For those looking for a somewhat less academic approach to the Israel question than Three Views on Israel and the Church a couple weeks back, here’s another take for you. . . .

Ariel Laurence Blumenthal. The One New Man: Reconciling Jew & Gentile in One Body of Christ. 272p. $14.99, Deep River Books.

In The One New Man, author Ariel Blumenthal unpacks the “mystery” found in the second and third chapters of the book of Ephesians: God is reconciling Jew and Gentile together “in His flesh” through the cross of Christ. Amazingly, Paul’s vision of the church as the “one-new-man”  preserves the uniqueness of Israel, while simultaneously upholding the God-given identity and calling of every “tribe, tongue, and nation.” This powerful work of Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant and is at the heart of God’s redemptive plan for both Jews and Gentiles.

God’s plan to “restore all things” links Israel and the nations together in loving service to one another and has been playing out on the stage of world history over the last 150 years. The gospel for both Jew and Gentile is at work in the world and is reconciling all things and all people to Himself—and to one another.