Who are the Children of Abraham?
In this article I continue my attempt to answer the question once again posted above.
Part 1 of the discussion of Ephesians 2
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Paul tells the Gentiles in the flesh (that is us) that we were at one time far off, but we have now by Christ, been brought near to the commonwealth of Israel, no longer strangers to the covenants of promise, and now having hope. The dividing wall in the temple which separated gentiles from Jews, even circumcised Gentiles from Jews, was broken down by Christ on the cross. It was a wall of hostility; a wall of violence which cause division and animosity between the Jews and the Gentiles; a wall which caused the Pharisees to hate the Samaritans. Paul tells us that this wall has been broken down because Christ abolished the law of commandments and ordinances, and He did this by fulfilling all righteousness and making the debt payment for sin which is death; Christ has fulfilled the consequences God demanded of us because of Adam’s failure in the covenant God made with that first man (not that in His victory Christ destroyed the immutable commandments of God) but rather, He destroyed the ordinances of that Old Covenant and thus God fashions the individual recipients of the New Covenant as new men—not like the old man in the Old Covenant, and not like the old man who was far off from the Old Covenant, but a new man who receives the benefits of the covenant God made with Adam and which He reiterated in the covenant He made with Abraham and which He now, finally and forever, has fulfilled by Christ in the New Covenant, in order to bring together in one new group, all of the saints through all time: those who before were strangers to and those who were familiar with the covenants of promise.
In light of the declarations in this passage, it is backwards to take the prophesy of Ezekiel’s temple and an interpretation of Romans 11 (which affirms some sort of future for ethnic Israel) to mean that, at some time in the future God will measure the obedience of the nation of Israel by their faithfulness to rebuild a physical temple, and sacrifice bulls and goats. Even if the purpose of this practice in a future age were only for memorial, the advocate must maintain that Christ is present and ruling on an Earth while the “people of God” are not focused on the substance to which those sacrifices pointed but rather, they would center their worship around the shadows and the types while the substance of the shadows and the archetype is there—it’s scandalous! Can you imagine trying to honor your brother in eulogy while he is still alive, and even in the same room? This is paramount to going to the beach and instead of gazing out into the vastness of the ocean to marvel at its size, you stand on the sandy shore, turn your back away from the ocean, pick up a seashell and put it up to your ear—proclaiming the greatness of the sounds of the ocean; smelling the shell and delighting in how much like the beach it smells; touching your tongue to the inside of the shell and likening its flavor to the salty taste of ocean water, when all the while the object to which the shell is only a sign, is right there before you. The pre-incarnation Saints only had the shell to lift to their ear to hear the echo of the waves; to lift the shell to their nose to see how the sea smelled; to taste what the salty sea was like by touching their tongue to the shell. Those of us after the birth of Christ can bask in the glory of the presence of the Sea itself and can stand before it and smell His misty waves as they crash on the shore, and we have the privilege of tasting the salty flavor of His waters in the flesh, and this is done in communion; not now nor at any time in the future will we trade that covenant feast for a lesser sign of physical sacrifice, but we will one day trade it for the physical presence of our Lord Himself.
In this article I continue my attempt to answer the question once again posted above.
Part 1 of the discussion of Ephesians 2
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Paul tells the Gentiles in the flesh (that is us) that we were at one time far off, but we have now by Christ, been brought near to the commonwealth of Israel, no longer strangers to the covenants of promise, and now having hope. The dividing wall in the temple which separated gentiles from Jews, even circumcised Gentiles from Jews, was broken down by Christ on the cross. It was a wall of hostility; a wall of violence which cause division and animosity between the Jews and the Gentiles; a wall which caused the Pharisees to hate the Samaritans. Paul tells us that this wall has been broken down because Christ abolished the law of commandments and ordinances, and He did this by fulfilling all righteousness and making the debt payment for sin which is death; Christ has fulfilled the consequences God demanded of us because of Adam’s failure in the covenant God made with that first man (not that in His victory Christ destroyed the immutable commandments of God) but rather, He destroyed the ordinances of that Old Covenant and thus God fashions the individual recipients of the New Covenant as new men—not like the old man in the Old Covenant, and not like the old man who was far off from the Old Covenant, but a new man who receives the benefits of the covenant God made with Adam and which He reiterated in the covenant He made with Abraham and which He now, finally and forever, has fulfilled by Christ in the New Covenant, in order to bring together in one new group, all of the saints through all time: those who before were strangers to and those who were familiar with the covenants of promise.
In light of the declarations in this passage, it is backwards to take the prophesy of Ezekiel’s temple and an interpretation of Romans 11 (which affirms some sort of future for ethnic Israel) to mean that, at some time in the future God will measure the obedience of the nation of Israel by their faithfulness to rebuild a physical temple, and sacrifice bulls and goats. Even if the purpose of this practice in a future age were only for memorial, the advocate must maintain that Christ is present and ruling on an Earth while the “people of God” are not focused on the substance to which those sacrifices pointed but rather, they would center their worship around the shadows and the types while the substance of the shadows and the archetype is there—it’s scandalous! Can you imagine trying to honor your brother in eulogy while he is still alive, and even in the same room? This is paramount to going to the beach and instead of gazing out into the vastness of the ocean to marvel at its size, you stand on the sandy shore, turn your back away from the ocean, pick up a seashell and put it up to your ear—proclaiming the greatness of the sounds of the ocean; smelling the shell and delighting in how much like the beach it smells; touching your tongue to the inside of the shell and likening its flavor to the salty taste of ocean water, when all the while the object to which the shell is only a sign, is right there before you. The pre-incarnation Saints only had the shell to lift to their ear to hear the echo of the waves; to lift the shell to their nose to see how the sea smelled; to taste what the salty sea was like by touching their tongue to the shell. Those of us after the birth of Christ can bask in the glory of the presence of the Sea itself and can stand before it and smell His misty waves as they crash on the shore, and we have the privilege of tasting the salty flavor of His waters in the flesh, and this is done in communion; not now nor at any time in the future will we trade that covenant feast for a lesser sign of physical sacrifice, but we will one day trade it for the physical presence of our Lord Himself.
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