Jews & Gentiles

In Sunday School right now, we're studying Ephesians. To some, the first couple of chapters of Ephesians can be on the boring side...or the convicting side. Depends on how many times you appreciate being reminded Who God is and who you are.


Being reminded what God has done for us should be convicting.




As I've been studying chapter 3, there are a couple of truths that jump right off the page to pierce my heart. I'm going to share those with you...
"...I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles---you have heard, haven't you, about the administration of God's grace that He gave to me for you? The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as i have briefly written above. By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." Ephesians 3:1-6 hcs
To fully grasp what these verses mean, you 've got to know Paul, and you've got to understand what a "Gentile" is. Before Paul gave his heart and soul to Christ, he was known as "Saul". He was of Jewish descent...the Jew of the Jews. If anyone could get into Heaven based on works and heritage, it was Saul. He violently persecuted Christian believers. And those believers challenged everything that the Jews believed about God. Which was a works & tradition based entry into Heaven, not a faith-based entry into Heaven. That changed when he met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus one day. See...you can't meet Jesus and not be changed! Not only did Christ change his heart...He changed Saul's name. Paul lived out his life as a sacrifice to Christ, ministering to Gentiles. In fact, he believed that was his life's mission...to minister in the name of Christ. Sound familiar? Aren't we as Christians...Christ's followers...called to minister in His name? Hmmm...
"Gentile"...Webster's (love me some Webster's) defines gentile this way: a person of a non-Jewish nation or a non-Jewish faith. That means that anyone who is not of Jewish descent is a Gentile. And THAT means that when God sent Paul to minister to the Gentiles and reveal the plan He had for all Jews & Gentiles, who would believe in Christ and trust Him as their Savior, to come together as one church (joint heirs/joint bodies/joint partakers-verse 6),

God was talking about OUR salvation and His plan for US.
Now for those of you who love to study the history of the Bible and the people whom God talks about in the Bible, I know this is a condensed version of Paul's life story and his relation to the Gentiles. But I am simply sharing a truth that, in studying Ephesians, God has particularly pressed on my heart.

And that is...
From the beginning of time, God had a very detailed plan to save me...to save us. And to cover every possible issue, He used Paul, who would come directly from the uppercrust of the Jews (considered to be THE most religious people of generations past), to teach and lead and give opportunity for mankind to understand that Christ is the ONLY WAY to Heaven. God didn't give up when Jesus was rejected then. But praise Him that the price was paid!!! To this very day, God has an army of believers ready to fight the good fight! And we Christians, who are called by His name, should be a part of that...because God has called us to be.

That's crazy good stuff, dude! That applies in every way possible to how we live out EACH DAY!

So my question is this: Despite frustrations, circumstances, and situations...are you making a difference for Christ every day?

Paul did.
And so should we.

Is that your focus
as each day rolls off the calendar?

Tommorrow, we'll talk about how God has equipped us as believers, to make that difference for Him every day. Hint...check out Ephesians chpt 3, verse 12.