Takeaway Verse: Ephesians 2:13
But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.
Story: The art of becoming one family – my big fat Greek wedding – vegetarian – didn’t go to the Greek Orthodox Church – he had like 2 cousins.
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Transcription:
Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together, and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So take a deep breath and let’s get started.
Erica Parkerson: Today’s episode is called God’s dining room is big . If your table is like my parents, the one I grew up eating at, you have to bring the leaves down from the attic and keep adding them at Christmas time, and at Easter time, so that more family members can join us at the table.
That’s God’s family. We’re gonna be diving in moments into Ephesians chapter two, the second half. This is Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, but you and I can take it as if he is writing to us. This is all about how God chose to adopt you and adopt me into his family. And we’re gonna talk more about that in moments, but first, would you join me in a word of prayer, as we just thank the Lord for being with us. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we are astonished in an amazing way that you would join us, that you would sit with us. You tell us that we’re two or three are gathered, there you are in the midst of us. And so, we just take this moment to breathe deeply knowing you are with us. That’s such a big thing that you are with us, the God of the universe. We thank you. We ask you to please open our eyes and our hearts to what you want us to see and understand in your beautiful word today. It’s in Jesus name. We pray. Amen.
All right, here we go. We’re going to dive into Ephesians two part two. Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. Now remember the word Gentile just means not Jewish. That’s me, might be you. You were called uncircumcised heathens by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days, you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel. And you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God, and without hope. Here comes our takeaway verse, but now you have been United with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near.
I love that. Near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. Just soak that up today. Christ himself has brought peace to us. He United Jews and Gentiles into one people when in his own body on the cross. Thank you, Jesus. He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body. Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross. And our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this good news of peace to you, Gentiles, who were far away from him and pieced to the Jews who were near. Now, all of us can come to the father through the same holy spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So, now you Gentiles, that’s me, maybe it’s you are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him, you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his spirit.
These words are so rich and so beautiful. We are his house together, the Jews and the Gentiles, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Christ Jesus is the cornerstone, and this is a place where God lives by his spirit. He lives in our unity. It’s so beautiful. When you think of the cross, do you think of love? I think of an overwhelming love. That’s what God feels towards you. It’s why he died for you. And when I think of our takeaway verse today, it’s verse 13, but now you have been United with Christ Jesus. Once you are far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. It’s love that joins us together. It’s sacrifice that joins us together. One of my favorite movies is my big fat Greek wedding and I know you’re going, where are you going with this? I will tell you. If you’ve ever seen it, there’s a Greek girl who falls in love with a non-Greek boy, and he’s a vegetarian and in a Greek family, that’s a problem, right?
They like the lamb, and you know, he doesn’t go to the Greek Orthodox church, and he has about two cousins where his girlfriend has about 2 million, and he doesn’t fit in. But it’s the love that Tula and Ian share that the family finally sees. And he gets baptized in the church and people start to just love him for who he is. It was love that made those two families one. Ian, with his parents who were so stoic and rich and kind of rigid in their personalities… they join the family as well. The two families become one, the Jews and the Gentiles become one. It is love that brings us together. Now, the love of Jesus is a bazillion times stronger than the fictional love that was shared between Ian and Tula. But for me, it’s helpful to have a picture, to see how love can bring two very different groups together.
Oh, you are so loved. All right I can’t wait for tomorrow. We’re going to dive into chapter three of Ephesians. Let’s do it. See you then.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
