Separate, Excluded, Strangers
Most of us are very familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son who chose to leave the comfort of his father’s house to live it up in the world. He asked for his inheritance, hit the road to Splitsville, and spent his inheritance on “loose living” (Luke 15:13). After the Prodigal’s money (and friends) were gone, he was so desperate for food that he would eat from the pig’s trough – you know – the pigs he was now feeding as a hired hand.
When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, “I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men'”. I think you know the rest; the father had been faithfully looking for his son and ran to him when he saw his son coming from afar. He placed the robe of honor on his shoulders, put a ring on his finger, and killed the fatted calf. The father rejoiced because his son had returned. What a beautiful picture of repentance. Because the Prodigal had once experienced the love of his father, he longed to return home.
The brother who had chosen to stay at his father’s side and be faithful to the family was a little put out by all the fuss that was showered on his repentant brother. After all, his father had never done any of those thing for him.
Now imagine this – suppose the father in this story later saw an orphaned boy just wandering around aimlessly and decided to bestow the same kind of honor on him as he had to the Prodigal. Imagine that the Father found the orphan, put a robe of honor on him, put a ring on his finger to indicate sonship, and killed the fatted calf for a celebration. Now think about the ire of the faithful brother in this case! Can’t you just hear him, “Father, you don’t even know this boy. We have no idea who he is or where he has been or what he has done! And you do all this for someone who is not even in the family!”
Friends, this is exactly what God did for us. In Ephesians 2:12-13, the Bible says, “…remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
These verses epitomize what it is like to be so totally lost and undone that we didn’t even know to look for a loving Father who could help us. We (the Gentiles) didn’t have a clue about the covenant of promise because we weren’t in the chosen family of Jews. We were separate, excluded, and had no hope! And what is even worse is that we were without God in the world.
There are a couple of really big “BUTS” in the Bible and Ephesians 2 has two of them! The one I want to call your attention to is verse 13 – “But now in Christ Jesus…” How precious to hear those words that would bring us near to God through the blood of Christ. That blood was able to break down the barrier of the dividing wall and bring blessed peace. The dividing wall was once both a physical and a spiritual barrier. There was a physical wall around the temple that cordoned off the Gentiles from the temple called the Gentile Court. There was no way an unclean Gentile could enter the temple-proper and desecrate it. There was even a sign that threatened the Gentile’s life if they chose to enter the temple.
BUT NOW, Christ’s blood broke down the barrier of the dividing wall and made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one – the Christ follower (Eph. 2:14)! Praise God! The cross ABOLISHED the enmity between us and God in one felled swoop! In so doing, Christ established peace – peace that passes all understanding!
Let me pull this together – we were like the orphan that God the Father found. He gave us a robe of righteousness, He adopted us into his family, and we are now fully accepted in the Beloved! I am so thankful that when I didn’t even know to look for God, He looked for me. When we are saved by Christ’s blood, we are no longer separate, excluded, or strangers. We are in the family of God and joint heirs with Christ!
