Day 39: Ephesians Epilogue Episode 4: From Babel to One New Humanity

Scripture Reading: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-13; Ephesians 2:11-22

The gospel unites what sin has divided.

Throughout Ephesians, Paul celebrates God's work of creating "one new humanity" in Christ. This wasn't a new idea. It was God's plan from the very beginning. The story that began with humanity's division at Babel finds its redemption through Jesus, who brings people from every nation, language, and background into one family.

Reflection: How has God used people different from you to deepen your understanding of Him?

Transcript

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Hello, everyone. Welcome to our final day in our book study of Ephesians. We've been here for about eight weeks, and we are finishing our four epilogue episodes where we look at the whole Bible and pull in other scripture to tie everything we've been learning in Ephesians together. Today we're going to be speaking about the topic from Babel to One New Humanity. And we're reading from three separate passages: Genesis chapter 11, verses 1 through 9, Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 13, and Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 through 22. Let's read together from Genesis. The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shainar and settled there. They said to each other, Come, let's make oven-fired bricks. They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. And they said, Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let's make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth. Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. The Lord said, If they have begun to do this as one people, all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let's go down there and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech. So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth. That's the end of Genesis. Now we read from Acts. When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, Look, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medis, Elamites, those who live in Mesopotomia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Frisia and Pamphlia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues. They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? But some sneered and said, They're drunk on wine. That is the end of Acts, and now we read from Ephesians, you may remember. So then remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcised by those called the circumcised, which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the divining wall of hostility. In his flesh he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building being put together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being put together for God's dwelling in the Spirit. Amen. That is the word of God. The gospel unites what sin has divided. One of the greatest themes running through the entire Bible is this God is gathering a people, not from one nation, not from one ethnicity, not from one language, from every nation. To understand Ephesians, we have to travel all the way back to Genesis 11. Humanity gathers on the plain of Shannar. They decide to build a city and a tower reaching into heaven. This wasn't simply an architectural project, it was an act of rebellion. They wanted to make a name for themselves rather than trust the name of God. The tower likely resembled the massive ziggurets common in Mesopotomia, stepped temple towers that symbolized humanity's attempt to bridge heaven and earth through human effort. God responds by confusing their language. People scatter across the earth. Nations are formed. Division enters the human story. Language itself becomes a reminder of humanity's fractured relationships. But notice what God does immediately after Babel. In Genesis 12, he calls Abraham and promises, in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The scattering wasn't the end of the story. God already had a redemption plan. So let's fast forward to Acts 2. Jerusalem is filled with Jewish pilgrims from across the known world for the Feast of Pentecost. Luke lists people from Parthia, Media, Egypt, Rome, Asia, Cappadocia, and many other regions. These weren't random details. They represented the nations. When the Holy Spirit comes, something remarkable happens. The disciples speak, and people hear the mighty works of God in their own languages. Notice carefully that God does not erase languages. He doesn't undo the cultural diversity. Instead, he makes the gospel understandable to every people. Pentecost isn't the cancellation of diversity, it's the sanctification of it. Now let's come back to Ephesians. Here Paul says Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. Jew and Gentile become one new humanity. This is far bigger than reconciliation between two groups. It is the beginning of God's promise to Abraham being fulfilled. The church becomes a living picture of God's future kingdom, a people from every nation, tribe, language, and culture united not by politics, geography, or ancestry, but by Jesus Christ. Think about the Ephesian Church, former worshippers of Artemis, Jewish believers steeped in the law, Roman citizens, merchants, widows, slaves, freedmen, wealthy patrons, the poor. Everything in society said they should remain divided. The gospel declared they belonged at the same table. That remains one of Christianity's most powerful witnesses today. The church should be one of the few places where people who would never naturally choose one another become family because they have been chosen by Christ. And we leave Ephesians and we'll begin First Peter soon. And then after First Peter, we're going to be going into James. In James, he is writing to believers scattered among the nations. The scattering that once represented judgment at Babel has become the means by which God spreads the gospel throughout the world. God has always been writing one story from Eden to Babel, to Abraham, to Pentecost, to Ephesus, to us. And one day that story will culminate around God's throne, where people from every tribe, language, people, and nation will worship the Lamb together. The gospel unites what sin has divided. Amen. As we leave today and as we end our study in Ephesians together, I'll ask this one reflection question. How has God used people different from you to deepen your understanding of Him? Awesome. Join us tomorrow. We'll drop the intro episode to 1 Peter and then begin our daily devotional study in that Monday of next week. Looking forward to it. Talk to you soon. Love you.