Do You Feel Like an Outsider? (Ephesians 1-2)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Have you ever felt like you just don’t fit in?

In many respects, Ephesians is written to those who feel like outsiders. The central focus of this book is God’s plan to unite everything under Christ and to reconcile humanity with him. As Lynn Cohick writes, “Ephesians narrates a plot that begins before the creation of the world, continues with God’s redemption of his people from sin and the creation of a new people in Christ, and promises eternal fellowship with God and fellow believers.”^[1]

In Ephesians 1:3-5, Paul opens his letter by stating: ³ “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. ⁵ He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

In Ephesians 2:12, Paul writes to remind the Ephesians of their past. He says, “Remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

Paul points out three distinct realities about the Gentiles before they came to know Christ: they were separated from him, they had no country to belong to, and they were strangers to God’s promises. This separation was never part of God’s original plan. The Jewish people misunderstood their calling. They thought their chosen status was meant to set them apart from everyone else, like an exclusive invitation to a prestigious event. They forgot that they were chosen to be a blessing to all nations, not to keep others at arm’s length.