The Jews believe they were God's special people.

*  There was their Creation Story talk of the Fall –i.e. of the disobedience of their first parents and of God's promise to restore the descendents of these first parents through his own intervention.

*  They believed that God had called Abraham as the first of faithful ones who would live faithfully in God's purposes and plans, and that through him and through his descendents all the world would be blessed – that is the whole world would be made right side up.

*  St. Paul wrote that the true descendent of Abraham – the seed of Abraham, is Jesus Himself, and that all who have faith in Jesus will receive the promises to and with Abraham, and all the blessings not only for themselves - but to be shared with the whole world.

*  The Jews believed that when Messiah came He would usher in a New Age, a real and vital time and age. It was known as eternity because it would be brought to pass by the Eternal One, the Creator. It was about 'the life of the age to come' - what we have translated it into – everlasting life.

*  The Jews believed that this was first of all for themselves but there are lots of writings, such as in Isaiah, to say that they also believed that they were to be 'a light' to the whole world – a light to the Gentiles, a 'light to the nations.' Messiah would be their anointed one – the 'Christos' (in the Greek language), but He would also be Lord of the entire world.

- Thoughts as prompted by New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright