This week we continue to study our purpose in Christ with Ephesians 2:11-13:
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Why would the Lord make circumcision a sign of His covenant with man? The flesh is often a metaphor for the carnal nature in Scripture, and this was to be a sign that for us to be joined to the Lord in covenant, the carnal nature had to be cut away.
Circumcision was instituted in the beginning when the Lord first called Abraham, and it continues to be true for all who would be joined to Him today. Salvation is much more than just having our sins forgiven. The salvation of the cross also provides for the removal of our sinful nature, "the body of sin." It is a delusion, and a tragic perversion of the gospel, that promotes an easy forgiveness without the corresponding laying aside of the sinful nature. As we read repeatedly throughout the New Testament, and see clearly established in the Old Testament, those who have truly embraced the atonement of the cross have also been born again and changed by it.
Now let us consider something about circumcision, and the body of flesh. First, the whole member was not cut off! Only the excessive flesh is removed, which represents the sinful nature. Our whole nature is not sinful. The Lord created us flesh and blood with certain needs and desires that He intends for us to fulfill with joy and thanksgiving.
When I lived in Charlotte, I tried to attend a weekly fellowship of pastors and leaders. I really enjoyed this fellowship because it seemed that something interesting would happen every week. Once, a retired Anglican bishop, who must have been near eighty, asked for prayer for sin in his life. When asked what it was he replied shamefully, "lust." Then he sheepishly added... "lust for my wife." I wasn’t there when this happened, but I was told that the whole gathering responded in unison, "No, we don’t need to pray for you. You need to pray for us!"
Sex is only sinful when it goes outside of the boundaries for which it was created. It is a special gift from God to be enjoyed and used for the bonding of two people in the covenant relationship of marriage that is intended to be wonderful and exciting. However, it was created to be the most wonderful when used to give pleasure, not just get it. Therefore, selfishness in sex reduces its fulfilling potential for both, and will ultimately lead to perversion. Selfishness does this to all of the good gifts and qualities that God has given to man, and turns them into sin.
The whole purpose of redemption is to recover what was lost by the fall, foremost of which was man’s intimate relationship with God. Only when that is recovered can the intended relationship between people be restored to what it was intended to be. In all relationships selfishness perverts. Therefore, we must be healed of the wounds of sin that cause selfishness such as rejection, abuse, etc. However, the way the Lord does this is not by a long process of introspection and digging around in our souls to find them—He cuts away the problems by having us start all over as born again new creations. The goal of having our minds renewed is so that we can embrace the new creation that we now are, not try to fix the old man that is now dead.
The Lord began the long process of recovery by calling Abraham, and his decedents. Through them He instituted a process for drawing new to Him that would enable them to lay aside the nature that was sinful. This was done in a step-by-step process that would lead them to a full understanding of Christ when He came. There is a progressive revelation of Christ which enables us to draw close to God while removing the sinful nature and also renewing our minds. Understanding and pursuing this is a reason for this study.
However, the purpose for which the Lord called Abraham and his decedents was much more than just recovering a relationship to the Lord themselves, they were called to be mediators for the rest of mankind. We see this in such Scriptures as Isaiah 56:6-8:
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.
The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, "Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered."
Here we see that His house was always intended to be a "house of prayer for all the peoples." This of course is also our calling. The church is the "temple not made with hands." As our relationship to the Lord is restored, we too become a kingdom of priests by which the rest of mankind is led back to its original purpose—walking with God.