God's Divine Plan, Part 3 (3)
Notes
Transcript
God’s Faithfulness and Wisdom
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at how we can know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He is faithful, and has always had a wonderful plan to bring salvation to us.
In considering whether nothing can truly separate us, Paul addresses the issue of Israel, who it seems at the present time, has been separated from God’s love.
As we started Romans 11, we saw Paul ask and answer the question of whether God has rejected Israel.
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am 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 what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
Has God rejected Israel? No, a Remnant
Has God rejected Israel? No, a Remnant
In the past and present God worked with Israel, always keeping a remnant for Himself.
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
Has God rejected Israel? No, God is working with the Gentiles to make them Envious
Has God rejected Israel? No, God is working with the Gentiles to make them Envious
There is an upside during this time of God setting them aside as a people group.
And not only does the Spirit, through Paul, let us know that God has not rejected Israel, and that they have not completely fallen beyond recovery, He gives us a glimpse into the fact that God will restore Israel in the future!
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Has God rejected Israel? A future restoration
Has God rejected Israel? A future restoration
Ezekiel 37 we saw the dry bones becoming alive again.
Warning: Do be Prideful
Warning: Do be Prideful
do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.
And that brings us to the passage for today.
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,
and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,
Has God rejected Israel? Until the Full Number of Gentiles
Has God rejected Israel? Until the Full Number of Gentiles
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
Has God rejected Israel? All Israel will be saved!
Has God rejected Israel? All Israel will be saved!
what does this mean? At some point in the future, after the time of the Gentiles which God has set and determined, God will work with Israel again, and instead of a remnant, the people will be saved.
What does that look like?
The Spirit through Paul reminds of us Isaiah 59.20-21
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.
“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
Repent...
Jacob...
Ezekiel showed that it would be the descendants of Jacob God restores.
The word of the Lord came to me:
“Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’
Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
“When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’
say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’
Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on
and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.
I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
When will this happen?
On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
nations against Israel, Jesus (the one they pierced) comes back and the people will see Him, and weep.
more detail in zech 14...
I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.
It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Jesus will conquer the nations and become King over the whole earth.
I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you.
As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord.
I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Sheep and the goats… Matthew 25:31-46.
For those who go into the kingdom, God makes a new covenant, with Israel and Judah.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
This agrees with Deut 30.1-6
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,
and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
Has God rejected Israel? Loved on account of the Patriarchs
Has God rejected Israel? Loved on account of the Patriarchs
But the truth is, Israel is the people group, the descendants of Jacob who are blessed and loved on account of the patriarchs.
But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.
Has God rejected Israel? God’s Gifts and His Call are Irrevocable
Has God rejected Israel? God’s Gifts and His Call are Irrevocable
Gifts - gifts of grace… undeserved benefit
Irrevocable
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God’s Plan Summarized
God’s Plan Summarized
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Doxology
Doxology
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”