For the last three weeks, we have been working out an important question regarding God’s faithfulness to his promises. Can we have hope in God’s promises today when it seems as though God did not keep his promises to the nation of Israel? It has taken Paul three chapters to answer that question. He started by making sure that we understand that there is a difference between those who are naturally born as Israelites, and those who are the “children of promise”, or those who have the faith that Abraham had. Then, in chapter 10 he shows that Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has meant that the Gospel has gone out into all the world. Because God doesn’t save based on lineage, but based on faith, it means that anyone can be saved. God shows no partiality.
So now we come to his final thoughts on this question. In Romans 11, Paul gives a direct and clear answer to the question of God’s faithfulness to Israel. From this passage we see three points: The Graceful Remnant, the Grafted Nations, and the Greatness of God’s Plan.
First, let’s consider the graceful remnant from verses 1-10. Here, we find that Paul asks and answers the question we’ve all been wondering. Has God rejected his people? Paul’s answer: Absolutely not! To show that this is the case, he gives two examples as evidence. First, Paul himself serves as evidence that God hasn’t forsaken his people. He is a “Jew of Jews”, born to one of the wealthiest, most influential tribes. He was a zealous persecutor of the church, but at the height of his rebellion and spiritual blindness, Jesus Christ struck him blind so that he might see. Second, he gives an example from the OT. Remember the story of the prophet Elijah’s contest with the priests of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Elijah has this great showdown with the prophets of Baal, and God shows his power by burning up the sacrifice while the prophets of Baal have no ability to wake their god. Elijah then calls on the people of Israel to round up these false prophets and kill them. All seemed to be turning Elijah’s way, but then Queen Jezebel put a bounty on his head. He ran and hid himself in a cave. God came to him and asked why he was hiding, to which Elijah answered, “I’m the only faithful Israelite left.” God rebukes him and reveals that this whole time he has had 7000 men who have never bowed to Baal.” All along, God had a remnant. He didn’t need Elijah’s help. And God wasn’t scared off by Jezebel or intimidated by the prophets of Baal. God was going to accomplish his purposes in Israel, and he was going to keep his promises through that remnant.
You see, the purposes of God have always been to magnify his grace. So, he hardens the heart of the powerful. He makes foolish the knowledge of the wise. He confuses the plans of the boastful. But, he gives the kingdom to those who are poor and oppressed, he comforts those who mourn, and the meek inherit the earth. He doesn’t act based on our worthiness or reputation but based on his mercy and grace alone.
Next, let’s consider the grafted nations from verses 11-24. Now, Paul told us, in verses 1-10, that he has saved a remnant by grace, but the rest of Israel has been blinded so that they cannot see the Gospel. That raises an obvious question. Why is God, in large measure, keeping the Jews in darkness? Paul answers in verse 11: “through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles.” God has always had a plan of grace to redeem the whole world. In fact, you could picture that plan of grace like a tree, which is what Paul does in verse 16, when he says “if the root is holy, so are the branches.” The root of God’s plan of grace reaches all the way back to Genesis 3:15, where, in the midst of God’s curse on the serpent, he promises “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and hers, he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” This is a prophecy that there would be a man, born of a woman, who would crush the rule of Satan. That root extends into branches through Seth, as it says in Genesis 4:26 that in his day people began to call upon the name of the Lord. There were times when it seemed that the tree of grace would not grow at all, like when God chose to judge the world with a flood. But even then, God’s grace extended to Noah. The tree also seemed hopeless when the nations gathered of the plain of Shinar to build a tower for themselves. But even as God scattered the nations and gave them over to their own idolatry, he called one man named Abram. He promised Abram that even though the world was scattered and set against God, he would bless him and make him into a great nation, and through him, he would bring blessings to the whole world. Through fits and starts, the tree of God’s grace kept growing through Isaac, Jacob, and then the twelve tribes of Israel. Even though great nations like Egypt would try to prevent it, it would still grow. Even when the pagan nations of Canaan would resist them, it would still grow. Even when the nation was split in two, and the people turned to other gods, the tree of God’s grace would continue. Branches would be cut off as the northern ten tribes were taken into captivity by Assyria, and even the great city of Jerusalem would be conquered by the Babylonians.
Israel would be traded like livestock, from Babylon to Persia to Greece, and then to Roman rule. Anyone who looked upon God’s tree of grace in that moment might wonder what, if anything, God could be thinking. But then, a little baby would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He would be born to descendants of David, the son of Jesse. In that little baby Jesus was the promise of grace, for Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 11:1 – “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” Further down, in verse 10, Isaiah promises, “In that day the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire.” So, when his parents bring Jesus to the temple to be dedicated, the old man Simeon sees him for who he is and proclaims “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Yes, Jesus was rejected by his own people because that was the very plan of God’s grace. Through Israel’s rejection, Jesus was crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Through Israel’s rejection, the church was scattered out into the world, taking the Gospel with them. So, Paul says, now is the age of the Gentiles, when God’s promise to Abraham of a blessing for the whole world is being fulfilled. People from every tribe and language and race are being grafted into this great tree of God’s grace.
And yet, there is a continued hope for Israel, which brings me to my final point: the greatness of God’s plan. In verses 25-36, Paul turns back to the question of Israel’s final salvation, and makes a prophetic statement: “A partial hardening has come to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all of Israel will be saved.” So, we are living in the age of the Gentiles when God is expanding this great tree of grace throughout all the world. And he has a plan for when that work will be complete. When it is, Paul promises that all of Israel will be saved.
Some hold that this means that God will save the nation of Israel by some other means other than the Gospel. In other words, there is one way of salvation for the Jews and another way for the Gentiles. But Paul has already said three times in the last three chapters that the Jews are rejected because they do not believe. Understand, there is only one way of salvation for both Jew and Gentile, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. So, what I think Paul means here is that there will be a day when God will lift that veil over the eyes of the Jewish people, and they will clearly see the Gospel and turn to Christ in faith by the millions.
When will that be? I don’t know. But I do know that God’s plan is right and good, even though I don’t understand it all. And that’s exactly how Paul ends his answer to the question of God’s faithfulness. In verses 33 – 36, Paul gives a beautiful doxology of praise. He makes two statements about God here that we cannot miss. First, he states that God’s wisdom and knowledge are far beyond anything we could ever understand. There is no one who can be God’s counselor. There is no one who can obligate God so that he somehow owes them. Second, God is the end of all things. Verse 36 says “from him and through him and to him are all things.” Everything comes from God. Your life. Your purpose. Your salvation. And, everything is empowered through God. God sustains all things. The reason you are breathing at this very moment is because of God’s activity in this world. And, everything is made for his glory. The Jews exist for the glory of God. The Gentiles exist for the glory of God. You exist for the glory of God. And he will have his glory in this world and in you.
Brothers and sisters, God’s grace has shown down through the ages and it has shown into our hearts so that we might know our purpose and have salvation. Our right response to that is praise. Our right response to that is to worship him with all that we are. May we leave this place ready to do that very thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment