14 day plan

Transformation through the Word

Day 5 of 14

CSB

Ephesians 2:12-13

12At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Reflections: Ephesians is one of my favourite Pauline epistles – I love the letter’s movement from identity through to the practical application of God’s Word in my life. Paul works here to show the progression of the Gospel in the lives of those who are now ‘in Christ’ and calls the hearers to remember who they were, in order to not forget who, they are now. It’s so easy to be complacent about where we are right now, but the Word of God can remind us of who we once were – strangers and alienated from God. But now, we have been brought near. Bought by the blood of Christ, we are being transformed into people with a different identity and destiny.

Question:  What can you remember about who you were before you met God? In what ways has God redeemed or restored who you are?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am so thankful for your work on the cross. The blood that you shed, the gap that you closed between me and God. Where once I was far off from you, I am reminded and thankful that I have been restored, reset and brought near to you by the power of your Spirit. Amen.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

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Ephesians 2:1-22

From Death to Life

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —  9not from works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Unity in Christ

11So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. 12At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers