Christ is our peace.
Isaiah 62:2
The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name.
3 You shall also be a crown of glory In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem In the hand of your God.
In God’s promises to Abraham, His righteousness will be shown through the Redeemer King. Throughout the Scriptures, God’s name is Jehovah (LORD), and God is pleased with His Son. The LORD will return and establish His Kingdom in Israel. This is the end of His first coming as the suffering Messiah and His second coming as the King of the Israelites. There will always be a small group of Israelites who stayed pure spiritually. The rest of the world can choose to accept Him as their Savior in God’s mercy and grace.
Ephesians 2:11-13 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The Holy Spirit guides and enlightens those who believe in Him. Initially, God focused on Israel, but now He offers salvation to all who, by faith, accept Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. From the start, Creator God wanted a relationship with all of humanity, but most rejected His existence. To those who acknowledged Him, He called the generations of Seth, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. Through them and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Israel and then the world would be given the freedom to accept His grace and redemption in Christ Jesus.
Exodus 19:5-6 therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
God spoke to Israel through Moses.
Zechariah 8:3 Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’
In the future, people from all over the world will turn to the Jews for guidance. Governments will seek their wisdom because God is with them, and everyone will witness His glory in them. Israel will always be cherished by God.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The New Covenant with Israel and Judah will be written on their hearts. Everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know Christ the King. Carla
Paul urges the Gentile believers to recall their life before Christ, just as the Israelites were often told to remember what God had done for them. Uncircumcision was a derogatory term emphasizing that non-Jewish people are outsiders in relation to God’s covenant with Israel. This category includes most members of the churches planted or empowered by Paul. So called Circumcision refers to the Jewish people. The term for made by hands in Greek used here, cheiropoiētos, portrays circumcision as a human rite. In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), this word is used to refer to idols.
Paul may be emphasizing the Gentiles’ lack of knowledge or relationship with Christ. Alternatively, he may be comparing the Gentiles to the Jews, whom God entrusted with the promises about the Messiah. Gentiles were separate from Israel; they were without the law and without God. Despite this separation, God revealed Himself to them through Christ and called them to Himself. In addition, Paul was made a minister to them (Acts 9:15; Romans 11:13; Galatians 2:9). Covenants of promise refers to the covenants between God and His people in the Old Testament. Faithlife Study Bible
Because the sign of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision, the Jews proudly referred to themselves as the Circumcision. Somewhat less kindly, they called Gentiles the Uncircumcision.
Paul painted vividly the bleak condition of pagans. They had no hope, for God had not reached out to them to establish a covenant relationship. However, the shed blood of Christ could bring the Gentiles back to their Creator. The NKJV Study Bible
Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Romans 2:28–29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Ephesians 2:2–3 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others
There is nothing ordinary about the gift of the ordinary.
Every day, we are bombarded with the same insistent injunction—the implication that life begins someplace other than where we are, right now. I am welcoming, inviting life in, not allowing internal censors and judges to scrutinize, making certain that this moment passes muster.
In moments of amazement, we render our internal scorekeeper mute.
Either way—and this is important to remember, and take with us—these moments sustain us.These moments create a fabric in our soul which absorbs daily miracles.
Sabbath Moments
Proverbs 4:18 (ESV) "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day."
Light is righteousness and justice. The darkness and injustice of this world can obscure our view of God and lead to despair ... but when we turn to God's Word, we will find the light our weary souls desperately need.
As reliable and beautiful as the dawning sun, the Bible enlightens our eyes to the right way of life (Proverbs 6:23; Psalms 19:8). When we daily receive God's Word and follow His path, we gain His wisdom, and our actions increasingly shine His righteousness in the world.
As Micah 6:8 says, "What is good ... [is] to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [o]ur God." The necessary light of God's Word shows us how to live out our faith in these ways, including defending the mistreated and meeting the needs of the oppressed (Psalm 103:6). Our response to others will align with God's heart as we humbly yield to walk with Him. First5
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