The second chapter of the great Rabbi’s letter to the congregation at Ephesus is very important. It contains some foundational doctrines: the doctrine of the total depravity of man; the doctrine of salvation by grace alone; and the third main teaching of chapter 2, which is the new relationship between Jews and Gentiles. With the coming of the Son of God, and His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the giving of the Spirit of the Messiah, something new, something radical, has taken place, both for Jews and Gentiles; and something new has happened between Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles.
Gentiles, who used to be far off – far from the God of Israel, far from the Jewish Messiah, far from the Chosen People with our many blessings, far from the covenants that contained wonderful promises of salvation, goodness and blessings, far from hope – because of the love and mercy and grace of the God of Israel, and because the Almighty has exerted His divine energy and activity through His Son, the Gentiles who believe have been brought near!
Believers from the other nations have been brought near to the Creator from whom the world is estranged; near to the true God, who is the source of life and blessing and happiness and meaning; near to the only God, the living God, the God of Israel – so near, that He is living in you, and you are living in Him!
Non-Jews have been brought near to our Messiah – Israel’s anointed Prophet who speaks authoritatively for God, Israel’s anointed Priest who is the one and only mediator between humanity and God, who brings God closer to us, and us closer to God; and Israel’s anointed King who is God’s designated Ruler over Israel and the nations. Non-Jews have been brought near to our Messiah so that Israel’s Messiah is also living in you Gentile Christians, and you are living in Him.
Gentiles have been brought near to the promises contained in the Lord’s covenants with Israel. The Lord promised to meet all of our needs, our physical needs, and our spiritual needs, like atonement. The Lord promised to send the Messiah. The Lord promised to bless us and all the families of the Earth. The Lord promised to protect us and to give us ultimate victory. He promised us life in this world and life in the world to come. The Lord committed Himself to be our God forever. Now the Gentiles are entitled to these good promises that are part of the covenants made with Israel.
The believers from the other nations of the world had no hope, but now have been brought near to real, genuine hope. Now they will receive, and can expect, wonderful future realities like participation in the resurrection of the righteous; passing through the Day of Judgment and not being condemned; everlasting rewards, being welcomed in Heaven, experiencing eternal life in the New Heavens and New Earth and the New Jerusalem.
Non-Jews who were far from the Chosen People have been brought near to the nation of Israel – which means that Gentile Christians need to know about, and be sympathetic to, and love and support and stand by as much as possible, and pray for and bless the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Gentile Christians need to understand God’s covenant with Abraham, which is still in effect, which includes the promise of blessing and cursing found in Genesis 12:1-3. Non-Jews need to understand the promises of the Land of Israel that still apply to the Jewish people, along with the promises of dispersion from the Land and the restoration to our Land.
Gentile, you are now connected to the best parts of the nation of Israel. You have Abraham as your spiritual father, the Jewish saints as your fellow citizens in the New Jerusalem. You share in the spiritual blessings of Israel, all the wonderful life, atonement, peace with God, salvation and hope. You are part of God’s family. You have the Jewish saints as your brothers, the God of Israel as your Father, Israel’s Messiah as your elder brother, the Spirit of the God of Israel as your Advocate, Protector, and Rabbi, the Word of the Lord given to the Jewish people as your instruction manual and guide!
Among Christians, there is absolutely no place for anti-Semitism, hatred of the Jewish people, resentment toward Israel or support for anti-Semites or those who want to do us harm. Yes, the majority (but not all) of the Jewish people have stumbled and fallen, but your attitude, Gentile Christian, is to view those of us who have fallen as a beloved fallen older brother. You need to know that one day we will be restored, fulfill our calling, and be a source of blessing for the world. Your attitude should be one of showing us love and sympathy and mercy, and reaching out to us with the love of God, and bringing us the Good News of God’s grace and mercy and love and forgiveness.
Gentiles who were far from the God of Israel, and far from the wonderful promises and privileges of Israel, and far from the people of Israel, if they welcome Messiah, are no longer far, but near. How near? Very near. So near that they actually become one with the faithful remnant of Israel, the Messianic Jews. The Christian Gentiles form a new entity with us. We become a unified new humanity, a new humanity that has been reconciled to God, and reconciled to each other, full of peace and love and unity, with the ancient division between Jew and Gentile gone, a humanity that will live forever!
Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles come together and form a new unified community, with peace between the faithful remnant of Messianic Jews who are still Jews, and Christian Gentiles who still are Gentiles, but both groups retaining their own unique, God-given identity, loving each other and working together to serve the same God who loved us, and poured out His mercy and grace and Spirit on us all.
What the Lord did with the coming of the Messiah, uniting Jew and Gentile into one new man headed by the Messiah, was radical, different, unexpected, but not totally unexpected. This is not an new teaching that was invented by the greatest of Gamliel’s students. The Torah-teacher from Tarsus reminds us that this desire to bring near those who are far away is something that the Lord had been concerned about, even in the time of the prophet Isaiah. Let’s start with verse 17, which is a quote from Isaiah 57:19: And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. The Lord wanted to bring healing and peace to the kah-rov – those who are near, but also to those who are rah-chok – far. This originally was directed to the nation of Israel. The Lord wanted to bring peace and well-being and healing to the righteous within Israel, but also to extend this gracious invitation to the wicked among Israel who were willing to turn from their ways and turn to God and embrace His good ways.
But, the apostle to the nations understands that in a similar way, it was always the Lord’s desire to bring peace and healing to not just to the Jewish people, who were near to Him, but also to the Gentiles, who were far from Him. In fact, it was His plan to use those near to Him – Israel, to reach those far from Him – the Gentiles.
I am so thankful to the Almighty that our God is a Supreme Being of great love and mercy and goodness, who wants to those who are near, and those who are far, to bless Jews and Gentiles, the righteous and those who were wicked but are willing to turn to Him, with wonderful healing and great peace. Messiah’s death, and resurrection, and Messiah’s on-going mediation enables both Jew and Gentile to have peace with God, a genuine and real state of well-being with the Creator. We are in a right relationship with our God. Our alienation from Him is over. Do you know that you have peace with God? Do you sense that peace, even during life’s difficult times? I pray you do – more and more.
Not only do Jew and Gentile have peace with God, but because of Messiah, both Jew and Gentile now have equal access to God. For through Him (Messiah Yeshua) we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Before the coming of the Son of God, Gentiles did not have the same closeness, and enjoy the same access to God that Israel enjoyed. Moses asked: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?” The answer is – no other nation. It was the true God, the God of Israel, and the principles of atonement through faith and sacrifice, and the Temple and the God-ordained priesthood that provided a greater measure of access to God for the Jewish people. Jews simply had better access to God than Gentiles.
But now, because of Messiah’s death and resurrection, and as participants in the New Covenant, and recipients of the Holy Spirit, Jewish Believers have a much greater access to God – but now so do Gentile Believers. Both have a new and superior access to God the Father. Here is the new reality: Messiah, because of who He is, and what He has done, enables us to receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, living in us, joins us to the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit, living in us, connects us to God the Father. The Spirit, living in us, joins us to the Son. The Spirit joins Jews and Gentiles to each other. We are united to the Spirit, united to the Father, united to the Son, and united to one another.
So then you (addressing Gentile Christians) are no longer strangers and aliens (without rights and privileges and the amazing blessings and promises that the Jewish people had), but you are fellow citizens with the saints (with the same rights and privileges that the righteous remnant of the Chosen People enjoy. Gentile Christian, understand that you are not a second class citizen, but a first class citizen, a full citizen, with the rights and privileges thereof), and are of God’s household. Gentile Believer, you are not an alien, not a stranger, not a foreigner, but part of the mishpacha – the great family that belongs to God. You are a beloved son or daughter, with the great status and position and wealth and power and rights and privileges and blessings and rewards that go with being a child of the King of the universe!
Messianic Gentile, you enjoy the same firm foundation that the Messianic Jews do. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
God is using time, and eternity, matter and space, and this entire universe, and all the galaxies, and all the stars, moons, planets, and especially this privileged planet; the Creator is using good and wicked human beings, angels and demons, good experiences and trials and difficulties, all to create a community of beings that He will be close to, live among, talk to, share with, be friends with and enjoy forever!
This special community made up of redeemed human beings – Jews and Gentiles, men and women, who are connected to the Three-In-One God is like a temple. The Temple is where God’s presence is more specially close to. The Temple is where God lived in a special way. When you think Temple, think about drawing closer to the presence of the living God.
To accomplish this wonderful closeness, friendship, intimacy, peace and love, the Lord used some key human beings – but almost exclusively Jewish beings. Salvation is of the Jews! The apostles, those special Jewish men chosen by Messiah and sent to us to teach us the way of Messiah and the New Covenant, are from Israel and are part of the foundation. The Lord also used the prophets, specially chosen Jewish men that the Lord spoke to, and gave precious truths to, as part of our firm foundation. The Jewish apostles and prophets form the spiritual foundation of this great spiritual Temple made up of spiritual human beings, Jewish and Gentiles, that have been brought so very close to God.
And, greater and more important and more worthy and carrying more weight is the Apostle sent to the apostles, the supreme prophet of all the prophets, the foundation for the rest of the foundation – the Son of God, sent by God from Heaven to Earth – the Messiah, full of the Holy Spirit and power; the prophet who speaks authoritatively for God; Israel’s anointed Priest, full of righteousness, zeal and truth, who is the One and only mediator between humanity and God, who brings God closer to us, and us closer to God; and Israel’s anointed King, full of the Spirit of wisdom and truth, who is God’s designated Ruler over Israel and the nations.
He is like the cornerstone, the biggest, most important part of the Temple’s foundation, the One who holds the most weight, the part of the structure that gives the most stability and strength to all the rest of the building. And you Christian, you Messianic Jew, are like some of the wood or stones or gold used to build and adorn the Temple that rested on these wonderful and strong and true Jewish foundations.
Gentile Christian, Messianic Jew, you and the saints of old, holy men and women, prophets and apostles, and the exalted and glorious Son of God, are all joined together into a community of beings that are close to the Father, so close that God is among us, and in us, and will live, dwell, reside in us through His Spirit, but also will be with us in Person, so that the pure in heart see God face to face!
Remember Jewish Believer, Gentile Christian, you are part of a city – God’s city, the New Jerusalem. You are a full citizen with all the rights and privileges of full citizenship.
Child of God, no matter your ethnic background, you are part of the family – God’s Family, a full son or daughter of the King of kings!
Messianic Jew, Messianic Gentile, you are part of the Temple – God’s Temple, so very close to God now, and so very near Him forever!
You are part. You are part! You are part!