Notes of Faith August 15, 2024
Mystery Revealed
[The mystery is] that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.
Ephesians 3:6
God promised to bless “all the families of the earth” through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). Gentiles would be blessed along with Jews; the Messiah would be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6). And when the Jewish elder Simeon saw the baby Jesus, he recognized Him as “a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). So when Jesus described Himself as “the light of the world” (John 8:12), it should have been immediately understood by Jewish leaders. But it was not. The Jews did not see the Gentiles as fellow heirs of God’s blessings promised to Abraham.
Isa 49:5-6
5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My strength),
6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
NASU
But by the grace given to Paul, he made this mystery known: Gentiles are fellow heirs and partakers of God’s blessing through Christ (Ephesians 3:2-6). There were clues to this revelation in the Old Testament, but Jewish leaders did not have eyes to see what God purposed to do through Christ and His Gospel. Thanks be to God; this truth is no longer a mystery—the Gospel is for everyone!
Through faith in Christ, all men and women are united in one Body. Let nothing obstruct that unity and shared blessings!
[The Gospel is] the clear manifestation of the mystery of Christ.
John Calvin
There are only two peoples of the world…true believers in and followers of Jesus and those who are not. Those who do not know the one true God will live forever in a place of torment and pain, judged and condemned for their unbelief. Those who do know God are ONE body…yes, we have issues, distinctions, wrong interpretations of what God tells us in His Word, but, true believers will be brought together because of the faith God gives them and we will know the truth when we see Him face to face! Love all brothers and sisters in Christ, for we are one!
Pastor Dale