Week 9 - Sunday

The God of Everyone

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. (Romans 3:29-30)

God chose the Jews to be a special people. They were chosen to be witnesses for God to the rest of the world. Unfortunately the Jews became so prejudiced against the Gentiles (non-Jews) that they wanted none of them to be saved. The Old Testament book of Jonah gives us one example of this. God commanded the prophet Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and proclaim God's word there. Instead of obeying God, Jonah decided to flee to Tarshish. He did this because he was afraid that if he preached to the people of Nineveh, they would repent and God would save them. The ship Jonah was traveling on got caught in a storm. Jonah ended up getting thrown overboard and was swallowed by a whale. Jonah then prayed to God and God caused the whale to vomit him out. Once again God told him to go to Nineveh and this time Jonah obeyed. He went to Nineveh, preached to them and they repented. This displeased Jonah so much that he asked God to take his life (Jonah 4:1-3). This story illustrates just how much the Jews hated the Gentiles. They had no good reason to feel that way though. God had told the Jews all along that He was going to bring salvation to all the nations of the earth. The hatred and prejudice the Jews felt toward the Gentiles was not only wrong, it also put them in direct opposition to what God was doing in the world.

The Jews believed very strongly that there was only one God. They knew the so-called gods of other religions were not really gods at all. But even though they knew there was only one God, the Jews wanted to believe that He was their God only. Paul shows the Jews how unreasonable they were by pointing out to them this obvious fact. If there is only one God, He must be the God of Gentiles also. Whether a person worships the true God or not doesn't change the fact that He is still their God. He created them and He provides for all their needs. Regardless of what they may or may not believe, God rules over their eternal destiny too because He alone can give salvation to them. To neglect to give people God's word is to try to withhold that salvation from them. The Jews aren't the only ones guilty of this. Even Christians often avoid people they don't like. Consider this though. Whenever we neglect to share the gospel with unsaved people that we don't like, we are no better than the Jews were. You could even say we are worse because we have already been saved ourselves. That makes it all the more selfish, doesn't it. How much worse could you possibly treat someone, than to attempt to withhold salvation from them? That's not very compassionate, is it? God isn't like that though. All people are equal before Him. He sees every person as equally guilty because all of them have sinned. On the other hand, anyone who puts their faith in Christ will be saved. In John 12:32 Jesus was speaking about His upcoming death on the cross. He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." Aren’t you glad that God isn't prejudiced. It doesn’t matter to God who you are or what you have done. You can still come to Jesus Christ, receive Him as your Lord and Savior, and be saved from your sins. Praise God today for His impartiality and thank Jesus Christ for dying on the cross to provide for your salvation.

Readings for today: Deut. 6:4; Ps. 67:1-2; Zech. 2:11; Isa. 45:21-22; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:3-6