For thousands of years the Hebrews believed that Jehovah God was exclusively their God. They believed that they, and only they, were His children. Actually, I am sorry to say that even today many of the Jewish people believe this to be the case. Even those Gentiles who converted to the Jewish religion were never thought of as true brothers and sisters of the Hebrews. Rather, the Gentiles were looked upon as kind of step-brothers and step-sisters, who could never hold the same status as those who were born Hebrew in their society, nor, the Hebrews believed, in the eyes and kingdom of God. However, at the birth of Jesus Christ, that mindset was proven to be false.
The Jewish authorities either did not understand the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah being for all people, or they chose to ignore those passages of scripture. Many, if not most, even later did not comprehend Jesus’ words when He spoke concerning, “another flock of (His) sheep” or “Lambs of another fold”. But the kings of the East who came to visit the Christ Child some two to three years after His birth (no, they were not present at the manger as countless Christmas cards show), did not miss or mistake the meaning of the old prophecies, and thus were the first Gentiles to see and worship humankind’s Messiah, Jesus the Christ.
Nor were Jesus’ words concerning Gentiles lost on the Apostle Paul, as we learn in today’s Epistle lesson from his letter to the Church at Ephesus. Paul tells the Ephesian Church, and us, that YAHWEH (Jehovah) is indeed God not only to the Jews, but to Gentiles also!
Just prior to the passages we heard read this morning, Paul gives us Gentiles a brief history lesson. Oh, not a history lesson like we usually think of, but more of a spiritual history lesson. He tells us in chapter 2, verses 11& 12 that there was once a time when the Hebrew thinking regarding Gentiles was indeed true. He tells us that by being born as Gentiles and called the “uncircumcised” by the Hebrews, we were without a relationship with God; and were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
What a terrible mess to be in! No relationship with God! No hope! Destined to an eternity spent in Hell. But there is Good News! The Wise Men who came to see Jesus recognized that those forlorn days were gone. Praise the Lord! Paul goes on to tell us in verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ!” That’s right! Where we once were excluded from the family of God, through our acceptance of Christ’s work on the cross, done for each of us, and for all people, we now are Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters, co-heirs to God’s kingdom and all that God has to offer! As Paul says next, “For He (Jesus) is our peace; in His flesh He has made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”
In this world, humans are very, very quick to create “us and them” types of situations. We can, and do, use any differences between us to deride, berate and separate ourselves from others. Instead of focusing on how we are similar, we hone in on how we are different, and proceed at breakneck speed to construct walls between us, which take years and years to break down, if that ever happens at all. Yet, listen to what the apostle Paul says next. He tells us that Christ has created, “…in Himself one new humanity in place of the two”. Jesus has reconciled all of us, Jew or Gentile, to God. He has created “one body through the cross”. Through Jesus Christ, all people, everyone who proclaims Him as Savior and Lord, has equal access to God, in one Spirit.
Hear verse 12 one more time: “In Him (Jesus) and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” That’s right! Each one of us can come to Jesus Christ directly! We do not need a middleman, such as a priest, or anyone else to go to God and ask forgiveness for us. We can go to Him ourselves and ask Him with total confidence that He will listen to our prayerful requests and answer them. Are you sure about that, pastor? Absolutely, because Scripture tells us to confess our sins to the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and He will be faithful to forgive them! Why? Because Paul explains to us that through Jesus Christ “…you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
There you have it.
When was the last time you shared the Good News of an eternity spent in Heaven waiting for those who accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord? Who do you know that is living outside the promise of God and needs the revelation of the truth? Who do you know that needs to hear the words of Jesus Christ as He tells humankind that, “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
During the past centuries many of the basic truths of God’s Word have been buried under man-made theology, tradition and ritual. But God’s Holy Spirit opened the eyes of those souls who were seeking His truth, and those truths were unveiled once more.
Martin Luther and others championed justification by faith. Other great God-fearing men of the past rediscovered and taught the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the glorious return of Jesus Christ and the joy of the victorious Christian life. But sadly, the Church has again fallen into a time of weakness because far, far too many Christians are unaware of what is available to them in and through Christ Jesus. Far too many are anemic in their faith due to a tremendous lack of understanding and knowledge of the Word of God. Far, far too many Christians are sitting by and allowing the Word of God to be watered down, corrupted and flat-out denied or changed into a man-made image of what it truly is under the guise of “tolerance”. Far, far too many Christians are perfectly happy to come into church on Sunday mornings and believe anything and everything that the person in the pulpit tells them, without even the slightest idea of checking what is being spewed forth from the pulpit by a human being as fallible as they are, against what is actually given us in Holy Scripture.
It would be great if all pastors, priests, rabbis or whatever it is that we call spiritual leaders, were perfect. The problem is, none of us are perfect! No, not even the pastor who stands before you today. In pulpits throughout this county, this country and this world, lies from Satan are being put forth as God’s truth. You see, some of the lies being spread about today really sound great. Like the one going about that it doesn’t really matter what you believe, or what you do. God will forgive everyone and all people will go to Heaven. I kind of wish that were true, because I really do not like the thought of anyone spending eternity in Hell. But the reality is, that is not what the Word of God says to us. It quite clearly states in Jesus’ own words in several passages, that to reject Jesus as Savior and Lord is to reject God the Father also, and thus be denied entrance into God’s heavenly kingdom.
So I implore every Christian on the face of the Earth to study Scripture on their own, as well as together in Bible studies, in order to become soundly grounded in God’s Word. For the reality is, how can we recognize and disclose a lie if we do not know the truth? How can we pass on the truth, when we do not know what the truth is?
A NASCAR driver doesn’t run a race straight through from beginning to end. He makes pit stops along the way. So Christians should not go from Sunday to Sunday with no time spent with God’s word in between. We need to make pit stops in between to get new tires and refuel. Without those times spent with God through His Word we run the risk of going flat or running out of gas, so that we don’t have a chance of finishing the race, let alone winning it. Don’t go through life running on empty. Don’t be robbed of your spiritual blessing that God has for you. Don’t miss out on your inheritance of all that is yours through Christ. Stock up on your supply of the understanding of God’s Word and will for your life.
God is a God for us Gentiles too. In the Old Testament it is revealed that when the Jews followed God and His commands, they were blessed mightily. However, when the Jews ignored God or chose other paths, they were indeed cursed with mighty problems. We, as Christians, are also blessed tremendously when we walk in the Way of God. When we do not, we too are cursed. Oh, it may not be a physical curse, but we are placed in a status of non-fellowship with Christ Jesus. We then lack the joy of being in a right relationship to Him, of being in His company, of living the Spirit-filled life.
God has given us a road map to follow. That road map is His Word. Yet far too often we choose to follow a different map, one of our own making, and then we wonder why we are so far off course. Almighty God had a secret. He kept it hidden for a long, long time. His secret was hidden from man, and hidden from the angels in Heaven. His secret was His plan for the redemption of all people who chose to follow what He has commanded.
Well, the cat is out of the bag. His secret was made known through the birth, life and death of God the Son, Jesus Christ. The secret was realized by the Wise Men who came to see the toddler Jesus, and the secret was revealed to Paul. God is the God of the Gentiles, too. We now know the secret. We now must share the secret. Amen.