-August 30, 2020-
Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,
-The Before And After Of The People Of God-
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
(Ephesians 2:19-20).
It seems everyone loves a good before and after story. One popular TV series was “The Biggest Loser.” The one that lost the most weight was the big winner. We all like happy endings, and we respect those who started with nothing and rose to great riches.
The child of God is “The Biggest Gainer,” not in terms of human weight but in terms of the weight of glory we have in the Lord. We are also, “The Biggest Winners.” Today’s verse shows us what we once were and what we are now. The change has been radical, extreme, and only possible through Jesus Christ. We can take no credit for ourselves, all the glory goes to the Lord.
We were once strangers and foreigners. We were sinners separated from God, dead in our transgressions and sins, and destined for hell. Paul described our spiritual plight in Ephesians 2:1-4 and Ephesians 2:12: dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, conducting ourselves in the lusts of our flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. As Gentiles in particular, we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. We could not have been any lower or worse off.
It was not a pretty picture. We were the biggest losers indeed. But Paul tells what changed us in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The blood of Christ has washed away our sins and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit has transformed our lives.
We are now fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. We who were once children of wrath are now children of God. We who were once were dead in transgressions and sins are made alive in Christ, and we who were separated from God are brought near and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ. We who were spiritually homeless are now part of the building of God, the foundation of which are the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as our chief cornerstone.
What a glorious transformation we had the moment we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The NT is full of all the blessings we have in Christ. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” We have a new heart, a new mind, a new covenant, a new citizenship, a new home in heaven, and a new relationship with God as our Heavenly Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Let us rejoice in what are now in Christ, we we have in Him, and what our future hope is in heaven forever with the Lord. We are truly the “biggest gainers,” and the “biggest winners.” No believer should ever suffer from an inferiority complex. We are the children and saints of God.
Have a blessed day living as citizens of heaven while on this earth. Stay safe and healthy.
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 