“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the wonderful connection between our relationship with You, through the covenant that You made with Abraham. Thank You, that through the Jews, Christ came, and through Christ, we become children of Abraham and children of God. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
As Peter reached out to this group of Jews, he is seeking to connect them with the covenant of God with Abraham.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The covenant of God with Abraham, concludes with this statement, ”… in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” The Jews needed to be reminded that the blessing of Abraham was not exclusively for them but for all the families of the earth.
Genesis 22:17-18 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. (18) In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
The Lord was confirming to Abraham, the covenant blessing that He had made with him. The Lord confirmed that through ‘the seed’ of Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Apostle Paul explains to us the understanding of ‘the seed’.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ.
This linkage that is established for us is that ‘the seed’ of Abraham is Christ. The covenant blessing of God to Abraham was to be embraced and experienced by all who are in Christ, for Christ is ‘the seed’ of Abraham. All the promises to Abraham, which the Jews claimed exclusively for themselves, were not for the Jews alone, but for those from the ‘one seed’ and that Seed is Christ.
Therefore, all who come to God by faith in Christ, become heirs of the promises of God to Abraham.
Galatians 3:6-9 just as Abraham “BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (7) Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. (8) And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” (9) So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Abraham was totally cast upon God and that was the faith of Abraham. He saw that he had no standing before God, on his own merit. It was this faith of Abraham upon God that gave him his righteousness.
It is only those who have this kind of faith in God, who will be children of Abraham. Therefore, those of faith in God, both Jews and Gentiles, are the children of Abraham.
The Gospel or the blessing of coming into the habitat of God was preached to Abraham. Through Abraham, all the nations of the world will be reconciled back to God. This was God’s plan even as He made His covenant with Abraham.
Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
If you are baptised into Christ, then you are the child of Abraham and you are the child of God. The Jews were vehemently holding to their identity that they alone were the children of Abraham.
John 8:39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
Jesus made the Jews know that if they claim to be children of Abraham then should exercise the faith of Abraham. Since they did not believe in Jesus, they were not Abraham’s children, though they were born in the physical lineage of Abraham. The Jews had to understand that it is only through faith in Jesus that we become children of Abraham and we become children of God.
Ultimately, how it will be when we all stand before the throne of God? Will it be as Jews and Gentiles? No. It will be as nations that believe in Jesus.
Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, (10) and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
This is God’s purpose. This was the message that Peter was communicating to his Jewish audience.
This is the message of reconciliation that we must communicate to all the nations of the world.