In whom we obtained an inheritance, ... (Ephesians 1:11-14). Our world is divided, terribly so. Nation against nation, race against race, tribe against tribe, this is the order of our day. It has always been so. What can bring despised people together and make them one? The same thing that united Jew and Gentile in the first century. Christ alone. To be a Christian means to be in a new relationship to Christ, it means to be in Christ. All who are in Christ are one with each other. What a marvel that God can and does take a wide variety of people and make them one. This is the mystery of redemption. The Jew and Greek are good examples. The Jews boasted of religious pride. The Greeks boasted of intellectual pride. Both despised the other. The Jew called the Greeks pagans and the Greeks called the Jews barbarians. Both boasted of their superiority. Yet, this middle wall of partition was broken down as many Jews and Greeks were joined together into one body. This was not done by teaching Christian principles. Unity is not achieved by legislation, education, or force. It was an organic union accomplished by the miracle of a new birth into a new family. How did it happen? Jesus is the answer. He, by His perfect life and through His Holy Spirit, convicted Jew and Gentile of their sinful condition. Romans 3 makes this abundantly clear. Both grovel in the dust of utter failure and acknowledge that they are sinners in the sight of a Holy God. But the gospel goes on and tells them of salvation, redemption, and reconciliation through Jesus. Both are brought to Christ without deserving it. Both are brought into Christ by the miracle of regeneration. When this happens both are together, not in a political truce, but in an organic body. The foot cannot say to the eye, I dont need you. In this new body they are all one, not in Christ as a teacher, but vitally, spiritually, mystically, members of His body and united in Him by the Holy Spirit. Praise God!! Prayer: Father, thank You that we are in a family, a body. Thank You that we, all of the redeemed, are Christs precious Bride. Help us demonstrate our unity because we understand our union. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 12:32:53 +0000
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