Promise Fulfilled
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Twice this past week, I was in conversations where we started talking about phrases we use that, when translated literally into other languages, or used in other cultures, simply don’t make sense.
In one of these conversations, I was struggling to think of an example, so I just said “I can’t think of one off the top of my head”. And then realized…that’s one right there: “off the top of my head”. We know what that means, but someone from another culture, another language is thinking: What does he have on top of his head, and what does it have to do with this conversation?”
One of these phrases that has come to mind this week, I’m sure you’ve at least heard it, or even used it: “I bit off more than I could chew.” When you take something on, only to realize it’s much bigger than you imagined…and pretty soon you realize you might not actually have what it takes to deal with it effectively.
This past Monday as I jumped into studying for this morning’s sermon, I began wondering why in the world I set up the series the way I did, pinpointing this particular moment in the history of God’s people to unpack. And…to be honest, I was tempted to adjust…I mean, I’m the one that developed the series, so I could change it if I wanted…and nobody would know! Or at least very few people would know…
But I’ve started to learn that often when I don’t want to preach something because I feel uncomfortable with the topic, or inadequate to address it…I probably should. And over the past 15 1/2 months that I’ve been here at MPAC, we’ve looked at some difficult topics together. And I’ve been so encouraged by the attitude and desire we have had to tackle these things with grace towards one another, with a conviction that if the Bible teaches it, then we need to obey it, and with a complete trust that the Spirit of God is leading and guiding us.
So, this morning, we are tackling a topic that I would say was me, in my own strength and understanding, biting off more than I could chew. But thankfully, it’s not up to my strength and understanding. This morning, we are tackling a topic that, due to certain world events that have transpired over the last, roughly, year and half, is on the forefront of a lot of people’s minds, Christian’s included, and for some especially.
To prevent suspense from building too much, I’ll just say what events I’m referring to: Israel and the conflict happening in that part of the world. What we are going to be upacking this morning has (or should have) a signficant impact on how we view these events. And I understand that in a room this size, we are going to have people who have vastly different beliefs on this topic.
So here’s what I want to do this morning: We aren’t going to direclty engage with the events of the past year and a half. We aren’t, this morning, going to tackle the question of: How do we apply biblical teaching to our response and engagement with these current events. What we are going to do, hopefully, is build a biblical foundation upon which we can then engage in these conversations. To hopefully begin building a solid theological framework around this in order to help facilitate these conversation.
Theology matters. Whether we admit it or not, our theology (no matter how intentional or how well it has been developed) shapes how we approach, discuss, and draw conclusions regarding what’s happening in the world around us (whether that’s our personal lives, or events around the globe).
And as those who follow Christ, who are His ambassidors in this world, called to preach the Gospel, live the Gospel, there is a certain level of responsibility that we are engaging in these things well. Not perfectly, not being experts on everything, but doing all the we can to allow the truth of God’s Word to shape our thinking and engagement.
Let’s pray before we jump in this morning.
PRAY
Receiving the Promised Land
Receiving the Promised Land
If you have your Bible with you, I invite you to turn with me to Joshua 21, we’ll be starting in verse 43. We’re going to be in a lot of places this morning, so to help, you have those cheat sheets to take with you, and I’ve tried hard to make sure that they’re all on the screen. Last week, we journeyed with the people of Israel as their new Leader, Joshua, led them into the Promised Land, encountering the Commander of the LORD’s army who led them in victory over Jericho.
And as the book of Joshua continues, leads them in total victory over the nations who inhabited the land. Chapters 7-12 recounts these victories, and the LORD’s continued provision for His people (in one battle, even causing the Sun to stand still in the sky).
Chapter 13, there are still some areas to be conquered, still some nations that they will need to address, but they’ve made it to the point where, in the second half of chapter 13 through chapter 21, the land is allotted to each of the tribes of Isreal.
And then we read this in verses 43-45…
READ Joshua 21:43-45
God is faithful. He keeps His promises. Not ONE WORD of all the good promises that the LORD had made…had failed; all came to pass.
We honestly, could just stop right there this morning and ask ourselves: Do we trust this? Do you trust this? Do you trust that not a single word of the good promises the Lord has made will fail?
The nation of Israel has finally, after centuries of waiting, come to experience the promise first given to their forefather, Abraham.
But as they come to inhabit the land, to receive their allotment, to be reminded of all that God has done, we read this charge from Joshua, just a couple of chapters later in chapter 23, we’ll pick it up in verse 6.
READ Joshua 23:6-16
We see this If/Then reality of the nation of Israel’s experience of the Promise of God. If they are faithful, they will continue to prosper in the good land God has given to them. However, if they intermarry with the other nations, worshiping and serving these false gods, harm will come to them. To the extent, that if they turn their back on God, if they fail to keep the covenant, the LORD will cause them to perish and will take the land from them. They will not longer experience the fulfillment of the promise.
Here, we see a differentiation:
On the one hand, we have the Covenant Promise of God. This is His Word that stands firm. As one one article I read this week put it, it is “unconditional and irrevocable”. It is a sure promise that cannot and will not be taken back.
On the other hand, we have the actual expereince of the promise fulfilled. And we see that this experience of the promise is conditional. It depends on the obedience of the people of God. And as we’re going to see as we continue through the Old Testament, the people come to know this reality all too well. At one point, having the land completely ripped away from them as they are led into Exile.
So what do we do with this? As we look at this through the lens of Jesus, in this series, “Finding the Messiah”, as we see Jesus woven intricatley through all that God has been doing since the very beginning, what do we learn from this?
We’re going to stairstep our way to answering these questions…
Step 1: Understanding the Promise
Step 1: Understanding the Promise
The first step is reminding ourselves of what the Covenant Promise actually was. And to do this, we go all the way back to Abraham and the initial establishment of his lineage as the chosen people of God.
So let’s flip back to Genesis 12.
READ Genesis 12:1-9
So this promise, this covenant, that God makes with Abraham includes a few different things:
He will make Abraham into a great nation
God will bless Abraham and make his name great
Through Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed
A Particular Land
And as we go on, we find that the inheritance of this land is the physical confirmation, the physical outworking of this covenant. Receiving the land becomes the physical confirmation that yes, in fact, this covenant has been fulfilled.
That’s why receiving the Promised Land was such a big deal. Why, as the people of Israel were led in victory to receive this land, we read those words in Joshua 21: not a single word of the good promises failed.
So this is a covenant made to Abraham, and as we saw way back in week 4 of this series, this covenant was unconditional. We flip over to Genesis 15, and we see this covenant ratification ceremony, where God has Abraham cut animals in half (symbolizing, basically, if I don’t hold up my side of the covenant, let the same be done to me), but only God passes through. God takes upon Himself the sole responsibility of upholding this covenant. Nothing Abraham, nor his decendents, could ever do would cause this covenant to be revoked.
This was a covenant, a promise, received by faith alone. Nothing Abraham did caused him to earn this promise, and nothing he could ever do would revoke this promise. This is reiterated when we read in Hebrews 11:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
*Side note, pay really close attention here to the language that’s used, specifically “heirs” and “promise”. These are very important terms we need to understand that are being used in reference to this covenant that God made with Abraham. And we see these words used continually throughout the Old Testament in reference to the people of Israel.
Okay, so this is the Promise. The unconditional, irrevocable promsie that God made to Abraham and his offspring.
Step 2: Conditional Experience
Step 2: Conditional Experience
Now we come to this conditional experience of this promise. This began back in Exodus 19. After God has brought this people, the physical lineage of Abraham, out of slavery in Egypt and meets with them at Mount Sinai. As God is now going to give to them what we refer to as the “Mosaic Covenant”, or the “Law”. Listen to what God says regarding this new, additional covenant:
On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Conditional. If they obey. If they keep the covenant. If they keep the law. And this is what we see spelling out as time goes on. They rebel in the wilderness, that generation passes away and a new generation is given the land. Joshua leads them in victory, the land is alotted, and then this conditional reality: To keep possession, to keep experiencing the fulfillment of the original promise, they must keep the Law.
What is this? Is this a bait and switch? Is God going back on His word, changing His mind, changing the terms of the agreement? How do we understand the interplay of these two covenants: The unconditional, irrevocable covenant made with Abraham, and then later conditional experietial covenant made through Moses to the people of Israel? And then…what does that have to do with us today? Especially as those who are not of the physical lineage of Abraham.
Step 3: Received By Faith
Step 3: Received By Faith
Let’s flip over to Galatians 3.
Galatians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Galatia. This was a mostly gentile church. These weren’t Jews who followed the Law of Moses who then came to know Christ, they were outside of that, but had come to receive Jesus by faith. But what was happening, was Judaizers, Jews, were coming in and telling these Gentile believers, that now that they had received salvation, they had to start obeying the Old Testament Law, specifically, the sign of circumcision. So Paul is writing this letter to them to combat this teaching by the Judaizers.
So we’re going to just walk our way through chapter 3.
READ Galatians 3:1-5
Okay, so we see Paul’s argument here laid out:
The Galatian believers received Christ, received the Spirit, were saved, not by following the law, but by faith. They began by the Spirit—it was the work of the Spirit of God that brought salvation, not their works. So… “are you now being perfected by the flesh?” You received it by faith…why are you now trying to perfect it, to bring it to completion, to full expression in your lives, by the flesh…by the law?
You aren’t saved by following the law, so why now are you falling for this lie that your continued relationship with God by His Spirit depends on you following the law?
And then he makes this connection, let’s pick it back up in verse 6.
READ Galatians 3:6-9
So he’s tying their salvation back to Abraham. Back to that promise that through Abraham, all the nations of the world would be blessed.
So the salvation of gentiles, those who were not of the physical lineage of Abraham, was known by God. God knew that those who were not of the physical lineage of Abraham would be saved. And specifically, that this salvation would come, not by following the law, but by faith.
That’s why (1) he set it all up in the begining by faith (Abraham received the promise by faith) and (2) The Gospel was preached within the promise—that the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham.
And the conclusion: “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Receiving the blessing of God was always by faith. From Abraham, all the way to you and me.
So, what about the law? That Mosaic Covenant given on Mt. Sinai? And why was it given?
First the what:
READ Galatians 3:10-14
Okay, so those who rely on works of the law, are under a curse. Because we are unable to keep the law. That’s the reality of it. And if we break one part of it, we are cursed. This is the reality of sin. No one can be justified before God based upon our keeping of the Law because none of us can actually keep it perfectly. We all see this clearly in our lives. We are not perfect. Even if we started today, we still have our past to contend with.
If we do not keep the whole law, we are cursed. That’s from Deuteronomy 27:26, that retelling of the Law when the nation of Israel was about to enter the Promised Land.
But here’s what Christ did: He redeemed us by becoming a curse. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago, the Day of Atonement. He became sin who knew now sin. He became a curse by his death, “so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
He kept the law perfectly, as fully-God and fully-man, He did what no other human could do. And then He bore the curse upon Himself, paying the just penalty for our breaking of the Law, so that we might receive salvation by faith.
So our salvation is not dependent on us keeping the law, being perfect (because we never could be), but depends on our faith and trust in the One who did keep it, yet bore the curse on our behalf.
So that’s the what of the Law, but why? Why was it given in the first place, if it could never save? And what impact does it have on that original, unconditional Promise given to Abraham?
READ Galatians 3:15-18
The next step: The Law doesn’t annul the original promise. The law doesn’t make the Promise invalid. The inheritance comes by Promise, not Law. And this mind-blowing statement by Paul, this Holy Spirit given explanation: the promises were made to Abraham and his SINGULAR offspring—Jesus Christ.
We’re going to unpack this in a bit, but hold onto that. The original Promise, the covenant given by God in Genesis 12, the Promise that cannot be revoked, that is completely conditional on God alone, was made to Abraham, and to Jesus Christ.
READ Galatians 3:19-24
Why the Law? It was a guardian. It was temporary, until the true recipent of the Promise, Jesus Christ, came. The Law imprisoned, because no one could keep it. And it was that constant reminder—salvation cannot be earned. We cannot gain life through the law!
But we can through faith. Jesus, as the true recipient of the Promise, is the One by whom we receive the promise…and we receive it not by works of the law, but by faith in Him. We are justified, made righteous, by faith in Him.
READ Galatians 3:25-27
Faith has come, Christ has come, so we are no longer under the guardian. We are no longer under the Law. Now remember, this isn’t just talking to Jews, it’s gentiles. We don’t have to go and follow the Old Testament Law, the Mosaic Law, becasue it was a temporary guardian over the people of God. We are now sons of God, children of God, by faith in what Christ did. We are baptized into Christ, and have put on Christ.
Our identity as children of God is our identity because we have put on Christ. We have repented of our old life of sin, and by faith, received Him as our Saviour and Lord. And because of this, and only because of this, we are children of God.
So then, what does this have to do with the Promise? And here’s where I want to be very careful that we are taking the Word of God as the Word of God and really listening to what it says here.
READ Galatians 3:28-29
This is a bunch of Gentile believers in this church in Galatia. And Paul is saying, “if you”, if you, gentiles in Galatia…and the Spirit of God through Paul is saying to us, if you, gentiles in Quesnel, BC, are Christ’s…
Are you Christ’s? Do you belong to Him? If you have placed your faith in Him, then yes, you do belong to Him…
“…then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Remember, offspring is singular. And that’s a big deal, because Jesus is that offspring, the recipient of the Promise given to Abraham. So the only way to have access to that Promise…is to be IN CHRIST.
And if we are IN CHRIST, are are now Abraham’s offspring.
Paul has been building to this point in the book of Galatians, as he proclaimed in chapter 2, verse 20:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
It’s no longer me, it’s Christ! And becaue Christ is in me, and I am in Him, I am a recipient of the Promise given to Abraham!
There is no longer this distinction between Jew and Gentile.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
In that day and time, in Jewish culture, the FREE, JEWISH MALE had the greatest priviledge, across the board. And in this moment, we are told: Those distinctions no longer matter.
So Gentile, female slave: The moment you receive Christ by faith, you are just as much a recipient of the Promise given to Abraham as the free, Jewish male. And everybody in between.
There are other places we see this spelled out for us. We aren’t going to unpack each as in depth as we did Galatians 3, but here’s a few, we’re going to go through this fairly quickly:
Ephesians 2. The church in Ephesus, another mostly Gentile church. Listen to what Paul says to them:
Ephesians 2:11-22
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
So before Christ came, those who were outside of the nation of Israel, were separated from Christ. They were strangers, alienated from the commonwealth and promise given to Israel. They had no hope.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
God has taken the two men (Jews & Gentiles) and now created one new man.
So those who were once far off (Gentiles) are now “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
Another passage: 1 Peter 2:9-10. This is Peter writing to the Christians who, because of persecution, have been driven out of Jerusalem. This is a mixed church: Jews and Gentiles. And listen to the language Peter uses here to this church made up of both Jews & Gentiles, but at the end, we see this focus on the gentiles:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
But that language, we should remember it from earlier, when we read Exodus 19, the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai:
“…you shall be my TREASURED POSSESSION among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS and a HOLY NATION”
The EXACT language used of the people of Israel in the Old Testament is now being used by Peter (a Jew) to describe these gentile believers in Christ.
They are just as much a part of this treasured possession, this kingdom of priests, and holy nation, as the ethnic Jews among them.
If you wanted to do another deep dive into this, you can go to Romans, specifically chapters 4—11. That’s where I was going to start this morning, but I figured we wouldn’t have enough time this morning to unpack 8 chapters.
But just to highlight the language that’s used regarding Jews & Gentiles. Specifically in chapter 11, Paul uses the imagery of an Olive Tree. This is an obvious symbolic reference to Israel. You go through Old Testament prophecy, again and again you see this imagery being used for the Nation of Israel, God’s chosen people.
Now, this chapter protects us against the idea of “Replacement Theology”, that God has replaced Israel with the Church. It protects us against anti-semitism, the hatred of Jews.
But chapter 11 starts off explaining the failure of most Jews to receive the Promise through Christ. But reiterating that God has not forsaken this people.
There have been branches broken off from the Olive Tree—so ethnic Jews who proved by their rejection of Jesus, that they were not truly Jews—they were not truly of the people of God. They were broken off, and Gentiles were grafted in.
If you know anything about trees, you understand this process. You can cut the trunk of a tree, wittle down the end of a branch, and actually graft it into the tree. And that branch will thrive, becoming a part of the tree. So the language here, is that Gentiles don’t become a separate entity, but are in fact grafted into the original olive tree.
So the Church doesn’t replace Israel, it is the continuation of Israel, now with Gentiles grafted in.
But, Paul says, don’t get all high and mighty on yourselves, Gentiles. (Well, he uses other words, but that’s basically the message.)
Because two things:
If the original, natural branches could be cut off…then so can you.
In the last part of Romans 11, Paul talks about this great revival that will one day happen amongst ethnic Israel, when these branches will be grafted back in.
And so we continue to preach the Gospel to ethnic Jews! We continue to pray for their salvation, recognizing that it was through Israel, through this people group, that we have received salvation. That it is True Israel, the True People of God that we as gentiles have been grafted into, and are nourished by. It is the Olive Tree. The Olive tree hasn’t been replaced. We gentiles have simply been grafted into it.
Summary
Summary
So, to summarize:
What we’ve gathered this morning:
The true recipient of the Promise, the Covenant, given to Abraham was his singular offspring, Jesus Christ. All those who share in this promise, are those who are In Christ, by faith.
All those who have received Christ by faith, become a part of the People of God, true Israel, which is a position received by faith alone by both Jews & Gentiles. (We didn’t really unpack this this morning, but those Jews who lived before Christ, they were saved in anticipation of and in faith of the coming Messiah, the One who that sacrifice on the Day of Atonement was pointing to.)
This has been the plan since the beginning. The Law was a Guardian for the people until Christ came. But when Christ came, the Law was no longer needed. It was fulfilled by Christ, so now anyone who comes to Him by faith, receives the full Promise of Abraham.
*What about the land?
I think we have to go here: What about the land? Because this is what our approach to alot of todays events hinges around. Do ethnic Jews have a God-given right to the specific land stipulated in Genesis to Abraham?
The first thing, I hope we’ve seen this morining, is that any right to the Promise of God given to Abraham comes only through faith in Christ, whether a person is Jew or Gentile. Ethnicity has nothing to do with receiving the Promise of God. Only faith in Christ, because He is the true offspring of Abraham to whom the Promise was made. So when we talk about who is to receive any part of the Promise given to Abraham, it can only be those who receive it in Christ.
In Romans 4, we read this interesting comment:
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Heir of the world. You see, it began with a particular land, but the fullness of the Promise was the entire world.
And one day, we know, Christ will return. And He will establish His Kindgom upon the Earth, and the entire earth will be under His reign. And we, as those who are in Him, will be recipients of this Promise.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Not one of the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed.
Not one of the good promises that the LORD has made to you and to me will fail.
Do we live our lives as those who have already been guaranteed victory? As those whose inheritance is already guaranteed?
There are so many things in this world that we will face that will challenge us to doubt the Promises of God. But the Promise, the inheritance, we are given isn’t based on you…it isn’t based on me…it isn’t based upon anything we face in this life, but upon the FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS!!!
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Triumphal Procession only happens after the victory has been won!
Just like the Israelites were told: Go into the land, I’ve already given it to you…
So we are told by Christ: I’ve already given you all things.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
So come what may…whatever happens in this life, let us not forget: The battle has already been won. Our inheritance has already been secured.
We have and will receive the full Promise of God because Christ has already obtained it.
So where is your hope? Where is your faith?
Is it is in Him? The Only One worthy of it?
