It's Personal

Here is the mystery. Because of the good news, God's promises are for non-Jews as well as for Jews. Both groups are parts of one body. They share in the promise. It belongs to them because they belong to Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6 NIRV).

Wikipedia gives this definition of “good news”:

The Christian message of good news is described in the Bible …. It relates to the saving acts of God, centered upon the person of Jesus and his atoning work on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Its context is the storyline of the Christian Bible as a whole, which tells of the creation of humanity, humanity's rebellion against God, and how people from all nations are restored to relationship with God through the person of Jesus. A key theme of the Christian good news is that God offers a new life and forgiveness through Jesus.

So, when we look at the big picture, we see that although God called a man after the fall and from him developed the nation of Israel, the Apostle Paul now reveals that the work God was doing on earth was not just for the sake of this one nation, but also for the sake of the whole world. 

So, why choose a nation at all?  I mean if at the end of the day, God was just going to do what He did to save the whole world, what was the purpose of the calling of Abraham and the creation of the nation of Israel as His chosen people?

Oddly enough, it has everything to do with the personal nature of God.  Yes, He could have just sent His Son to die on a cross without choosing one specific man and creating one specific race of people with whom He intimately interacted throughout the ages to accomplish this purpose.  But, that would not have been characteristic of a God whose entire reason for creating mankind was for relationship. 

The unique connection with Abraham – and ultimately Israel – was to highlight the intense love that God has for His creation.   His desire and design for us is personal.  From the removal of Adam and Eve from the Garden to the burning bush of Moses to the cross on Calvary – every step of God’s interaction with mankind has been riddled with His sovereign love and plan.  Taken as separate encounters, it is easy to dismiss them as allegorical stories that are not real.  Yet when you string the entire story together, it is impossible to deny the evidence that points to a very real God, divinely orchestrating a master plan, on behalf of a wayward wife He is ultimately wooing back.

God chose to work through a specific people group so that we would never look at the “Good News” as a generic act of goodness on the part of a benevolent dictator, but as a desperate act of sacrificial love on the part of an incurable romantic. 

I must never allow the gift of my salvation to become devoid of the intentional and personal touch of the God who calls Himself the protector and guardian of my soul (1 Peter 2:25).