Luke the beloved physician shared, “Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles”, and in chapter thirteen and verse forty-seven of the book of Acts Luke shared how Paul said, “the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set you to be a light of the Gentiles”, where we read:
For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set you to be a light of the Gentiles,
that you should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
The verse begins, “For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set you to be a light of the Gentiles, ...” Luke began with the words, “for so has the Lord” which means “because, since and on account that the One to whom a person or thing belongs about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah” “commanded us” or “ordered, directed and enjoined Paul and his companions”, “saying” which means “uttering, declaring and proclaiming”, “I have set you” or “I, God the Heavenly Father, have placed, established and ordained you, Paul and his companions” “to be a light of the Gentiles” which means “to exist as a lamp, illuminating, pure, brilliant, truthful and pure manifestation toward the multitude of people who were non-Jews and of the same nature and genus”. Luke shared how “Paul” told the Jews who were opposing him and his companions that “the Lord God” ordered and ordained them as His “illuminating truth” with the non-Jewish people.
The verse continues, “that you should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” Luke added the words, “that you should be for salvation” which means “that you, Paul and his companions, were to exist as deliverance, preservation and safety” “unto the ends” which means “toward the uttermost part” “of the earth” or “belonging to the arable lands, territories, regions and countries”. Luke shared how “Paul” told the Jewish people he and his companions were to be the conduit through which God would share His “salvation” plan to the uttermost part of the world.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we discover how “Paul” understood God's plan to reach every person, Jews and Gentiles, with the message of His “salvation”. God sent His Son Jesus to the world to die on the cross for everyone's sins, and when He raised Him from the dead three days later, anyone who believes and trusts in Jesus will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life. This message is to everyone in the world as Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”. Let all who read these words receive God's invitation to be saved for all eternity.
Next time Luke shares, “when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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