The Modern (Church) Family - Part B

Do you understand the significance that when Jesus died on a cross, the veil of the temple was ripped into from top to bottom? It was God saying, y'all come in. Y'all come in.

Jew, Gentile, you believe in Jesus. You can come in. There is no separation. You who are out are now in.

Now there's integration. Now you're family. God is not a distant God. In fact, when you give your life to Christ, you can have a new intimate relationship with God as His child. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares about the significance of your new standing as part of God's family.

But first, reading the stories of the Bible is a very good thing. Walking where these stories took place is at a whole other level. Skip Heitzig is planning his next tour, and you can be on it.

Here's the invitation from Skip. You're in for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country. Now, I've been to Israel a number of times over the years, and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded, where Jesus lived, taught and healed, it just never gets old. We'll start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north, seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount, Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study and lots of fellowship.

The Bible will come alive to you in a way it never has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable trip. I can't wait to see you in Israel. This dream can come true for you. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzig. Information at inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-B-Q.

That's inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-B-Q. Now, we're in Ephesians Chapter 2 as we dive into our study with Skip Heitzig. Dear Christian, you are accepted in heaven. If you have lost your health or you're feeling that loss of health, you are accepted in heaven.

If you are excluded by a circle of friends, so what? You have been accepted in heaven. If you've been cast out by your family, you're accepted in heaven. You've been demoted at work, accepted in heaven. You've been pushed off social media, scorned by your friends, you are accepted in heaven. You are in on the greatest plan ever hatched. You're in on it. We have sung a song around this joint.

It's a really good song. I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am.

You need to wake up tomorrow and sing that song. You are accepted. But now, in Christ, you who were once afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. So that's the first change. We were out, now we're in.

Here's the second change that has happened. We were separated, but now we're integrated. Look at verse 14. For He Himself, that is Jesus Christ, He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, both being Jew and Gentile, He's made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Did you know that Judaism was all about separation and not inclusion? I mean, there were walls, there were courtyards, and there were rooms, and everybody sort of had their place to be in. So, for example, if you were to go to a synagogue, you could not sit in the synagogue like you're seated here this morning. If you were sitting in an ancient synagogue, on one side would be the men, on the other side would be the men's wives or the women. They would be separated by gender. Then there was a room, a special room for converts to Judaism called proselytes, proselytes of the gate, resident aliens who wanted to identify with Judaism.

They could come, but they had to be in their own kind of special penalty box, their own special room. Then if you went to the temple, there were courts, and there was separation, and there were walls. So just for the sake of analogy, I'm going to use this platform for the temple. And it's a poor illustration because the temple was 35 acres, so I just have a few feet up here.

So let's just sort of get the picture. The temple itself, the building where God was worshipped, it was a building built on a platform, and on the same level of the platform that the temple proper stood, there was a court right around the temple structure called the Court of the Priests. And the only people who could go in that court were Jewish priests. Only the priests could go in there.

If you were a Jewish male, you couldn't do it unless you were a priest. Around that Court of the Priests was called the Court of Israel, and only Jewish men could be in that court. Around that court, but a little further out, same level, same level as the main platform, was the Court of the Women.

Jewish women could be there. And then you would descend several steps, and you would get down to a low level, and there was a wall at that level that was four and a half feet tall. And it went around the whole outer courtyard known as the Court of the Gentiles. The Court of the Gentiles was so far away from the temple activities proper, it was like the nosebleed seats at a stadium. It's like, yeah, you can get in and you can see the game, but you better bring binoculars.

It was sort of like that. Now, I said that there was a wall, four and a half feet tall. On that wall there were signs, basically like keep out signs or beware of dog signs, but this was like beware of death signs.

And by the way, two of them have been discovered. One is in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The other is in a museum in Jerusalem in Israel. And it is known as the death inscription because this is exactly how the sign read. Now, imagine you're a Gentile. You want to get close to the temple. You are stopped by a wall with this sign.

No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and the enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death. Welcome to church.

That was the sign. Paul the Apostle knew about this from personal experience. In Acts 21, Paul is in Jerusalem. He's a Jewish rabbi. He can go in the court of the Gentiles. He can go through the court of the women.

He can go into the court of Israel. He was a Pharisee so he had access, but he was in Jerusalem and the Orthodox Jews saw Paul talking to and hanging out with an Ephesian Gentile by the name of Trophimus. And so they figured, Paul must be bringing Gentiles into the temple. And we are told in Acts 21, this accusation, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. And they called for his death. So Paul knew all about enmity. Paul knew all about separation. By the way, do you know what the word Pharisee means? It means separated one. We're not only separated from the world by being Jewish, we are separated from the Jews by being Pharisees.

He knew what that world was like. But what he says here is this, one event changed all that. It's called the cross. That's why Jesus said, do this communion often in remembrance of me. Never forget this event. Because this one event made one group of people. Took two different separated groups and brought them into an integrated unit. So now there's no longer Gentile and Jew, only saved, saved people.

No matter the background. So look at verse 15. So as to create in himself one new man from the two.

The two being Jew and Gentile. One new man. Now I want to tell you about the word new man. New. The word in Greek is the word kinos for new.

It's not necessarily the typical word used for new. Let's say, let's just say you had a Ford Escort. Okay, you've been driving for a few years. You like it. It does okay for you. It gets good gas mileage.

You're content with it. But as the years go on you say, I'd like a new Ford Escort because there's some new features in the new car. So I want the same car, just newer in chronology.

You would use the Greek word naos. I want new in time. A new car, but a newer car in terms of time. But let's say you just said, no, I'm kind of done with the Ford Escort. I'd love to kind of get a Ford F-150 pickup because pickups are cool. And I want to haul stuff. So I want a new car.

You would use the word kinos, which means I want a completely new model. That's the word Paul uses. He takes and removes the separation and makes one new, one kinos, one new person, not Jew, not Gentile, but Christian, Christian. So understand this was God's plan all along. This was Jesus' plan all along.

He announced it. I'll remind you of the passage in John chapter 10. Jesus said this, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and am known by my own. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father and lay down my life for the sheep and other sheep I have, notice this, which are not of this fold.

What is this fold? Jews, Judaism, that are not of this fold. Them also I must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd. You see, Jesus never wanted to keep this a Jewish thing. He always had in mind anybody and everybody. He even said in a parable, go to the highways and the byways, bring anybody who will listen. Bring them in that my Father's house may be filled. So Jesus is for Jewish people, He is for Gentile people, He is for German people, He is for Spanish people, He is for African people, He is for American people, South North America, He is for Europeans, He is for Australians, He is for vaccinated people and unvaccinated people.

We divide. Jesus says, are you all saved? I don't care if you don't get vaccinated or unvaccinated to get into heaven. And you don't have to show your political card to get into heaven.

You just have to trust in Jesus Christ. So I say what a difference it would be if we started looking at people through the lens of potential sheep. Potential sheep. So that secretary at the bank, a potential sheep of the Good Shepherd. That guy who bags your groceries at the store, if they can hire anybody who still does that. Potential sheep. The guy on the golf course doing a business deal, potential sheep.

The officer who wrote you a ticket for going too fast on the way to church this morning, potential sheep. So there's no special proximity anymore, near or far. There's no separation with courts and walls and rooms. Now, no matter who you are, no matter what background you have, all of us can have access to God. That's verse 18.

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So we were out. Now we're in. We were separated. Now we're integrated.

I'll give you a third and final change. We were foreigners, but now we're family. And I love this. Verse 19 says, Now therefore, and Paul so often has a therefore in his teachings. He's leading you somewhere. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Now verse 19 is a summary verse. Actually, it's the first summary verse to the whole last paragraph. It goes all the way down to the end of the chapter.

He's summarizing the first two chapters, what he has written so far. But verse 19, we're just gonna just kind of camp on that and close with that. You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. So you're not out.

You're in. You're not separated. You're integrated.

You're not foreigners. You're family. This new kingdom is your home.

You belong here. God is building His forever family, and He has you in mind. That's why it says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 11, Jesus is not ashamed to call them, that is us, His brethren.

I just love that. Jesus doesn't go, Oh yeah, and Skip too. I'm not ashamed to call Skip Heitzig my brother. He is not ashamed to call us His brethren. My mind goes back to when I first gave my life to Christ. I was 18 years of age, and I went home to tell my parents what I had done. I figured they're going to be so excited. I'm going to tell them I gave my life to Jesus, and I believe in God, and I'm following Jesus.

I'm so excited I have my Bible. And they weren't too excited. Now, I figured they were because I did have a little bit of problem before that. I mean, I was in and out of, I was arrested. I did drugs experimentally. I wasn't like an addiction, but I did a lot of them, and I got into trouble.

So I'm thinking, they're thinking anything that will help Skip is a good thing. And I guess it was, except for this thing. Because when I said, I love Jesus and I'm saved. Oh, that's nice.

Nice? So it wasn't met warmly. And to be honest, I felt like my spiritual family was more accepting and my spiritual family was more satisfying than even my own physical family. I started identifying with the body of Christ, the church of God, and realizing this is family.

This is my family. Now, to help you understand as we bring this to a close, just how profound this whole idea of being out and then in, separated and integrated, foreigners and then family was. Let me take you back 3,400 years in your mind's eye with me. Let's go back to the time when the children of Israel first built that tabernacle out in the desert. So let's just say, up in the rocks looking down is a Moabite. And the Moabite sees the children of Israel camp, they build this tabernacle and there's smoke going up and sacrifices going up and there's this little tent enclosure in the middle of this courtyard. So the Moabite man comes down, goes up to the gate and says to a man standing at the gate of the tabernacle, an Israelite, Hey, can I go in there?

That looks really cool. The man would say, Well, sure, any Israelite can go in there. Oh, well, I'm not an Israelite, I'm a Moabite. Well, no, you can't go in there. Well, what would I have to do to get in there?

I guess you'd have to go and be born an Israelite to go in there. So the man sort of hung his head and said, Oh, man, I wish I was born an Israelite. And then he was watching and he noticed that there was a man who was a priest, a man taking animal sacrifice and smoke went up to heaven. The man raised his hands, sprinkled blood on the altar, then washed his hands and then walked into a little tent and said, Wow, that looks cool.

Where did he go? What's in that little room? And the man would explain, Well, in that little room, that's called the holy place. There's a golden lamp stand in there and there's a table with bread on it and there's an altar of incense and the priest is going to trim the lamps and change the bread and burn incense to God as the prayers of the congregation. And the Moabite said, Oh, man, I wish I would have been born an Israelite because I'd love to go in that room. And the man would say, Israelites can't go in that room. You have to be an Israelite of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron to go in that room. Only priests can go in that room.

Well, what else is in that room? The Israelite would explain, Well, I've been told there's a beautiful veil that separates that room, the holy place, from another room called the Holy of Holies and in that room is a chest, a box called the Ark of the Covenant. That's where God lives. That's where God dwells.

That's the very presence of God in that room. And the Moabite said, Oh, I wish I was born an Israelite of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. I'd love to go into that room and hang out with God. Israelite would say, You couldn't go in. Only the high priest, not just any priest, can go in that room.

So, the man said, Oh, I wish I would have been born an Israelite of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. I wish I was a high priest. I'd love to go in that room because if I could, I'd go in that room every single day. I'd do it three times a day just to get near to God. The man would say, Oh, you couldn't do that. Only the high priest can go in that room once a year for a very short period of time lest he die.

Now, you know at that point, the guy's just going to hang his head and walk away. Having no hope whatsoever of ever being able to get into the presence of God. Now, do you understand the significance that when Jesus died on a cross, the veil of the temple was ripped into from top to bottom. It was God saying, Y'all come in. Y'all come in.

Jew, Gentile, you believe in Jesus, you can come in. There is no separation. You who are out are now in.

Now there's integration. Now you're family. And now you have some understanding of the kind of access we have not just as worshipers, but as family. Separation is gone. And the church needs to always remember that. The church should always have its doors open and its arms open to all who are seeking to come.

Regardless of race, regardless of age, regardless of culture, regardless if your hair is long or short or bald, regardless if there's tattoos or just wrinkles. It doesn't matter. All those divisions don't matter. I've always loved the story about the guy in World War II who was on a battlefield. Three buddies were all fighting. One of them died, sadly. His friend said, let's bury our buddy in a churchyard. So they found a church, local church. There was a cemetery, sure enough, right outside.

And they wanted to bury their friend there. They went to the caretaker who was a priest and said, we'd like to bury our friend inside the churchyard. Priest said, was he Catholic? Was he Roman Catholic?

Well, no, he was Protestant. Well, I'm sorry, you can't bury him inside the churchyard. Only this is a Catholic cemetery.

Those are the rules. So it was sad for them. They were disappointed, but they buried him just outside the fence. They dug a hole. They buried their friend.

They went to their tents that night, got up early the next day to pay their final respects, to find the grave and then go back to the battlefield. But they couldn't find the grave. They looked where they thought they buried it right outside the fence.

It was undisturbed earth. So they went to the priest and they said, you know this place better than we do. We buried our friend last night, but we can't find his grave. And the priest said, well, you know, I couldn't sleep last night. I was so bummed out by what I had told you guys. So I got up in the middle of the night and I moved the fence to include your friend. How many of you know that we serve the God who moved the fence?

I wasn't. I'm an outsider. I'll move the fence. Oh, I'm separate. I'll move the fence. Oh, I'm a foreigner.

I'll move the fence. You're welcome. You're welcome in. You're welcome. You have access.

All because of that one event, the death of Jesus on the cross that took the separation away. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series now streaming. Right now, we want to share about a great resource that will help you grow closer to the Lord and stay plugged into his word.

2022 is almost here. Plan now for your spiritual menu starting in January. This month, we're offering Skip's daily God book devotional containing strong thoughts for each day of the year.

Here's a sample from January 1st. Martin Luther once said, the Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet.

It runs after me. As you read each day, listen each day and prepare for the greatest adventure of your life. That's an excerpt of the direction found in Skip's daily God book that you'll receive in hard cover when you give $35 or more today to help keep this Bible teaching ministry growing. We'll also include Playlist, eight messages by Skip on key psalms delivered on CD as our thank you. Here's a sample of the wisdom you'll hear in the Playlist series. If you're going to spend energy in life, and we all do, make sure it's about people that you're building up, not just projects that you're building up.

To give and receive this month's resource package, visit connectwithskip.com or call 800-922-1888. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heisig talks about how God chooses you and calls you to a new way of life, one that brings deep joy and fulfillment. Paul will say later on in Ephesians 1, you were chosen before the foundations of the earth. So before you were born, before God put planets and the biosphere, all that we know in the physical world, God had you in mind.

God chose you. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, a connection. Connect with Skip Heisig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.