God’S Strategy In Human History
Title: God’S Strategy In Human History
Part: 20 of 27 Romans Series
Reading: Romans 9, 10, 11
I'm going to read some verses from Romans chapter nine. I'm going to read a few verses from chapter nine, chapter 10 and chapter 11. First of all, Romans 9:21 when Paul says, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us whom he also called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?"
Then to Romans 10:1, Paul writes, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own. They did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law, so there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
Then Romans 11:1, "I ask then, did God reject his people? By no means. I'm an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know that the scripture says in the passage about Elijah how he appealed to God against Israel? 'Lord, they've killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I'm the only one left, and they're trying to kill me.' And what was God's answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works. If it were, grace would no longer be grace."
That's as far as I'm going to read. I want to look this morning with you at these three chapters, Romans chapters 9, 10, 11, in which Paul presents an important issue, which I am calling God's strategy in human history. This is the section where Paul deals with two controversial issues. Number one is God's sovereignty in choosing a particular people for a particular purpose. The second is the role and place of Israel in God's purposes. Now, however we approach these chapters, we must recognize that this is not an easy passage of scripture. Somebody has said that Romans 9 to 11 has as many problems as a porcupine has prickles. If you know these chapters, you know that's true.
But before we look at them, let me tell you a story. It's about a policeman who used to make regular arrests of drunken drivers on a Saturday night. One night, he parked his vehicle near a notorious bar. Late that night, a group of men came out to leave the bar. One of them in particular seemed very uncoordinated and unsteady on his feet. The cop thought, "I got my man tonight, that's for sure." He watched this man as he sort of meandered over to the parking lot. Then he took his keys from his pocket and he tried about five cars until he found his own car. He got in, sat down, put on the windshield wipers, put them off again, put them on, put them off, on, off, on, off. Then the headlights went on, and then they went off and on and off and on and off.
Eventually he started the engine, and the car began to move out of the parking lot. By this time, it was the last car in the parking lot. The policeman quickly drove up behind him, stopped him, got out, came up and said, "I want you to take this breathalyzer test. Please breathe into of this machine." The man breathed into the machine, and it registered 0.00. So he said, "Breath again into this breathalyzer," which he did. Again, it registered 0.00. So the cop said, "There's something wrong with the breathalyzer." The man said, "There's nothing wrong with the breathalyzers, sir, I'm the designated decoy for the night."
Well, I tell you that story because these three chapters are full of decoys, if we're not careful. We can get off the track of the main thing that Paul is talking about in these three chapters. I want to explain what that is. Those of you who are familiar with the structure of the book of Romans know that the first eight chapters is Paul's systematic explanation of what the gospel really is. It's the doctrinal section of this epistle. We can sum it up in four words. We're reconciled, we're justified, we're crucified, and we're sanctified. Reconciled to God, that's the first three chapters. Justified by faith. That's chapters four and five. Crucified with Christ, that's chapter six, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that's chapter seven and chapter eight. Then you may know that chapter 12 to 16, the last five chapters, is the ethical section, the practical out working.
It begins with a big, "Therefore, because you've been reconciled to God and in dwelt by his Spirit, therefore present your body as a living sacrifice." There's a natural progression from chapter eight to chapter 12. In fact, if chapters 9, 10, 11 were missing, we wouldn't notice anything in the flow of the message. It's the logical progression. But then here in the middle, chapter 9 to 11, there is what many people see as a parenthesis. But it's important to Paul's argument in which he presents an important issue, which I am calling God's strategy in human history.
What he's doing is turning aside to place the gospel that he's been declaring into its historical context. So the main thrust of these chapters is the relationship of the gospel to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people. I want to remind you that this was the first big controversy in the early church. You see, the issue that the early church had to face very quickly was the issue of, does a person have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian? You see, you could be a Jewish proselyte. There are various ways in which that could take place. When people became Christians, some of those who are zealous Judaizers came along and said, "Hey, that isn't good enough. You've got to be circumcised. You've got to become a Jew in order to become a Christian."
This had threatened to divide the church in Jerusalem in its early years. It brought havoc to Paul's early missionary journeys. After his first missionary journey, he wrote his letter to the Galatians, specifically to correct this whole idea that in order to become a Christian, you've got to become a Jew. So it's a very topical issue in Paul's day. Furthermore, the church in Rome included many Jews. We know something of the population of Jewish people in Rome. The church began amongst the Jews, that is evident from the way Paul writes in this letter. So we can be very sure this is a topic of importance to them too. However, I want to suggest to you that the theme of these chapters is not primarily Israel per se, but rather Israel illustrates the bigger theme, which is God's strategy in human history.
The story focuses on Israel from Abraham to Christ and then to the church and the sovereignty of God in that context and how God works out his purposes. Now, I suspect that I'm not going to satisfy everyone here this morning because people have very fixed ideas on some of these issues. Several people have already said to me, "I'm looking forward to your interpretation of Romans 9, 10, and 11." I suspect what they mean by this is that their minds are already made up about these chapters. They're looking forward to my interpretation to see if I'm right or wrong. That's what I suspect.
So I apologize in advance for those who may not agree with what I'm going to share with you this morning. But what I do say, I say conscientiously. I say it recognizing there are better people than me, more able people than me who interpret this passage differently. I recognize that. But what I want to say to you, I'm saying conscientiously, having read and reread and studied what these chapters are teaching. Now three main points. The first one is this, that God's choice of Israel is about purpose, not privilege. Let me explain what I mean by this. You see, Romans 9 begins with Paul expressing deep sorrow about the Jewish people, his own people. He says, "I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow, and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. Those of my own race, the people of Israel."
That's a remarkable statement. Paul has just affirmed in the end of chapter eight that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ. But now he says, "If there's one thing I would allow to separate me personally from Christ, it would be in exchange for the salvation of Israel." That's a remarkable thing that anybody would say. It's reminiscent of Moses. When the children of Israel built a golden calf and were worshiping this golden calf, and Moses on their behalf, pleaded with God. He said in Exodus 32:32, he said, "But now please forgive their sins. But if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." I'd rather that you blotted me out and forgave them. That's similar to what Paul is saying here.
Let me remind you of something I've said several times as we've gone through Romans. This brings out very clearly, Paul is no armchair theologian. He's not sitting down playing with ideas. But behind everything Paul writes is a passion for God and a compassion for people. The bottom line in Paul's theology is not dealing with tricky issues, but it's winning the world for Christ. He says, "What I want to write about my own people, the Israelites, is that I long and my deepest desire is that they might come to know Christ. In fact, I'd exchange my own salvation if the Israelites could be assured of salvation." Remarkable. Well, having said that, he then lists eight benefits that belong to the Jewish people in Romans 9:4-5. Let me read them to you, "Theirs is the adoption as sons," that is, they have this special relationship with God.
"Theirs is the divine glory," that is God has revealed himself to them as a nation. "The covenants," those are the agreements that God made with Abraham and with Moses. "The receiving of the law," the 10 Commandments that God gave to them. "The temple worship," it began as tabernacle worship in the wilderness became a temple in Jerusalem that Solomon built, where people could meet with God. "The promises. Theirs are the patriarchs," that is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Fathers of the Nation. "From them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God overall, forever praised, amen." He says that in verse three and four. Now, there are eight things he lists there, all of them to do with their history. The first seven are stepping stones to the eighth.
They've been adopted as sons. They've seen the divine glory. They have the covenants, the law, the temple worship, the promises, the patriarchs, for this purpose, that from them might come the human ancestry of Christ. He says, "They're all leading to the ultimate purpose, which is Christ." You see, God's choice of Israel was not an end in itself. It was a means to an end. The end purpose was not the blessing of Israel. The end purpose was that through them, the world might be blessed. Now, that's the way it was right from the very beginning. When God called Abraham in Genesis chapter 12:1-3, he said this, "I'll make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I'll make your name great. And you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you, I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Now, what was the object of what God said to Abraham? It's that all people of the earth will be blessed through you. That's the object. You will be a blessing, that's the object. What's the means? I'm going to make you into a great nation. I will bless you. But the purpose in blessing you is that you might become the means of blessing the world ultimately by the coming of Christ to the nation of Israel. That's why Jesus said in John 8:56, he said, "Your Father, Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day, he saw it and was glad." Why? Because Abraham understood that the whole point of my being set apart and a nation coming from my body is that one day God will send his Messiah. That's the whole point.
Abraham said, Jesus had seen him right from the very beginning. Let me read you a very important verse in this regard. It's a crucial verse. It's Galatians 3:16. Paul says, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed," singular. To his seed. Paul goes on to say, "The scripture does not say, and to seeds," meaning many people, but, "And to your seed," meaning one person who is Christ. Now says Paul, the promises that God made to Abraham were not to all his descendants' seeds, but to his seed, his one descendant Christ.
That's why Matthew opens the New Testament in Matthew 1:1 by saying, "This is a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham." By the way, Matthew was written specifically to the Jewish people. He's saying, I want you to know that everything you heard about the son of Abraham, this is the son of Abraham, the seed of Abraham. It's Christ. Let me illustrate this, just supposing I wanted to travel to England. I was to fly from Toronto to London, and I chose air Canada as the means of getting to London, England.
If Air Canada is my chosen airline, then several things follow. It means that my whole visit to London is going to be tied into the wellbeing of Air Canada. If Air Canada become grounded, I'm grounded. If they go on strike, I'm not able to get there. If they become bankrupt, I'm affected. If somebody wants to prevent me getting to London, the best thing to do is to try and mess up Air Canada because they're going to be my means of getting there. Secondly, that means I'm subject to their timetable, to their aircraft because I've chosen to travel with them. So Air Canada plays a key role in my plans, but my goal is not about Air Canada. My goal is about getting to London. Air Canada is the means, the conduit by which I'm going to get to London. Now in the same way, Israel is not the end purpose of God's plan, they are the means to the end.
Now, there were enormous blessings and privileges that belonged to Israel in the process. But those privileges were all subject to the purpose. The purpose was blessing the world. You see, God blessing the world and blessing Gentiles was not an afterthought. Jesus did not start something new. He simply fulfilled what the nation of Israel had been prepared for with all the covenants and all the regulations that God had given to them. If you're not sure, read the book of Hebrews sometime. That's what that book is about. One of the saddest versus in the Bible is John 1:11, where it says, "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." Because the people chosen as the means, the conduit for God's purposes in the world saw themselves as the end purpose itself. As a result, they missed the whole point.
Now, let me just say at this point because I want to be relevant in what I say to you this morning. That this trap, this danger, this diversion remains possible to the church of Jesus Christ too. You see, there are differences; salvation is an end in itself. We are the benefits of Christ's work, of God's ultimate purpose. We've celebrated in communion the death and resurrection of Christ, which saves us. That is an end purpose in itself. But there is more than simply that. We're not just Christians for our own benefits. We're also Christians in order that we might become instruments of God in the world. That's why Romans 12 begins, as we'll see in a few weeks’ time, "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices."
Why? Because this is the consequence now of being a Christian. The last five chapters of Romans are explanations of how we are to be different and to make a difference in our world, how we're to minister to the world, to be the channel by which God touches the world. Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt primarily in those days was used to prevent decay and rotting food and meat in particular. He's saying, "You are the salt of the earth. You have the function of halting the process of decay that's taking place in our world." He says, "You are the light of the world." The world is in darkness, Jesus had explained, and you are the light. You're the ones when I switch you on that make a difference in the world in which you live. After his resurrection, Jesus said just disciples, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
That having become disciples, having become Christians, wonderful as that is, now here's the responsibility, to be a channel for God in the world. The very last words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 before he ascended to his father was, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and until the ends of the earth." Now, this is why we're left here on earth. Some have sometimes said, "Well, why doesn't God just take us to heaven when we become Christians and get out of all the mess and all the hassle of this life?" Because God's purpose for you and for me is that now you're in Christ. We become a channel through which the world is going to be reached, and the world is going to be blessed. That's why this church is an evangelistic church. It's a mission-orientated church. That's why right now, we have a team of 31 students from the students and staff from the high school here, People's Christian Academy in West Africa.
They arrived in Dakar, Senegal last night. They're going to be spending the next couple of weeks, 24 students, seven teachers ministering, seeking to bring God's love and blessing to other people. That's why we sent a team to Uganda a few weeks ago of nearly 30 people, because this is our responsibility now. This is not just an option. Well, it'll be nice to go to Uganda for a few weeks. Let's do that. It's because we have an obligation. We're saying, "God, how is it that we can be a channel of blessing in the world?" But it is easy to do exactly what the people of Israel did, and begin to consider God's working stops with me.
So we rejoice in our salvation. We're glad we're Christians. We're happy to be here every Sunday morning and to be involved in the services here, but we never ask the question. How is it that I am intended to make a difference in our world? We never ask God, "God, how can you use me?" You see in Romans 10:13-15, Paul talks about the process that takes place when someone becomes a Christian. Let me read it to you. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on the one they've not believed in? How can they believe in the one they've not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? How can they preach unless they're sent?" There are six links in a chain there.
People are saved when they call. They call when they believe. They believe when they hear. They hear when somebody preaches to them. They preach when they're sent. Now, you know that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. What is the weakest link in this chain? Well, sending us isn't the weakest link. We're being sent already. I suggest the weakest link is those who are sent, don't go.
Because they don't go and share the gospel, people don't hear. Because they don't hear, they can't believe. Because they can't believe, they don't call. Because they don't call, they're not saved. This is the tragedy that Paul laments amongst the Jewish people, that we equally lament amongst the church of God. Now, they'd lost the purpose.
Now, my first point is God's choice of Israel is about purpose, not privilege. My second point is that God's choice of Israel is about service, not salvation because having described the people of Israel as God's chosen people in Romans 10:1, Paul says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." Why? Because being chosen by God is not in relation to salvation. It's in relation to serving God's purposes. Israel did serve God's purposes, but they were missing the issue of salvation.
Let me talk just for a few moments about the biblical doctrine of election. Now this is a hot potato, so you can't talk about it in a few moments adequately. But let me put this section into its context. There are six categories of people in the Bible described as being chosen by God. Israel is the first, and there are many references to that. Isaiah 45:4, speaks of Israel, "my chosen". Then secondly, there is a remnant within Israel. Romans 11 speaks about that. There's a remnant chosen by grace because many of the Israelites have turned away from God. In fact, what we know today as Israel is only two and a half of the 12 tribes, nine and a half of the 12 tribes of Israel had been lost, taken off into Assyrian captivity, intermingled, and intermarried, and lost their identity. But there's a remnant chosen by grace.
So that's the second category. Then Jesus speaks of his 12 apostles as being chosen. It says on Luke 6, he called his disciples to him and he chose 12 of them whom he designated apostles. They were chosen by him. Then there are certain angels, fourthly, who are described as being elect angels in 1 Timothy 5:21. We don't know too much about who those elect angels are or why they're classified as such. The fifth category is Christ. In the Old Testament, he's spoken of, "My chosen one in whom I delight." At the mount of transfiguration, the Father said of Jesus, "This is my son whom I've chosen."
Then sixthly, there is the church or Christians. There are 11 references in the New Testament to Christians being chosen. Now for a moment, leave aside the church and look at the first five. It is very evident that being chosen is not about salvation. It's about service. We've already commented on that in regard to Israel and the remnant within Israel. As far as the 12 disciples are concerned, on another occasion, Jesus said, "You did not choose me. I have chosen you. One of you is a devil." Judas Iscariot.
When it speaks of the angels being chosen, we don't know what is meant by that specifically. When it speaks of Christ being chosen, it's not about salvation of course. It's Christ as God's chosen channel, means of working in the world. If that's what it means to be chosen, to be elect, I suggest to you that equally that is what it means for the church to be elect. You see, there are 11 references in the New Testament, and the central idea is about the fact we are chosen in Christ. Not chosen into Christ or chosen to be put into Christ. Now if somebody became a Jewish proselyte, they could become one of the chosen people. Ruth, for instance, in the Old Testament, was a Moabite. But she became a Jewish proselyte by marrying a Jew, man called Boaz, and became a Jew. Joshua in fact was not a Jew by birth, one of the great men of the Old Testament. But he became a Jew and entered into all the privileges and all the blessings and benefits of being a Jew.
Now, in the same way, when a person becomes a Christian, we become chosen in Christ. We become God's chosen means of working in the world, of accomplishing his business. Now, this idea of chosen, having to do with service, not salvation is evident here in Romans chapter nine as well because Paul talks about God choosing Jacob over Esau. Jacob, have I chosen, have I loved, Esau, have I hated? Now, it's not talking about their salvation in that context. But he's talking about the fact I chose Jacob to fulfill my particular purposes here. You see in verse 19, he says, "One of you will say to me," this is Romans 9:19, "Why does God still blame us? Who can resist his will? But who are you a man to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
He's not talking about salvation there. He's talking about being formed by God for a particular purpose. Romans 9:21 says, "Does not the potter have the right to make out the same lump of clay, some pottery for noble purposes, some for common use?" The potter can make out of clay, a pot that he can put on display in the house, and people come in and admire it. That's wonderful. Another pot that's hidden under the sink and used to clean up the mess with. Now he says, that's the prerogative of the potter. In the same way every one of us has been called by God to some particular purpose. Some of those purposes may seem more evident than other purposes, but none are more important than other purposes. You see, the Bible talks about the church being like a body. It's got members. Some are obvious, some are not.
Paul says, "The foot can't say to the hand, 'Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body.'" Because sometimes it looks a lot better being a hand than being a foot, especially when you're in a shoe all day, and it's hot down there and humid. You say, "If I was a hand, life would be so much better for me." The ear can't say to the eye, "Because I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body." I understand that too because the ear doesn't get anything like the attention the eye gets. People look you in the eye, they never look you in the ear. They comment on the color of your eyes, they never comment on the color of your ears. So the ear can say, "I'm not very important." Now, you see, within the church of Jesus Christ, we all have different gifts. We all have different callings. But every single one of us is equally significant because the body can't function without the foot says Paul. The body can't function without the ear very well.
In the same way, God has called each of us to some particular purpose. He's gifted us and equipped us for some particular purpose. Now there's no pecking order in this, though sometimes we have tended to think there is. We think if God calls you to be a missionary, boy, you must be up there somewhere. If God calls you to be an evangelist, man, you are something special. But if God calls you to be a bus driver, well, you're not up to very much. That is total nonsense. You see, God calls missionaries to be missionaries, bus drivers to be bus drivers, teachers to be teachers, garbage collectors to be garbage collectors, doctors to be doctors, full-time moms to be a full-time mom. He calls musicians to be musicians, students to be students, journalists to be journalists, retired people to be retired people. Is that a job? He calls even pastors to be pastors.
But don't get the idea that some of these people are better because they're more evident and more obvious. They're not. I know the pastoral team of this church, believe me, they're very ordinary. But there are some of us who think, "Well, I'm not called to be one of these kinds of people. Therefore, I'm down the league somewhere." But you see, you are called. You are chosen. Peter writing in his second epistle says, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and your election sure." He's already said to these people, "You are Christians." You read the earlier verses in 2 Peter chapter one. Now he says, "Make your election sure." That doesn't mean make your salvation sure. Make the reason, the purpose that God has saved you and left you here sure. Get on with the job he's given you to do.
You see, going back to Israel, they forgot to do that. They thought because I'm a Jew, I'm okay. So if my first point is God's choice of Israel is about purpose not privilege, secondly, God's choice of Israel is about service, not salvation. My third point is God's choice of Israel is about grace, not genetics. What do I mean by that? What I mean is this. It's not about who your father is that makes you a Jew, says Paul, it's about where your faith is. That's what makes you a Jew. Let me read you Paul's definition of an Israelite several times in Romans. Romans 9:6-8, "Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it's through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it's not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
In other words, you're incorporated into God's promises on the basis of your faith in Christ. Earlier in Romans 2:29, he says, "A man is not a Jew if he's only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly. And circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code." It's not physical circumcision. It is what he calls the circumcision of the heart, that your heart has been made right with God, not conformed to a physical covenant, but spiritually, you're right with God. He says, "That's what makes a Jew a Jew," says Paul there in Romans 2. These are not my opinions, by the way. It's what Paul is saying.
In Romans 4:16, he says, "Therefore, the promise comes by faith. So that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring. Not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all." The point I'm making is this, that the hereditary line is not through genetics, but it's through grace. Not based on your physical father, but based on your faith in God. It's sharing the faith of Abraham that makes us children of God.
You see, Jesus did not start something new, as I've already said, when he came into this world. He fulfilled what had been promised and prepared by God setting apart the people of Israel. It was a continuation of what God began when he said to Abraham, "All the nations will be blessed through you." This now is going to be the means. Now, there are some who see two parallel movements of God going simultaneously in the world. The church of Jesus Christ is one, and the nation of Israel is another. But the Bible is telling one story. This one story has one strand, it is one movement. It is Abraham to the patriarchs, to Israel, the nation, to Christ, to the church. All that God did in Israel leads to Christ.
If you want another verse for that, in 2 Corinthians 1:20. In this context, Paul says, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ." All God's promises focus on Christ. They come to Christ. And the church comes from Christ. And we are connected to one stream of history. Galatians 3:26 says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Therefore, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. For you are one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and you're heirs according to the promise."
If you belong to Christ, he says, you are the seed of Abraham because he had one seed, Christ. You're part of Christ now, and you become an inheritor of all the promises that he made. If you read Romans 11, he speaks of being grafted, the Gentiles being grafted into the same tree. The Jewish roots are in that tree, but we are grafted in. It's one tree. It's not two trees growing side by side. One tree is his illustration, and we're part of one work of God.
Now, on the other hand, if some people see two parallel movements, there are others who talk about replacement theology. By that they mean is that God is finished with Israel and replaces Israel with the church. But there's no replacement involved here. There is one continuing stream, Israel, Christ, the church. The roots are Israel. The substance is Christ, the branches are the church.
One leads to Christ, that's Israel's role. The other leads from Christ, but Christ is the pivot. That's why Paul says in Romans 10:12, "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all. And he richly blesses all who call on him." Now twice in Romans, Paul speaks of the gospel being to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. But the meaning of that is it's to the Jews first, historically not first in priority. Now, the Jews had prior access to salvation, but not that they had prior claim to salvation, but prior access. Historically, it came first to them.
It's been my privilege on a number of occasions to preach amongst the messianic churches in Israel. I have a great love for those people. In fact, just before I came here 18 months ago to begin my ministry here at the People's Church, I spoke at a Jewish Youth Conference in Jerusalem. They told me it was probably the largest Christian youth conference ever to have been held in Jerusalem attended by Jewish people. Marvelous what God is doing there.
In fact, in the last two weeks, I received an invitation to go and preach at a similar conference in Jerusalem in 2004 because so much is going on there. We rejoice in all that God is doing. I have a great personal interest in what God is doing amongst the people of Israel. My father's mother's mother's mother, I think that's right, was a Jew. Now, Jews trace their ancestry through the mother. So my father, whose mother's mother's mother was a Jew, would've had the right of return to Israel had he chosen to take that right of return.
Now I don't have that right because my mother is not a Jew. They say it's easier to trace who your mother is than who your father is. Well, now through DNA, of course, it's easy to trace your father as well. But I grew up in a home where we were very interested in the Jewish people, where every book and magazine about the Jewish people usually came to our home.
My father was ... I nearly said obsessed. That's not the right word. Taken up with this issue, concerned about it. It's a practical thing that I want to leave with you this morning is that the trap into which the people of Israel fell. I think this is why Paul is talking about this here in Romans 9 to 11, is a trap that we can fall into very easily. Where we miss the purpose of being chosen by God as his instruments in our world, and instead we sit back and say, "I'm chosen by God. Aren't I lucky? Aren't I privileged? God, I thank you I'm not like the people across the road who are not."
That is the total opposite of what it's intended to do, to make us servants. I want to ask you this morning, are you finding out your personal role in God's plan? Are you making it your business to be on God's agenda? Not as a prayer you pray once. But every day, you're saying, "Lord, what is it today you want to do with me and through me?" Are we exercising the faith of Abraham, which is the hallmark that makes us the people of God. The faith of Abraham was not just a passive faith. Well, yes, I believe. It was an active stepping out in obedience because he believed. Letting God be God and do things that otherwise would never have been done. That's the New Testament idea of what a Christian ought to be.
I'll tell you why, this is God's strategy in human history. God's strategy in human history is to pick people, choose people, equip them, gift them and send them to be his channel for blessing in the world. That remains your responsibility and my responsibility, if you're a Christian this morning. Not to sit back simply as the recipients, but to see ourselves as the channel, the conduits, which God is going to bless our world, bless our city, bless your neighborhood, bless your neighbors. Let us say, "Lord, what do you want to do through me?"
Title: God’S Strategy In Human History
Part: 20 of 27 Romans Series
Reading: Romans 9, 10, 11
I'm going to read some verses from Romans chapter nine. I'm going to read a few verses from chapter nine, chapter 10 and chapter 11. First of all, Romans 9:21 when Paul says, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us whom he also called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?"
Then to Romans 10:1, Paul writes, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own. They did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law, so there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
Then Romans 11:1, "I ask then, did God reject his people? By no means. I'm an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know that the scripture says in the passage about Elijah how he appealed to God against Israel? 'Lord, they've killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I'm the only one left, and they're trying to kill me.' And what was God's answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works. If it were, grace would no longer be grace."
That's as far as I'm going to read. I want to look this morning with you at these three chapters, Romans chapters 9, 10, 11, in which Paul presents an important issue, which I am calling God's strategy in human history. This is the section where Paul deals with two controversial issues. Number one is God's sovereignty in choosing a particular people for a particular purpose. The second is the role and place of Israel in God's purposes. Now, however we approach these chapters, we must recognize that this is not an easy passage of scripture. Somebody has said that Romans 9 to 11 has as many problems as a porcupine has prickles. If you know these chapters, you know that's true.
But before we look at them, let me tell you a story. It's about a policeman who used to make regular arrests of drunken drivers on a Saturday night. One night, he parked his vehicle near a notorious bar. Late that night, a group of men came out to leave the bar. One of them in particular seemed very uncoordinated and unsteady on his feet. The cop thought, "I got my man tonight, that's for sure." He watched this man as he sort of meandered over to the parking lot. Then he took his keys from his pocket and he tried about five cars until he found his own car. He got in, sat down, put on the windshield wipers, put them off again, put them on, put them off, on, off, on, off. Then the headlights went on, and then they went off and on and off and on and off.
Eventually he started the engine, and the car began to move out of the parking lot. By this time, it was the last car in the parking lot. The policeman quickly drove up behind him, stopped him, got out, came up and said, "I want you to take this breathalyzer test. Please breathe into of this machine." The man breathed into the machine, and it registered 0.00. So he said, "Breath again into this breathalyzer," which he did. Again, it registered 0.00. So the cop said, "There's something wrong with the breathalyzer." The man said, "There's nothing wrong with the breathalyzers, sir, I'm the designated decoy for the night."
Well, I tell you that story because these three chapters are full of decoys, if we're not careful. We can get off the track of the main thing that Paul is talking about in these three chapters. I want to explain what that is. Those of you who are familiar with the structure of the book of Romans know that the first eight chapters is Paul's systematic explanation of what the gospel really is. It's the doctrinal section of this epistle. We can sum it up in four words. We're reconciled, we're justified, we're crucified, and we're sanctified. Reconciled to God, that's the first three chapters. Justified by faith. That's chapters four and five. Crucified with Christ, that's chapter six, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that's chapter seven and chapter eight. Then you may know that chapter 12 to 16, the last five chapters, is the ethical section, the practical out working.
It begins with a big, "Therefore, because you've been reconciled to God and in dwelt by his Spirit, therefore present your body as a living sacrifice." There's a natural progression from chapter eight to chapter 12. In fact, if chapters 9, 10, 11 were missing, we wouldn't notice anything in the flow of the message. It's the logical progression. But then here in the middle, chapter 9 to 11, there is what many people see as a parenthesis. But it's important to Paul's argument in which he presents an important issue, which I am calling God's strategy in human history.
What he's doing is turning aside to place the gospel that he's been declaring into its historical context. So the main thrust of these chapters is the relationship of the gospel to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people. I want to remind you that this was the first big controversy in the early church. You see, the issue that the early church had to face very quickly was the issue of, does a person have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian? You see, you could be a Jewish proselyte. There are various ways in which that could take place. When people became Christians, some of those who are zealous Judaizers came along and said, "Hey, that isn't good enough. You've got to be circumcised. You've got to become a Jew in order to become a Christian."
This had threatened to divide the church in Jerusalem in its early years. It brought havoc to Paul's early missionary journeys. After his first missionary journey, he wrote his letter to the Galatians, specifically to correct this whole idea that in order to become a Christian, you've got to become a Jew. So it's a very topical issue in Paul's day. Furthermore, the church in Rome included many Jews. We know something of the population of Jewish people in Rome. The church began amongst the Jews, that is evident from the way Paul writes in this letter. So we can be very sure this is a topic of importance to them too. However, I want to suggest to you that the theme of these chapters is not primarily Israel per se, but rather Israel illustrates the bigger theme, which is God's strategy in human history.
The story focuses on Israel from Abraham to Christ and then to the church and the sovereignty of God in that context and how God works out his purposes. Now, I suspect that I'm not going to satisfy everyone here this morning because people have very fixed ideas on some of these issues. Several people have already said to me, "I'm looking forward to your interpretation of Romans 9, 10, and 11." I suspect what they mean by this is that their minds are already made up about these chapters. They're looking forward to my interpretation to see if I'm right or wrong. That's what I suspect.
So I apologize in advance for those who may not agree with what I'm going to share with you this morning. But what I do say, I say conscientiously. I say it recognizing there are better people than me, more able people than me who interpret this passage differently. I recognize that. But what I want to say to you, I'm saying conscientiously, having read and reread and studied what these chapters are teaching. Now three main points. The first one is this, that God's choice of Israel is about purpose, not privilege. Let me explain what I mean by this. You see, Romans 9 begins with Paul expressing deep sorrow about the Jewish people, his own people. He says, "I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow, and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. Those of my own race, the people of Israel."
That's a remarkable statement. Paul has just affirmed in the end of chapter eight that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ. But now he says, "If there's one thing I would allow to separate me personally from Christ, it would be in exchange for the salvation of Israel." That's a remarkable thing that anybody would say. It's reminiscent of Moses. When the children of Israel built a golden calf and were worshiping this golden calf, and Moses on their behalf, pleaded with God. He said in Exodus 32:32, he said, "But now please forgive their sins. But if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." I'd rather that you blotted me out and forgave them. That's similar to what Paul is saying here.
Let me remind you of something I've said several times as we've gone through Romans. This brings out very clearly, Paul is no armchair theologian. He's not sitting down playing with ideas. But behind everything Paul writes is a passion for God and a compassion for people. The bottom line in Paul's theology is not dealing with tricky issues, but it's winning the world for Christ. He says, "What I want to write about my own people, the Israelites, is that I long and my deepest desire is that they might come to know Christ. In fact, I'd exchange my own salvation if the Israelites could be assured of salvation." Remarkable. Well, having said that, he then lists eight benefits that belong to the Jewish people in Romans 9:4-5. Let me read them to you, "Theirs is the adoption as sons," that is, they have this special relationship with God.
"Theirs is the divine glory," that is God has revealed himself to them as a nation. "The covenants," those are the agreements that God made with Abraham and with Moses. "The receiving of the law," the 10 Commandments that God gave to them. "The temple worship," it began as tabernacle worship in the wilderness became a temple in Jerusalem that Solomon built, where people could meet with God. "The promises. Theirs are the patriarchs," that is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Fathers of the Nation. "From them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God overall, forever praised, amen." He says that in verse three and four. Now, there are eight things he lists there, all of them to do with their history. The first seven are stepping stones to the eighth.
They've been adopted as sons. They've seen the divine glory. They have the covenants, the law, the temple worship, the promises, the patriarchs, for this purpose, that from them might come the human ancestry of Christ. He says, "They're all leading to the ultimate purpose, which is Christ." You see, God's choice of Israel was not an end in itself. It was a means to an end. The end purpose was not the blessing of Israel. The end purpose was that through them, the world might be blessed. Now, that's the way it was right from the very beginning. When God called Abraham in Genesis chapter 12:1-3, he said this, "I'll make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I'll make your name great. And you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you, I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Now, what was the object of what God said to Abraham? It's that all people of the earth will be blessed through you. That's the object. You will be a blessing, that's the object. What's the means? I'm going to make you into a great nation. I will bless you. But the purpose in blessing you is that you might become the means of blessing the world ultimately by the coming of Christ to the nation of Israel. That's why Jesus said in John 8:56, he said, "Your Father, Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day, he saw it and was glad." Why? Because Abraham understood that the whole point of my being set apart and a nation coming from my body is that one day God will send his Messiah. That's the whole point.
Abraham said, Jesus had seen him right from the very beginning. Let me read you a very important verse in this regard. It's a crucial verse. It's Galatians 3:16. Paul says, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed," singular. To his seed. Paul goes on to say, "The scripture does not say, and to seeds," meaning many people, but, "And to your seed," meaning one person who is Christ. Now says Paul, the promises that God made to Abraham were not to all his descendants' seeds, but to his seed, his one descendant Christ.
That's why Matthew opens the New Testament in Matthew 1:1 by saying, "This is a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham." By the way, Matthew was written specifically to the Jewish people. He's saying, I want you to know that everything you heard about the son of Abraham, this is the son of Abraham, the seed of Abraham. It's Christ. Let me illustrate this, just supposing I wanted to travel to England. I was to fly from Toronto to London, and I chose air Canada as the means of getting to London, England.
If Air Canada is my chosen airline, then several things follow. It means that my whole visit to London is going to be tied into the wellbeing of Air Canada. If Air Canada become grounded, I'm grounded. If they go on strike, I'm not able to get there. If they become bankrupt, I'm affected. If somebody wants to prevent me getting to London, the best thing to do is to try and mess up Air Canada because they're going to be my means of getting there. Secondly, that means I'm subject to their timetable, to their aircraft because I've chosen to travel with them. So Air Canada plays a key role in my plans, but my goal is not about Air Canada. My goal is about getting to London. Air Canada is the means, the conduit by which I'm going to get to London. Now in the same way, Israel is not the end purpose of God's plan, they are the means to the end.
Now, there were enormous blessings and privileges that belonged to Israel in the process. But those privileges were all subject to the purpose. The purpose was blessing the world. You see, God blessing the world and blessing Gentiles was not an afterthought. Jesus did not start something new. He simply fulfilled what the nation of Israel had been prepared for with all the covenants and all the regulations that God had given to them. If you're not sure, read the book of Hebrews sometime. That's what that book is about. One of the saddest versus in the Bible is John 1:11, where it says, "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." Because the people chosen as the means, the conduit for God's purposes in the world saw themselves as the end purpose itself. As a result, they missed the whole point.
Now, let me just say at this point because I want to be relevant in what I say to you this morning. That this trap, this danger, this diversion remains possible to the church of Jesus Christ too. You see, there are differences; salvation is an end in itself. We are the benefits of Christ's work, of God's ultimate purpose. We've celebrated in communion the death and resurrection of Christ, which saves us. That is an end purpose in itself. But there is more than simply that. We're not just Christians for our own benefits. We're also Christians in order that we might become instruments of God in the world. That's why Romans 12 begins, as we'll see in a few weeks’ time, "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices."
Why? Because this is the consequence now of being a Christian. The last five chapters of Romans are explanations of how we are to be different and to make a difference in our world, how we're to minister to the world, to be the channel by which God touches the world. Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt primarily in those days was used to prevent decay and rotting food and meat in particular. He's saying, "You are the salt of the earth. You have the function of halting the process of decay that's taking place in our world." He says, "You are the light of the world." The world is in darkness, Jesus had explained, and you are the light. You're the ones when I switch you on that make a difference in the world in which you live. After his resurrection, Jesus said just disciples, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
That having become disciples, having become Christians, wonderful as that is, now here's the responsibility, to be a channel for God in the world. The very last words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 before he ascended to his father was, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and until the ends of the earth." Now, this is why we're left here on earth. Some have sometimes said, "Well, why doesn't God just take us to heaven when we become Christians and get out of all the mess and all the hassle of this life?" Because God's purpose for you and for me is that now you're in Christ. We become a channel through which the world is going to be reached, and the world is going to be blessed. That's why this church is an evangelistic church. It's a mission-orientated church. That's why right now, we have a team of 31 students from the students and staff from the high school here, People's Christian Academy in West Africa.
They arrived in Dakar, Senegal last night. They're going to be spending the next couple of weeks, 24 students, seven teachers ministering, seeking to bring God's love and blessing to other people. That's why we sent a team to Uganda a few weeks ago of nearly 30 people, because this is our responsibility now. This is not just an option. Well, it'll be nice to go to Uganda for a few weeks. Let's do that. It's because we have an obligation. We're saying, "God, how is it that we can be a channel of blessing in the world?" But it is easy to do exactly what the people of Israel did, and begin to consider God's working stops with me.
So we rejoice in our salvation. We're glad we're Christians. We're happy to be here every Sunday morning and to be involved in the services here, but we never ask the question. How is it that I am intended to make a difference in our world? We never ask God, "God, how can you use me?" You see in Romans 10:13-15, Paul talks about the process that takes place when someone becomes a Christian. Let me read it to you. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on the one they've not believed in? How can they believe in the one they've not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? How can they preach unless they're sent?" There are six links in a chain there.
People are saved when they call. They call when they believe. They believe when they hear. They hear when somebody preaches to them. They preach when they're sent. Now, you know that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. What is the weakest link in this chain? Well, sending us isn't the weakest link. We're being sent already. I suggest the weakest link is those who are sent, don't go.
Because they don't go and share the gospel, people don't hear. Because they don't hear, they can't believe. Because they can't believe, they don't call. Because they don't call, they're not saved. This is the tragedy that Paul laments amongst the Jewish people, that we equally lament amongst the church of God. Now, they'd lost the purpose.
Now, my first point is God's choice of Israel is about purpose, not privilege. My second point is that God's choice of Israel is about service, not salvation because having described the people of Israel as God's chosen people in Romans 10:1, Paul says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." Why? Because being chosen by God is not in relation to salvation. It's in relation to serving God's purposes. Israel did serve God's purposes, but they were missing the issue of salvation.
Let me talk just for a few moments about the biblical doctrine of election. Now this is a hot potato, so you can't talk about it in a few moments adequately. But let me put this section into its context. There are six categories of people in the Bible described as being chosen by God. Israel is the first, and there are many references to that. Isaiah 45:4, speaks of Israel, "my chosen". Then secondly, there is a remnant within Israel. Romans 11 speaks about that. There's a remnant chosen by grace because many of the Israelites have turned away from God. In fact, what we know today as Israel is only two and a half of the 12 tribes, nine and a half of the 12 tribes of Israel had been lost, taken off into Assyrian captivity, intermingled, and intermarried, and lost their identity. But there's a remnant chosen by grace.
So that's the second category. Then Jesus speaks of his 12 apostles as being chosen. It says on Luke 6, he called his disciples to him and he chose 12 of them whom he designated apostles. They were chosen by him. Then there are certain angels, fourthly, who are described as being elect angels in 1 Timothy 5:21. We don't know too much about who those elect angels are or why they're classified as such. The fifth category is Christ. In the Old Testament, he's spoken of, "My chosen one in whom I delight." At the mount of transfiguration, the Father said of Jesus, "This is my son whom I've chosen."
Then sixthly, there is the church or Christians. There are 11 references in the New Testament to Christians being chosen. Now for a moment, leave aside the church and look at the first five. It is very evident that being chosen is not about salvation. It's about service. We've already commented on that in regard to Israel and the remnant within Israel. As far as the 12 disciples are concerned, on another occasion, Jesus said, "You did not choose me. I have chosen you. One of you is a devil." Judas Iscariot.
When it speaks of the angels being chosen, we don't know what is meant by that specifically. When it speaks of Christ being chosen, it's not about salvation of course. It's Christ as God's chosen channel, means of working in the world. If that's what it means to be chosen, to be elect, I suggest to you that equally that is what it means for the church to be elect. You see, there are 11 references in the New Testament, and the central idea is about the fact we are chosen in Christ. Not chosen into Christ or chosen to be put into Christ. Now if somebody became a Jewish proselyte, they could become one of the chosen people. Ruth, for instance, in the Old Testament, was a Moabite. But she became a Jewish proselyte by marrying a Jew, man called Boaz, and became a Jew. Joshua in fact was not a Jew by birth, one of the great men of the Old Testament. But he became a Jew and entered into all the privileges and all the blessings and benefits of being a Jew.
Now, in the same way, when a person becomes a Christian, we become chosen in Christ. We become God's chosen means of working in the world, of accomplishing his business. Now, this idea of chosen, having to do with service, not salvation is evident here in Romans chapter nine as well because Paul talks about God choosing Jacob over Esau. Jacob, have I chosen, have I loved, Esau, have I hated? Now, it's not talking about their salvation in that context. But he's talking about the fact I chose Jacob to fulfill my particular purposes here. You see in verse 19, he says, "One of you will say to me," this is Romans 9:19, "Why does God still blame us? Who can resist his will? But who are you a man to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
He's not talking about salvation there. He's talking about being formed by God for a particular purpose. Romans 9:21 says, "Does not the potter have the right to make out the same lump of clay, some pottery for noble purposes, some for common use?" The potter can make out of clay, a pot that he can put on display in the house, and people come in and admire it. That's wonderful. Another pot that's hidden under the sink and used to clean up the mess with. Now he says, that's the prerogative of the potter. In the same way every one of us has been called by God to some particular purpose. Some of those purposes may seem more evident than other purposes, but none are more important than other purposes. You see, the Bible talks about the church being like a body. It's got members. Some are obvious, some are not.
Paul says, "The foot can't say to the hand, 'Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body.'" Because sometimes it looks a lot better being a hand than being a foot, especially when you're in a shoe all day, and it's hot down there and humid. You say, "If I was a hand, life would be so much better for me." The ear can't say to the eye, "Because I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body." I understand that too because the ear doesn't get anything like the attention the eye gets. People look you in the eye, they never look you in the ear. They comment on the color of your eyes, they never comment on the color of your ears. So the ear can say, "I'm not very important." Now, you see, within the church of Jesus Christ, we all have different gifts. We all have different callings. But every single one of us is equally significant because the body can't function without the foot says Paul. The body can't function without the ear very well.
In the same way, God has called each of us to some particular purpose. He's gifted us and equipped us for some particular purpose. Now there's no pecking order in this, though sometimes we have tended to think there is. We think if God calls you to be a missionary, boy, you must be up there somewhere. If God calls you to be an evangelist, man, you are something special. But if God calls you to be a bus driver, well, you're not up to very much. That is total nonsense. You see, God calls missionaries to be missionaries, bus drivers to be bus drivers, teachers to be teachers, garbage collectors to be garbage collectors, doctors to be doctors, full-time moms to be a full-time mom. He calls musicians to be musicians, students to be students, journalists to be journalists, retired people to be retired people. Is that a job? He calls even pastors to be pastors.
But don't get the idea that some of these people are better because they're more evident and more obvious. They're not. I know the pastoral team of this church, believe me, they're very ordinary. But there are some of us who think, "Well, I'm not called to be one of these kinds of people. Therefore, I'm down the league somewhere." But you see, you are called. You are chosen. Peter writing in his second epistle says, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and your election sure." He's already said to these people, "You are Christians." You read the earlier verses in 2 Peter chapter one. Now he says, "Make your election sure." That doesn't mean make your salvation sure. Make the reason, the purpose that God has saved you and left you here sure. Get on with the job he's given you to do.
You see, going back to Israel, they forgot to do that. They thought because I'm a Jew, I'm okay. So if my first point is God's choice of Israel is about purpose not privilege, secondly, God's choice of Israel is about service, not salvation. My third point is God's choice of Israel is about grace, not genetics. What do I mean by that? What I mean is this. It's not about who your father is that makes you a Jew, says Paul, it's about where your faith is. That's what makes you a Jew. Let me read you Paul's definition of an Israelite several times in Romans. Romans 9:6-8, "Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it's through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it's not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
In other words, you're incorporated into God's promises on the basis of your faith in Christ. Earlier in Romans 2:29, he says, "A man is not a Jew if he's only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly. And circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code." It's not physical circumcision. It is what he calls the circumcision of the heart, that your heart has been made right with God, not conformed to a physical covenant, but spiritually, you're right with God. He says, "That's what makes a Jew a Jew," says Paul there in Romans 2. These are not my opinions, by the way. It's what Paul is saying.
In Romans 4:16, he says, "Therefore, the promise comes by faith. So that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring. Not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all." The point I'm making is this, that the hereditary line is not through genetics, but it's through grace. Not based on your physical father, but based on your faith in God. It's sharing the faith of Abraham that makes us children of God.
You see, Jesus did not start something new, as I've already said, when he came into this world. He fulfilled what had been promised and prepared by God setting apart the people of Israel. It was a continuation of what God began when he said to Abraham, "All the nations will be blessed through you." This now is going to be the means. Now, there are some who see two parallel movements of God going simultaneously in the world. The church of Jesus Christ is one, and the nation of Israel is another. But the Bible is telling one story. This one story has one strand, it is one movement. It is Abraham to the patriarchs, to Israel, the nation, to Christ, to the church. All that God did in Israel leads to Christ.
If you want another verse for that, in 2 Corinthians 1:20. In this context, Paul says, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ." All God's promises focus on Christ. They come to Christ. And the church comes from Christ. And we are connected to one stream of history. Galatians 3:26 says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Therefore, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. For you are one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and you're heirs according to the promise."
If you belong to Christ, he says, you are the seed of Abraham because he had one seed, Christ. You're part of Christ now, and you become an inheritor of all the promises that he made. If you read Romans 11, he speaks of being grafted, the Gentiles being grafted into the same tree. The Jewish roots are in that tree, but we are grafted in. It's one tree. It's not two trees growing side by side. One tree is his illustration, and we're part of one work of God.
Now, on the other hand, if some people see two parallel movements, there are others who talk about replacement theology. By that they mean is that God is finished with Israel and replaces Israel with the church. But there's no replacement involved here. There is one continuing stream, Israel, Christ, the church. The roots are Israel. The substance is Christ, the branches are the church.
One leads to Christ, that's Israel's role. The other leads from Christ, but Christ is the pivot. That's why Paul says in Romans 10:12, "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all. And he richly blesses all who call on him." Now twice in Romans, Paul speaks of the gospel being to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. But the meaning of that is it's to the Jews first, historically not first in priority. Now, the Jews had prior access to salvation, but not that they had prior claim to salvation, but prior access. Historically, it came first to them.
It's been my privilege on a number of occasions to preach amongst the messianic churches in Israel. I have a great love for those people. In fact, just before I came here 18 months ago to begin my ministry here at the People's Church, I spoke at a Jewish Youth Conference in Jerusalem. They told me it was probably the largest Christian youth conference ever to have been held in Jerusalem attended by Jewish people. Marvelous what God is doing there.
In fact, in the last two weeks, I received an invitation to go and preach at a similar conference in Jerusalem in 2004 because so much is going on there. We rejoice in all that God is doing. I have a great personal interest in what God is doing amongst the people of Israel. My father's mother's mother's mother, I think that's right, was a Jew. Now, Jews trace their ancestry through the mother. So my father, whose mother's mother's mother was a Jew, would've had the right of return to Israel had he chosen to take that right of return.
Now I don't have that right because my mother is not a Jew. They say it's easier to trace who your mother is than who your father is. Well, now through DNA, of course, it's easy to trace your father as well. But I grew up in a home where we were very interested in the Jewish people, where every book and magazine about the Jewish people usually came to our home.
My father was ... I nearly said obsessed. That's not the right word. Taken up with this issue, concerned about it. It's a practical thing that I want to leave with you this morning is that the trap into which the people of Israel fell. I think this is why Paul is talking about this here in Romans 9 to 11, is a trap that we can fall into very easily. Where we miss the purpose of being chosen by God as his instruments in our world, and instead we sit back and say, "I'm chosen by God. Aren't I lucky? Aren't I privileged? God, I thank you I'm not like the people across the road who are not."
That is the total opposite of what it's intended to do, to make us servants. I want to ask you this morning, are you finding out your personal role in God's plan? Are you making it your business to be on God's agenda? Not as a prayer you pray once. But every day, you're saying, "Lord, what is it today you want to do with me and through me?" Are we exercising the faith of Abraham, which is the hallmark that makes us the people of God. The faith of Abraham was not just a passive faith. Well, yes, I believe. It was an active stepping out in obedience because he believed. Letting God be God and do things that otherwise would never have been done. That's the New Testament idea of what a Christian ought to be.
I'll tell you why, this is God's strategy in human history. God's strategy in human history is to pick people, choose people, equip them, gift them and send them to be his channel for blessing in the world. That remains your responsibility and my responsibility, if you're a Christian this morning. Not to sit back simply as the recipients, but to see ourselves as the channel, the conduits, which God is going to bless our world, bless our city, bless your neighborhood, bless your neighbors. Let us say, "Lord, what do you want to do through me?"