Ephesians: The Major Theme

Ephesians: One New Man

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians. 1:2).

With these opening words, Paul greets the saints in Ephesus, and in doing so, he begins to unfold one of the most glorious and profound summaries of the gospel in all of Scripture. Ephesians is, in a sense, a theological concentrate—not more inspired than any other book, but more dense. It is a book where the very being of our Triune God is made to be on full and glorious display. Within its six chapters, we find the work of the Triune God, the Father's eternal plan, the Son's victorious life and death, and the Spirit's sealing, all converging to build up the Kingdom of God on an individual, covenantal, and cosmic scale.

But amidst all of its depth, one major theme carries the entire letter and is vital for the health of the church and the enlivening of the soul: Christ is making "one new man" (Eph. 2:15).

Breaking Down the Dividing Wall

Paul lays out this foundational truth in Ephesians 2:13-15: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility... that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace."

This is a radical reorientation of the world. The hostility between Jew and Gentile, a division forged by the Old Covenant and the Fall, has been destroyed not by worldly compromise, but by the very body and blood of Christ. Before Christ's work, the Gentile was "separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). But through Christ's perfect work, those who were "far off" have been brought "near."

The implications are staggering. There is no longer two distinct peoples, but one unified body, at peace with God and one another. This new reality is the fruit of our labor and the answer to our prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Taking Dominion, Disciple the Nations

When Christ gives us our marching orders in Matthew 28, He does so with all authority in heaven and on earth. He commands us to go into the world, to take dominion for Him by discipling the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all that He has commanded. This is not a passive request but an active charge. We are not to sit on our laurels, content with past victories, but to push forward, covering the earth with the law of God as the waters cover the sea.

And what will this work look like? It will look like a work of unification, a heralding of the good news that division no longer needs to exist. It will look like a world in which people from every nation, tribe, people, and language are at peace with one another because they have found peace with King Jesus. All who bend the knee to Him will find that in Him alone, hostility has been put to death.

The Blueprint of Heaven

Lest we think this is an unrealistic pipe dream, we are given a clear blueprint in Revelation 7:9-12. John writes of a "great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb."

The unity in heaven is not a featureless, uniform mass. The nations, the tribes, the languages—they still exist. The cultural differences that some see as insurmountable barriers are, in God's eyes, part of His beautiful created order. The diversity of His people shows forth the glory of His versatility. This vision of heaven reminds us that our unity in Christ transcends all superficial divisions, and that ethnic and cultural distinctions, far from being a problem, are a feature of God's glorious design.

The Unveiling of the Mystery

Paul refers to this glorious truth as a "mystery" seven times in his letter. Before Christ's work, the full inclusion of the Gentiles was not entirely clear. Hints were there—Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabite, Jonah's commission to Nineveh—but Israel's disobedience and self-righteousness often obscured God's purpose to be a "light to the nations."

Now, however, the mystery has been unveiled in full. Christ's total victory has made it clear that all who call upon His name will be saved. God is revealing the "mystery of his will," which is to "unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph. 1:10).

The Church: God's Proof of His Work

The proof of this magnificent, unifying work is the church itself. The church—the new humanity, the body of Christ—is given by the Father as the proof of Christ's successful work. "And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23).

The church, comprised of Jew and Gentile, of every tribe and tongue, is the very fullness of Christ, and in our unity, we are a testament to the fact that Christ has already destroyed the dividing wall of hostility. By His blood, He has made one new man, and in that act, He has brought genuine peace to a broken and divided world.