Bible Verse of the Day Thursday April 6th, 2023

Ephesians 2:12-13 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

This verse refers to Gentiles who were omitted and disqualified from being part of the nation of Israel and excluded from the promise of the coming Messiah. We are similar to the Gentiles of the first century in that we live in a time of multiplicity and heterogeneity. This is a time that all seem to want to choose their own God, one that allows them to be and do whatever pleases them. The truth that there is only one God has always been an issue of contention, in the days before Christ and today. Christianity and Judaism have always struggled against and opposed pluralism in any form or fashion. Modern-day society wants Christianity and God to conform to what each person sees as right and the truth. Worldly people become very offended by the one true God that mandates worship over and above all others, real and imagined. 

 

In this day and age, it is the Church, which includes all Christians, that is God’s chosen vehicle to carry the Gospel of Christ Jesus to the ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8). Before the earthly ministry of Christ Jesus, it was the nation of Israel that was God’s chosen apparatus to tell the Gentile world of the promise of the coming Messiah, that would save the world from their sin.

 

We are always to remember that Jews and Gentiles alike, who have accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior and surrendered their life to Him, are no longer separated from and estranged from the one true God. The only way that anyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from, can come near to God is by being washed and regenerated by the blood of Christ Jesus. There are many out there today that do not want to hear about the blood of Christ Jesus. The worldly contention is that the blood of Jesus is too gory to talk about, and consequently, they do not want their preachers preaching about it, and they do not want it included in their hymns or praise songs. 

 

The elimination of the blood of Christ Jesus from gospel messages and praise music has created the necessity for the world to find other ways to be brought near to God. No matter how many people want to find another way to salvation and eternal life there is, has always been and will always only be one way, the substitutionary work of Christ Jesus on the Cross of Calvary and washing of oneself in the precious, sinless, perfect blood of Christ Jesus.