“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers or aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”  Ephesians 2:18-19

There are amazing implications of The Trinity in this verse! 

We have one God who reveals Himself in three distinct persons or manifestations. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the triune God. Three in One.  It is through Christ that we have access through the power of the Holy Spirit to God the Father. And it is only through faith in Jesus the Son that we can be made right with God the Father. As Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

This reality is true for both Jews and Gentiles. The division has been torn down. Now, both have access to God through Christ. In fact, no matter where you are from or what you have done, you have been given access to God through Jesus Christ if you trust your life to Him. 

Let me repeat this: The division has been torn down!

Christ made a way for all of us to become fellow citizens in the Kingdom of God!

In today’s verses, Paul shows us a new identity in Christ. He basically reveals a new people – the people of God – who make up the body of Christ, the Church. Some theologians call this the ‘third race’ – no longer Jew and Gentile hostile and divided – but a new people brought together in the power of the resurrected life that is ours through Jesus Christ. 

Paul is saying the messages of the apostles and the prophets all point to one thing: Jesus Christ is our access to God. He is the answer. He is the one we long for. He is what we need. Hundreds of years before Christ would come to earth, the prophet Isaiah said the good news of the Gospel would be made available to all people, creating a new people who are joined together in unity of the Spirit through the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 42:6, 49: 6). 

In Ephesians 2, Paul shows us that the church of God is a family. His people are to become fellow citizens who invite all people to participate in their citizenship through Jesus Christ. In Christ, regardless of where you’re from, you are no longer a stranger or an alien. You are a member of the household of God with all the rights and privileges of one who is called a son or daughter of the king.

Are you a son or daughter of the King?

Taken from a sermon preached by George Wright, Senior Pastor, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL 

DIG DEEPER!

“What does it mean that our citizenship is in heaven?” at GotQuestions.org