Monday, May 5, 2014

Acts 10: One Small Step for a Man...One Giant Leap for the Church

Acts 10 represents a real turning point, not merely in the Book of Acts, or the Bible - but in the history of the world.

The realization in 10:34-35 would produce a sea change in the Church: "Then Peter began to speak to them, 'I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.'"

It was too soon for Peter to grasp what this new understanding would mean for a Church that had been - up until this point - exclusively for Jews and Samaritans.  Deciding to take the Gospel to the Gentiles ("the world" or "the ends of the earth") would require more time and deliberating on the part of the leaders.  But a beachhead had been established - Cornelius became the first of a new wave, a tidal wave, of converts who would soon begin streaming into the Church.  Not Jewish, not circumcised - but Christ followers nevertheless.

The world was about to change...

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