“Who am I before God?” series
Study of the Book of
Ephesians"Remember that…. you were separate
from Christ… without hope
and without God in the world” Ephesians 2:11a & 12b
2:11: “Therefore” teaches that their identity
is built on what Jesus Christ did 2:1-10
2:11b: “remember” they were social outcasts
·
The
religious Jews were snobs & considered the Gentile Believers inferior (1 Samuel 17:26)
2:11c: “formerly”
who they were before new birth
·
READ: Galatians 3:26-29
2:11d: “uncircumcised”
religious outcast insult
·
Our
sinful nature desires to build barriers that shut out other people & make
us feel elite READ: Romans 2:28-29; Galatians 5:6; 6:15
2:11e: “by those who call themselves”
·
External
religious marks do not signify a personal relationship with God 1 Samuel 16:7
2:12a: “remember”
they were spiritual outcasts
·
Nothing
inspires more gratitude in a Believer than a look back to the old defeated sinful
life that we were saved out of Psalm 40:2
Gentiles
were cut off from God in 5 ways:
(1)
2:12b “separate from Christ”
·
They
had no hope of a Savior ~ the Messiah · They had no purpose, no plan, no destiny
(2)
2:12c “excluded from citizenship”
·
God
made Israel His “people” a theocracy ~ God Himself was their King & Lord
· God gave His covenants, His law, His priesthood, His sacrifices, His guidance
(3)
2:12d “foreigners to the covenant”
·
God’s
covenants are a promise that God Himself pledges to carry out to His people · READ: Genesis 12:2-3, 17:7, 26:3-5, 28:13-15
· READ: Jeremiah 31:33-34 the New Covenant
(4)
2:12e “without hope”
·
No
Messiah & No covenants with God· Hope is based on God’s Promises Psalm 146:5
(5)
2:12f “without God”
·
They
had false gods but not the true GodREAD: 1 Thessalonians 5:13; Acts 17:22-23
2:12g:
“without God in the world”
·
Simply
because they did not WANT Him “Loved darkness rather than light” John 3:19
· They rejected God by suppressing God’s Truth READ: Romans 1:19-21
NEXT WEEK: Peace & Unity with God
Ephesians 2:13-22
No comments:
Post a Comment