Many years ago God made a final offer to the nation of Israel. They had rejected His Son and decided that they knew better than to follow what God had revealed to them in the Bible (the Old Testament). In the early days of the Christian Church God sent preachers to the nation of Israel to warn them to change their thinking about Jesus, to repent, and turn back to God.
Here is the passage from Acts chapter 3 which records this
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
God appeals to these people, through Peter the Apostle. They had rejected Jesus unintentionally and the offer is for them to repent and trust Christ for salvation and forgiveness. They refused and for generations the message of the gospel has been sent out to the nations of the world. One day God will bless Israel again but they face many days of trouble before then.
Maybe you have been rejecting Jesus for a long time. God is willing to give you the opportunity to repent and believe the gospel.
God does not promise that these opportunities to repent will always be available. In Genesis chapter six God warned people that His Spirit would not always strive with man. When people harden their heart against God then at some stage God leaves them to face the consequences of their unbelief - read Romans chapter one to see this illustrated.
Thankfully we live in the period of time which Christians often call the 'Day of Grace'. The Bible states in 2 Cor 6:2 that now 'is the day of salvation'. You can still get saved while you are alive on earth. It's too late on the other side of death. God will close the offer of salvation to you when Jesus comes again - then it will be time for judgment.
This is such a vital issue you cannot afford to ignore it!
For more information please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk.
If you would like a free Bible and live in the United Kingdom text the word 'BIBLE' and your name and address to 07747 101352
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