Central....
Ephes. 2:11-22 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)— [12] remember that 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. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] 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, [16] and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
[19] Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
If there is on feature of Paul’s theology that seems to come over again and again, it must be that Jesus is central to everything about the new relationship between men and God.
He brought us back together – it is through his work, his life, death and resurrection, that we have had our relationship with God renewed. Without him we were far away from God. Paul uses the word foreigners – in the ancient world it was more noticeable if you didn’t belong because there was probably less travel outside of the big cosmopolitan cities – to show that we looked on God and the things of his kingdom as ‘alien’. It is interesting also that he uses the term barrier to show that something ha come between us and God to block the way. Jesus destroyed the barrier, not us.
He is responsible for our present state, of finding peace with God. For the Christian there should be a lack of conflict with God, our lives should be surrendered into his hands, knowing that he has now promised to take responsibility for us. He is also responsible for the peace that we share with our fellow brothers and sisters, no matter what backgrounds we come from. In Paul’s time there was often conflict between those of a Jewish (law following) background and the Gentiles – but Jesus came and made us all one family. There are no longer any differences. It is the same in our time. We may come from different places, but we now form one body. Where we came from is no longer important.
And Jesus is central to what we are becoming – the earthly temple of his dwelling. In each of us is the dwelling of God. Wherever we go he goes with us, and when we come together it is as if a mighty building is being raised in his honour. And who is central to this, whose glory are we proclaiming when we come together? It is Jesus. He is central.
[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] 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, [16] and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
[19] Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
If there is on feature of Paul’s theology that seems to come over again and again, it must be that Jesus is central to everything about the new relationship between men and God.
He brought us back together – it is through his work, his life, death and resurrection, that we have had our relationship with God renewed. Without him we were far away from God. Paul uses the word foreigners – in the ancient world it was more noticeable if you didn’t belong because there was probably less travel outside of the big cosmopolitan cities – to show that we looked on God and the things of his kingdom as ‘alien’. It is interesting also that he uses the term barrier to show that something ha come between us and God to block the way. Jesus destroyed the barrier, not us.
He is responsible for our present state, of finding peace with God. For the Christian there should be a lack of conflict with God, our lives should be surrendered into his hands, knowing that he has now promised to take responsibility for us. He is also responsible for the peace that we share with our fellow brothers and sisters, no matter what backgrounds we come from. In Paul’s time there was often conflict between those of a Jewish (law following) background and the Gentiles – but Jesus came and made us all one family. There are no longer any differences. It is the same in our time. We may come from different places, but we now form one body. Where we came from is no longer important.
And Jesus is central to what we are becoming – the earthly temple of his dwelling. In each of us is the dwelling of God. Wherever we go he goes with us, and when we come together it is as if a mighty building is being raised in his honour. And who is central to this, whose glory are we proclaiming when we come together? It is Jesus. He is central.
Sorry this was posted a bit later in the day than usual....
Deployed breaks for the holiday weekend and returns on Tuesday 26th September.
posted by Gordon at
3:22 pm
1 Comments:
I'm writting this on Sunday morning and last night I was at the Mandarin praise concert (the group have been described as a Mandarin Hillsongs). All the songs had an English version underneath and it was amazing to praise God with people from the three different parts of our church family (as well as lots of non-Christians who came to see what it was all about). It reminded me again that we are all praising the same God and all part of the same body. I love that. To worship God together despite the language barrier makes me think I see a foretaste of heaven :-)
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Louise, at 9:12 am
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