There is a lot of talk at the moment, at least in the circles that I mix in of the one new man… when there will be no more Jew, no more Gentile but one new man. Ephesians 2:15.
It mixes with terms like Replacement theology where the church is believed to fully replace the Jews or Israel. I have also heard messages where that is basically reversed and it is all about the Jews, that they have not only been left out of the equation but that they are the equation. This morning I was talking to Helen and had this following revelation.
I call it joined theology. It isn’t Replacement theology and it isn’t all about the Jews. The one new man is all about coming together under Jesus, with “no longer Jew or Gentile”. (Gal 3: 28) So a place where neither of these groups are the focus, but where the joiner (Jesus) is the focus.
Helen & I often talk of Ding Dong theologies; this is like a bell swinging from one extreme to the other, dinging and donging, it is all too easy to go there.
I think in this case no theology is good if one element is missing or gone or hated. I don’t believe any Theology that either hates Jews or hates the church is OK. Hate isn’t one of the fruits of the Spirit.
The only good theology of the one new man is joined theology, where both Jew and Gentile are joined together with Jesus, the cornerstone. Where it is all about Him (Jesus), not the people. The point being that the ‘one new man’ actually isn’t predominatly about Jews or Gentiles, it is predominatly about Jesus and Him bringing ALL together. We cannot reduce this down to our human level and just look at the players (Jews and Gentiles) on the stage, we need to keep our eyes on the Author and Creator and realise that this once again is a passage about Him and what He is doing and what He is going to do.