Jul 19, 2018
Membership in the family of God. Have you ever really stopped to think about the magnitude of that idea? We have become so used to hearing it that we risk taking it for granted. But Paul wanted the believers in Ephesus to understand just how radical a change had taken place in their lives. They were once enemies of God, deserving of His judgment, which included the death penalty. They had lived in open rebellion against Him and yet, now they enjoyed intimate fellowship with Him as His adopted sons and daughters. Rather than being strangers and aliens, they were members of the household of God. And they had done nothing to earn or deserve it. Their dramatic transformation had been the work of God, and it had been made possible through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, His Son. Ephesians 2:19-22 contains Paul’s inspiring reminder to the Ephesian believers that they are now citizens of God’s Kingdom. They, along with all the other saints who make up the body of Christ around the world, form a holy temple in the Lord. And Paul doesn’t want them to take their newfound status for granted.