GOOD NEWS FOR ALL
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: ACTS 1034-47
KEY VERSE
Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him”.
Acts10:34-35
INTRODUCTION AND STUDY
There is nothing or anyone that can successfullychallenge God or escape His Judgment that He has entrusted to Jesus Christ.God also has done great things for usG
God created everything and everyone that existed and He is control of everything that happens. Unfortunately, the first human beings decided to disobey God spurred on by the encouragement of the Devil. He hates all human beings and has dedicated his time to upset God’s creation.
But God has a great Plan and He blocked every move by Satan to stop the spread of the Good News that Jesus would come and now has come to earth, paid for all the sins humans did so that God the Father would not destroy them as they deserved. God gave the Apostles and His disciples the power to spread the Good News that salvation was freely offered to anyone who believed in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He had made for mankind.
Peter the great and vigorous Apostle for Jesus went allover the country telling people about Jesus but he had much difficulty accepting that Jesus would save anybody who were not Jewish. God had taught that He would accept people from any race, who had any colour, whether they were rich or poor, fat or skinny, well educated or not so educated. He was not partial. As long as they would be led by the Holy Spirit that was all He wanted.
Peter had a hard time accepting this even though Jesus had commanded him to preach the Gospel to everyone regardless of who they were or where they were. God sent him a vision to correct his prejudices and then God sent him to preach the Good News about Jesus to a Roman army centurion called Cornelius. This man was from the elite and feared section of the Roman army. He was skilled at fighting and was stationed in Israel to control that nation. But he loved the God of Israel and gave money to help them build synagogues or churches to worship. He was very generous. He also worshipped God and prayed regularly. This was very different from what the Roman soldiers normally did for they hated the people of Israel feeling that they gave a lot of trouble. The people of Israel hated the Romans and wanted no social contact with them. They would not visit their home, or allow Romans to come to their homes. They would not eat a meal together with the Romans.
But God sent Peter to visit Cornelius’s home where he and his family and friends were waiting to hear what God wanted them to do. This was amazing.Enemies were now meeting. This was the first time a non-Jewish or Gentile group was meeting with the Jewish Apostles to learn about Jesus directly. But Peter bravely told them everything about Jesus who was God, as well as Lord, his coming to earth from heaven, His sacrifice on the Cross to bear the sins of men, and His guarantee of salvation and eternal life for all that believed on Him. Peter was really preaching but the Holy Spirit interrupted and came and filled all the Gentiles there just as He had filled the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.
The Jewish people from the church at Joppa that had gone with Peter to this meeting were amazed that God now gave the Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit just as He had given the Jews. God was treating all groups of people on earth the same.
So learn the Lesson. Do not be prejudiced. Tell everyone about Jesus especially those people who are different from you, poorer or less educated than you. God’s Good News is for everyone. That is your mission. Tell them about the great things that God had done for the troublesome people on earth because He loved them. Work hard at that. God will reward you for that work.