Our family reading tonight was about Cornelius and Peter, found in Acts 10-12. As I was reading, I realized how critical this story is to the way we believe. Jesus had preached to the Jews, offering Himself and they rejected Him.
As time progressed, Pentecost happened, along with the filling of the Holy Spirit upon those believing. Even though there were many in Jerusalem that day, a lot that did not speak the language of the Jews, they all heard the truthful message about God that day. They heard about Jesus and what He came to do. Yet many did not understand the full message.
It is shortly after all the intensity of the day of Pentecost that we see Peter's vision from God about the unclean animals, and Peter's revelation that God was showing him to go and preach to non-Jews. It is an interesting note that the text of Acts 10 includes the fact that it is not only poor form, but illegal to associate and eat with a non-Jewish person. This was not just a cultural thing, but the law. God had forbidden the children of Israel to marry outside of their own kind. He told them to not worship like others did, and to keep themselves separate for God. Peter's invitation to dinner was a big deal in the history of the church as we know it today.
Peter, after teaching those at Cornelius' home, and having them believe and receive the Holy Spirit, realized how much this meant also. He ran and told the others in Jerusalem what God had revealed to him. Some mocked, and those keepers of the law of Moses would rather argue about circumcision and the like until Peter set them straight. Peter had realized through his vision from God and the meeting at Cornelius' home that Jesus had told them before what was to be, but they had not comprehended it at the time.
In chapter 11 of Acts, we see Peter talking to the disciples and those who were in their midst. He tells of the vision, the meeting, and how those who listened and believed were filled with the Spirit of God, just as they had been not that long earlier. What an amazing thought. These people had always thought that the gospel of Jesus was just for them, not for the whole world. This meeting was the reason missionaries were sent out, giving the gospel to the world. An amazing part of God's plan for the ages was revealed in this chapter. Truly, the reason I am writing this, and having my own Bible to read stems from the knowledge that the gospel is for all the world. When the Jews rejected Jesus, they opened the door for the rest of us to accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.
It is also in this passage that we see that the church was first called Christians at Antioch. A direct, immediate result of the first missionary works was the church of God being spread to Antioch, and this would lead to many more villages, cities, and countries being reached with the good news of Jesus and the payment for sin for the whole world. What an amazingly rich passage of Scripture we read today. In our family time, we have time to talk about what we learned, what it means to us today, and how we can take the principles we learn and apply them to our lives. I hope you enjoyed this study of the critical changing point in the lives of believers like Peter, Paul, and Barnabas.
Have a great Lord's day tomorrow. Half the family is sick, and we really don't want to miss it, so we are headed to bed early so we can enjoy worship, teaching, and fellowship tomorrow. May God richly bless.
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