Freedom to Hope

Read Ephesians 2:11-22

Context: Paul wrote to the Ephesians so they would better understand God's purpose and grace. This text immediately follows the verses we read in class this week about being saved by grace and seated in the heavenly realms with Jesus.

Text:
11Therefore, 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)— 12remember 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. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by 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, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Have you ever felt like an outsider? Ever been in a place where you were really different from everyone else -- you were a different race, gender, or spoke a different language than everyone else in the room? Or maybe you work in a place where you are the only Christian...and you feel like an alien.

In Jesus' time, there was definitely a separateness between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were favored by God, and as a nation they knew that they had been given a tremendous promise. But in order to attain that promise they had to toe the line. Everyone else was destined to fail regardless of what they did. The Jews lived in fear of repercussions to sin, and the Gentiles didn't have a hope for eternity.

But Jesus tore down the barriers that surrounded us, and he provided freedom to both sides -- freedom from the legalities for the Jews and freedom from damnation for the Gentiles. We all have hope for an eternal future. He has removed the differences between us so we all felt like equals and could work together for the goodness of the kingdom. We have the power to be brothers and sisters with any person or group on the planet when we all share the hope and peace that is Christ.