His purpose was to
create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in
one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to
death their hostility. – Ephesians 2:15-16
In college, God blessed me with an AMAZING group of
friends. What is most unique about our
friendship is that, while we all have various connections and individual
stories, the foundation of our group was formed in a Bible Study
setting. From the beginning of our
collective friendship, we were rooted together in the Lord, and over the past
10 years, we have grown together in a relationship that loves and cares for one
another and seeks to grow in Him. I
think this type of deep, wonderful friendship is what makes it so hard for us
(now that we live in different towns and have different lives) to find new
friends. We define friendship by heart
connections based in faith, and those are few and far between. I had been especially lucky to live in
Greenville for so long and within walking distance of two of the friends from
this group, so when I knew that marrying Andy would mean moving to Charlotte, I
did everything I could to hold on a bit tighter to these friendships while we
were in the same place. One of the best
decisions I made to that end was meeting with my friend, Rebecca, in a one on
one Bible Study earlier this year right before I moved.
Rebecca and I decided to study the book of James and use
Beth Moore’s new study Mercy Triumphs
to help us do that. It is a FANTASTIC
study! We both learned so much about the
early church and the relationship between Jewish Christians and Gentile
Christians as well as how to apply the instructions in James to our own
lives. This morning, for my quiet time,
I read a little of The Circle Maker
and a little of Ephesians, and it was amazing how those two studies came
together to remind me of my study of James.
Again, loving how God brings so many things together to draw a
conclusion, I just had to share my insights.
Let’s start with The
Circle Maker. Today, the reading
discussed how difficult it is to trust God when the way isn’t clear. Batterson writes about how several of his
prayers for something that seemed like a good and perfect option weren’t
answered. He details how God took him in
a totally different direction because God’s plan for his life was better than
his own plan. He talks about God’s
destiny for his ministry, and he writes, “Our destiny was in DC, but God had to
get in the way a few times to get us there.
He had to leave a few prayers unanswered so that He could give a better
answer.” I don’t know what Christian
doesn’t know about having their plans turned upside down. I could certainly relate to his words – and I
easily recalled several times in my life where I didn’t get an answer I wanted,
but I am so thankful for it, and I considered areas where I am still confused
about why God said “no” or “wait.”
With those personal connections in my mind, I closed The Circle Maker and opened Ephesians. The section I read today was chapter 2:11-22. This section discusses how Christ’s death on
the cross brought unity to the Jews and the Gentiles. It spells out one of God’s plans saying in
verses 16-17, “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the
two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God
through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” These verses might not seem to connect to
what I had read in The Circle Maker,
but to me, they jumped off the page as though God was reminding me again that
my ways are not his ways – that his are much greater than mine. However, were it not for Beth Moore’s study
on James, I may not have made the connection.
One of the central themes of the study (and book) of James
is unity between Jews and Gentiles. You see,
when Christianity was first taking root, the story of Jesus was being shared
with Jews and Gentiles. Of course, the
main message of Christianity is salvation through faith in Jesus. Salvation by faith was a difficult concept
for the Jews as they followed all kinds of traditions and laws given by God
himself that were designed to make them acceptable enough to worship the Lord
and call themselves his people. Even
after they became Christians, they continued to worship at the temple, make
sacrifices, celebrate feasts, and follow the law. After all, how can you just throw away a life
of devotion? It was difficult for them
to figure out what they “had” to do to be a follower and what they chose to do
to have a relationship. This level of
commitment from the Jews to centuries old traditions and laws caused tension
between them and the Gentiles who didn’t follow any of their customs and habits
but celebrated the freedom they had to just believe and be forgiven of their
sins.
Beth Moore’s study shares lots of ways that the church
leaders sought to bring unity between the two groups, but the culminating event
that stands out to me as one of God’s plans that was greater than ours happened
in AD 70. In that year, in response to a
Jewish revolt against Roman rule, the Roman leader, Titus, destroyed the temple
and had many Jewish people and leaders put to death. Those who were not immediately put to death
fled the city and settled in various other places – some in areas that would
have been rich in Gentile population.
I admit, I’m a sucker for tradition, and I’ve done studies
and listened to sermons that discuss the sacred elements and importance of the
temple. I relate to the Jews who did
their faith in a very traditional, structured way, and must have grieved
heavily as they watched the temple burn to the ground. As someone who knows what it is to leave
behind what you love, my heart breaks for those who ran to escape death and
left behind their community, church, and spiritual support system.
However, I also can’t avoid the glaring truth that the
destruction of the temple paved the way for Christianity. Without the temple, the Jewish people didn’t
have that tremendous symbol of God’s decrees to them as an individual people
that were given before Jesus. They didn’t
have the visual reminder that originally they were different, chosen,
special. In allowing the destruction of
his own house and dismantling the Jewish Christian hub in Jerusalem, the Lord
paved the way for a new community of believers and a new definition of what it
means to be chosen, different, and special.
He gave the Jews a clearer view that Jesus was the new cornerstone and
that the people were the new temple because with the Holy Spirit, God’s presence
was found in believers and not in a building.
Through destruction, he accomplished his purpose – a new humanity. Verses 19-22 summarize the concept saying, “Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s
people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together
and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in
which God lives by his Spirit.”
I guess all of that brings me back to Batterson because when
I read Ephesians, thought back to what I learned from Beth Moore about AD
70. If I had lived in that year as a
Jewish Christian, I would have seen no good coming from the destruction of the
temple, and I would have been frantically questioning why God had not allowed
the rebellion to result in freedom from Roman rule in Jerusalem. Now, with almost 2000 years of history on my
side, I see the good in God’s plan – and not only the good. Through scripture, I see that his plan wasn’t
a “B” level plan formed in response to human actions. No, everything in Jewish history paved the
way for Jesus to bring freedom and for his sacrifice to shine with significance. God’s ultimate plan was unity among believers
of all backgrounds and the destruction of the temple fell in line with his Plan
A.
After writing this blog, I am headed into my prayer
time. Today, I am praying for two things
that I want to happen very much – both of which I should know an answer to this
week. One is for my house in Greenville
to sell. We had a good viewing on
Saturday, and the rumor from the buyer’s agent is that we’d have an offer by
yesterday, but I’ve still not heard about it.
The other big prayer is private as it involves people other than myself
(though you’ll definitely know in the future if it is answered the way I
want!). The second request, though, is
one that is so big to me that I could not have imagined praying it had God not
revealed the request, and if God answers it, I will be absolutely thrilled and
could see such good in a “yes” answer.
However, I have to also remember that if the answer is “no” – to either
request – it just means that God is doing a bigger thing. And though it may look like his faithfulness
to me is crumbling, it is probably actually being built in to something better.
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