Glory be to the name of the Lord Almighty for His grace, love and abundant mercies. It's such a great moment to come your way with another word of truth. Enjoy....
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. Now He said this to indicate clearly what kind of death He would die (John 12: 32 -33)
Most people know about the Great Commission. The translators of the Bible put that as a heading for the last three verses of the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and since then, it has become incorporated into the theology of the Christian faith.
When Jesus walked on the earth, He never preached to the Gentile people or did he send any of His disciples to go and preached to them. He even forbid His disciples doing that. This is a hard fact, but true. So the question is why? The answer is in two folds. First He came as the Jewish Messiah, and until the Jews have legally and officially rejected Him as their Messiah, He was restricted from reaching out to the Gentiles.
The second reason was that, until He has terminated or abolished the dividing wall of hostility between the Jews and Gentiles, there was no way to bring these two groups together. For the circumcised Jews associating with the uncircumcised Gentiles makes them unclean, and for the Gentiles doing the same meant their death. It will take the Death of Jesus on the cross to crush this enmity and abolished the Law of Commandments with its ordinances and regulations.
So Jesus clearly said, when He is crucified, hanging between the earth and the Heaven, He will become the bridge, by which all men, all nations, Jews and Gentiles, can pass through to reach God the Father. So Jesus death and resurrection meant the Gospel of the Kingdom can now be preached not only to the Jews, but also to all nations. So He commissioned His disciples after His resurrection to go to all nations of the world and preach the Gospel of God's grace to them. Those who will believe and are united with Him through baptism shall be saved, but those who refused to believe and reject the Gospel shall be condemned (Mark 16: 15 -16). He compared His death on the cross to Moses lifting that bronze serpent on a pole in the desert during the exodus. Those who were biten by the serpents and looked to the lifted serpent lived, they did not died. But those who refused to look to that lifted serpent died (John 3: 14 -15).
Let me said this in closing, the Gospel though is supposed to be preached to all people and to all nations, is not meant to save everybody. Jesus Himself knows that. If not He would not attached a condition to it. The preaching of the Gospel is meant for two things, first as a witness to all creation, to all people and to all nations, of God's love, of God's mercy, of God's grace and of God's truth extended to the sinful and perishing Adamic descendants, and second, to save them from their sins and penalty and consequences of sin of those who will accept and believe the Gospel.
(Matth 24: 14).
It's so humbling for me to consider this, why God the Creator has so much love, grace and affections for the descendants of Adam. There might have been other races on earth or other groups of people (as scientists tell us). We may never know, but one truth is certain, God has chosen to love and save those human race descended from Adam, of which you and I are part. And He demonstrated His love for us through the lifting up on the pole, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.
Question: What should be our response to God's great love for us and the great commission? Have you considered this as you celebrated Easter? Which one do you prefer - the Gospel saving you now or hereafter witnessing against you before God's Court of Justice? The choice is yours.
Remember it is this very reason people are sacrificing their time, money, comfort, and others to reach you with the Gospel. And despite the abuse and the confusion, the Gospel is still being preached one way or the other. So there is no excuse for you and I when we stand before the righteous God.
May you from today begin to consider issues from God's viewpoint and make the right choice and decision now. And may the Gospel of God's grace not witness against you but rather save you in Jesus name. Amen
Shalom, life and grace to you
Moving people onto God's purposes
All images from http://www.pinterest.com
