Not All Israel Are Israel

Good morning.

Going to continue our series that we've begun. Last week from The Book of Romans are, our goal has been to talk about the, the core of the book, the center of the book chapters 9 through 11, which is the oft-overlooked portion of the book to do that. Last week, we did this Whirlwind tour of the first 8 chapters of Roman in 30 minutes or after I looked at it later, it's more like 37 minutes. Sorry about that but we got through it and got a sense of what Romans is about. And today we're going to pick up there and continue into this challenging chapter to begin with, will have our scripture reading which comes from Romans. Chapter 9, verses 6, through 13, Romans chapter 9, 6 through 13.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel, belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your Offspring be named, this means it is not the children of the flesh, who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as Offspring for. This is what the promise said about this time. Next year, I will return. And Sara show have a son and not only. So, but also Rebecca had conceived children by one man. R for father. Isaac though? They were not yet born and had done nothing either. Good or bad in order that God's purpose of election, might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls us, she was told the older will serve the younger as it is written. Jacob. I loved and Esau have I hated this is the word of the Lord.

So, in our tour of Romans last week, we talked about the big picture of God's incredible plan to rescue his people. The the thesis of the book of Romans we said came from 1:16 which said that I am not ashamed of the power of God to Salvation. That the gospel is the power of God of Salvation, everyone that believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek that God's master plan God's project for all of his creation is to rescue it from sin and death. By Jesus Christ, his son in the gospel, is that story chapter 9 picked up that theme with Paul's frustration in the first 5 versus his deep heart? Breaking gut-wrenching sadness, That Israel the people that had played such a huge role in that story, all the way through the many years that led up to this very moment. The people who had produced Paul himself and Jesus to Christ more importantly. So many of them had not bought in to what God was doing. They had not trusted in the Salvation. God was offering my Jesus Christ and instead continued to reject that promise answer. The question that I think is Ben being developed, here is, did God fail. His people. if God worked out this, incredible master plan it for all these years, he was working towards this goal, he had this chosen, people is real, and he's brought about his Messiah, the savior of the world and somehow this is an overstatement, but if somehow everybody gets saved, except them, God's going to rescue the world, and everybody is rescued, except the people through whom, he rescued the world. when I get older statement Paul would say hey I'm one of them, he hasn't forgotten us but if everybody but them if some of them are left out Did God fail. His people books. You can read the Old Testament and there are some big promises made to the people. It is real challenging Lee large promises. That even today we read 111, what was that out? There are passages, we read and we struggle with and Israel was expecting. They believed in God that came to pass and now Paul is saying some of you were on the outside looking in. Did God fail his people and that's exactly what he wants to address beginning in verse six and he says it very bluntly to make sure he knows we know he's answering that question. It is not as though the word of God has failed. You said, I want to make it very clear before we go any further God did not fail his people. What Paul's going to suggest and this is the challenging thought for today sermon, is that we might be asking the wrong question. instead of asking, Did God fail. His people. Paul says for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Right up front. That seems like a strange statement. The title of my sermon is not all is real or Israel and that just sounds wrong, right? Not all circles are circles and not all humans are humans and not all dogs are dogs. That doesn't sound right. Sounds like a logical contradictory on the surface. What do you mean? Not all is real is real that that doesn't add up and it what Paul is doing is pointing us to an even better question. He says before you answer or ask the question, did God fail, his people, you need to ask who are God's people, who are the people of God and by saying upfront, not all Israel. Israel, Paul excluding you in. It might not be who you think? Don't you ask a typical Jewish person like Paul in the first century and many other times of History who are the people of God. They would say, simple. It's a descendant of Abraham. And you folks that have been here all summer at Edgemere, you know what we're talking about. We did eight sermons this summer on the life of Abraham kind of preparing us for this moment, where we know who were talking about, watch the story. And what's going into that Abraham is a big deal, and that's where the identity and the promise and all the story comes from right through the heart of the life of Abraham. And so the natural answer you ask somebody who are the people of God, they say we've read our Bible, it's the descendants of Abraham. But while that was the common answer, the Bible has consistently undermined that answer Yes, Abraham's important. Hugely important, yes, his family is important. Hugely important. But at the same time, the Bible said to be cautious about giving that answer. If you remember the words of John the Baptist and John Matthew chapter 3 in verse 9, he's talking to some people who'd come out to be baptized of him and he said, do not presume to say to yourself. We have Abraham as our Father for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. What do you think that really means? When you say I'm a descendant of Abraham? Do you think that makes you important do? You think that means something special for you? Do you suppose if God wanted that Pew over there to be a child of Abraham? He can make it a child of Abraham that can't be as important as you think it is. And even reading the story of Abraham you find out really early on that. They didn't really mean it when they said, oh well the people of God, or the descendants of Abraham, all of them.

Genesis 25 in verse 12. These are the generations of Ishmael Abraham's, son in Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah servant board Abraham. If you were here this summer and her these sermons great, but it's not let me catch you up. Abraham had more than one son. And before he had Isaac, he had this other son named Israel. And Ishmael have children and their children had children. Would we say all the descendants of Abraham are the people of God?

Fun, always a fun Sunday when I get to quote from a cut, the Quran in a Christian sermon. But here's a line from the Quran chapter 22 verse 78 strive for the cause of the law and the way he deserves. Is he who has chosen, you and laid upon you? No hardship in the religion, the way of your four Father, Abraham You know, who else claims to be a descendant of Abraham? The people who would ultimately become people of Islam of the Muslim religion, that whole world full of people claim the same person as their four father, not through Isaac but three ishmeal They say, yeah, Abraham is our forefather to. You want to make a whole room full of people. Mad at the same time. Try this one, don't do it. Try this one. Have a group of Muslims and Jewish folk in the same room and say, basically, you're all Jews. Everyone will be equally mad at you, right? but if we Define, The people of God as everybody descended from Abraham. We've got to include a whole lot of people that know first century Jewish person would have ever included and we don't even stop. They're going back to Genesis we're done with the Quran section of the day. Going back to Genesis chapter 25 verse 1. Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zim Ram. Jocks, tan me, down median is Chewbacca's, shoe off. Had to learn how to save them for this lesson. We don't talk about those guys because they're not important to the story before their did Abraham have other children, not just issue that whole flock of them. And they have children, they had children and there's a hole somewhere out there. There was a whole story of the descendants of shuhua. And I'm sure it's a fascinating tale, it's just not the one, the Bible Tales.

So right up front when you say who are God's people? Well it's the descendants of Abraham, the Bible pushes back on that and says not all of them. It reminds me a little bit of one of those preacher stories that gets told, but there was the old, the cranky old Scotsman who was watching TV One Night in his living room in Scotland. Of course, he was going to swear Scotsman live and he's watching the news and the the The Telecast comes on the news. Nightly News in the anchor, says, there was a terrible crime committed this week and he describes the crime committed in the land, violent, and cruel, and depraved. And the old Scotsman, the old grandpa says, looks over his wife and he says, well, no, Scotsman would do that. And then the news anchor says, it's not one yard has arrested Alistair MacDonald from Aberdeen Scotland that associated with the crime. And the old man says well no true Scotsman do that, that's kind of what's Happening Here who who's Israel, who are they, who are The Descendants, who are God's people? What's the descendants of Abraham? All of them will not just the ones we kind of like, in pulses. Yeah, then we know that we know, it's not all of them, it is not as though the word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel belong to his. Real not all are children of Abraham because they are as Offspring. But rather through Isaac shall your ass being, be named This wasn't about just everybody that fell out of the family tree. Paul says, there was something specific in the mind of God going on here. And then he follows that verse 8. And this is the key verse, I think to the whole chapter this means make positive anytime. Paul is deep in thought, and trying to communicate something difficult and he stops. And he says, this means, that means you supposed to clue in these about, to give away. The point, this means that it's not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise is accounted is offspring. Now, we don't know what that second phrase means yet, Grant figure that out. But the first phrase, I can understand, he says, don't assume that some accident of birth, some status conferred, upon you by your fan. And by the way, we're not any better. Today, we wonder. Why do we have these old passages arguing about who is Jewish and not. What does that mean for us? We do all the same things today. We have different things in our life about where were born or who were born to, or where we grew up or what kind of privilege we have. And we think that confers upon of some kind of status If God wanted to make one of you out of these rocks over here, he could do it. No, accident of birth makes you who you are. It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God. That's not makes what makes you guys, people. People weren't defined merely by a genealogy. They were defined by a promise.

And before you get lost and say, okay fine, it's not all the children of Abraham, just the children of Isaac. And Paul cut you off cuz he knows what's where you're going. He says that won't work either cuz Noel know who else had more than one son? Isaac had more than one son. Isaac had two sons. Very least, Esau and Jacob and Esau was the first born. But even he is not part of the story. You're getting Romans 9 10 through 13, not only. So but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, R for father. Isaac though, they were not yet born in it and nothing either. Good or bad. And what are the God's purpose of election? My continue, not because it works but because of him who called she was told the older will serve the younger and as it is written. Jacob. I loved. But Esau, I hate him. Pulsers even when you get down to the next generation of the story, it's still not everybody to send it from Isaac. Nor is it the good son as opposed to the bad son? That's what you be tempted to say. All I see what's happening here. God's picking the good son and he's going to bless the good son in the bad son. Doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong. He saw wasn't a great guy. You know who else wasn't a good guy. Jacob.

Jacob's a snake like you read his story and it no point. Do you think this is a fantastic human being? He's not a great guy. But God, it says pick him. When did he pick him? When he did great acts of faith, when he did great acts of obedience in the womb, Before you done anything. God had a purpose and it was going to go through one of them and not both. That's the meaning of that last line. Which is greatly debated and confusing. I think it's it's simpler than we let on Jacob. Have I loved Esau? Have I hated? What does that mean? You may remember a few weeks ago, I made the comment hate in biblical terms means love the second. If I have two sons okay, mine aren't Jacob. And Esau I have Lucas and Calvin if I picked one of them and if you think I'm about to your crazy, I got to live with these people but if I pick one of them and said, you're the one I like best. And I said to the other one. Hey, I still love you. I just love you second. You know what that kid would you'll say to his mother? Why does Dad hate me?

Any beer, I mean, that's the right word for it. Second love feels a lot like hate. Okay, one of these two kids had to be the one through which the story continued. And God says, I picked up Jacob and I didn't pick Esau. And he's walking go and complain and say, why doesn't dad love me or why doesn't my mom love me or why doesn't God love me? I don't know how you would feel hated because the story doesn't go through him. The God says, you're missing the point of the whole story. God's people were never defined as everyone related to that one guy. It doesn't matter who the guy is, you can pick Abraham, you can pick Isaac, you can pick Jacob. You can pick any of them you want. The people of God. Have never been defined by everybody who happens to be related to that guy by an accident of birth.

So who are God's? People don't know, get lost in this. The original question is, has God failed his people and Paul says, you don't even know who God's people are. So, who are the people of God? And that's a good question. Here's an even better question. What was the purpose of God's people? You think about that one? Doesn't God love everybody. He does didn't God, create all of us? He did. Doesn't he provide for all of us? The just and the unjust he does? Why I have one group of people anyway. That would be identified as well. Those are my people. Why do that?

Paul says earlier in the chapter, the answer to the question. This wasn't verse 4 and 5, they are Israelites and to them belong. The adoption the glory, the covenants to get into the law of the worship in the promises to them belong, the Patriarchs in from their race. According to flash is the Christ who is God over all blessed forever. I'm in He says, don't forget why we have a people of God. Anyway. It wasn't for them. It was about him.

The story of is real. Yes. God Saves his real time and time again, but that's not the point of the story, is real purpose was not merely to be saved, but to bring the Savior into the world. They are chosen not to be privileged, they are chosen to have a purpose. They are chosen because they have a task, they are chosen. Because God has something great in mind. That's going to happen through them.

And that story culminates, in Jesus Christ. You want to know the most important verse in the New Testament is? I know it's a silly question. They're all I know. They're all equally important. They're all very important when I say that again. They're all equally important that you want to know what the most important one is.

Matthew 1:1, the very first verse of the New Testament, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the very first verse of the New Testament says, you know, that whole story that has the whole Bible up to know, everything you've ever known as scripture, all the books of the law, all the books of the Kingdom, all the prophets, everything you've ever known. Every promise God has ever made every, every everything that has been about the people of God, Matthew 1:1 says, this is the guy The whole calling of Israel reaches its fulfillment in the first verse of the New Testament. When it says, all of that was leading to this man. This is the son of David. This is the son of Abraham. This is who we've been waiting for Now, wait a second Paul. Do you mean? That is real only existed to be a family tree? Like, it just people having kids and eventually there's some guy named Jesus and that's the whole story, even that sheet sit and Paul explains further that it's not just that it was to bring about the possibility of this person or thought about the special moment in time and place where Jesus himself is born. He's born in the world where the Jewish people are in their land but they don't own their land.

They're they're free. But also slave to Rome. They can work the land as long as they pay taxes. Like they're in this weird relation to special moment in history. It's a moment. Where a boy could grow up reading the law of Moses and hearing it. Read in the synagogue, it has been translated from Hebrew into Greek and every every Sabbath you could go to the synagogue and you hear people reading these books At a young boy could grow up in a home. Hearing those stories in that scripture told over and over again. I know Jesus is the son of God. He's also the son of Mary. He's also a kid that went to synagogue. He's also a kid who heard the scriptures and learn these three stories, he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God. And man like all those things, God wasn't just making a family tree. He was creating a moment in history where this person could be.

The story of Israel is God's refining and reshaping his people. So that his purpose would not fail every rescue attempt, every Prophet sent every King, every miracle. Was bringing two combination. The story with so many layers. We can't even begin to understand it. Where is Paul says has the Potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable using another, for dishonorable use is, don't you get it that God was shaped in you. God was shaping a people all along little bit by little bit to be exactly who he needed at the fullness of time for this person to be born in these events that transpired, And yeah, that means. But it didn't always go the way you thought it would fall quotes from the book of Hosea and verse 25. And Dede says the host of those who were not my people, I will call my people and her, who is not beloved. I will call beloved in this great story of Jesus. There were some people included, you wouldn't think would be here. Told you the most important verse in the New Testament was Matthew 1:1. But for what it's worth, it's a good but keep reading. And in Matthew chapter 12, get you, the genealogy I think about some of the people that are in there. There's a woman known to assembly as Rahab the Harlot. You wouldn't have thought somebody whose nickname was Rahab. The Harlot would be a prominent feature in the story of the savior of the world that you didn't, there. There's a woman named Ruth who is from the people of Moab. You know, what the Bible says about Moab? It says don't marry them, they're bad, true story, go back and read the law of Moses. It specifically says, never marry anybody from Moab except that one time somebody did. And then that woman in that family is in the lineage of Jesus Christ. And you just see the stories over and over again of people who have no part in the story being included, and for that matter. You see people who probably thought they were part of it getting left out verse 27, Isaiah Cries Out concerning his real will the number of Sons of Israel. Be at the sand of the sea. Only a remnant of them will be saved. The point is, the story was about Jesus and everything was commenting that God included Outsiders without apology and he warned insiders never to presume. This was not a privilege that you're accident of birth made you important. It's a story and if you're part of that story than amen, praise God. The people who don't want to be part of that story, they don't get to say God failed us.

So I've been kind of wrap up then. Let me then ask the question one more time. So who are the people of God and specifically like right now?

The whole story apparently, according to Ben, it culminated in Matthew 1:1, right? The man live, the man was born. The man did, everything is supposed to do, the man came the culmination of the plan. So is it over who now are the people of God? And while Paul doesn't actually answer that question in chapter 9, he did answer it back in verse 2, and he sounds a little bit like that old Scotsman. In Chapter 2. He said for no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly Nora circumcision outwardly and physical, but it's you as one, inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the Heart by the spirit, not by the letter, his Praises, not from man. But from God, he says, who is truly Jewish? Once upon a time, I was reaching for the Glenpool Church of Christ in the young lady, had a question for me and I thought I would be an easy question and I spent like weeks trying to figure out the right answer to it and it to change my thinking, on a lot of subjects studied at she said, preacher call me preacher preacher. When did we stop being Jewish? What do you mean? You know what Jesus was Jewish, right? Yep. Everything in the Old Testament, Jewish, well more or less you when did we stop being Jewish? Like is it acts chapter 2? Everyone just says, okay, with human sound. Like how does that work? And I said, well, let me think about it. That's why I thought about it a long time and I studied really hard. And I came up with lots of different answers that question. And I'm really good and I finally decided I don't know what my answer is. I know what Paul's answer is.

Pulses. I've never been more Jewish that I am right now. Paul says, you know what being Jewish means? He says there's nothing more Jewish than following the Messiah. There's nothing if Jewish means trusting, God, and following his command. And Paul says, I never stopped. What did Jewish really mean? He says it was never about how you were born. It was never an accident of birth. That was never a ritual detail. He said being Jewish meant being something within And you see what he's doing here. He's he's replacing that were Jewish with the idea of who are the people of God. He says, it was always something inside of us, not some accident of birth or hearing explain it again, and Galatians chapter three. So then, the law was our Guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith, but now that faith is come, we are no longer under a guardian for in Christ. Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith, who are the people of God. He says, you are by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ. Have put on Christ, there is neither Jew, nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free, there's no male or female, you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you were Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring heirs. According to the promise. He's as being a descendant of Abraham was never about a genealogy. I was just a great story that got us to Jesus. The question of being the people of God. Is what was going on, inside? Did we trust this God? Or not, do we trust his salvation? Do we identify ourselves in him and him alone? Or is there something about us? Some accident of birth? Some status bestowed upon us that we think tells us who we really are. He said when you were baptized into Christ, when you put him on, when you say that's who I am, and nothing more and nothing less. He says, that is a declaration that I am one of those people of God. What he says at the end of Galatians, Far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world where neither circumcision counts for anything or uncircumcision, but a new creation for hazard up for all who walk by this rule, peace, and mercy be upon them. And upon the Israel of God,

Well, no, true Scotsman. He doesn't understand what I'm saying. God's people, whatever term you put on it, call him what you want. The people of God are the ones that are in Jesus Christ. That's who they've always been an age, is gone, by God's people. Awaited, the coming of the Messiah, and faith, and trust from Abraham for word. Today, God's people belong to that same Messiah and commit, ourselves entirely into his care. Father, we thank you for your son. Jesus Christ in the culmination of your great mystery being made revealed to us through this word. That shows us The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you for The privileged, but more importantly the purpose. Of being your people. Let us boast in nothing, save the cross of Jesus Christ. Let us be identified by him and him alone and cast, aside, everything else that might give us cause Pride. Let us see you and your son, the culmination of history and our only hope. And in his name, we pray, amen.