We begin with a statement that refers back to the previous section we looked. Jesus came and preached peace to all people. Even those who were not of the Jews. But Paul is speaking directly to people who are outside of the Jewish community. So he emphasizes the fact that they were far away. Yet Christ preached to them as well.
In verse 18 Paul says that through Christ both those who were far away and those who were near both have access to the Father through the Spirit. Due to Christ we now have the Spirit and because of the Spirit we have access to the Father. It is the Father that desired we have relation with Him. It is through Christ’s death that makes that possible. It is through His incarnation that it was even possible. It is through His suffering that it is even possible. It is through His obedience that it is even possible that we be reconciled to the Father. It is through His submission to the will of the Father. It is through His submission to the leading of the Spirit. It is through His humility and service it is possible. It is through the fact that the Creator became a stranger and alien in this world. It is through His willingness to be rejected. It is through His willingness to become a curse that we have access through one Spirit. Not many spirits but one spirit and that spirit is the Spirit of God. It is through Christ’s death and the indwelling of the Spirit that we are reconciled, made right, with the Father.
Now those who are far off are no longer strangers and aliens. We are no longer outsiders or ‘come heres’ but we are now ‘been heres.’ We are now completely accepted by the ones who have always belonged. We are no longer immigrants but we are citizens. But now we are saints and a part of the household of God.
This is built on the foundation of the Scriptures of God. The apostles and the prophets. Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation. He is what holds the whole building together.
It does not matter which group you were formerly a part of because now all of you are being built together into God’s temple. God’s dwelling place. It is now because of the Spirit that we are being made to be like Christ. We are now being made into a beautiful dwelling of God. Remember that the temple was spoke of to the farthest reaches of the world. Do we live in such a way that people speak of us to the farthest reaches of the Northern Neck?
Questions to consider in response:
What implications are there for us that we were once far off?
What should we desire considering that we were once far off?
What attitudes are there in society in general that we might need to overcome concerning strangers?
What implications are there for the church if Christ is the cornerstone?
What implications are there for church life if we are to be growing into a holy temple?
What impact should that have on our ministries?
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