Ephesians 2:13. “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made night by the blood of Christ.”
Every verse in this chapter seems to be bringing new joy, new insight for me. Today’s verse is so simple, yet so profound. The whole story of sin, salvation and redemption is in this verse.
We are far off from God because of the nature with which we are born. We are sinful. Because of our sin, we have no hope of heaven, or of relationship with God.
But God loved us, and desired for us to be able to have right standing with Him, so He provided the only perfect sacrifice for sin in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, Whose blood was shed as the cleansing power of forgiveness.
When we acknowledge our sin before Him, and accept His gift of eternal life purchased through the shed blood of Jesus, we are no longer far off from God. We are brought close to Him, and have the sure hope of eternity with Him in heaven.
Simple. Profound. Amazing.
Again, I LOVE the message of this chapter. I was so far away! But was brought near, not by my works but by His blood and grace.
My favorite verse in chapter 2 is verse six. It concludes that we who are dead in trespasses and sins are now covered with Christ’s provision and “seated in Heavenly places.” When I attempted to teach this truth in a Bible study group years ago now, I had someone tell me that I was just getting too deep. It offended me then, and even now as I look back at it, I am glad that it never quenched my delight in knowing that In Christ I am already seated in Heavenly places. My position in Him is not shallow. I am truly positioned in a place where I can grow! I never want to be buried in the muck of this world stunted by the claims of this world!
Well, I got that out of my system now! Thanks for the space.
Too deep, huh? Then I guess God shouldn’t have led Paul to write it, since we aren’t smart enough to understand it. Sad. Such a beautiful truth to shrug off as “too deep.”
It was from a well respected lady in the church, and truthfully, I lost some respect for her over the years. I never did let up though, because those wonderful truths are just not taught enough, in my opinion. One of the reasons I seldom miss reading your Bible study.
I don’t understand not wanting to understand 🙂
Well, if YOU don’t understand it, I’ll sure quit trying! Ha!