Jesus is for Everyone (2)
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Intro
Intro
Good morning and welcome again to IBH English service. Thank you for joining us. Just to preface today’s sermon, I’m gonna go through a few verses before I get to our core section in Acts 10; if you can turn there now, we will not read all of it, but I pray that you will when you go home today; it is the Lord’s day, not the Lord’s hour. This month we’ve been doing some deep dives on the different subjects we had for VBS. So, naturally I think about what board games I’ve played in life that might relate. Though I have played a few, none have really ever caught my attention, none have ever had a long running in my life. I have played a lot of hide-and-go-seek, soccer, TAG, a lot of out doorsy type things. I’ve also played a decent amount of video games with the majority of them being automotive related. I’ve played this one game on and off for years called Top 11, which is a soccer team manager game. One of the things I’ve realized with all this reflection and it’s something that Priscilla pointed out as well, there is something for everyone. Just the same way there is something for everyone in this world, Jesus is for everyone.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is no ethnic or societal position that can separate us or ban us from Jesus.
From Then till now.
From Then till now.
One of the things we have to consider is that it wasn’t always like this, at least that’s how it seems from the outside looking in. God has always cared for the gentile and had made a way for those who believe in his name to become a part of his people. This process of conversion was known as proselytism. Those who went through this process became honorary members of the people of God. Does anyone know who the very first proselyte was? Abraham.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The cool thing is to see his lineage is tied to Shem who is the son of Noah. One of the things I love to geek out on every once and a while is the importance of genealogies. It’s amazing to see that a people who have historically been displaced so many times, even in recent history, have such an evidential way of tying themselves back to the people of God. When I read them and am reminded of God’s amazing work I feel like Charlie Day’s character in It’s always sunny in philidelphia when he goes all conspiracy theory and has red string everywhere. But I wont go too deep on the geneoligies, maybe during christmas. But I would ask this, how tightly do we cling on our identity in Christ, who we are in Christ, or is our identity more wrapped up in what we do on this earth or the things we do in church? but as I said, that’s a sermon for another day.
The OT people of God were great gatekeepers of the faith. Lighting the path to God yet guarding the entrance to some extent, yet God always brought people along, why You might ask? Because God is so good, it’s hard not to see it and worship.
One of the first groups of outsiders I can think of is the mixed multitude from Exodus 12:38
And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
So there were this mixed multitude of non-Israelites that joined the exodus and the journey to the promise land. They became part of the community and followed the laws and customs of israel. Later in exodus (12:48) more specifically we see that if any foreigner wanted to take part of the passover and be a part of the community, they would have to be circumcised. Later in jewish tradition Prospective converts were required to undergo a period of instruction in Jewish law and customs before being accepted into the Jewish community. They were required to be circumcised (for males) and undergo immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath) to signify their spiritual rebirth and acceptance into the Jewish people. So already God is setting a way to have the descendents of Abraham bless the world, a way in to people of God.
There are several other instances where something like this takes place. Where someone honararily becomes a part of God’s people.
Rahab was a Canaanite woman who lived in Jericho. She helped the Israelite spies and, in return, was spared by the Israelites when they conquered Jericho. Rahab eventually married an Israelite and became an ancestor of King David and, ultimately, of Jesus.
Naaman was a commander of the Aramean army who suffered from leprosy. At the advice of a young Israelite girl, Naaman sought healing from the prophet Elisha in Israel. After being healed, Naaman acknowledged the God of Israel as the true God and declared his allegiance to Him.
Ruth was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite man named Boaz after the death of her husband. She chose to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, and adopt the faith of the Israelites, saying, "Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God" (Ruth 1:16). Ruth also became an ancestor of King David and Jesus.
And one of my favorite stories:
Nebuchadnezzar II (Daniel 4:1-37): Nebuchadnezzar was a gentile king, the ruler of Babylon. He experienced divine judgment and was humbled, living like a wild beast for a period of time. After his restoration, Nebuchadnezzar praised and acknowledged the God of Israel. What I love about his story is that he is the only non-Israelite to have written a portion of scripture. Though, yes we have quotes and decrees from several other characters in the third person or quotations, with this non-israelite his words are recorded directly into the OT writings. That’s so huge. No quotes, just written in. Daniel chapter 4 is the spot, but I’ll read just his restoration after his prideful fall.
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
God has given a way for those who believe in his name and follow his statutes to be a part of his family, but never like this because they still had to perform all of the different rituals in order to stand before him. their righteousness was still linked to their deeds and the blood of bulls as the letter to the hebrews says.
A New Addition
A New Addition
When we look at that NT writings after Jesus resurrection we can see a noticeable change in the aim of conversion. Where in the OT the conversion of non-Israelite believers was consequential or by result of God’s showing of power, in the NT the gathering of all the peoples to God’s people was intentional. It starts here:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Peter was one of the first to preach the message of the Gospel and he saw the Holy Spirit’s power in it by the conversion of thousands in one utterance. Despite these evidences he was still pretty hard headed when it came to converting those outside of Israel. which if you ask me is characteristically Peter. If you anything about him you know he’s bold, yet brash, those two things are not the same, different sermon. He had an ingrown mindset and I can say for certain that the church can be the same. We can get to inwardly focused that we can be distracted from the whole point of the church. Sometimes we can be ingrown in our own ministries. That’s not the worshipteam’s job, English ministy’s job, Youth ministry, finances, adoracion, festejos etc. Our jobs as people of this community is to love each other, serve each other and if we’re able to, help each other out. These things edify and help us reach the area that God has placed us in. This is a slight side track but it’s something I’ve been learning little by little. For as ingrown as the church in the US can be, sometimes we are ingrown in our ministries and call it a gift problem vs a heart problem, but I digress.
God knows that though Peter has experienced all these things himself, he still needs help. It’s like when our parents have been telling us something for a while and it isn’t till someone else says the same thing that we get it. Well, God sends a vision.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
Why must Jerusalem and Judea have such overwhelming proof of the Lord’s purpose to save the Gentiles? Has not Samaria been gladly welcomed among the Jewish believers? Has not the Eunuch been baptized? Has not Saul been converted that he may be sent to the Gentiles?” Then he calls attention to the great gulf which separated Jews and Gentiles—“much wider and deeper than that between the Jews and the Samaritans.… The separation was complete. It was not a matter of a day, but of centuries. It was worse than Hindu caste. The chasm between blacks and whites in this country,” he continues, “is as nothing compared with that between Jew and Greek. The touch of the latter was defiling, his food was an abomination to the devout Israelite, and his religion blasphemy”
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”
Then Peter preaches this message which erases every Chasm between God and Man.
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
It was important that Cornelius wasn’t a proper proselyte through instruction and circumcision, but in heart and deed.
And because the law is contained in two tables, Luke commendeth, in the former place, Cornelius’ godliness; secondly, he descendeth unto the second part, that he exercised the offices of love toward men. This is very profitable to be marked, because we have a way to live well described in his person. John Calvin
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
God in His amazing grace and sovereign work made a way for his family to be opened to all who believe, not just jew but gentile alike. brothers and sisters you and I are the gentiles that the word is speaking about, the ones that without christ have no inheritance in the promises of God, but with God we are called sons and Daughters of the most high. We cannot achieve it, but have it in God’s grace, through faith in christ. Our communion or union or relationship or spiritual union with Jesus brings about a new identity as heirs and co-heirs with Christ and we can approach our loving father knowing that we have his love and care. All this has been sealed in the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and sanctification. I great way to think of this is that our adoption is signed by God the father in theblood of christ, sealed or gauranteed by the hol Spirit and we are being delivered to eternity with Him. Signed, sealed, delievered.
Brother’s and sisters, Remember, Jesus is holy, trustworthy, that we are forgiven through him, that he is worth following and we are given courage and boldness to speak and reflect his love and light in this world because we are his and through him all that believe will be saved, not just Israelites, but gentiles. The great spiritual chasm as well as the ethnic chasms have been erased. Unbeliever, I pray you hear this and soothed and encouraged to taste and know that God is good.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.