Children of the Promise
It's speakers. Yeah, they're not turned off yet so you can just track this via headphones.
Morning. Listen to The Book of Romans chapter 9.
Read, read from versus 6.
Romans 9 verse 6. In the Bible, says the word of God has taken effect today. I know it's always real with y'all because they are the Seed of Abraham and the old children putting Isaac to be cold. That is they, which is a children of the flash. These are not the children of God, but the children of the promise, accounted for the sea. For This Is The Word of Promise. At this time, when I come instead of Father, Isaac for the children being not yet, born, neither having doing any good or evil for the purpose of God. According to election might stand in the corner, It was said into her, the Elder Joseph, the younger, as it is written. Jacob, have I loved but Esau have I hated
maybe you've met someone who was so full of their own narrative, which was actually them believing a lie that when you came to announce to them reality, It was like talking to a brick wall. Maybe it's maybe it's a child who's got something on his or her mind or they they want something so badly and it's almost like there's just there's no other reality. I want that thing. Well that's not just limited to Children. I'll have you know as well and that we have it doesn't take more than just looking on the news to find out about people who are living in a virtual world which is not the truth. It's completely faults and to just speak to someone like that. Is it really? Because they're still not reality. And yet, it doesn't seem like there's a power in the world that can change their mind know, maybe that seems like a, a scenario that's for in maybe you think we'll ever really know anyone like that. I can almost guarantee you have, you have met someone like that before and it's someone who is so stuck on the narrative. That I can be good without God. I don't need God in my life. I can I can I can be good. I can be kind, I can be all that you want to be but actually I don't need a relationship with God. I don't even need to believe in God. Maybe you've met someone like that. In fact, they're doing so many things are so busy, and they've got so much noise and chaos and their hearts. That they deliberately drown out the truth. Maybe you have approached someone with a gospel tract or even a church flyer. I did this last week, I was wanting to see if some of our Flyers. I've been delivered to some addresses and I asked him, have you seen this flyer before? And he said, no 99.9% sure I've not seen this player. I said, okay, could I give you one? He said, no, we're not interested at all. You're not interested, maybe met someone like that. Who just the noise in their heart? They don't even want to contemplate anything relating to God. Well, that's where we find the people of Israel in chapter 9, there in a place where chapter 9 really outlines Israel's history, chapter 10 outline Israel's present and chapter 11, outlines Israel's future. So, past present and future of Israel, chapters 9, 10 11, But when, but when we pick up in verse 6, we find that there is a complete ignorance, believing a false narrative about themselves and it's so totally not true. If if we will think about what happened in chapters 1 through 4, maybe not being with us for the full Roman series, we're going to fly through chapters 1. Through 8 in about 20 seconds here, just buckle up stay with me two chapters, 1 through 4 Wii U work before Christ chapter 5 pivots and says, look it's about to come who you are in Christ. Chapter 6. 7. 8 says this is who you are in Christ chapter 8. Ending with nothing can separate you from the love of God. There you go, eight chapters of Romans in 20 seconds. So now we get to chapter 9 and another pit it and he said it looked in in verses 1 through 5. But look Israel, Israel someone really special. There are people group that's incredibly special. They've got all these benefits that come in a ceremony of God. The connection to God, they've got the blessings of God. They even have the Messiah coming through them. I can't get any better than that. Thank God, the sun coming through your own lineage, and it's through that amazing connection to God away and became a useless connection to them. That's, that's where we were last week. Now, this week. I really want to point out that even though Israel as a nation as an ethnic group threw away, the promises of God God's not done with them yet because God's in charge he is Sovereign. And if you don't get anything else this morning get this as your big take away that if God is perfectly dependable and controlling Israel's future and he is then he is perfectly dependable and controlling your future for his glory and you are good. God has his own glory and the good of Israel on his heart and he does for you as well. Despite Israel's failing all proceed to use a few examples to prove this sovereignty and, and his unmerited, grace towards Israel. And we need to take it as a lesson to ourselves that God gave us his grace Ephesians 2:8. It Is by Grace, you have been saved through faith, Grace, unmerited, favor friend, as good as you make me feel to be of yourself first, cuz I may feel to be at myself. I don't Merit God's favor at all. You don't either. But God loves you because he made, you hit your Creator and he wants to give you his favor. That's a merited no matter who you are from the axe murderer to the lovely old lady lives down the street. God wants God, gave his grace to the entire world were all standing and send all in need to be forgiven except those who personally trusted in Jesus Christ. As Savior, I'm 43. When I was 9 years old, I place my faith in Jesus Christ as my savior and I haven't looked back. I've had a few wobbles for sure, but I've never had any regrets because of that. The Jewish mind might think that despite all of these promises that God gives Israel, that because Israel wasn't currently experiencing all the blessings of of God that God's word somehow had failed. Fair enough. It's it's easy to to think how they would logically come to that conclusion. But Paul says in verse number 6, not as though the word of God has taken. None effect is not as though, God's word is spelled. Israel, simply lacked Faith. God's word hadn't failed. They lacked saving Faith. Israel was going and is going to have a certain future because the Lord has deemed it. So don't go throwing away this incredible Heritage from God, it's not as though. The word of God has failed. What's the word of God meant to do? We can say that God's word has two superpowers. I want to be careful, not to be sacrilegious. Put those words has two superpowers. It does something that's really amazing. And something that's awfully what I want. It's it's it's very melancholy and then it cleanses us. That's the really amazing. Super power of God's word, invictus of our sin and then cleanses us when we repent of our sin. That's the wonderful bit. But then when a person rejects the word of God, then the word of God, not only convince the person, it crushes them. It has that effect. God's word says, it's not my word, like a fire isn't my word like a hammer. It will break in pieces. Those who are proud of. Those are shake the proverbial fist at God, but those who found the knee in humility actually does the opposite. Those who humble themselves before God, he lifts them up those who who trusted in Christ as Savior become princes and princesses with God, Children of the king. Wow, that's an amazing Heritage. God's given to us, we understand this, this effect of the word of God and our local and National governments We've grown to expect it of our government's but many people live. A false narrative and don't expect it of God. What is this narrative? The Narrative? Yes, we expect the government to put down all rebellion and quell uprisings. That would be a threat to human dignity, that would be a threat to human Freedom. That would be a human threat to human health and safety. We expect our government to do that for us. Do we not We expect the government the word of the government as we should say to to protect the innocent and Crush those who would want to take the rights and the dignity, and even the lives of the innocent expect the government to do, both of those things to really help those who are humble and to put put down, those who would be violence. We expect that. Why? Then do we not expect that of the almighty God who put governments into place, we should expect that of him. God's governing word is no different. But with this one, exception is final and it's Universal. We all fall under his jurisdiction, all under his control and begin to explain that Israel is a typology for a believer.
Israel is a stereotype for a Believer. Gentiles are stereotype for unbelievers.
A gentile. That's me to be called a gentile and some contacts in scripture is synonymous with being a heathen. Now, I'm not a heathen, I'm a born-again Christian, okay, so it's not always literal, it is metaphorical, it's a stereotype for an unbeliever so you're with me, right? Israel is a type of believer Gentiles as it type unbeliever. And then he goes and verse number 6 that says, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. In other words, not all who descended from Israel belong to Israel. Initially, that doesn't make sense until you understand the typology? First number 7 says that not all of the children of Abraham but through Isaac your Offspring will be names. Do Isaac, your Offspring will be named in Isaac, shall I? See if he called that points back to an account in Genesis? Doesn't it? Abraham had his son Isaac, but it didn't start out like that. Did it, it started out a bit, shall we say Grimm? So Abraham and Isaac there struggling with infertility. It's a struggle that many couples even today struggle with they could not have children of their own and that off and hits the wife heavier than those hit the husband. It has some both hard, but often his wife, emotionally heavier, than the husband and stares beside yourself. I don't blame her at all for that. And now she's she's approaching 90 years old and most of us would stick her hands in her pockets and say yeah. Okay. Just, you need to kind of big stuff. That's right. You need except this reality, you're not going to have children and Abraham's a bit older by a decade and but then God comes to them and says, look I've seen your faithfulness. I'm going to give you a child and a year's time. And what does Sarah do? She laughed in her heart, not out loud, but she laughed in her heart. And God says, hey look is still going to come to pass because I'm The Sovereign Lord. I'm going to make it happen so a month goes my no children, 2 months ago goes by okay, three months goes by Write, this is awkward. Got it said we're going to have children. We rolled we got her hopes up. Why do we get our hopes up for old? This is
and then, Sarah. I did this for the sake of the children here, not to be too silly. There is here and she starts scheming. Abraham. He's just a typical guy just a bit confused. And he's he's wondering. What are you? What are you doing here? And Sarah's thinking I can make this happen. Abraham. I've got a brilliant idea. You're going to love it. You go take our, our slave lady and have a child with her. Her name is Hagar and then that's how God promises going to come about in this great. She's a child. This is what God must have meant. Did God say that?
What he did was what Abraham Wanda doing. Was he made a really really bad situation. In fact scriptures don't mention it here, but if you go back to Genesis, you'll find that Abraham married, someone else again. To actually three wives is a polygamist, don't recommend that. And he had six children. So he's got seven children. Not fight, Sarah. Until what this did to their marriage. I just just wanted to stop in and go on a a Sanctified Rabbit Hole here. Okay. What this did to their marriage. What did God say that? God that marriage ought to be Genesis chapter 2. I believe it was Genesis chapter 3. What would God has put together? You know, when husband cleave to his wife, leave his family, they two shall cleave together. And what I've done is you can tell this is clearly two pieces of paper glued together right here. Like the magic trick had about a year ago. I don't know if that went very well but there's no magic tricks you. Okay, so God has has found the husband and wife together. Compliments of a prince stick in this case and let it show. What what Abraham did by going along with Sarah's plan, Sarah. Delegitimize adultery. That's what she did. She said? Yeah, you go ahead and do that. Until what they did was, they tried their hardest to make God's plan happen. Hang on.
They tried to break the marriage together apart and and kind of put it in three pieces. And you know what things weren't quite the same where they got the glue that holds marriage together and yes, things can be patched up and take back together. God is a god of Grace. I can't do that with a piece of paper. But you know what happened in their family. Abraham new, we epically messed up. What was Sarah's reaction once fish? Mia was born of Hagar, she was not happy like you promised. No, she was angry. She says Hagar get lost. Get out of here.
No, God did still look after Hagar and Ishmael, but God says Abraham and Sarah. This is not the child of Promise. It's mail is not the problem is, he's the firstborn, but it doesn't get all the rights and privileges of the firstborn. I don't recognize him as the firstborn. The one whom I promised, he's the child of Promise who is the one, he promised Isaac. And then offspring of him of Isaac was Esau and Jacob Two Brothers twins born at the same time through, Isaac's wife, Rebecca. So you got one who's is born first? Obviously, usually twins are born within seconds or minutes of each other sometimes hours but usually the same day and and so Isaac is born first. But God says look I have not chosen him. I've chosen the second one was literally two generations in a row. God says, I'm going to choose the one you didn't think I would choose. God's sovereignty in the whole thing. God is in charge is Dependable. He's a faithful, Covenant promise, keeping God. That's our God is the same yesterday and today and forever. Inverse number 8 of Romans chapter 9. I'm sorry. Let list the skip 22 verse number 9 for This Is The Word of Promise at this time. Will I come and stare? I shall have a Sunburst 10 not only this but even Rebecca also have conceived by 18. Father, Isaac, verse 12, the elders Shall Serve the younger that may not ruffle your feathers very much, but an ancient near Eastern times that would ruffle a few feathers, the oldest child, the younger. No, no, no, no, no, this is the wrong order. They had a very strict, cultural, and ethnic order of things. The Elder did not serve the younger, all the rest of the family. So the older one, that all the family served, the older, one of the family, he even get the Lion's Share of the inheritance. Is not 50-50. If there's two brothers, it's not 33 3333. I know it's only rock 1599, but for three siblings is not that way. Like we would think like when you're drafting a whale or something like that, I want the child to have this percentage and I'm not playing favorite. It was playing favorites. The older. The oldest one, got all the stuff and the younger ones is got a bit of stuff, it was just token. And so God flip-flops to Generations around and says only the children of Promise are counted. As a children babraham that is the children of God. What does Isaac represent considered verse 9? He's the promise of a child in Old English. Isaac was God's way but Abraham and Sarah profoundly messed up with Hagar and Keturah since Jacob who became known as Israel is The Offspring of the child of Promise. Isaac, he serves as a model for becoming the child of God, to all who come to God and God's way by faith, they are his children, we are all God's. Children is a false narrative, is a narrative of humanity and it flies in the face of John 1:12, but as many as received him Jesus to them, he gave power to become the sons of God, the daughters of God, even to those who believe on his name. So we must believe and receive him. Repent of our sin. In that God's way was Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, he became Israel. That was God's way because from his offspring, the Messiah would come in. All kinds of blessings. Abraham's way was Ishmael, and then Arab population, and they were Gentiles needing a messiah. The other line was, was Jews who had a messiah. So, I'm in the same boat as the Arab population. Gentile needing a messiah versus 11:49. God chose the one. He wanted the children not being, not yet. Born speaking of Esau and Jacob neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God. And the elect to election might stand not of works. But if he calls it is God. Who calls people to himself? Jesus said in John chapter 6, no man comes to the father except he be drawn. And then, skip ahead 6 chapters and John chapter 12, and I Jesus speaking, and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me. So what I did was, he says, no one comes to the spirit unless he's drawn but I couldn't do it for everybody. I choose everybody. First 13 is is one that we would stumble if it weren't for an explanation. This is probably is one of the harshest versus we've ever read out. In this church, I'm going to read it right now as it is written. Jacob, have I loved. Esau, I hated you think really in the face of all the love that God has got to love the world that he gave his only begotten, son, my father glorified that you have love for one. Another isn't got a god of love and yet right here is as I hated Esau Until you realize that Esau is a type of people from Esau can the edomites know a bit of History here. The edomites were people Savages real throughout history. Now the hate here is not how you and I think of emotional may be passive aggressive urges outwardly aggressive or violent towards someone else. That's not the hate being spoken up. Here, it means I have rejected him from being the line of the messiah. Messiah. Could only come from one line. If you still don't believe me, there are other passages, Luke 14:6. Jesus said that if you do not hate your father and your mother, and your brothers and your sister and your wife own life, for my sake, you cannot be my disciple. What? This is getting weirder and weirder, hey everybody, what, what kind of generation Christians that if you take it on surface level, but it's not surface-level. Jesus literally means to love less if you're taking those. Write that down hate equals love less. Do I love my own family? My own wife less than I love Jesus Christ. Yes, I do. But it doesn't mean I have disliked or Discord towards my family and Unlike many families that I actually do get on with all of my family members no animosity and my family a very blessed and I'm not boasting but I am very blessed. I get on with everyone in my family, no matter what their stripe. There's there's a few stripes.
But I love them less than a love Jesus, and that is literally what it means. I would actually choose to reject their way of thinking. And even my own family. Also, if it meant that I had to pick between them and Jesus, they didn't save me from my sin, I will not answer to them at the judgement seat of Christ. Jesus save me, I will answer to him and all of eternity but please get this. It doesn't mean that I have any dislike or unloving attitude towards my family. I love them. Some of them are save, some of them are not, I love them equally. I want the ones who saved the girl in Christ. I want the ones who are unsafe to come to Christ. Jacob. I have loved Esau. Have I hated is a simple. Phrase. Which means he's always rejected from being the child of Promise. He would bring forth the Messiah. I've got so much more than I prepared to bring this morning. But for sake of time, I can't and it's it's hard to digest this word called hate and you look it up and just about any version of the Bible, and it will say the word hate. Even though we're it's hard to process do not mean that God just like you were inherently hate people. We still struggle with it. Last Sunday though, remember that phrase God loves The Sinner but hates the sin that condemns The Sinner Is hard for us to get our heads around someone hating something that we do. And not hating us ourselves. We tend to take offense at that, you're hating when I do there for you hate me. That's that's the immediately pelagic, that we take But would you hate the violence that say your child got into it when they got into a gang? Would you hate the violence and still want them to come back to their senses? Of course, you would, would you hate the things that they do? That are going to destroy them? Of course you do, but it doesn't mean you hate them. As the person, the same is true of God. And the only way to get your head around that, to get your life around, that is to come into the presence of God and understand that God's choosing of Isaac, and Jacob, his son and the whole nation of Israel meant that Israel. Had a holy and solemn duty to show the world. Who got is you have that Duty as well? So do I was meant to show God's holiness for the world. What did Israel start doing at the bottom of Mount Sinai? Start worshipping Idols. What did Aaron said? Well the golden calf just appeared. Very funny didn't have CGI back then but it still made like it happened. Like that. They're meant to show the world God's holiness, they dropped the ball, they're they're meant to show God and God's fairness to people around. Why do you think God sent spies into Jericho beforehand? Because God knew that there was someone in that City who is going to repent of her sin and Trust Jehovah. God is our savior and her name was Rahab and there are other Gentiles like Ruth they came to know God is savior, has a fair God. They were meant to show that to the world. They're meant to show the world God's generosity. They're meant to show the world God's covenants. In the fact that he keeps his promises are meant to show the world God's faithfulness. And last but not least, there's plenty other facets of God that they needed to show the world. They needed to show the world God's charity and his love. What was Israel's attitude meant to be for the foreigners who had joined them in the Promised Land? It was meant to not push them aside and ignore them, they were actually meant to provide for them, especially the ones that they made a league with their meant to show God's charity and love despite the Brokenness of humanity. What does this, what does all this mean to us? What's the big takeaway that God is an infinitely Dependable, God? And even though Humanity make some pretty awful failings and it's a big-time roller coaster, if you just look at Humanity, but if you look to a faithful God, you will see a completely different, but completely different picture, a picture of a God, you can depend upon no matter what your feelings are. You might think look, I have failed God. And this way, that way, that way and other ways that I can't even remember. How could God possibly love me. Look, he hates that which would destroy me, but he still loves the real. You, the pain that makes you. You you mind, you will your emotions and you can depend upon God, no matter what, others feelings are in your life. Maybe someone has done something to you. God is still faithful even when humanity is unfaithful. We're going to look more into this next week and start expanded even more with the verses that that following several analogies that God brings up from the Old Testament. But take this away this morning God a faithful God so faithful that 2000 years ago he sent his one and only son to die on an Old Rugged Cross said that you the guilty might go free so that I think guilty rotten Center could go free. Have my, my name made right with God, my sin, cleansed away. The same is true for all who place their trust in him. He is such a faithful. God, let's pray. Father in heaven, we come before you. Thank you so much for being an amazingly faithful. God, despite all the blessings that you've given to us and even gave his real. They fail. You, we fail you at times, the Lord remains faithful, you never fail. Steven wants. Thank you so much for the gift of eternal life that never ever fails. When you said everlasting life God, you meant it everlasting life that starts now and goes on for eternity. Thank you, God, it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
