Corona Devo 802

Many, many times in the Old Testament God calls the people of Israel and the Jewish people "His chosen people" (for you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession. ~Deuteronomy 14:2).

So...How did God's "chosen people" expand from the Jews to all-of-you's? To all of us, and any of us that choose to invite Jesus into our hearts?

Well, here's a hint: it involved a dream, a hungry belly, a large sheet let down by its four corners and the earnest intentions of God's chosen and not-yet chosen people to know Him.

Interested in the details? They truly are interesting, and the Bible rolls it out like scenes in a play. But instead of ending with a final curtain coming down, they actually culminate in the curtain opening up to everyone and all of us, regardless of whether or not we are of Jewish heritage. (Thanks be to God for opening His salvation invitation to include all of us as His chosen children.)

Enter Cornelius, the non-Jew and (as yet) unchosen:

In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. (2) He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. (3) One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.

(4) Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel.

And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! (5) Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. (6) He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”

(7) As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. (8) He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa. ~Acts 10:1-8

Cornelius was a man following God's ways, but per God's (previously) ordained religious standards, non-Jews were not acceptable/chosen/cleanly in the Lord's sight...Yet.

Enter Peter, a Jew (God's "chosen" people), and also one of Jesus' chosen-few disciples. Peter was now (after the resurrection of Jesus) a public speaker sharing, declaring and offering the Good News of Christ with other Jews (only).

Enter the plot twist, which included a hungry belly, a big sheet, and a vision that opened the doors of Heaven to you and me and all non-Jewish people...

The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, (10) and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. (11) He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. (12) In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. (13) Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

(14) “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean."

(15) But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” (16) The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.

(17) Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, (18) they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there.

(19) Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. (20) Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”

(21) So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”

(22) They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” (23) So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them...

(24) They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. (25) As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. (26) But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!” (27) So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled.

(28) Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. (29) So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for....

(34) Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. (35) In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. (36) This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ~Acts 10:9-29, 34-36

So...How did God's "chosen people" expand from the Jews to all-of-you's and all of us?

Only by God's grace and His inclusion of all of us.

We are not worthy and yet He raised the curtain for us to enter. May we show the same open door of acceptance to anyone and everyone because I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34).

Thanks be to God for His invitation to salvation to all of us.

Blessing,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com