Nougat 18

Hallelujah Christ is Risen

{You reply “He is risen indeed!”}

There’s a song we used to sing as children that I don’t hear much of these days – ‘I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God// Washed in His fountain, cleansed by His blood// Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel along, I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God Do you know it? I think it originated from today’s Holy Nougat

“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In the early Jewish tradition, it was legal practice to promote separatist attitudes toward non-Jews, especially from a spiritual standpoint. This was tied up in their experience of enslavement and the Exodus; as well as the understanding of the Abrahamic covenant. In the covenant, we see Abram being called to separate from those who served other gods and being blessed for his obedience (see Genesis 12:1-3).

This call for separation continues to be echoed in our time. Upon establishment of a formalized national and religious identity, the community tended to maintain their unique identity (of course, with a few exceptions) by prohibiting strangers from joining their rituals or feasts. Part of the logic was to keep sin and contamination out. It wasn’t the most successful venture, but the practice has prevailed over the centuries (primarily by way of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – where yeast, a metaphor for impurities and sin, was totally eradicated from households).

If we trace separatism back to Abram however, we might also recall that YHWH advised that all nations of the earth would be blessed by Abram (Genesis 12:3). Some argue, and rightly so, that this relates to the establishment of the three major world religions. As a follower of Jesus, my natural (and spiritual) bias roots that promise squarely in the divinity and personhood of Jesus Christ!

For, in Christ, those who were not direct heirs to the promises and covenants are fully grafted in the family. We’re not excluded, we are legitimate! Hallelujah And, as heirs, once we believe in Jesus, we have Total Rights and Privileges; just as Jesus spelled it out to Nicodemus in John 3:16-18.

Of course, this met with confusion and some resistance in the post-Ascension, post-Pentecost community as they sought to discern their spiritual identity and purpose. Paul’s message to the grafted ones holds true even today: We are no longer strangers and foreigners; rather we are citizens along with ALL God’s people! I’m so glad to be part of the family and to maintain citizenship! All because of Jesus

Hallelujah He is risen!

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May all we seek be found in Christ