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Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 2:11-22; Romans 3:31; Romans 7:12; Isaiah 52:7; Isaiah 57:19; John 14:27; 1 Corinthians 3:9-17.
Memory Text: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one” (Ephesians 2:13-14, ESV).
You are a Gentile, a Greek, who has learned to treasure the God of the Jews. In fact, you have left your worship of many gods and have embraced the One true God. As you make your way through the beautiful courtyards and fluted columns of the Jerusalem temple, the sounds of worship call forth your praise. Just then, though, you find yourself confronted by a stone barricade four feet high. Engraved every few feet in Latin and Greek is this message: “No foreigner may enter within the barrier and enclosure around the temple. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” In that moment you feel shut out, alienated, and separated.
In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul sees the cross of Christ as making a dramatic difference, destroying such barriers and walls. Vertically, the cross dissolves alienation, reconciling humans with God. Horizontally, it reconciles people with each other. The cross removes enmity and brings peace between Jews and Gentiles, making of them “one new humanity” (Ephesians 2:15, NIV). Together, they become a new temple, “a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22, ESV).
What does this truth mean for us today?
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 29.
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