Weekly Memory Verse:
This is real love -- not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
1 John 4:10 (NLT)
Meditation Thought:
God is willing to go "near and far" to have a friendship with me. What am I willing to do?
Today's Reading - Ephesians 2:11-18 (CEV) Choose another translation
Don't forget that you are Gentiles. In fact, you used to be called "uncircumcised" by those who take pride in being circumcised. At that time you did not know about Christ. You were foreigners to the people of Israel, and you had no part in the promises that God had made to them. You were living in this world without hope and without God, and you were far from God. But Christ offered his life's blood as a sacrifice and brought you near God. Christ has made peace between Jews and Gentiles, and he has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us. Christ gave his own body to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands. He even brought Jews and Gentiles together as though we were only one person, when he united us in peace. On the cross Christ did away with our hatred for each other. He also made peace between us and God by uniting Jews and Gentiles in one body. Christ came and preached peace to you Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to us Jews, who were near God. And because of Christ, all of us can come to the Father by the same Spirit.
(Today's reading came from the Contemporary English Version)
6 comments:
Let's see here... God called us, "the Gentiles", whose favorite pastime was to play Rugby, and then called on another group of people, "the Jews" , who's favorite pastime was Soccer and told us that we were going to learn to play a new game, that we'd be on the same team and it was called Baseball and Our team will be called "The Saved".
The opposing team doesn't know the rules yet, and neither do we because the rules are still being written, but God knows what they are. However God doesn't talk a whole lot or very loudy and is hard to understand because he speaks in a diffent language and thinks in a way that only He can comprehend.
The only similaritity in this game to what we ever knew about games was that it is played in on planet Earth. Oh yea, and the opposing team is everyone else "The Heathens" and use the bats to hit us with and yell all the time that "the game is rigged".
And since God is the "Commissioner of Baseball" he has also instructed us that we are supposed to enjoy the game and have fun.
Play Ball!
I love the use of "peace" and "united" throughout this Bible section. It reminds me of God's perspective. I was born God's enemy, and only God could resolve that issue.
But even friends can feel like enemies when they're headed in opposing directions. God must hate those times that I choose to stand against or opposed to Him when He has done everything for me to stand with Him.
Real peace will exist in my life only when I am actively valuing my friendship with Him.
I love how this passage reminds us that it was via the cross that Christ reconciled us with God, grafted us into the vine with the Jews, adopted as some Scripture says. The wondrous work of the cross! I am awed that my Saviour willingly went to the cross for me and my brothers and sisters in Christ! I wish we would remember that "On the cross Christ did away with our hatred for each other."
I had to study this a little bit because of verse 15 which says in this translation that Jesus came to destroy the law when actually He came and fulfilled the law, Matthew 5:17 right? Anyway, through Jesus we both (those near and those far) have access by one Spirit to the Father, the wall is broken down from between us, and we can have peace through Him.
I think this makes a good study.
In a sense Jesus both destroyed and fulfilled the Old Testament Law. He destroyed the penalty and necessity of the Law's sacrificial system by becoming the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29) and the "once for all" sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 10:10).
His death also fulfilled the Law in that the ceremonies necessary to be "clean" (sanctified, holy) under the Law are no longer necessary because we are made clean/sanctified/holy immediately at salvation.
So there is no contradiction when Paul refers to Jesus both destroying and fulfilling the Law. It's all a matter of which part of the Law Paul was discussing.
Thank you, Pastor. Your explanation helps.
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