Based on Romans 15:7-21 (New King James Version)
“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: ‘For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.’ And again he says: ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!’ And again: ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!’ And again, Isaiah says: ‘There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope.’ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, but as it is written: ‘To whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand.’”
God’s Grace has an incalculable value for us as humans. Maybe there are some of you that only see it as something good, but may not truly understand what it really is and what it means, and this is the root of many problems that we see today, especially in God’s people. The value of things are not really understood, especially the things of God. So then, to be able to understand the value of something, it is necessary to understand what it is and what it does. Or else, it will not be valued, and it will be treated as something common. Furthermore, more priority is given to things that truly are of lesser value.
Let’s understand the concept of value first. What gives something its value? Many people think that money is everything, and they even love it and put all their trust in it. What is money? If we see it for what it is, and especially as we know it today, it is really an item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services, and for repayment of debt in a particular nation or in a socio-economic context. In other words, it’s an article that a group of people have attributed some value to, depending on demand and economic conditions, of course. But, in reality, it’s some sort of material with some special ink that can be worth something one day, and not be worth much at a different time. If you want to see the true value of money, see how you do with a million dollars or euros in the middle of a desert without any human contact. They are no good for eating or drinking. You are probably going to die even faster if you try to actually eat the money because of the germs. So then, the real value of something is determined by the circumstances.
For example, Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is the person with the highest personal value in the world. According to Forbes, his personal value is estimated at US$89.4 billion between stocks, property, liquid assets, etc. He can run the infrastructure of many countries all by himself for a year. Nevertheless, if Bill Gates does not obtain salvation through Jesus Christ, his billions of dollars, stocks, etc. will not help him at all when he is standing before the throne of God, because all those things (even though they are not evil within themselves), have no value in the kingdom of God; least of all, for the salvation of a soul. The only thing that has value before God’s throne for salvation is being redeemed by the blood of Christ. There is no other way. There is only one way to get to God and eternal life: Jesus.
Now then, what does this have to do with today’s passage? This message applies more to us as gentiles (as far as I know, the majority that see these messages are gentiles). Before Christ died on the cross for our sins, we the gentiles (those that are not from Israel), did not have a clear way to the Father. In addition, the Jew (the religious) could not get to God either before Christ died, even though they were legitimate sons of Abraham. The Jew could only aspire to Abraham’s bosom, if they truly kept the law. There was nothing that mankind could do to save themselves, least of all, the gentiles. The Bible teaches us this: “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—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. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13. If it were not for the Lord, neither the Jews would be saved, but least of all, we the gentiles. We were completely excluded from salvation, except for a few that God chose personally, because everyone was severely pagan with a reproved mind. It may be difficult to accept, but that was reality. That’s why God would command the extermination of the different nations before Christ came, because they were irredeemable. Was God hard or severe? No. He knows all things, even the most intimate things within each human being.
But, here is where we see God’s mercy, and the value of the dispensation of God’s Grace through the Lord Jesus. For it is written: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:10. Although we were God’s enemies, especially as gentiles, He gave His Only Begotten Son to change our destiny (because our destiny was hell). The Lord also said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9.
So then, do you understand the door that Christ has opened for you? And if you understand, do you value it? Lord bless! John