[Chapter
Synopsis: The wonder that evokes praise and worship is
that, although in our old disobedient lives we were spiritually
dead, deserving God's anger, now by the work of Christ on the
Cross we have been made alive and united with Christ as he rules
at his Father's right hand. Previously we had been separated from
the people of God but have now been united so that believers,
whether Jew or Gentile, have been made one, a temple where God
dwells and is worshipped.]
v.1-10
We have been made alive in Christ
[Passage
Synopsis: Further explaining the reasons for his thanks
for them, he reminds them of what they had been and then what
had happened to them, the product of the work of Christ who is
now seated at the Father's right hand sharing his purposes for
our lives.]
v.1,2
(Very well, to
understand this inheritance, remember first what you used to be)
As for you,
you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which
you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is
now at work in those who are disobedient.
v.3
(we were desire-orientated,
deserving judgment) All
of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings
of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like
the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
v.4,5
(but when we responded
to His calling, He made us alive in a new way in Christ by His
grace) But
because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made
us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it
is by grace you have been saved.
v.6,7
(and even as Christ was
raised to sit beside him in the throne room in heaven, so in the
Spirit we now sit with him, receiving more and more of his grace)
And God raised
us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show
the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness
to us in Christ Jesus.
v.8,9
(it's all about grace,
His provision, His riches, His resources for us, a pure gift,
not earned) For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that
no one can boast.
v.10
(we're the product of
His work which He's planned for us) For
we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
v.11-22
Jew and Gentile have been reconciled through Christ
[Passage
Synopsis: once Gentiles had been separated from the people
of God but now by the death of Christ on our behalf, we are made
one, believing Jews and Gentiles united, being formed into a temple
(where God is worshipped) with Christ holding it all together]
v.11,12
(so if you aren't a Jew
you were excluded from the things they had) Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called
“uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision”
(which is done in the body by human hands)— 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.
v.13
(but now Christ has drawn
us near through the Cross) But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought
near by the blood of Christ.
v.14-16
(on the Cross he brought
peace with God for both Jew and Gentile, now one new people)
For he himself
is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed
the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside
in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose
was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus
making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God
through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
v.17
(he included Jews who
would believe, and Gentiles similarly) He
came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to
those who were near.
v.18
(we both have access
to God by His Spirit) For
through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
v.
19,20 (as a result we're
now part of God's people, built on the teaching of the prophets
and apostles, Jesus uniting us) Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens
with God's people and also members of his household, built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the chief cornerstone.
v.21
(we're all becoming one
holy temple) In
him the whole building is joined together and rises to become
a holy temple in the Lord.
v.22
(it's a place where
God now dwells by His Spirit) And
in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in
which God lives by his Spirit.
(CONTINUE
to CHAPTER 3)