This period in the year has been chosen to celebrate the death and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We call it Easter. So many messages are being
circulated with greetings and well wishes from afar and near. What would
delight my heart the most would be that the words are not mere shallow
expressions devoid of deep convictions or persuasions of the supernatural
nature of the events at Calvary and the benefits that now accrue to every
believer both now and in eternity.
Of a truth, Jesus our Savior was crucified and buried. He resurrected
and ascended to Heaven. Just as Paul of Tarsus testified before Governor Felix
and King Agrippa, “…this thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26 KJV) or as
the Easy to Read Version translates it, “…they happened where everyone could
see them.”
His death and resurrection brought magnificent benefits to everyone and
anyone who believes in Him. In the last few weeks we have been exploring some
of those benefits in “Our Riches in Christ” series and this week we will
consider another facet of our new lives in Christ.
No More Barriers
“Therefore, remember
that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those
who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human
hands)-remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from
citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope
and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:11-13 NIV
We are all used to different kinds of barriers and exclusions set up in
human societies. Many of these are based on physical characteristics and
attributes such as gender, skin color, nationality, ethnicity or state of
origin. In quite a number of scenarios, we experience exclusion from certain
privileges that some other people have access to simply because of attributes
that are not exactly under our control.
Before Christ’s work of redemption, every non-Israelite (Gentiles) by
birth was in a state of spiritual exclusion. Christ-less, hopeless, God-less,
and excluded from the covenants of promise because under the Old Covenant, God
chose the nation of Israel specifically as His people (see Romans 9:4,
Deuteronomy 7:6, Exodus 4:22, Amos 3:2).
The term “uncircumcision” (which was used to describe non-Israelites) had
even become a derogatory term. Apparently, the physical action of circumcision
had become a major determinant of social interaction. In Judges 14, Samson’s
parents expressed their displeasure about his desire to marry the daughter of “uncircumcised”
Philistines. In 1st Samuel 31, King Saul didn’t even want his death
to be at the hands of a “gentile”. And this social exclusion had become so bad
that in the time of early Church, even Apostle Peter had a bit of a challenge
in understanding that the barrier was no longer present in Christ Jesus (see
Acts 10:28, Galatians 2:11-14).
Ephesians 2 from verse 11 is however very emphatic in affirming to us
that for believers in Christ, those barriers have been torn and brought down in
Christ. The new relationship we have with God in Christ means we can no longer
be excluded. We are no longer hopeless or God-less. We were afar but in Christ
Jesus, we have been brought near. God does not deal with us on the basis of a
physical act of circumcision anymore. Rather, there is a new circumcision, the
real circumcision in fact, not made with human hands but done inwardly by the
Spirit of God (see Romans 2:29, Colossians 2:11).
“For it is we who are
the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus,
and who put no confidence in the flesh”
Philippians 3:3 NIV
This week dear believer please remember: you are no longer hopeless,
God-less, Christ-less or excluded from the community of God’s people. Your
union with Christ Jesus has changed you. You have been brought into God’s
dominion and you are now a beneficiary of the New Covenant that far supersedes
the old.
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