Israelite and Gentile. Clean and Unclean. Us and Them. Insider and Outsider. Citizen and Alien. First and Last. Family and Stranger. Rich and Poor. The Kingdom of God is meant to banish our dividing categories. All can now be adopted, even born into God’s family. The unclean are made clean. The alien is made a citizen. The outsider is now sitting at the inside table. The poor are made rich. The last is in the front of the line. The non-Israelite is now a member of the New Israel. To hold on to superiority is to be in a campaign against the Kingdom of God and its King. Never forget, without the mercy and grace of God you and I would still be on the outside. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11–13 NLT)
