Voting is a duty for followers of Jesus because it is a practical act of caring for our family, loving our neighbors, and being salt and light in the world.
On the morning after an election with seismic implications for our nation, God’s Word brings peace and perspective.
Verse by verse, I want to share Ephesians 2:11-22. First, here it is in full:
Therefore remember that at one time you…[were] strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Christian believers make decisions in this imperfect landscape as best we can, knowing every election and every politician will let us down, because there is only one Savior. If you feel like a foreigner in your country, it’s because you are. We are a very long way from home, and we are here to serve and not to be served. The battle for our real fate and true country was won on the Cross. This nation’s leaders will disappoint, the King of Heaven will not. Our fellow voters will let us down, but we have unconditional love and acceptance and likemindedness in the family of Christ. Instead of closing off to the world in a protective shell, we love those who persecute and mock and belittle us and show them unlimited grace as we have been shown unlimited grace.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Our desire for peace and community is not silly or frivolous, it is an acknowledgement that things are not right, and comes from a longing written on our bones. God did not create us for animosity and division, He created us for connection and communion. Our sin separates us from Him, and it separates us from each other. Jesus died to heal our rift with God and with our fellow man.
He has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, so making peace. That He might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility
If you don’t know Jesus, if you recognize yourself in that description of a “stranger, having no hope and without God in the world,” today is the day to come home. This world isn’t all there is. Trust in Jesus, God made flesh, who lived with human beings in all our mess and distress, and loved us perfectly and lived righteously, and died where we deserved death to pay the debt we owed so that we could have forgiveness, and rose again. In this family, we are all sinners, saved by grace. All you have to do is look to Him, trust in Him. There is nothing you can do to earn His love or His grace, and no way to earn your place in His kingdom. All you can do is trust in Him, and the finished work He did on the cross.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Yesterday, we had another election. These are the times we live in, and our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). In any result, God is God. He is good. Our job on this earth doesn’t change: to share the gospel of Jesus, who
preaches peace to you who are far off and peace to those who are near.
None of this takes us out of the fight; knowing the truth gives us strength and courage to fight with conviction and without fear, knowing we are a
dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
In the enormous power and belonging of this incredible truth, we can face the world fearless and fight the spiritual battles of our time—not I, but Christ in me (Galatians 2:20).
He never promised us an easy life, in fact He promised struggle, but He also promised victory: “I have told you these things, that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
We trust Him to help us sleep easy, the sleep of the loved and secure who know where we belong and who we belong to.
Because
He Himself is our peace.
Keely, this is so, so, so wonderful!
What a masterful (eh. Master-filled) meditation.
The Truth is what motivates us. And the Truth sets us free.
Well done, sister.
Amen