2 Samuel 23: 8-39, 2 Samuel 24, Acts 9: 32-43, Acts 10: 1-23, Psalm 89: 38-45
Acts 10: 3-6 (ESV)
“About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision
an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in
terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your
alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and
bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner,
whose house is by the sea.”
Verses 3 through 6 from Acts 10 describes how a centurion
named Cornelius heard the word of God. Cornelius worshipped the God of Israel
even though he wasn’t Jewish. I love how in these verses we see God reaching
out to the non-Jewish people who believed in him. The message of Christ was not
only for the Hebrews but also for the Gentiles.
I can imagine God looking into the future and trying to determine how to best spread the faith. Jesus always said that his message was for everyone, and not just for his own people. It was the Gentiles who spread the words of Jesus all over the world. And I love how it started with a Roman named Cornelius because I believe it is a synch-wink from God to tell us that one day the vicar of Christ would live in Rome, and Rome would become the center of Christendom.