Seek First – Kingdom Focused Devotionals

”For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18).

                Have you ever tried to walk through a small entry way at the same moment someone else was entering?  Creates a bit of closeness, doesn’t it. 

                Christ preached peace to those who were far away (the Gentiles) and to those who were near (the Jews) (2:17), and it is through Him that both groups have their access to the Father.  Jesus provides the way through which sinners can approach Holy God.  You will remember that before His departure Jesus comforted His disciples by promising that He would prepare a place for them so that they could dwell with Him forever.  When Thomas expresses the concern that they don’t know where He is going and therefore cannot know the way, Jesus answers: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John. 14:6).

                If Jew and Gentile alike have their access through Christ, they are, of necessity bound together.  Further, Paul adds that the access for both Jew and Gentile is in “one Spirit.”  To combat the disunity of Corinth Paul reminded them, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).  There is one way for all and one Spirit who works in the hearts of all, enabling Jew and Gentile alike to become the children of God (Gal. 4:6).  If we have the same Father, then we are one family. 

Father.  Thank you for making us all one in Christ Jesus.  Teach me to live out this unity.  Amen

“And might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity” (Eph. 2:16).

                Throughout the entire second chapter the twin themes of reconciliation of man to God and man to man are inextricably woven together.  The cross was the means whereby God chose to reconcile man to Himself.  “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10a).  Christ paid the penalty required by man’s sin and thus He made possible forgiveness and man’s reconciliation to God. 

                On the cross the enmity that separated Jew from Gentile has also been put to death.  This principle applies to any and all barriers that tend to divide man from man.  We have all been brought into one new body.  For that body to remain healthy and function effectively, all its members must see themselves as members of the one body.  Paul utilizes the body imagery in several different passages to describe how the gifted members of the body function despite their different roles.  Where unity is lacking ministry is impeded. 

                We must allow God to bring reconciliation between the various groups in the church today that often want “their way.”  On the cross Christ put to death all enmity.  Let’s bury all petty rivalries which impact our ministry together. 

Prayer:  Father, forgive me when I am the cause of disunity in Your body.  Amen.