Grace

January 5, 2022

By Fadi Kamel

God took on flesh and likeness of man to reconcile us back to Himself is grace. This is a gift of love and we did nothing to earn it. It is not based on our goodness or worthiness. It is based solely on His mercy and His heart for humanity to be reconciled back to its Creator. When we comprehend God’s grace, it should propel us to respond to it. One way to respond is by seeking reconciliation and unity within the family of God.

The plan of reconciliation started before the foundation of the world. It was there with Jesus as humanity forfeited its unity with the Creator. God never cancelled His plan to have one united humanity. No, His plan was set in motion in and through Jesus. Adam and Eve rebelled against God; but God chose one man that a nation will come from to bless other nations. But, this nation, Israel, forfeited its blessing but God still worked through the linage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and then Jesus. Jesus was, is and will be the plan to save humanity as He was, is and will be the predestined one to eternity. 

We who put our faith in Him, have not only been reconciled back to God the Father but have also been grafted into the family of God. We, Jewish and Gentiles, are a new humanity in the Messiah as Ephesians 2:13-15 tells us that Jesus came to create in himself one new man in place of the two. 

وَلَكِنِ ٱلْآنَ فِي ٱلْمَسِيحِ يَسُوعَ، أَنْتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كُنْتُمْ قَبْلًا بَعِيدِينَ، صِرْتُمْ قَرِيبِينَ بِدَمِ ٱلْمَسِيحِ. 14لِأَنَّهُ هُوَ سَلَامُنَا، ٱلَّذِي جَعَلَ ٱلِٱثْنَيْنِ وَاحِدًا، وَنَقَضَ حَائِطَ ٱلسِّيَاجِ ٱلْمُتَوَسِّطَ، 15أَيِ ٱلْعَدَاوَةَ. مُبْطِلًا بِجَسَدِهِ نَامُوسَ ٱلْوَصَايَا فِي فَرَائِضَ، لِكَيْ يَخْلُقَ ٱلِٱثْنَيْنِ فِي نَفْسِهِ إِنْسَانًا وَاحِدًا جَدِيدًا، صَانِعًا سَلَامًا،

“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 and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” 

Ephesians 2:13-15

The gift of grace is from God, to me, to all. It is a gift once comprehended, it requires us to respond to it. Our respond toward God’s grace should lead us to seek unity within the family of God. This unity is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with you, and I being the bricks to the entire structure and Jesus the Messiah being the cornerstone that holds the entire temple together. This new humanity as Paul refers to the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:1 as “Holy Ones”  

How beautiful of an inheritance do we get to inherit through the Messiah. To be considered as Holy Ones is first and foremost an attribute of God as He is the ultimate Holiness. But it is also to show us that we have joined the holy nation of Israel as Exodus 19:6 refers to them and the Spiritual beings as in Zechariah 14:5 and Psalm 89:6. How beautiful is this new humanity to be one under the Messiah’s authority to not only be considered holy but also been given every spiritual blessing that we need. 

We labor for this new humanity not on our own but with the inheritance of the spiritual gifts that God the Father blessed us with through the Messiah. These blessings rewarded by God to His family to be His elect’s representatives on earth. Even more, it is adoption of the fatherless into a family of God’s children, it is the redemption of a broken world to be restored to its original Eden, it is to receive forgiveness through God’s mercy that He displayed through the cross so that we might reciprocate His mercy to others. Do I need to go on about the revelation of God’s secret purpose that is shown to us through His son Jesus, or how about the hope of the future in such uncertain times? 

Yes, unprecedented, and uncertain times we live in, but this family of God is united with Jesus the Messiah as the head of all things, things in heaven and things on earth. What does it mean that Jesus heads up all things? It means that He brings unity and harmony to a broken world through His family. It means the Messiah is the ultimate human who through His death and resurrection have redeemed us from our sins. It means when we feel estranged and foreigners on earth we can look to heaven because all things are under the Messiah’s feet.

The family of God. How beautiful and blessed is this gift of grace. We did nothing to earn it, but we must do everything to respond to it on earth. To labor against a culture that is all about me and turn it to us. It is no longer I but you and I that we become us in the Messiah. This is not a foreign concept as Paul in Ephesians 1:11 uses the pronoun “we” referring to Israel and then plural “you” referring to the non-Jewish being united.

We accept this gift of grace and seek unity not on our own but through the spirit of God. We pray that all people would receive a revelation, the unveiling to see what can only be seen with the eyes of faith. The exaltation of the crucified and risen King Jesus. And if we don’t want to labor for unity but harbor God’s grace to ourselves and not reconcile with others within the body of the Messiah then let me reminder you. Let me remind myself of my own sins and where I was before Jesus. I am a man made in God’s image but have forfeited my unity with the Creator. When Jesus found me, He found me dead in my trespasses and sins. I was following the ways of this world, following the prince and the power that lies between this land and the sky. I was once in disobedience under the authority, power and dominion of this world. I was on a path that led to the throne of the devil. But precisely, at my weakest point in life, at my worst, God happily showed me His richness and mercy by His grace. His gift of grace was always there, and I finally accepted it once the LORD of Lords was revealed to me. This revelation my brothers and sisters never left me the same. He planted not a seed, but seeds and one of those seeds is to work against the powers of this world and seek unity within the family of God. 

We were once all separated from the Messiah, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of the eternal promise, having no hope in this world because we were without God as Ephesians 2:12 tells us. Our sins were the dividing wall of hostility between us and God but the Messiah’s death and resurrection, tore the wall of enmity and now we are no longer alienated from the citizenry of heaven and have become one new humanity. This new humanity is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with you, and I being the bricks cemented to build up the new temple of which the Spirit of the living God dwells in. In every stone building, one stone is crucial, it is laid first, and it is to ensure that the building is square and stable. It is the rock upon which the weight of the entire struct rests. It is the cornerstone. My brothers and sisters, my family, as Ephesians 2:20 tells us, our “Chief Cornerstone” of our building is Jesus the Messiah.

Photo Credit: Jillian Melissa Photography

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  1. Karen Hunt says:

    Beautiful!

  2. Gina Padilla says:

    How beautiful God’s grace is. Thanks Fadi!

  3. Alexis says:

    Thank you for sharing, this was a very good reminder!

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