Brought near

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

Realising however much his naked eye strained at it, the moon only appeared flat and featureless. Galileo built his first telescope in 1609 helping to magnify his sight twenty times. Along with all humans looking skyward, Galileo simply wanted to reduce the distance between here and there. 

Paul says to the Ephesians “…now in Christ Jesus you have been brought near…” . His point being that the distance between us and God was removed. This space between God and us had not been bridged by sight but sacrifice – the blood of Christ. The word ‘But’ starting verse 13 reverses the negatives in v12 “… separate from Christ (now connected), … Foreigners (now family)  … without hope (now certain) and without God in the world (now walking with Christ). In human terms it is as though Galileo’s telescope became a spaceship and transported a 1609 curious observer to standing on the moon as Neil Armstrong did in 1969. 

Perhaps today you might think about the difference it has made having that void between you and God bridged? We might ask – in which ways does our faith experience reflect the power of Jesus’ blood to transform us from being a curious observer to concrete participant?