This evening, we led off our class with Ephesians 2:11-22. In it, the Apostle Paul (a Jew) talks to the Gentiles about once being "uncircumcised" in the flesh and alienated from the people of Israel. He says that they were, "strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." He then goes on to say that Christ, by His blood, has brought them near (to God) and that by His flesh He has broken down a dividing wall of hostility. This could be speaking of the actual wall that stood in the outer courtyard of the temple, warning Gentiles that they would only have themselves to blame if they chose to venture beyond it and into the inner court, or Paul may just be giving an illustration for the intense hostility that existed between Jews and Gentiles during the day. Nonetheless, Paul makes it clear that the Cross obliterates the wavy, opaque and sinful dividing walls of race, culture, ethnicity; these walls are constructed by our flesh and His flesh is what caused them to come crumbling down. Any beef that existed between Paul (a Jew) and his Gentile readers is no more because of what their Savior has accomplished for them.
As I listened to the passage being read I thought to myself, "Wow. There is a man across from me who I've never met, he's from Indonesia. . .and we are one in Christ! We've been reconciled, made part of one body and any possible qualm or cause for division that may have existed between has been destroyed. . .all by one event. The Cross! And not only that, but we have all things in common, we're both washed in the blood of the Lamb and one day, by God's sovereign grace, we'll worship the King in Glory together!"
God is so glorified in that, is He not? How can it be that one solitary event in history could kill and destroy something that evil spent thousands of years building (speaking of prejudice, racism, cultural bias, etc.) Only the cross of Christ could do a thing like that. Isn't it amazing--not only did Christ, in His death (shedding of His blood), secure our way to God the Father but in doing so broke down "walls of flesh" that would hinder fellowship, with the breaking of His own body?! Are you not amazed at that? I was amazed at that tonight.
However. That's not what gripped my heart the most. What wrenched me was what I saw shining off of Ephesians 2:11-22 and towards eternity. That is that one day, in heaven, Christ's church will be there. Jew, Gentile, Indonesian, Italian, African, Irish, Indian, Cambodian, Chinese, Norwegian, Germans, French, Spanish, Latin American, etc. . . People from every tribe and every tongue, nation, culture, sub-culture, province, country, state, continent. . .all of His Bride will be there and we-will-be-worshipping Him! Basking in His glory and chasing after the riches of His grace only to get there and realize that we haven't even scratched the surface. . .and we never will. That's what gripped me when we read the second chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. God is glorified in drawing all kinds of people to Himself and heaven will be the culmination and it will last forever. Exciting.
