Acts 3:26 "Unto you first (the Jews) God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."Throughout the world people don't like that Jews are God's chosen people! However, because Jews are persecuted, reinforces to me that the God is real and that scripture is true. Part of that truth is that God "raised up his Son Jesus" to bless the Jewish people! However, there was a purpose to the intent of God: It was to "turn everyone of them from their iniquities"!
Jews tried by themselves to turn from sin, or lives of iniquity. The Pharisees did a bang up job in everything, but they failed to love. Their role in the gospels was in antagonizing Jesus and foiling his ministry! Even with that, God made the Holy Spirit available to the Jews first! This is a promise made early on:
Deuteronomy 14:2 "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth."Remember, from the beginning God had one plan! Some believe that The Law was Plan A and it failed. God doesn't need a backup plan; there was no Plan B and Jesus certainly isn't a reserve to call in when the starter cripples! Plan A is Jesus Christ. That plan was always "salvation by grace"!
Because the Jews turned over Jesus to be crucified, they have been vilified throughout history, even by Christians. Of course, their vilification came even earlier than that. God gave them Canaanland and the kingdom of God, the kingdom of David was all the Levant, "the land of the rising sun"!
Now for a short political discourse:
I've wondered why we all say ISIS, but the administration says ISIL. ISIS designates Syria. ISIL designates all the Levant. Actually, Obama is more correct on this one, because ISIL already includes most of David's kingdom including Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and all the rest. (David's kingdom came to the River Euphrates). The immediate goal of ISIS/ISIL is the entire Levant, including Israel. The long-term goal is the world!
Now back to the Jews as God's chosen people:
The purpose of Jesus Christ was to "turn very one of you away from your iniquities". He "turns" sinners because he blesses sinners. In this case the sinners were the Jewish people he came to bless.
The blessing is salvation by a blood sacrifice. That sacrifice was well known by the Jews. Therefore, when Jesus shed his blood for them, they should have immediately recognized the promised blessing!
The Abrahamic Covenant is the best case of God's promise of a blessing to the Jews:
Genesis 12:1 "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."This passage reveals "the mystery of God". On the surface who did God promise to "bless"? The Jews. (Hold that thought for a minute.) In this passage God promised to bless the Jews. Of course the advent of Jesus (Acts 3:26 above) was the first blessing, but then the Jewish people were again blessed first by the advent of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2). The Jews were promised a chosen status: God making them a great nation and he followed through with that. Ownership of Israel is the desire of the religions of the world, and in their persecution, the Jews have truly been blessed. God isn't through with them yet!
(Now back to your holding that thought). On the surface it appears that God's blessing was for the Jews only! However, dig deeper: "in thee all families of the earth be blessed"! The "hidden promise" in the Abrahamic Covenant is that Jesus will bless everybody in the world! Plan A not only was salvation by grace, but also salvation for all who will receive it!
The Abrahamic Covenant was a mystery in Abraham's time (The Mystery of God). Abraham knew what it meant. The Word told him! Jesus revealed the "mystery of Christ" right there in the covenant with Abraham! Paul revealed it to the rest of us:
Ephesians 3:2 "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel..."Abraham was told "in thee (his seed) shall all the families of the earth will be blessed"! It was God revealing to Abraham the "mystery of Christ" centuries before Paul revealed it to the Ephesians! Remember my contention that God always had one plan; Plan A. The "dispensation of grace" is part of the mystery of Christ. Salvation was never by The Law, but by grace! Paul said "in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men"! Abraham knew if he listened and understood the promise made by The Word!
Then the second part was that the "gentiles should be fellow heirs" of the blessing of Abraham; Jesus Christ! ("All families of the earth be blessed"). God's Plan was always one plan; that the blessing, salvation, is available for all!
Yes, it was for the Jews first. Revelation 1:20 says that the Jews are the "first fruits". True to his word, they were the first to receive Jesus and the first to receive the Holy Ghost. They communed with God and were special. They still are! Then Paul turned away from those whose hearts were hardened by The Law and turned to the gentiles! Thereafter, the rest of us are blessed too!
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."Jesus said that his gospel shall be preached to all nations. That's because his blood is a propitiation for all sins of all the people of the world! After the world has heard, then the end shall come. The Jews had their chance first, then the gentiles. Once all the gentiles have heard, there is no further need to say more! The end shall come.
Back to Acts 3:26: Jesus was the blessing to the Jews, but the blessing had a purpose. It was to change the hearts of the people. When people are saved from iniquity (sin), then it's implied that they quit sinning! The purpose of Jesus' sacrifice wasn't to save people so they could continue in sin, but to provide a way to turn from sin. The Holy Ghost, being "the Comforter" is our ally in turning from sin. We merely put on God's whole armor and let the Holy Ghost help us fend off the evil ones.
The Jews had problems with change. They were used to being superficially obedient, but the change Jesus sought was love. Jesus fulfilled The Law. He became the reason that people obeyed the commandments rather than another way to salvation. People were so bound by doing righteous things that they were done without love. Loving God and others is obedience! Like the Jews, gentiles have the same problem, but we can't even keep The Law, as well as failing to love others!
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