Ephesians 2:13

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 2:13 NLT).

This verse contains a truth that goes beyond what we can possibly comprehend.  Think about what Paul is saying here - we have been brought near to God – not to some movie star, business tycoon, world-famous athlete, or even the most influential political power. Anyone of those would change our life radically, so how much more should our life be transformed when we are brought near to the source of Life Himself – God Almighty!!

What does it look like to be near to God?  The Bible describes it this way:

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13 NLT).

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,  he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him (Colossians 1:21-22 ESV).

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).

 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26 NKJV).

 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15 NLT).

From this short list, we see that coming near to God has taken us out of darkness into light, from being hostile towards God to blameless before Him, from being fearful slaves to sin to being children of God who call Him Daddy.  The benefit of being made near to God could take a lifetime to put on paper and will certainly take an eternity to discover.  

Today, I will meditate on and enjoy my position in Christ of being near to God.

Check out Gennarino’s devotion on Ephesians 2:13.