Getting Together

The next several verses speak to the reconciling power of God.  One of the ways that God reconciled people then and today is in the area of ethnicity and race.  In the first century the Jews and Gentiles were separated by contempt for one another. The word “Gentile” was used to refer to anyone who was not Jewish.  These two groups of people were separated by religion and by ethnicity much of the time. However, as the gospel of Jesus Christ spread outside of Jerusalem and into Gentile areas of the world, many Gentiles became followers of Jesus.  This caused quite a stir as this “new way” brought both Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom of God.  You can read about this several times in the book of Acts and in Paul’s letters.  As Paul would travel to a new area, he would usually go to the Jewish synagogue first to preach the gospel.  Inevitably he would be driven away from the synagogue and then he would preach to the Gentiles.  In Ephesians 2:11-13 we read about the gospel bringing both groups of people near to God:  ¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The Gentiles were called “Uncircumcision” because they didn’t practice circumcision on their male babies like the Jewish people did.  Circumcision was a part of the Jewish religious practice.  The Gentiles were not receivers of the Jewish covenant and law and as Paul writes, “covenants of promise”.  Now, it’s important to note that God always intended for the Jewish people to be a blessing to the Gentile world but in practice, it really had not turned out that way.  But now, in Christ, those Gentiles were no longer “far off” from the promises of God. Now they were brought near by the work of Jesus on the cross.  The blood of Christ was shed for both Jew and Gentile.  This idea was radical for the Jews to receive and wonderful for the Gentiles to hear.  The gospel of Jesus Christ knows no race or ethnicity.  Here is my prayer for this morning:  “Father, I thank you that you have provided a way that all can be brought near to You through the blood of Jesus.  I ask that each of us understands that in Christ we are all the same….there is no circumcision or uncircumcision…no black or white…no rich or poor.  May we rejoice in the work of Jesus and may His work in our lives be reflected in how we live each day of those lives.”