By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

Brought Together by His Blood

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“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:13 New International Version

Change comes hard.  I think of that when I see this beloved 100 year old altar in our prayer chapel at Trinity.  As you can see, church architectural styles have changed a bit in the last 100 years.  And some people miss worshiping in the old style, because changes come hard.

Change came hard for the early church, too.  The Jewish believers often could not quite understand that the Gentiles, the pagans, could become followers of Jesus, the Messiah, without becoming practicing Jews first.  The food laws, circumcision, sacrificial offerings, and many more traditions seemed to be necessary requirements to the Jewish believers.  But these traditions were actually a wall that separated Gentiles from the Jews, preventing them from following Jesus.

Jesus’s blood on the cross changed all that.  His great Sacrifice for sins cleansed all people who believe in Him from sin and condemnation and separation from our Holy God.  Everyone who called on the name of the Lord Jesus could be saved, both Jew and Gentile.

This was a very hard change for the Jewish believers.  The New Testament writers speak of this hard change often, stressing that faith in the promises of God in Christ Jesus is all that is required for anyone to be saved.  And that struggle nearly split the early church!  You can read about this in Acts 15.

But praise God that the Holy Spirit opened the hearts of those early believers to understand God’s grace in Jesus Christ and that His death and resurrection has opened a way for all to come to know Him.

Yes, change comes hard.  But in Christ Jesus there is forgiveness and peace where once there may have been hostility and conflict.  In Christ Jesus all of us come together to our Father.  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado