No Longer Strangers

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”  Ephesians 2:11-13

They, the folks who are always credited with pithy sayings, say that people can live for a short time without food, water, and air, for a few seconds, but no one can live any length of time without hope, that thing that is desired that folks expect to receive or the result of an endeavor that people expect to happen.  Folks use the word “hope” all the time.  “I hope that I get that promotion”.  “I hope that my loan is approved”.  “I hope that I will get to go on that trip”.  These are things that people desire, but they may not necessarily happen.  Another saying is “hope is not a plan” which is said when folks want things to turn out a certain way but have not made the proper efforts or follow throughs in planning to reach the desired goal.  Worldly hope doesn’t always pan out.  On the other hand, the hope that believers have in Christ is a firm promise that Jesus will walk with us and take us to heaven when we pass away.  Thus, hope can be more like a wish which may or may not happen, or it can be a promise that is waiting on fulfillment.  It depends upon the context in which “hope” is used.

When God made His covenant with Abraham, He instituted the rite of circumcision as man’s outward sign that he was willing to abide by the covenant that God made with him (Genesis 17:9-14).  Every male Jew since that time undergoes circumcision as a baby but few obey God’s covenant any longer.  Gentiles were not included in this covenant, thus, before Paul brought the gospel to Ephesus, the Ephesians, who were Gentiles, were living in the flesh, that is, they did not recognize the God of Israel, but were either idol worshipers or self-worshipers.  Paul asked them to remember what life was like before they met Christ.  The Jews, who prided themselves as God’s chosen people, instead of being a witness of God’s goodness and love to Gentiles, chose to hate Gentiles, calling them “dogs” and “unclean”, shunning them and treating them as unworthy of God’s grace which He had so generously bestowed upon Israel.  It’s not much fun to be excluded and called names, but this is how it was for the Ephesians until Paul, a Jew who had also been guilty of defamation against Gentiles, met Christ on the road to Damascus.

Before Paul brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to Ephesus, the people had no hope of eternal life.  All they knew was life on earth without the promise of better days ahead.  They did not have the Holy Spirit living within their hearts to guide and comfort them, making life bearable and giving them a purpose.  They weren’t able to gather together in the name of Christ to worship and draw strength from Him and from one another as likeminded believers.  The promise of a Savior which God would send to save men and women from their sins was unknown to the Gentile world prior to Paul’s preaching.  There was no joy, peace, or contentment among them.  If they had any hope at all, it was likely the hope that they would survive another day or for some short-lived pleasure.  Since they didn’t know Christ, they didn’t know God.  What a miserable existence to go through life without God’s hand keeping one safe, secure, and hopeful in the promise of eternal life in heaven.  Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”, and they didn’t even have Christ.

But all that hopelessness was gone when the light of Christ shone into the hearts of these Ephesians.  The blood, which covered the Jews who received Christ, also covered the Gentiles, these Ephesians, to bring hope and a future of eternal life to those who believed in God’s Son.  The Gentiles had become part of God’s family with the same access and privileges which accompany one who is adopted into a family.  Paul wrote in Galatians 3:29 that if we belong to Christ, we are part of and heirs of that great nation which God promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:2).  A saved Gentile is just as near to God as a saved Jew.  God doesn’t see color, nationality, male or female, social standing, or economic standing.  He sees whether a person has repented of sin, placed his or her faith in Christ, and is living to serve Him for the rest of his or her life.  There are only two kinds of people–saved and lost.  Christ’s blood covers a repentant sinner no matter who he or she is.

One other thing:  a scripture can be read many times, and then, out of the blue, comes something that had not been seen before.  Actually, it is not really out of the blue, but rather the Holy Spirit pointing out something that one did not see before.  God intended for His chosen people to be a witness to the world, but instead they hated and vilified the Gentiles, calling them names and refusing to associate with them.  They kept God all to themselves.  And then I thought, don’t we Christians, perhaps not intentionally, do the same thing when we don’t share the gospel and the love of Christ to those with whom we come in contact?  Food for thought.