Ephesians 2:11-13 (NIV)
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)–remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

It is important to remember that salvation doesn’t merely result in the hope of eternal life. It results in a complete change of status in God’s economy.

Paul looks back with the Ephesians to their days before Christ. Not only were they lost and existing outside God’s blessings, they were scorned and scoffed at by those who believed themselves to be God’s people, the Jews, called here “the circumcision” by Paul. It is interesting to note that by their exclusionary attitude, holding the gentiles at arm’s length instead of showing them the way into God’s kingdom, they were acting contrary to God’s desires and commands (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6). But they had largely turned away from the vision of being a light to the gentiles, leaving it to Jesus and His followers to fulfill.

Before the gentiles came to salvation through faith in Jesus, they existed outside of the category of “God’s chosen people”. They had no ideas of or participation in His covenants and were completely ignorant of who God is and what He requires of His people. And, as such, they had no hope. Even the richest, the most powerful, and the most influential of them was lost, doomed to an eternity of suffering and pain.

But when they heard the good news, when they responded and trusted in the blood of Jesus for salvation, they were brought near. They were grafted into “God’s chosen people” (Romans 11:24) and were given hope and a future along with all who trust in Him and obey His commandments. They became chosen in Christ (Ephesians 1:4), and were made inheritors of eternal life and co-heirs with Jesus of all that there is (Galatians 4:7).

Father, this is my story, too. Before I came to saving faith in Jesus I was lost, without hope, wandering in the darkness of sin, rebellion, and despair. I was about as far from You as I could possibly be. But when You brought the gospel to me, when it spoke to my heart and drove me to respond, everything changed. I now had not only a future to look forward to, I had a present as Your child to live out here and now. And I have never looked back! Help me, Lord, to keep this wonder of Your salvation front and center in my life, and to let it move me to share this amazing good news with others. Amen.