“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
Forgiveness and reconciliation in Scripture are pictured in quite graphic and powerful language: a lost sheep is found by a tirelessly searching shepherd; a lost coin is recovered by a carefully searching woman; a lost son—degraded by the filth of swine—returns to a father who runs to meet him and instantly welcomes him back into the family (Luke 15).
The gospel offers the ultimate rags to riches life. Spiritual paupers are given all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). A spiritual resurrection takes the dead in sin and makes them alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1-7). Those who are strangers to the family of God are made sons in God’s household. Foreigners to the kingdom of heaven are made fellow citizens with the saints.
From lost to found. From unworthy prodigal to restored son. From bankrupt pauper to royal priest. From dead to alive. From stranger to son. From foreigner to citizen.
What glorious lyrics are found in redemption’s sweet song!
