8/15/26 The Closeness of IAM

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

We are in the 7th week of our series focusing on being in Christ and just what that actually means, and the accurate portrayal of what to expect from it from a biblical standpoint. The biblical standpoint is the authority as it is the source for our understanding of all things related to four and by God. As we continue in this portion of the series by laying the foundation of things from a spiritual perspective rather than a physical material perspective that we will arrive at several weeks from now, we have found ourselves in the 2nd chapter of Ephesians. Paul details something here that many of us in our lives before we are saved had never truly considered. Much of this is due to the belief albeit a false one, that all roads lead to heaven. This theological mindset derives from a term called universalism. This is a terrible mindset to have and one that I’m not going to spend time on do to it being a proverbial rabbit trail.

Paul states our common phrasing for the series of in Christ, By stating we were once far away. Now it doesn’t take a genius to understand that this is detailing something in way of proximity, and we need to examine that so that we can understand what it is in relation to proximity wise and why that is significant. Since the latter portion of the statement is that it is the blood of Christ that has brought us close it really narrows the opportunities of what it is that we were once far from.

This understanding derives from the Old Testament mindset of closeness to God made at the sacrificial temple and renewal of our closeness to the sovereign. In the Old Testament separation or distance from the Lord came with disobedience but the Jews were renewed at sacrifice. This means drawing near meant activity at the temple and proximity to the temple where the presence of God was manifest inside the holy of holies once a year. Now in the blood of the new covenant, that being the blood of Jesus Christ we have proximity given to us and access given to us by the blood of Christ.

So if we are far away we are far away because of mindsets and ideologies such as universalism that erroneously postulates that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was for nothing. If that’s true then John 3:16 is not applicable to our lives because God would not have sent his only son to save the world out of love. Because he would not have needed to send his son at all because if all paths lead to him that also means that what we do on earth and these lives can somehow open that door which is illogical.

It is illogical to believe that an inerrant pure right standing sovereign Lord who cannot be in the presence of sin would take the flawed and allowed them access to him on their own merits and achievements that they could boast about. No one can boast before God because they are flawed, they are using his goods, including time, space & matter.

I want you to noticed the wording, you who were far are now brought near. But it wasn’t by being a follower of Mohammad or, Buddha it was by being in Christ. You are not brought near by your bank account, or your rituals, it is in Christ. You who were far because you were far from Christ, not in Christ are now brought near, in other words your efforts and the efforts of others didn’t make the difference. They could not open the door to draw close, because without Christ the door did not open. Remember, you are approach God the Father, 1/3 of the Trinity, who sent the Son to represent him on earth in the presence of fallen creation, so with this verse it is absolutely validation to the words of Christ himself ringing true.

John 10:9 Jesus declares, I am the door

John 14:6 Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth,and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

It is by Christ, in Christ that we are brought near. Good deeds, a good attitude, good morals aren’t going to be the key to open the door. You are brought near because the Father loves the Son so much that whenever he sees even the blood of his Son he draws it near. That is why the blood is again the key component, because the hand that created you, the hand that sent the means for reconciliation with mankind. Now we have the chance, direct access. Direct access to the Father, direct access to operate in the heavenly courts, direct access to the heavenly treasures in Christ Jesus.

See, what you can get has a direct tie to who you are close to, and not only do you get access, the Father pulls you in because of the blood of the Son that is upon you. He sees his Son, not your wretchedness, not your wickedness, not your messed up thinking, not your generational bias, not your geographical bias, and not the fingerprints of the devils work in your life to make you unacceptable!