Thursday,
May 6, 2021
And now
the Lord speaks—the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his
servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given
me strength. He says, “You
will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and
you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49: 5 – 6
And
through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all
because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:
18
From the moment of original sin in the Garden of Eden God
promised a Messiah would come to take away our sin[1]. In promises of
blessing God made to Adam, Abraham, Noah, and others, He made promises to individuals,
but extended their blessing throughout the nations; ALL the nations. The culmination of the meaning of ALL nations
is when God spoke to the apostle Peter in Acts 10. Peter is given a vision of a
sheet, held by angels at its four corners, the “four corners of the Earth” attaching
a complete, or universal application. In
the sheet are all sorts of animals that were forbidden to Jews for meat. The Lord tells Peter to satisfy his appetite;
Peter cringes in repulsion at being told to eat the unclean
animals (when actually he is cringing over putting aside a lifetime of obedience
to a dietary law his peers saw as critical).
God finishes off Peter’s reluctance with a simple sentence: Don’t call something unclean if I [God]
have made it clean.
For Peter (and us) that one moment leveled the playing field
where heritage arrogance is concerned.
Suddenly there is no Jew or Gentile, no savage or civilized, no male or
female[2], and the line between East and West is a distant memory. With one sentence God wipes out the
justification for racism, sexism, nationalism, or elitist attitudes of any kind;
all the “isms” lose their juice, and we are left with what Paul said in Galatians
3:28, that we are
one in Christ Jesus.
Peter’s mind, life, and future have just turned on a dime, and we are
back to the basics of one promise for all peoples: God will save!
For You Today
If this whole thought, that we have One God, One
Creator, who made One Race, and has provided One Messiah to eradicate the ONE
PROBLEM we all have (of sin), does not cause anyone to simply say ONE Word of
thanks – a hearty Amen would do – then somewhere along the
line thoughts of Who God is, and what He’s offering to ALL people has gone off
the tracks.
The good news is, He is willing to help anyone
get back on the rails and travel on in His ride to Heaven’s glory. Just ask.
[1] Title Image: Damzow via Wikimedia Commons Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
