“But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”
This was quite shocking to learn and accept for the believing Jews of the day: this concept of God’s gift of redemption for one and all through the work of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, that now allowed for both Jew and non-Jew to be the recipient and beneficiary of the plan of salvation, no holds barred. Â That truth still holds true today, gentle reader. Â You may not be of Jewish heritage, and it doesn’t matter what your ethnicity or origins may be, this is a plan and gift made freely available to one and all, “by means of Jesus Christ.” Â I hope and trust that you will present yourself to accept it!
