More Food for Thought - The "Good News"

Following up on my latest post examining the spreading of the Good News by St. Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, let us see what impact his words have on the people of the present day in the 21st century. The apostle Paul taught, to the people of his day that due to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross, they were all one people; no more separated as Jew and Gentile.

That fact is true today just as it was in Paul’s time, since Jesus Christ died on the cross for the salvation of all people, through all time, that is, from the very beginning of time until the end of time.  In the days of Paul, the Gentiles were all people who were non-Jews. The Jews of Paul’s time were those people who were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with whom God had made a number of covenants or promises regarding the destiny of their descendants.  The Jews had a belief in a caring God and a hope for the fulfillment of God’s promises.

God had revealed to Paul that from the time of His creation of man and woman and their subsequent fall, that He, God, had a secret plan: It was to be through the Jewish people alone, God’s Chosen people, that all the prophesies of a Savior of the world and the actual appearance of the Savior, Jesus Christ, would come.  This meant that God did not reveal his plan to any other people up to the time of Christ so that all the Gentiles had been in the dark about this plan of salvation until Christ revealed it to them through the Apostles after His death and Resurrection. 

This was the “Good News” that the Gentiles now could share with the Jews; no longer were the Gentiles in the dark.  They were given the Good News of the “Gospel of Christ”.  The Gospel consists of all the writings in the Bible, which includes the Old and New Testaments and some Tradition that has been passed down to us since the time of Christ.

The Gentiles, or all the people of the earth, besides the Jews, had lived without any real hope of what their destiny was to be.  When these people now heard the Good News they were ecstatic; now they had hope that through the wonderful gifts given them by the sacrifice of Christ, they could live in peace and look forward to an eternal existence in Heaven with a loving God.

This Good News has been passed down to all of us.  No matter who we are we should make an effort to read the Bible if for no other reason except to enjoy the beautiful stories of Love, Forgiveness, and especially Mercy.

There should be no divisions of race. Today however there are unbelievable accusations of racism; God created all the different races and he loves people no matter what their race. There are those today who wish to divide people according to intelligence, education, social position, political party, financial status whether poor or rich.  All of these divisions are promoted by tyrants who do not believe in God and do not believe in Jesus Christ as the savior of all people no matter what differences they have, which tyrants think should cause them to be divided.

The only way to fight this divisiveness is to appreciate what God has done for us no matter who we are and what we have done, good or bad. Let not those who think there is no God, or that God could not possibly love them because of what they are and what they have done, despair;  Scripture shows how Jesus Christ loved the down-trodden, the despairing, the sinners of His time. He did not spend His time with the well to do but with prostitutes, taxpayers and other sinners because they needed His love and healing. 

Read how Jesus especially cared about women who at that time were treated as second class people. God loves each and every one of us right now, at this moment, no matter what state we think we are in, that might turn God away from us. He wants all men and women to be saved, that is, to be with him in heaven for all eternity; all we need to do is call upon his name, Jesus, for His help and He will help us to love instead of hate, to forgive instead of condemn, to be at peace and not at war with ourselves.