made previously. We do not divide based on generational differences, ethnic differences, theological differences, language barriers, differences in practice, or even the reality of sin in our lives. Christ is not divided, neither are true Christians. This is a movement of humility rather than pride. God loves you unconditionally. Therefore, you love others unconditionally.
Since we love unconditionally and know that God is interested not in destruction but building, our outlook is basically optimistic. That claim is almost always interpreted as a defense of postmillennialism in our current environment because people generally read too much into the statements made by others. I am not here making a claim about the millennium. I am claiming that Christ is king. He is a good king. We should, therefore, be optimistic about His rule and reign on the earth now. People also really love being pessimistic, for whatever reason. Those who hold to historic premillennial, progressive premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial eschatological timelines can all be optimistic about the promise and work of God. Our eschatology may influence the way we think, but a timing of a millennium actually doesn’t matter that much when we recognize God’s goodness and mission. I no longer classify myself by any of those categories. I think they create false dichotomies that lead to unnecessary conflict in the church. Once a person places him or herself into one of those categories, he begins adding and taking from the text in order to defend a position he does not have to defend in order to love and follow Christ. I much prefer to try to read the text for what it is. Sometimes naming a position and defending it staunchly limits us. God’s character is such that He cares for His creation. Over the course of history, He has been working not toward ultimate wrath in some apocalyptic catastrophe that we might see in a Hollywood movie or read in a good set of fiction but, instead, the restoration and redemption of creation in Christ. This is literally the message of the gospel. According to Paul, Christ was the climax, and we are now in the resolution of the story. There is not some future climax as if Christ did not finish the work and entirely satisfy the Father’s wrath at the moment of His crucifixion.
So, we humble ourselves. We love one another despite our differences. We celebrate the promises of God in all things. To Him be the glory forever and ever, amen.
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