Prisoner

This powerful exploration of Ephesians chapter 2 reminds us of the profound truth that we were once separated from God by an uncrossable chasm of sin, but Christ has become our bridge to reconciliation. The message uses the vivid imagery of two cliffs with an impossible gap between them—a gap we could never cross through our own efforts—and shows how Jesus's sacrifice on the cross created the pathway back to intimate relationship with our Father. We're challenged to remember where we came from: as Gentiles, we were once outsiders, excluded from God's promises, without hope. But now, through Christ's blood, we've been brought near, the dividing wall has been destroyed, and we're united as one body. The Berlin Wall serves as a powerful historical parallel—just as families were tragically separated by that barrier, we were separated from God, but unlike Anna who never met her father before the wall came down, we can intimately know our Heavenly Father because Jesus has torn down every barrier. The question that confronts us is this: what are we prisoners to? Are we imprisoned to Christ, serving Him with our lives, or are we imprisoned to anger, approval-seeking, work, technology, comparison, or substances? Paul wrote as a literal prisoner in Rome, yet he considered himself a prisoner of Christ—his circumstances controlled by the One he served. We're invited to shift our perspective, to see every situation as an opportunity to share the gospel, and to experience the immeasurable freedom that comes from being prisoners to Jesus alone.