One household
The best thing about weddings is seeing two people become life partners. In marriage, God says that the two flesh become one. Two people form a new household. Two people come from two households to make one new one. The marriage celebration is a joining together of two people, but also a celebration for the families.
As Paul writes to the Ephesians, there are two households. Jews and Gentiles. There are two groups. There are two sides of a wall. But what Paul has been saying in the previous chapters is that through Jesus, the wall between the two, the dividing wall of hostility, has been brought down. The two households have become one. They have formed a new humanity:
Ephesians 2:15
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,
Jesus came to bring a new humanity. To bring peace. To those far (Gentiles) and to those near (Jews), to bring them to the one true Father by the one Spirit:
Ephesians 2:17-18
17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
What God has done in Jesus has not just brought people together, but brought them together in peace.
The joy of the gospel is that God has only one house. All are invited. And it is the same house built from the apostles and prophets. It is the same house built with Jesus as the chief cornerstone - the foundation stone, the central part of it all:
Ephesians 2:19-22
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
There is no room for another household. There is no other room for a separately identified "Christian faith". We are all one in Christ Jesus. Despite our many denominations, despite our slightly varying traditions and customs, there is only one true church with one true Gospel - the one with Jesus at the centre - his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. There is only one gospel and all who come to Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit, depending on him for salvation, are part of that one body of Christ, through the cross.
There are of course false religions and false gods, there are cults and atheist groups. Some denominations go astray from the truth, and some priests and congregations deny the resurrection or ignore the Word of God. Many claim to be a part of the house of God but are clearly not by their teaching and practices.
Paul's reminder to us here is that the true Church is the one built on Jesus, through his blood shed on the cross, through his resurrection, through his offer of forgiveness, and through the work of his Holy Spirit, one gospel built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles. May we always remain in Him.
Prayer
Thank you Jesus for your blood shed on the cross to set us free from sin and to bring peace between us and you. Keep us in this truth we pray. Keep us holding firm to the one true gospel that preaches peace through the forgiveness of sins. May your Holy Spirit be at work in our church to keep us faithful to the one true gospel of Jesus.
Amen.