We are not God’s Stepchildren

Isaiah 63:16 – “For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, O Lord, are our father, our redeemer from of old is your name.”

God stopped me as I read this verse. I’m not Jewish, and I don’t know about the rest of you non-Jewish believers but sometimes as I read the Bible I feel like I’m on the outside looking in.

The stories of the patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David and his mighty men, Daniel, and so many others that I read about and heard about in Bible classes are thrilling and exciting but it sometimes seems like God’s doing stuff for a whole different class of people than me.

I didn’t see the Red Sea split, or the pillar of fire, or God appear on Mt. Sinai. I didn’t see David kill Goliath or witness what happened in the fiery furnace, and neither did any of my ancestors. That was part of a totally different world than I know.

But then God spoke to me as I read Isaiah 63. No, Abraham doesn’t know me. Neither does Israel recognize me. But God does!

The Lord is our father even though we are not Jewish. And God has been our redeemer for as long as he has been the redeemer for Abraham and his descendants. We Gentiles have always been in His plan. We are not an afterthought! We are not an unloved or uncared for part of His creation.

God, in His wisdom, simply chose to initiate His plan for redeeming the world through the Jews. And because of that, Jesus made sure the Jews received the gospel first, but by Acts 10 God threw the door wide open for Gentiles to be brought into the Kingdom of God. God even used two visions, and the miraculous giving of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles to prove to Peter and all the Jews that they need to make room for us.

And just to be sure we know that we Gentiles are included, God has made a way for us to actually be children of Abraham by faith. (Read Romans 4:1-11).

So as Isaiah said of us, even though Abraham doesn’t know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us, God absolutely does!

I may not be of Jewish decent, but because of God’s amazing grace through Jesus Christ my savior and Lord, He has declared me a ‘card carrying’ child of Abraham and a true child of God!

WE BELONG!

Praise the Lord!