Tag: gentiles

  • A Light of Revelation to the Gentiles

    A Light of Revelation to the Gentiles

    Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

    Luke 1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord…

    The Birth of John the Baptist

    57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”

    (a few months later in Jerusalem, which is near to Bethlehem)

    Jesus Presented at the Temple

    22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord…

    25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

    29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
    30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
    31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
    32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

    33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

    (Jesus was eight days old; then Joseph fled from the wrath of Herod to Egypt.)

    We have picked up the story of Jesus’ early ministry 30 years later.

    He is filled by the Holy Spirit, baptized by John, faced Satan for 40 days in the wilderness and returned to Nazareth and the surrounding towns to preach repentance.

    Jesus has been rejected by his own brothers and neighbors of Nazareth. The people of Nazareth try to stone Him!

    Jesus moves to Capernaum. He teaches and performs miracles on the Galilean hillsides. All the time, of course, Galilee is under the administration and watchful eye of Rome. A Roman army could occupy any town at any time if they perceived a threat from its people or a charismatic leader with thousands of followers listening to his teaching. Of course, watchful Roman ears would have the intelligence to hear what such a Galilean would be saying to his followers. Rome and the gentile solders certainly knew Jesus prior to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem which would occur just three short years from now.

    Christ Jesus is not only a teacher and friend of the Jews. Jesus IS a light and salvation to the gentile Romans.

    The Prophesy of Luke 1:

    30 …for my eyes have seen your salvation
    31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
    32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

    (Next we continue Jesus’ journey and witness to Capernaum and Nain in Galilee.)

  • What’s the DIFFERENCE between Christians & non-Christians?

    What’s the DIFFERENCE between Christians & non-Christians?

    So as not to reinvent the wheel or simply understate what others have taught previously, I share with you the Christian witness of a wonderful background history of context, culture, and some geography of Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians as HOMEWORK for a Bible Study I will be teaching, God willing, next Sunday, 9:15 a.m. at Bender’s Mennonite Church.  Please pray also for me.

    The following is for benefit of ALL believers. Please SHARE YOUR COMMENTS.

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    What’s the DIFFERENCE between Christians & non-Christians?

    This is essentially the question by residents of every city and every town to first century Christians as they preached the Gospel.

    “What makes YOU different from US?

    How do you answer this question in your town for your 21st century non-Christian neighbors and unsaved relatives?

    Do you get it right?  Do you TELL them how DIFFERENT you are from them?  Do you suppose that this DIFFERENCE sounds like “Good News” to unbelievers?

    Many Letters of the New Testament make much mention of ‘Jews and Gentiles,’ from the language and cultures of the first century.  What we fail to realize of this distinction is an important one of Holiness that requires separation to God from the evil and sin of the world.

    • The Jew was separated to the Holiness of God.
    • The Gentile was not yet adopted for separation to the Holiness of God. Gentile is a term meaning Nations or Ethic Peoples other than Jews.
    • The Gospel, consistent throughout ALL Letters to the first century church, is Good News:

    “The Perfect Sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the Cross is for ALL Peoples – Jew and Gentile.

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    So in a nutshell, what was the first century Christian answer?  Essentially:

    There is NO difference between me (a follower of Christ Jesus) and you (an unbeliever).

    You may read of it in great detail in Paul’s Letter to the Romans; or you may read succinct summary in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians; OR you may study your Old Testament and the History of the first century Church as detailed by Luke in The Acts of the Apostles.

    With some homework and study of the background leading up to the Letters to the Churches, God will reveal much more than the former and current relevance of all Scripture, including the Good News of these New Testament Letters.

    The familiar New Testament story of witness is that a Jew from Judea, with Jerusalem as home of their God, travels to a town.

    Take for example, Thessaloniki, Macedonia on the Aegean Sea, with local gentiles (Greeks) of their own traditions and culture.  Thessalonians (as they are called) are ruled by the same empire (country) Rome, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the Italia peninsula across the Adriatic Sea from Macedonia, with power over all the lands of the Mediterranean.

    (The embedded PowerPoint Slideshow by Cooper Church of Christ in Cooper, Texas, US is our homework.)

    Thessalonica of Macedonia

    For 21st century readers of Thessalonians: Consider the hostile environment of the Roman Empire as compared to our current environment in all the world, hostile to Jesus Christ.

    • Jews who had dispersed into the Nations (Gentiles) tended to act as if they were morally better than their native hosts.
    • ALL Gentiles had in common a civil authority and local culture inclined toward godlessness, unless some rule of god could help maintain the political power of local, state, national, and international rule.

    (Of course, 21st century governments are so much different in their attitudes toward religion and God.  Right?)

    These first century Christians acted different from other “religious” people.

    HOW ARE CHRISTIANS DIFFERENT?

    WHY would a non-believer WANT to accept our GOOD NEWS?

    Learn a lesson from the first century evangelists.

    We are ALL the same WITHOUT Christ.  Yet ALL believers of every NATION are equal in CHRIST OUR LORD.

  • This is my son

    This is my son

     “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

    I am well pleased in some things: like how hard he has worked and what he has achieved as part of his football team. In other things: I am not so well pleased.

    We know that this quote is not mine alone and that the original speaks of another Son.

    Yet I would like you to think of God our Father in a more Personal way.  I would like you to have a more personal picture of God’s only son Jesus.

    Imagine that Jesus grew up doing other things (like football) that boys and young men do as part of their preparation for what God, our Father has planned for their life.

    Can you picture our Heavenly Father saying, “I am well pleased,” when He watches every play of that football game? 

    Of course, God our Father witnessed this of his only Son: Jesus.

    You probably haven’t thought much about Luke 2 past the familiar Christmas pageant scriptures.

    Jesus of Nazareth, as he was known, was born of a virgin… And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. – Luke 2:40

    You know the story that follows: Jesus was twelve and remained in Jerusalem after His parent’s left for Nazareth without Him. We don’t know every detail of Jesus’ youth.

    God did not reveal much about this young man; but the Father watched over every game and all the challenges of His growing up in obedience to His Father and His step-father, Joseph.  Turn the page in Luke’s Gospel and Jesus’ story now continues in about his thirtieth year.  

    This is one source of our familiar quote when Jesus was baptized AND born again in the Holy Spirit (as we say; but that is a different conversation).

    Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

    Returning to our personal picture:

    Just like I am far from the example of a Perfect Father, our son is not the Perfect Son, either.  I am not so pleased in other things with my son; but I love him and pray for him that he will look to the Perfect example of Jesus, with whom our heavenly Father is well-pleased with all things.

    We’re thankful that David is not a prodigal son.’ (We know Jesus’ story is a parable about our Heavenly Father.) Our son is not a rebellious prodigal anymore than King David was a prodigal when he sinned against God with Bathsheba.

    Our David is not the resentful son who would not rejoice with the father when the prodigal son was welcomed back to the family.  I don’t think my son resents anyone, but loves his family and friends.

    While I’m at it, David is my step-son. I am no more his father than Joseph, husband of Mary and father to Jesus’ brothers, was father of Jesus, born to Mary when she was a virgin.

    Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (you may remember) was about adoption.

    The resentful son is Israel, chosen sons of God. The prodigal son is the gentiles, nations rebellious to God before Abraham; and their descendants include most of us.

    When Jesus was born of Mary, God our Father was not pleased with the Jews.

    God was not pleased with the Gentiles (or Nations).

    Yet God through his mercy and grace, gave Jew and Gentile alike the welcome of a loving Father to the rebellious sons of the Nations AND of his Chosen family.

    “The means of grace is Christ Jesus, in whom God our Father is well-pleased.

    So why my picture of David?

    Two reasons:

    1. The Jews had become comfortable in the nostalgia of their past and worshiped King David more as the Son and the Temple as their heritage.  Jesus IS the Son AND our heritage. The Father has adopted followers of Jesus.
    2. We often fail to think of God in the way that Jesus taught – as a Personal Father to a Personal Son.  Picture our David and think of me sending my only son to the cross. This is how personal God’s love is for us.

    David is my beloved son.  His soul is a personal concern of mine.

    The Apostle Paul had adopted or mentored a son of the faith, Timothy, who followed his earthly example of righteous leadership of the church, people he loved personally like a father.  Paul writes: 

     Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 

    16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

    Imagine: Christ Jesus came into the world to save you and me. How Personal.

    Imagine: The Father condemning His only Son to the suffering and Sacrifice of the Cross for you and me. How personal.

    And imagine the confidence we have knowing that the Father will send the Third Person to His obedient children in the HOLY Spirit who follow His Son our Savior.

    (Imagine Paul writing to Timothy about his Personal God… imagine me, a step-father to David writing about our Personal God… Imagine God your Father sending the Holy Spirit to you.

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    Our Father will always be Personally with you IF you will call on His Son Personally.  Christ Jesus.

    God will do much more than just watch over you, as He watches your every game (mine too).

    Remember, our Heavenly Father, His Heavenly Son and His Holy Spirit all want to hold us very near.

    “God’s love for us is Very Personal.

    1 Tim. 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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