We all have various people or people groups that we look down upon. We don't care to admit it, but there are some people that we would choose not to associate with. Thankfully, Jesus isn't like this. If He was, you and I wouldn't have a leg to stand on! But He welcomes the outsider and calls them His own, and this is Good News for us! In this sermon, God directs Peter to change up his views of how he sees outsiders, and begins to built in him a compassionate heart that desires to see anyone and everyone come to know Jesus.
This coming day when Jesus returns, and God's kingdom comes sounds amazing and it will be. It sounds miraculous, and it is. However, God is a Holy God. Our Father is perfect in everything, in every way, always. When he comes near sin, evil, unrighteousness…it is all consumed. And we are not holy! For those who fear Him, though, we do not stand alone. Our advocate, our mediator, our savior opens the palms of his hands to reveal his wounds. The wounds we deserved. And the Judge will declare us innocent. And we respond to this certainty of future grace with righteous living, renewed eyes for the lost, endurance to live in the here and now, and hope for the coming day of the Lord
