Ephesians 2:12-13 NLT‬
[12] “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. [13] But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”

Although God chose the Jews as His own personal possession, His plan of salvation was far wider than just one nation. He would stop at nothing until He had brought the whole world together into His family, under one head, His Son, Jesus.

Before the nation of Israel ever came to be, God told Abraham that, through his descendants, the whole world would be blessed.

‭Genesis 12:3 NLT‬
[3] “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God’s plan was particularly distasteful to the Jews. They hated and despised the Gentiles. They called them “dogs”, distanced themselves from them in every possible way, and, of course, refused to believe that Gentiles had a part in God’s salvation.

They even tried to kill Paul for daring to preach to Gentiles about “their” God. The entire hullabaloo in Jerusalem (Acts 21,22), was triggered by Paul’s testimony to his conversion and God’s plan to send him to the Gentiles.

‭Acts of the Apostles 22:21 NLT‬
[21] “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

That statement set off a frenzy of rage in the Jewish people.

‭Acts of the Apostles 22:22 NLT‬
[22] “The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

Despite serious opposition and severe persecution from his own people across Asia Minor and Europe, Paul obeyed God’s instructions. He preached to the Gentiles the good news of Jesus, resulting in many small groups of believers forming churches across the Roman empire.

Paul’s motivation for going to the Gentiles was fueled by the revelation of God’s plan. He knew the Scriptures. He already understood that God’s Messiah would be given as a covenant to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.

‭Isaiah 42:6, 9 NLT‬
[6] “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations….
[9] Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.”…

Isaiah 60:3 NLT‬
[3] “All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.”

So, when the Jews rejected his message, he turned to the Gentiles, receiving from them a glad response.

Acts of the Apostles 13:46-49 NLT
[46] “Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. [47] For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”
[48]When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. [49] So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.”

As Paul writes to Gentile believers, then, he reassures them that their inclusion in salvation was God’s plan from the beginning.

Despite what they were before they heard the message of Jesus – dead, outsiders, uncircumcised, excluded from citizenship in Israel, apart from Christ, without God, and without hope – now it was different. They had been brought near by the through the blood of Christ. Through His death, they were reconciled to God and reunited with Israel into one new race.

‭Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT‬
[14] “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. [15] He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. [16] Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

What a glorious plan, and even more! Since the Jews rejected Jesus, God extended His mercy to the Gentiles. Their inclusion in all the blessings of salvation, would make the Jews jealous and they, in turn, would turn to the Lord.

And so God’s mercy would be revealed to the whole world!

Paul explains, in the entire chapter of Romans 11, how He would achieve His purpose.

‭Romans 11:2, 11, 28-29 NLT‬
[2] “No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning….
[11] Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves….
[28] Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [29] For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn”…

‭Romans 11:25-27, 30-32 NLT‬
[25] “I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. [26] And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. [27] And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”…
[30] Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. [31] Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. [32] For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.”

Paul calls this plan God’s “mystery”, something God hid from His people in the past but has now revealed through His apostles and prophets.

‭Ephesians 3:3-6 NLT‬
[3] As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. [4] As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. [5] God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. [6] And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.”

‭Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV‬
[19]” Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

WOW! What a glorious plan! Enough to make Paul burst out in praise!

‭Romans 11:33-36 NLT‬
[33]” Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! [34] For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? [35] And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? [36] For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”