The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Person and Work of Christ, #2

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

There is only one Christ, one Body of Christ, one goal, one destiny.

The second chapter of the Book of Ephesians (the context of the above passage) shows that both Jews and Gentiles are included in the one new Man—Christ, the Servant of the Lord.

Notice the following:

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. (Ezekiel 37:24)

"They all shall have one shepherd."

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16)

Any "Gentile Church" that is outside of the one fold is not of God.

Christ (the Anointed One) is Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord of Heaven and earth. He is the Son of God, the Creator of all things and the King of Israel. He is to be worshiped as God, being the Word of God from the beginning and the firstborn Son of the Father in Heaven.

Jesus was born (by a miracle) of a Jewish mother, was raised in a Jewish home, had Jewish brothers and sisters, was trained by the rabbis of Israel, and was accustomed to all the laws and traditions of Israel.

The Word that Rabbi Jesus brought was (and yet is) the "children's bread" (Mark 7:27), meaning it primarily is for the Jews. We who were Gentiles but who now are part of Christ are receiving our eternal life from the food that is the inheritance of the Jews.

Notice the "Jewishness" of the following passage:

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:32,33)

Salvation always is for the Jew first. Abraham is the father of all who believe. We Gentiles have been grafted on a tree that altogether is Jewish. The Scriptures never—not in one instance—speak of a Gentile Church.

The Jews of today are waiting for Messiah (Christ)—the One who is to come and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth with Jerusalem as the center of government.

Indeed Christ shall come and save the Jews from their enemies. Every word of the Prophets of Israel will come to pass.

Confusion surrounds the relationship of the Christian Church to national, political Israel. Numerous passages of the Scriptures reveal that God will bring back the Jews to their land in the latter days. But we Christians, for the most part, think only in heavenly terms.

To be continued.