The Ethiopian eunuch, like Cornelius, is another example of someone who responded to the knowledge/call of God within him (see Romans 1:18-20), but through a wrong means, and God in His love showed him the right way. We are told that this Ethiopian eunuch, who was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, had come to Jerusalem to worship (Acts 8:26-27). Additionally, he was reading the Scriptures when he was returning (Acts 8:28). Had he no reverence for God, he wouldn’t have embarked on this journey or given time to read the Scriptures. But traveling from Ethiopia or any part of the world to Jerusalem, to worship God, is not God’s prescribed way to get to Him. Neither does reading the Scriptures without believing in Jesus Christ bring salvation. God saw the sincerity of the Ethiopian eunuch and sent Philip to him. And starting from the very passage he was reading, Philip preached Jesus Christ- the way to God – to him, and led him to Christ (Acts 26:40; John 14:6).
Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, whom Paul and his companions met in Macedonia, was described by the Scriptures as a worshiper of God (Acts 16:14). Though described as such, it was when she listened as Paul spoke that God opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul, and she and her household got baptized (Acts 16:14-15). She certainly knew about God because she worshiped him but obviously not according to the way God has prescribed. It was the love of God that brought her into contact with the gospel of Jesus Christ which Paul preached. Paul had not earlier planned to go preach at Macedonia. But the Spirit of Jesus prevented him from going where he and his companions had planned to go, and led them through a vision Paul had to Macedonia where Lydia and his household heard the gospel, believed and got saved (Acts 16:6-15).
Indeed there is no partiality with God but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him (see Acts 10:34-35). God has taken upon Himself the responsibility to make His existence and righteousness known to all mankind so that no one can claim ignorance of having no knowledge of God when they stand before Him in judgement (see Romans 1:18-32). It does not matter where you were born, what faith you were born into, or how wrongly indoctrinated you have been about the things that pertain to God. If anyone is willing and sincere to respond to the knowledge of God within them, God will show them the right way to Himself. If He showed Cornelius, the Ethiopian eunuch and Lydia the right way, He will do same for anyone who responds to the call of God in their heart –although they may start off without Jesus.
God does not have to depend on human beings to make Jesus known to anyone: it is a privilege we get to work together with Him. Should we choose to be disobedient and not preach the gospel, we will be judged accordingly. But God’s will shall be done: He is able to make Jesus known to anyone who comes to Him, even without the help of human beings. We shall look more into this matter from the Scriptures in the next post.
To be continued…
-Kwadwo Omari, PhD
October, 2016.