Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
Ephesians 2:19 NIV
The Old Testament tells the story of Israel, a people God had set apart as his special possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Ex. 19:5-6). Israel was on the inside, while the rest of us, Gentiles, were on the outside looking in. As Paul had said earlier, we were excluded from citizenship in Israel and the covenants of promise, without hope, and without God (Eph. 2:12).
But now, because of Jesus’ work on the cross, everything has changed. He has destroyed the barrier that divided us and opened up citizenship in the kingdom to all people. Your ethnic heritage does not matter. Your economic status, gender, or background do not matter. God’s salvation, citizenship in the kingdom, is a gift offered to all. A gift of God’s grace received through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).
Consequently, those who come to Christ in faith are no longer foreigners and strangers. Instead, we are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of his household. We are his people. The story of Israel in the Old Testament is now our story. And the promises made to them are now ours as well.
How amazing is that? To be God’s special possession. To have citizenship in the kingdom of God. And to be a part of God’s family. He did not have to offer that to me. But he did. Not because I am in any way worthy of it. But simply because he is love.
