But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
Ever felt like an outsider? Like maybe you didn’t really belong? Divorce, separation, sin, feeling rejected by parents, and feeling rejected by others because of our family, can make us feel aloneand left out. Separated. When we become a Christian, we become part of something special that we will belong to forever – the family of our Heavenly Father.
As sinners, we were separated, excluded, without hope, and without God. Outside of Jesus we didn’t belong, at least not to His family. We were not a part. We were on our own in a large and dangerous world. But now...In Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Now we belong...and that’s something. Perhaps for the first time in our life, or the first time in a long time, we belong. We are no longer foreigners, but fellow citizens with God’s people. We are now members of God’s household where there is full acceptance in this home.
Life Over Death
Paul doesn’t exactly begin the 2nd chapter on a positive note… And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience … We were dead people. Dead in our transgressions and dead people don’t feel anything. They are just dead. Being dead in our sins means we were separated from God but controlled by another. Just as we were when we did not know and live for Jesus. Because of His great love for us Jesus saves us and gives us life over death. God, who is rich in mercy made us ALIVE!
Paul doesn’t exactly begin the 2nd chapter on a positive note… And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience … We were dead people. Dead in our transgressions and dead people don’t feel anything. They are just dead. Being dead in our sins means we were separated from God but controlled by another. Just as we were when we did not know and live for Jesus. Because of His great love for us Jesus saves us and gives us life over death. God, who is rich in mercy made us ALIVE!
The Grace Gift
Grace is a great big concept that can touch the smallest of people. No matter how dead we were in our sin, we still were given the gift of grace from God. That’s the wonder of grace. It reaches out to those of us who don’t deserve it.
Grace is a great big concept that can touch the smallest of people. No matter how dead we were in our sin, we still were given the gift of grace from God. That’s the wonder of grace. It reaches out to those of us who don’t deserve it.
Look at Ephesians 2:4-5 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved… We could never save ourselves and frankly, we could never be righteous enough on our own to work our way into heaven. The good news is we don’t have to be that good. God is already that good. We don’t deserve His grace - we just need it - and he is happy to supply it.
We are picked up by Grace and gently cleaned up by the blood of Jesus. We are given a home. A Savior. A Family. We are loved. No longer excluded, we are now a part. We belong…We are alive…We are saved by grace.
