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Word from Scotland

    by Sandy Shaw

Paul Becomes Very Personal As He Continues
Date Posted: October 28, 2019

We come to these concluding verses in Ephesians Chapter 2.

This middle wall separating Jew and Gentile - this dividing partition - has been demolished and destroyed by what Jesus Christ did on the Cross when HE shed His Blood.

We Gentiles are no longer separated from Christ - excluded no more - no longer are we foreigners to the Promises of God - but we have been brought near through the Blood of Christ. For all this we give thanks.

Verse 18 - Through Jesus we have access to the Father by one Spirit - Father Son and Holy Spirit each mentioned.

We have access into the Holy of Holies - you cannot come closer than that.

There used to be just the outside yard - the outside Court of the Gentiles - but now, we can come as near as we wish - drawn and invited - by His Love - and as a result of His shed Blood.

We are members of God's household - built on a solid foundation of the apostles and prophets. They support and uphold us - and prevent us from sinking - and Jesus Christ holds everything together in place.

We rise to become a holy temple in the Lord.

Now, remember, there was a pagan temple in Ephesus to Diana, which could seat some 24,000 people. But there is one building for us all - in which God dwells by the Holy Spirit. It is permanent. There is a sense of permanence here.

Notice how frequently Paul speaks about JESUS and 'WE'. Nothing of all this can happen on our own.

Believing Jews and believing Gentiles are on the same side of the gulf which goes through the whole of life. Jesus Christ changes everything.

For Jew and Gentile, God is preparing one new building - one new Temple - in which dwells and abides and resides, the Holy Spirit. The old Jewish Temple of timber and stone - magnificent though it was - is now obsolete - and even it has been demolished.

A whole new concept is emerging - and we are called to grasp the significance of all that our gracious God is doing.

The division now is not racial - not political nor national nor ethnic - it is simply between those who believe and those who do not believe.

The Cross of Jesus Christ - the Shed Blood - has brought this wonderful new unity - this new oneness - but it has also brought about a new division.

When God does a new thing - He chooses the most unlikely people - an Abraham - Moses - Gideon - Jeremiah - when God began to reach out towards the Gentiles He chose the most fanatical Jew to do the work. God arrests and transforms this man when he was on his way to arrest disciples of Jesus Christ.

Christ apprehended him and he was in custody for evermore - a prisoner and slave of Jesus Christ - that is perfect freedom.

Chapter 3 - "I Paul" - he quite suddenly becomes very personal. Having dealt with these great themes - he now speaks about himself and what happened to him. There should always be both.

Even the name he uses about himself is so interesting - he had been called Saul after the first king of Israel - but he is quite at home using the Gentile name, Paul. And - I have been a prisoner since that day I met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

He then shares with us - and teaches us - how the Grace of God is administered - managed - and I have received this grace of God for YOU!

This is the mystery made known to me by revelation.

Not even Paul could work this out for himself - he had to have it revealed by God.

In Chapter 1 verse 17, he writes about the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

In a very real sense he was to administer or manage this Grace of God. Like the manager of a farm - it is not mine but I have to administer it and manage it.

Paul dispensed God's Grace and Mercy and Love and Truth.

He was responsible everywhere he went for the distribution of the wealth and riches of God. What a job to have!

God had given him insight into how HE works - a mystery - or a secret - which can now be told - this is the same word as used for sacrament.

God had revealed it to Peter - and then to Paul - what was it - that the Gentiles could now come to God without first coming to the Jews! Now, we find that hard to contemplate because we have never been in that situation.

Today we have a similar problem - some think they can come to God without coming through Jesus Christ.

People had to come to The Jews to discover who God was - but now a new door has been opened by the mercy and grace and love of God. We almost assume it has always been there - and that is what makes all this so strange and almost revolutionary.

This was radical teaching at that time - and he had to pay for it. Remember this is being written from Prison in Rome.

Paul is going right to the very roots of faith - and opening a new door of access to the living God through Jesus Christ.

We Gentiles are not on absolutely equal terms with the Jews - regarding salvation. This had been hidden for centuries - and now it is revealed - and we almost take it for granted.

Wherever Paul went he had to fight for this. This type of preaching antagonised certain people. This is why he faced such a backlash from the Jews - and right from the very beginning of his preaching that Jesus was the Christ.

He even described those Jews as 'dogs' - those insisted on the old ways - on circumcision - on observing the law when it came to achieving righteousness.

Paul was chosen to share this secret of God - and to proclaim such good news is a privilege.

Verse 7 - I am a servant of the Gospel - a prisoner of Christ and a servant of the Gospel - less than the least of all God's people - yet this grace was given to me and the working of God's Power. This is what makes someone a minister of the Gospel - to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ - the inexhaustible wealth - and to make it clear and plain to everyone.

Paul sought to keep it simple - so did Jesus - he tried to switch on a light so that everyone could see Jesus Christ - and what HE did - and how this is relevant and practical.

This is one career you cannot choose for yourself - it is God who calls you to be a minister of His Grace. It is a high calling. It is a challenging task - to be a channel for the Holy Spirit - to light a lamp so that people can see the Plans and Purposes of God.

There will always be something to preach and share - something fresh - as well as something which we and others so need to hear and be reminded of over and over again.

“Loving God, we thank You for the great themes described in these opening Chapters – and we thank You for the way in which Paul become so very personal. Help us to know when to stick to the great themes of Scripture and when to be very personal with those around us. Amen”

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Biography Information:

Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!

Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.

Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.

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