Without God. Without Hope.

Ephesians 2:11-18

In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. – Ephesians 2:12 NLT

As believers, it’s sometimes easy to focus on our status as God’s children, member of His family and heirs of His kingdom. And there is certainly nothing wrong with dwelling on that reality. We have much for which to be grateful and our status before God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us is something we should never take for granted. But Paul also wants us to have a firm grasp on that from which we have been delivered. There is a benefit to focusing on our new-found standing as forgiven and righteous sons and daughters of God. But there is also a real benefit to remembering our pre-conversion condition. Paul writes, “Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts” (Ephesians 2:11 NLT). The Greek word Paul uses is mnēmoneuō and it means, “to be mindful of, to remember, to call to mind.” We are to call to mind and reflect on what our condition was like before coming to Christ – and this is something that is true of each and every believer in Christ, regardless of their background. Paul is writing to Gentiles or non-Jews, and he tells them that they were at one time “outsiders” or those who lived outside or excluded from the Hebrew people. They were viewed as “uncircumcised” and, therefore, inferior. They lacked the physical mark that would have set them apart as God’s chosen people. Not only were they not Jews, they were apart from Christ and completely separated from God. They were God-less and hopeless.

In a way, as Gentiles or non-Jews, they were doubly cursed. They were outsiders when it came to national identity. Only the Jews were considered the people of God. Only the Jews had been hand-picked by God as His prize possession. And God had not chosen them because they were special or somehow deserving of His favor. In fact, it was just the opposite. “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8 NLT). God had chosen the Israelites, in spite of them, not because of them. And yet, the Gentiles were not included. They had no clue of the promises God had made to the Israelites, and even if they did, they were not included in them. On top of that, they didn’t know Christ. So they were non-Jews and non-believers. As a result, they were enemies of the Jews and enemies of God. They were without hope in the world. Not exactly an encouraging statement.

But…

Here Paul goes again. There is good news to go with the bad news. “But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13 NLT). Just when things couldn’t seem to get any worse, they get amazingly better. All because of the death of Jesus Christ. These hopeless, helpless, God-less individuals had been made right with God, brought near to Him, because of what Jesus had done for them. The truly amazing thing is that God has not just reconciled men to Himself, He has reconciled men to one another. Because of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. even Jews and Gentiles, in spite of their long-standing animosity for one another, were now able to unified through Christ. “He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups” (Ephesians 2:15 NLT). God replaced the requirement of the Law with the gift of grace made available through His Son’s death. God leveled the playing field. He removed any requirement for salvation other than faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Now Jews and Gentiles can have a restored relationship with God and with one another, through the redemptive, reconciling work of Jesus.

The truly incredible thing is that every single one of us, Jew or Gentile, were in the same boat at one time. None of us could have saved ourselves. The Jews, who had the Law, couldn’t keep the Law. The Gentiles, who had not been given the Law, were still condemned by the Law, because it was the revealed will of God for all men. So we were all God-less and hopeless. And yet, God, in His great mercy and grace, brought us near to Him through the death of His own Son. Christ’s death in our place restored us to a right relationship with God. And none of us deserved it. “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us” (Ephesians 2:18 NLT). That is a reality we should never forget. The Good News is great news because the bad news was so devastatingly bad. God has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. He made possible the impossible. And that is something we should never forget.

Father, give us strong memories. Never let us forget all that You have done for us. Never let us gloss over just how bad things were when You revealed Your Good News to us. My gratitude increases every time I recall the gravity of my condition before Christ saved me. I was God-less and hopeless. And I was powerless to do anything about it. But You did what I could not do. You provided what I could not provide on my own. You accomplished the impossible and provided the unattainable. Thank You!  Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org