BIBLE EXPLORE / NEW TESTAMENT / EPHESIANS

Ephesians 2

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God's Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:1-10)

What is a Masterpiece?

The NLT version of verse 10 says, "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Other translations talk about us being God's handiwork. 

A master piece is the best piece of art that an artist creates. When we think of Masterpiece, we may think of Van Gogh's starry night, or Monet's water lillies, Michaelangelo's statue of David. 

Craft activity

Download this printable template to create your own masterpiece. Provide a range of mixed media for kids to express themselves - paints, pens, crayons, scrap paper, glue and colourful papers, as they create an image of themselves. 

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Media

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House against House (Ephesians 2:11-22)

House against house

​All throughout history and literature, there is story after story about how people are put against one another. 
House against house, person against person, party against party. Examples you could use include:

• England vs Italy – sports teams in the Euro 2020/21 cup final
• Apple vs Android
• Capulets vs Montagues (Romeo and Juliet)
• Labour vs National political parties
• Science vs faith
• What others can you think of? 

In our reading today, Paul talks about how Jews were up against the gentiles

• Jews vs Gentiles 
  • Jews were the children of God and the recipients of God’s covenant and law. But the Bible also tells us that even though they were close to God, they were disobedient and unfaithful. 
  • Who were the gentiles? Gentiles were the strangers and aliens to Israel, and were not included in the covenant promises God made with Israel. The Gentiles are without hope because they are without God in the world  

 
These differences can be seen in history, in stories, and in the church. And not just in the church of the old. Perhaps its the friction between two Sunday worship services, the youth group and the adults service. For centuries, parts of the church have accused other parts of the church that they are "not Christian enough."

Intergenerational friction

Intergenerational friction
In recent times, the media has shown the tension between the generations, such as the 'Okay Boomer' narrative that has become popular over the last few years. A young woman posted a video of herself saying this comment to an older person, and the expression gained more momentum when a Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick, used the term in response to an older National MP in the debating chambers. 

Overnight, the expression soared in popularity and seemed to express the frustrations that many younger generations were feeling. A 2019 New York Times article was entitled 'Okay boomer marks the end of the friendly generational relations', while an US magazine created two editions of the same magazine, entitled "It's all your fault Boomers", and another with "its all your fault millennials". And while we need to filter these debates through a contextual lens here in New Zealand, we need to acknowledge that these conversations dehumanise the "other". For more information, see Cory Seibel's book, Engaging all generations.

Don't take it for granted

It can be easy to forget our stories of faith, and take for granted the knowledge and experiences we have had walking a life with Jesus. Psalm 145: 4-7 reminds us of how one generations commends the work to another, and the needs of an intergenerational community of faith, as they learn and grow together. 

Taking down walls. 

And Jesus is in the business of taking down walls. ​

The church is good at putting up walls between our services, groups and activities. In some ways, when taken too far, we are like a Potato head toy separated out into the different parts, like a  divided up Body of Christ. How can we bring the generations back together, for mutual learning, serving and worship? 

We're in this together

Jesus came to give us a fresh start, to make a new covenant for Jews and Gentiles, so they would no longer be different. 

Temples of God

Paul uses the illustration of a building to describe how Jesus takes down the walls that divide. As the Old Testament tells us, the Temple was the place where people had to go to be close to God. In this new covenant, a fresh start, God shows that we are now the temple of the living God - God is using people. We no longer have to be in the right place, or with the right person. 

The Message version of Ephesians 2:19-22 is great for this description: "You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."