8.18-God loves all nations.

8.18-

God's vision for His family is that all nations would come together in it.  I have been blessed to travel to Russia, Ukraine and Czech Republic for special outreaches with the good news of Jesus.  What I found there was that with the help of translators the good news of God's love would make an immediate bond that superceded all national boundaries.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  Jesus was a teacher that reached beyond all national and ethnic and racial boundaries.

John 4.

4 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), ³ He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. ⁴ And He had to pass through Samaria. ⁵ So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; ⁶ and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about ^[a]the sixth hour.

⁷ There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. ⁹ Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

 Acts 10.

10 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian ^[a]cohort, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many ^[b]alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About the ^[c]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ^[d]alms have ascended as a memorial before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his ^[e]servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the ^[f]sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw the ^[g]sky opened up, and an ^[h]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and ^[i]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ^[j]air. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ^[k]kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything ^[l]unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider ^[m]unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the ^[n]object was taken up into the ^[o]sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[p]mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[q]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and accompany them ^[r]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[s]a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[t]worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man ^[u]unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”
³⁰ Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ^[v]ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ^[w]alms have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have ^[x]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said:
“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who ^[y]fears Him and ^[z]does what is right is welcome to Him.