「妳不屬於這裡！」這句話讓一個八歲女孩傷透了心，而且這傷痛一直伴隨著她成長。女孩與家人從一個戰亂國家的難民營，移民到一個新的國家。她移民卡上的戳印標註著外國人，使她感覺到自己不屬於這個國家。

這個女孩成年後，儘管她相信了耶穌，卻仍然感到被孤立，總覺得自己是個不受歡迎的外人。然而在閱讀聖經時，她發現了以弗所書2章的應許。在12節，她看到那長久以來令她不安的字眼──外人：「你們是在基督以外，與以色列國無分，在帶有應許的約上是外人，在世上沒有盼望，沒有上帝」（新譯本）。她繼續讀下去，便看到了上帝的應許，明白她的身分因基督的犧牲已有所改變：「你們不再是外人和客旅，而是與聖徒一同作國民」（19節，同上）。當她意識到自己是天國的子民，真是欣喜若狂。她不再是個外人，因上帝已經接納了她，成為上帝家中的一員。

你我因為罪的緣故，成為與上帝無關的外人，但我們無需一直處於這種狀態。耶穌把和平的福音帶給所有人，包括離上帝很遠的外族人（17節），讓所有信靠祂的人都能成為祂永恆國度的子民，並且彼此聯合成為基督的身體。

“You don’t belong here.” Those words crushed an eight-year-old girl’s heart, and the pain stayed with her. Her family had emigrated from a refugee camp in a war-torn country to a new country, and her immigration card had the word alien stamped on it. She felt like she didn’t belong.

As an adult, although she put her faith in Jesus, she still felt alienated—stung by the feeling that she was an unwelcome outsider. While reading her Bible, she discovered the promises of Ephesians 2. In verse 12, she saw that old, troubling word alien. “You were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (nkjv). But as she kept reading, she saw how Christ’s sacrifice had changed her status. She got to verse 19, which told her, “You are no longer” a foreigner or alien. She was a “fellow citizen” with God’s people. Realizing that she was a citizen of heaven, she was overjoyed. Never again would she be an outsider. God had taken her in and accepted her.

Because of our sin, we’re alienated from God. But we don’t have to stay that way. Jesus brought peace to all who were “far away” (v. 17), making all who trust Him fellow citizens of His eternal kingdom—united as the body of Christ.