Friday, July 24, 2015

Ephesians 2:19-20

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

Reflection

The entire message of the Bible is based on the fact that God does not want to be separated from us and that he wants us to be a part of his family.  God wants a relationship with us.  That relationship is offered by God through his Son, Jesus Christ.  We are no longer outcasts because of our sin.  How has all of this happened?  The foundation of this great miracle is the message of God’s grace that came through the apostles and prophets.  However, the cornerstone of this message of forgiveness, love and grace is Jesus.  Without Jesus, his life, death and resurrection we would still be on the outside yearning to get close to God.  The great chasm of our sin between us and God has been effectively bridged through the saving acts of Jesus Christ.

Today you are invited to praise God for the mercy he has made known through Jesus Christ.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Ephesians 2:15-18

(Jesus has become our peace) by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.  His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Reflection

Are you confused by Paul’s reference to two men, two different groups of people?  What he is talking about is the dividing line between Jew and Gentile (everyone who isn’t a Jew).  The Jews are the chosen people of God and are the beneficiaries of God’s covenant through Abraham and then re-instated through Moses and the giving of the Law (the Ten Commandments).  God’s promises before Jesus were for those who shared in the covenant that God had made with Israel.

Paul is now saying that through Jesus Christ there is no longer a dividing line between Jew and Gentile.  Jesus through the sacrifice of his life has paid the price for all sin, Jew and Gentile alike.  When we are united with Christ we become one body whether we are Jew or Gentile.  In fact, through Jesus a new Israel has been created.  All are invited to be a part of this new Israel.  The new Israel is in the form of the church of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus, all people are invited to be his people.  The two have now become one.  Through Christ’s death and resurrection we all have access to God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.

You are invited to consider today how your life has been changed because you have received the gift of reconciliation and are no longer alienated from God.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Ephesians 2:14

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

Reflection

Jesus is our peace.  As we are united with Christ the animosity between us and God and between one another has been destroyed.  That barrier of hostility has been done away with through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Reflection

Yesterday we considered how hopeless our situation is when we are alienated from God, isolated in our sin.  The very next verse takes us from despair to the heights of joy.  This verse assures us that in our relationship with Christ our alienation with God has been overcome and that we are brought into the very presence of God.  This has not been accomplished out of our own effort but through the sacrificial shedding of the blood of Christ.

Psalm 100 says this:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Ephesians 2:11-12

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) - remember at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants

of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

Reflection

These two verses of scripture capture the essence of what it means to be alienated from God.  This passage paints a bleak picture of what it means to not be able to have an alive and vibrant relationship with God.  We are excluded from all the goodness of God.  We are not allowed citizenship in God’s kingdom.  In a very real way we are outsiders.  We are cut off.  In our alienated state God’s promises are null and void.  This passage sums it up in this way:  we are without hope and we are without God in this world.

This is a picture of complete and total spiritual desolation.  Use this day to reflect on how hopeless our situation is without Christ.  We sometimes need to reflect on what it would be without Christ so that we can rejoice in the blessings of living in Christ.

July 19-25

United with Christ

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ

Ephesians 2:13

Alienation is something that probably all of us have experienced in some way.  Maybe we have a strained relationship with a family member.  Maybe connections with a co-worker have become difficult.  Maybe there has been a falling out with a cherished friend.  Alienation can happen with anyone at any time and the only answer is to allow the relationship to remain broken or to initiate some process of reconciliations.

Through sin, humanity has been alienated from God.  Our alienation for God is unique because we can do nothing, from a human perspective, to repair the broken relationship.  We are helpless in restoring our relationship with God.

God is a loving and merciful God and he wants to be in relationship with each and every one of us.  To that end God has taken the initiative and made a way by which we can be reconciled with God.  Through Jesus Christ taking the penalty for our sin in his death on the cross he provided for the forgiveness of our sin and opened the way for us to be reconciled to God the Father.  As we are united with Christ we are reconciled with the Father.

This week we are going to explore the wonderful spiritual truths of what has happened for us through the reconciliation provided through Jesus Christ.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us to do.”

Reflection

So if we are not saved by our good works what role does good works play in our lives?  We are saved for good works.  That means that we do good works not to receive salvation but out of gratitude for the salvation that Jesus has provided for us.  We do good works to point others to Jesus.  In this way good works become a part of the new life that Christ has given to us.  Do you do good works so that others will notice you or so they will be pointed to Jesus?