Ephesians 3:1-21

Verse 6: “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,”

One of my favorite cartoons was the first couple of seasons of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? In one of the episodes, the gang (Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby) had to attend the reading of a will of an old Confederate colonel, Col. Beauregard Sanders. Some years back, Scooby had saved the colonel’s life when he had fallen into a pond; he repaid Scooby by remembering him in his will. Though the other heirs didn’t express any outward disdain or shock at a dog being an heir in the colonel’s will, nevertheless, the news made headlines in the local newspapers.

Imagine the news now to the brethren in Ephesus, as Paul tells them, that besides the Jews, the Gentiles were now also heirs to God’s promise in Christ! Christ died for all, that all may come to know God in a personal relationship and have eternal life by accepting Jesus. Think on that for a minute…no matter what nationality you are, no matter your background, no matter how different you are from other people…ALL of us are heirs to God’s riches through the saving power of Jesus…all you have to do is accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you step back and look at the big picture, it shouldn’t shock or surprise you…but to some it is as bold as a front-page headline. Remember, that fact is also called…the Good News!

Have a blessed day in Christ!

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Ephesians 2:19-22

Verses 20-22: “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

My father is a retired brick mason; I know of no finer craftsman than him when it comes to laying brick, block, or stone. When I was younger and would sometimes help him on jobs, I noticed that he would always begin laying brick for a wall of a house by starting the corners first. In my childlike mind, I would wonder why he didn’t just start the wall from one end and go to the other, like you or I would draw a line from point A to point B. He wouldn’t do that…he’d lay several courses (rows) of brick to form the corners in a triangular shape (starting the 2 walls that form the corner), and then he’d fill in the wall itself between them. I now understand why: he needed to establish the corner of the wall in order for the wall itself to be anchored and thus able to support the building.

As Christians, we need an established anchor who is strong enough to support the whole body of the church; that cornerstone is Jesus Christ Himself, just as the Scripture says. As the old Bible school song states, “the wise man builds his house upon the rock”. That Rock is Jesus; He is the Solid Rock. Is your household of faith built on the Rock?

Something to think about.

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Ephesians 2:14-18

Verses 14-16: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by East Germany in 1961 during the era known as the Cold War, which became the focal point of the divide between East and West Berlin, and mirroring the divide between East and West Germany. For years after World War II, Germany became a divided nation of two peoples. In 1987 then U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged then General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, to “tear down this wall” as a thawing of freedoms and liberty. After more progress was made and border crossings became less politically complicated, the wall itself was officially torn down, the first step toward German reunification in 1990. I gleaned this historical information from the entry in Wikipedia at the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Berlin_Wall#The_Fall

During that time, the Wall kept physically separated families and friends. It was an oppressing reminder of the separation of people by political ideologies, among other factors. The reunification of Germany, though met with some trepidation, led to many happy reunions between those people the Wall had separated.

In the verses above, Paul states that Jesus is our peace; He is the One who has torn down barriers that mankind puts up (in this case between Jew and Gentile), removed the man-made laws that divide, and reconciling us all to God through His sacrifice and defeat of death.

Do you hear Jesus’ knocking on the walls in your life?

Something to think about.

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