| Recently I read about a foreign-born family that was granted citizenship. Their friends back home were dumbfounded that the process went so quickly and without complication. What is even more surprising is that this same family of foreigners was met immediately and invited home to share a meal with a life group from a nearby church. The migrants had hardly been with the believers for a full week when they felt like they belonged in this new community of faith. The love and acceptance was like nothing they had ever experienced, even from their own relatives. What an impossible story! Actually no. It is happening around the world. And here is a still more exciting truth. You are that foreigner. And so am I. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph.2:19). We once were on the outside, longing for citizenship. We didn’t know what joy there was in belonging to God’s family; but we desired to experience it. And now, we have been embraced, reconciled, and welcomed into the love relationship of the three members of the tri-une God. “And He [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (2:17-18, my emphasis). This was not always possible. In fact, for centuries it was hidden, a “mystery,” “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Eph.3:6). The key that unlocked this mystery was the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. He is the pathway into free citizenship and belonging. In fact, a “new man: has been created, “one body through the cross” — Christ the Head, the Church the body, united and growing together. Right now the Church is scattered physically. But we are one in Spirit. One body, all connected to our Head, Jesus Christ. Many of our members are sick and even dying these days. Many who were strangers last month are new brothers and sisters now. Too many feel alone, and don’t realize that we are all connected in Christ. >>> This prompts me to spend some quiet time with Jesus, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and ask, Who I should reach out to with a word of encouragement? Are you being prompted to do the same? |
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Ephesians
For a short letter, this epistle is heavy in teaching on the “trinity” (which is not a word from the Bible, but used to describe the three members of the God-head).
- Chapter 1 contains a hymn of praise with three stanzas; Christ is a thread throughout, but each stanza has a focus on Father, Son, and Spirit.
- 2:18,22. All believers are reconciled and welcomed into the family and temple of God, by the working of the Trinity.
- 3:14-17. All three members are mentioned in the prayer for greater understanding of the love and fullness in Christ.
- 4:4-6. “Spirit,” “Lord” [Jesus], “God and Father” all cited as truths about which we are unified.
- 5:18-21. Be filled with the Spirit; Sing to the Lord; Give thanks to God the Father.
- Did I miss any?
| If you are new to my emails called  “Robert’s – Today With Jesus,” give it a try by signing up here |
