Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 2:19

ESV

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

*ETS:

You are now a citizen of Heaven, with all the rights and privileges afforded every saint. Before you came to know Christ you were a stranger to the things of God and a foreigner to heaven. Now you are a citizen of heaven and a foreigner to the world. But wait, that's not all, you are also a member of the household of God! Heaven is your home and God is your father!

*DTFTD:

Every person is born a true citizen of this world, loving the world and its ways. Before knowing God through Christ we conducted ourselves according to the system of the world and we understood the worldliness in those living about us. Being of the world, we were foreigners to heaven, and alien to the things of God. When God's sovereign grace moved our hearts to conviction by the Spirit, we began to feel uncomfortable about our worldly ways. God continued to lure us, pressing on us the sense of needing to become clean. Coming to a point of desperation, we cried out to Christ for rescue. Repenting of our filth, (sin), and believing God for cleansing through the blood of Christ, we were converted. Once saved, we lost our citizenship on earth and were granted temporary visas to remain here for purposes of the King and Kingdom of Heaven. When we enjoy our rights and privileges as citizens of heaven it becomes obvious to citizens of the earth we are foreigners. The world should know we are different. We are sons and daughters of God, members of the royal family in heaven. Has the world recognized you as an alien? Has anyone asked to see your visa or passport? How long has it been since you told someone the story of how you became a citizen of heaven, a member of the household of God? Don't you think it's time the saints give the world a wake up call. The church needs to let the world know aliens are living among them.

*EDS:

While passing through this world of sin, and others your life shall view, Be clean and pure without, within, Let others see Jesus in you. Let others see Jesus in you, Let others see Jesus in you . Keep telling the story, be faithful and true , Let others see Jesus in you. (Hymn, "Let Others See Jesus in You" B.B. McKinney, 1922).

INGREDIENTS: The reality of your citizenship. Word Study: The verse begins with the words "so then" which represents a need for review of the truths previously stated. "So then" also draws a line where considerations of the past transition into an emphasis on the present result.

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 2:18

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father

*ETS:

It is only through Christ Jew and Gentile have access to the Father and only through him do we come into oneness in the Spirit of God.

*DTFTD:

Access to God was a very important subject in the Jewish faith. When Jews gathered for worship at the Temple, the presence of God was represented by the Most Holy Place. Just outside the partition and veil was the next section called the Holy Place. Beyond the Holy Place there were decending steps and assigned partitioned sections limiting access. Outside the Holy Place was the court of priests descending from the Court of Priests were steps which led to the Court of Israel, (the access limit for the Jewish men). Descending down other steps one would come to the Court of women (the access limit for Jewish women). Outside the inner wall of the Sanctuary, at the lowest and most outer enclosure was the Court of the Gentiles. There were signs with inscription in Latin and Greek forbidding Gentiles to go beyond their assigned area on the pain of death. The Jews had assigned the Court of the Gentiles to be a place of confusing activity. In the Court of the Gentiles Temple currency was purchased at a profit and sacrifices were sold for a profit. This activity angered Jesus , who ran the money changers out of the Court of the Gentiles, preaching that even the Court of the Gentiles was the Father's House, which was to be a house of Prayer. Ironically the Jews in the inner sanctuary were no closer to God than the Gentiles in their lowest assigned place. Only Jesus could provide access to God. He provides access to all - no partitions separating groups by race or sex. By grace through faith in Christ all can come freely into the presence of God.

*EDS:

Jesus our Great High Priest has torn down the partition walls, giving all access to the Father.

INGREDIENTS: The Christian privilege of access to God. Word Study: Greek word "prosagoge"means admission into the presence of. .

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 2:16-17

ESV

. . . and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

*ETS:

Jesus wanted to bring sin and its hostility to an end. He wanted to bring humanity, (Jew and Gentile), back into relationship with God. The only way this could be done was for sin to be removed. Therefore, on the cross, Jesus took sin upon himself and put away the hostility. Jesus, having come, now preaches peace to the world through His Spirit in the Church (the reconcilied, the redeemed).

*DTFTD:

In the heart of every person there is an inborn hostility. Sin is the root cause of the hostility and the power of its working. The enmity works against peace and promotes everything that is contrary to the will of God. Jesus knew his mission on earth was to deal with sin, remove the hostility, and make a way for mankind to be reconciled to God. The angels of heaven preached his mission: "He shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21); "Peace on earth" (Luke 2:14); "He shall be called Immanuel, God with us" (Matt. 1:23). Do you know the power of the mission of Christ personally? Has he delivered you from the power of sin? Does His peace reign in your heart? Do you have a relationship with God through Christ? The evidence of peace with God is an outworking peace with others. You can not be forgiven by God without becoming a forgiving person. You can not know God's love for you without becoming one who loves those about you. The end to the hostility vertically works out horizontally. Knowing God's grace through Christ means knowing God's peace. Knowing Christ leads to sharing God's grace and peace with others.

*EDS:

"We are one in the Spirit, We are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity may one day be restored and they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love." (Song, "We Are One in the Spirit," by Peter Schote, 1966).

INGREDIENTS: Reconciliation through Christ.Word Study: Reconcile means to "bring together again." In the text, the root Greek word and its prefix implies reinstatement - the bringing together of two in one body - unity in Christ. (Companion Bible).

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 2:15

ESV

by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.

*ETS:

The Jew / Gentile division focused primarily on the law of God. Jews observed the law, but could not obey it completely. Gentiles were non-observers - they had no connection with the law and broke it without concern. The law separated Jew from Gentile. However, according to the law, both Jew and Genitle were sinners, (therefore the law separated both, Jew and Gentile, from God). Jesus, having been made flesh, fulfilled the law, and though he was holy, paid the penalty for sin. In his body the law's demands were met and sin's debt was paid. Christ offers Jew and Gentile a new life - a life where sin's debt has been paid, holiness is bestowed forever, and the peace of God guides all relationships.

*DTFTD:

The ETS for today's devotion is more the essence of the text in summary, than the essense of the text in a sentence. Paul's divinely inspired statements are all-encompassing truths centered on God's grace and goodness in the Gospel of Christ. The believer should never forget Jesus suffered the penalty of sin, though he never sinned, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (II Cor. 5:21). When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we become new creations (II Cor. 5:17). We are no longer Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, we are HIS! In the beginning, God, through Christ (John 1:3), created man, not by speaking him into existence, but by forming him with his hands (Gen. 2:7). Jesus came to perform one more miracle in creation. With his hands nailed to the cross, Jesus created a new man, a crucified man. On the third day he breathed life into the new man and in resurrection Jesus became the first born of many new creatures! (Rom. 8:29). The new man, the new creature, is crucified to the world, resurrected to God's kind of life, and is ever living in the power of God through Christ.

*EDS:

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, Freely bestowed on all who believe; You that are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace , God's grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace grace, God's grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.

"Grace Greater Than Our Sin" Julian H. Johnston, 1849-1919.

INGREDIENTS: The work of Christ in creating a new man. Word Study: Jesus was God and man, the new man Jesus creates is the Christian - God in man. The Christian is not God, rather he has been made one with God by the work of Christ.

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 2:14

ESV

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

*ETS:

Jesus has planted peace in our hearts and lives. In our hearts we have peace with God and in our lives we have peace with others. He has removed racial prejudice and hostility to bring peace where there was none. His work on the cross has changed our lives completely. We are now part of a family without racial tensions and barriers. The Jew / Gentile war is over. All races may now lay claim to being God's children because of Jesus' work on the cross.

*DTFTD:

According to the record of the Old Testament, God called the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be his chosen people. God also ordered his chosen people not to intermarry with other people groups. Why? We will limit our answer to two reasons: 1. The first reason Jews did not intermarry with Gentiles was religious. God wanted to have a people that would provide a testimony of his continuing work in the world. The world would know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not like any other god. Intermarriage would have allowed other races to bring other gods into the family and eventually the distinction of deity would have become blurred, if not totally erased (Dt. 7:3-4); 2. The second reason Jews did not intermarry with Gentiles is prophetic. God promised Abrahan a seed (a Son), who would change the world. The promised Son would be a blessing to all nations. The prophecy spoke of Christ (Galatians 3:29). God would be very protective of the genealogy through which Christ would come into the world. The list of names in the genealogy of Christ points to people who had faith in Jehovah and believed the prophecy of a coming Son (Matthew 1:1-17). When Jesus came into our world, assuming the title Son of God, there was no question as to the deity in the title. Jesus was the Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We should also remember that Jesus' title, "Christ," was a direct reference to his being the promised coming Son, he was and is the Messiah - The Anointed One. After the coming of Christ the racial barrier was broken down. The separation of Jew and Gentile served no purpose. Christ is the promised Son who has fulfilled the prophecies to prove his identity, and because he has paid the price of sin on the cross, all are invited into the inter-racial family of God (Galatians 3:27-28). Christians are privileged to have brothers and sisters all over the world. Our family lives in many cultures, speaks many languages, and has one common bond - a relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian family is filled with love and excited about the fact that our Father is continuing to adopt unique people into our fellowship.

*EDS:

The Christian family is huge! It is comprised of people from many nations. The family is continuing to expand. Pray for our brothers and sisters on mission telling the story of Christ to the world.

INGREDIENTS: The Christ has come and a family of faith is being brought together because of his finished work on the cross of Calvary. Word Study: Jesus is our "peace (our bond of unity and harmony) " Amplified Translation.

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.