Behold Your Faithful God

Romans 11:25-36

Intro

In recent days there was an album that came out by a music artist named Ben Rector called “The Joy of Music”. In this album he has a song entitled “Heroes”- (Expound) Here’s what He says: “I miss my old heroes. I had to give them all away. I miss my old heroes. I really wish they could’ve stayed. Cause it turns out that the hardest part of growing up is not getting old, but learning how the real world goes. I miss my old heroes.”

How many of us relate to these words? Can you think of a heroes that have let you down and broke promises? We live in a world filled with broken promises.

Perhaps this is how we think about God. Maybe He’s not going to turn out to be the person He says He is.

Paul has been laboring in Romans 9-11 to put the righteousness and faithfulness of God on full display so that the church in Rome and us here 2000 years later would have rest and confidence in the character of God and His plan of redemption.

Paul just got done explaining how God has not rejected his ancient people Israel but has chosen a remnant and is saving this small minority of Jews in Pauls day and will continue to throughout history. And in Paul’s time and our time currently, the gentiles and nations are being brought into the kingdom through the gospel.

This text zooms out once again to see the big picture of God’s will so that we don’t miss the glorious forest for the deeper theological trees.

Main Point: God’s sovereign plan of redemption causes us to rest in His constant faithfulness and praise Him for His matchless wisdom.

Main Points:

to behold our faithful God this morning is to behold 2 aspects of God’s eternal plan:

1. God’s Unchanging Purpose for Israel- Vs 25-32

(read Vs 25) Paul is ending this section of his letter by summing up how this plan for Israel is going to look in the future. And here, he states his purpose for communicating these things to the gentiles.

He is still addressing the gentile believer in this section and desires to dispel any arrogance again just as he was saying last week.

But here he’s seeking to prevent the Gentiles from being arrogant by not being ignorant of God’s mystery.

He calls this a mystery because he really wants the Gentiles to understand God’s purposes behind all that he outlined in the previous section about the olive tree. A “mystery” is used a lot in the new testament to explain the unfolding plan of God to redeem sinners through the person of Christ.

Here, Paul is using “Mystery” to explain the flowering of God’s plan but specifically for Israel in the future. That previously, this plan for Israel was unrevealed. This part of God’s redemptive plan was kept hidden but now has been revealed to us! God’s purposes and eternal plans are still unfolding until Jesus comes back.

And the mystery is this: The partial hardening of the Ethnic Jews then the fullness of the gentiles are brought into the people of God. It’s in this manner that all Israel will be saved.

It’s the idea of playing basketball and the ball hitting the backboard and being caught by the other team. The Ball of salvation went out to the Jews, they intentionally missed it and it was caught by the gentiles. This has nothing to do with the gentiles but this was always God’s predetermined plan to redeem His people— both Jews and Gentiles. We’ll see this more here in our text.

(Read vs 26a) So this is one of the more disputed and debated passages in the book of Romans. A lot of varying interpretations from scholars on what Paul means here by “All Israel”.

I do take a view on this and I think there is great textual evidence to explain this, but first, what is He NOT saying?

He’s not saying that all jewish people from all time will be saved. In other words, every jewish person whoever lived both dead or alive. Paul has stated numerous times that there are those among the Jews (and gentiles) whom God has NOT chosen for salvation and many Jews are dying apart from Christ.

We won’t get into the finer points of all of this but The most plausible view is this...

“All Israel” does have reference to the small minority of Jews or remnant throughout time, that’s pretty clear from the context that Paul is hoping his own fellow jews at that time will be saved, but it also refers to a future mass conversion of ethnic Jews out of all the jews that are alive at the time before the return of Christ. So this is in the future, right before Christ returns and out of all the Jews alive, a bulk of them, or majority of them will turn to Christ for salvation and embrace him as their messiah. These are those who are “True Israel” the ones who are by faith grafted back into the people of God and who were elected by God before the world began.

there are a lot of reasons I believe this but one important reason I believe this is the words “partial hardening” and “until”. A portion of whole nation of Israel has been hardened. Remember back in 9 and 11 Paul explains this hardening. It’s not every single jew, but an unknown (unknown to us) number of them have been hardened.

So “hardened” is what defines them. That’s their present state as a collective entity. but then the word “Until”. It implies a timeframe when this hardening will end. So this implies a temporal or sequential order- that what defines Israel as a whole is “hardened” and it doesn’t say the hardening will be removed on those individuals but when the full inclusion of the Gentiles come in- which the literal translation is “nations”- when all the nations come in to the kingdom of God, then the word “hardened” will not be the final word spoken over Israel.

Quote: “Paul is now referring to a reversal of the pattern of Israel‟s unbelief and hardening that has been the occasion for the enlargement of blessing among the Gentiles.” (Venema)

That holistic hardening of Israel will terminate and as a whole, Israel will be saved. Its in this manner: the partial hardening, then the nations coming in, that Israel will be once again grafted in.

Remnant + Majority in the future = All Israel (SLIDE)

You may be thinking “But wait, it literally says the word ALL! That has to mean every single Jew!” A principle of interpretation that we must understand when coming to the bible is that the word “all” doesn’t mean “all” all the time. Just as we wouldn’t conclude that the Fullness of the nations coming in means that every individual without exception is saved, so too, we don’t conclude that All Israel means every individual. In fact, that would undercut what Paul has been saying since chapter 9 about His purpose of election. We speak like this all the time.

Illustration: When we talk about American history, and we say “America won this battle or won this war” do we mean that every single American in that battle remained alive and not one American was killed? No! We speak in terms of collective entities all the time.

So no, God is not done with his ethnic people whom He chose. He will turn to them again on a grand scale. What a wonderful mystery and display of God’s faithfulness. Why doesn’t he just kick them to the curb and be done with them? That’s what they deserve right? God is so faithful that He keeps all His promises and will draw them back to Himself. We will get to behold His faithfulness on display in the future.

But as we’ve been seeing this flower of God’s plan blossom, we need to see that this flow has roots. What is God’s plan for Israel rooted in?

God’s unbreakable Promises- 26b-29

(Read Vs 26b-27) Look at how Paul here appeals to nothing less than the word of God himself. He quotes from Isaiah and Psalms.

Notice in these quotes form the OT Paul is defining for us what God’s future plan for Israel consists of. It’s foundation is a deliverer, namely the person of Jesus Christ! He brings them into this covenant or this sworn oath and bond whereby they will be blessed and receive life eternal.

Israel’s future is purely salvific. It’s the removal of their sins and their ultimate salvation through Christ as He adds them to His church.

Why was Paul able to defend the fact that God has a future salvation in mind for ethnic Israel as a whole? Because God said it would happen.

If God said things in the past and things have come to pass before, this demands our present trust, rest, and hope. Remember when this use to be real simple? I could be confident of God’s love for me because why? Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

God’s word is authoritative, it’s without error, and it is infallible. If God endures forever and is eternal, then so will His word! These are promises that are fixed for eternity and will never be broken. Do you currently hold on to this? That Christ and His word is sufficient now? That His gospel was true when you woke up this morning and will be true when you go to sleep tonight? If God is not trust worthy and his plan can be thwarted, then I don’t even want to get out of bed tomorrow morning.

Paul goes on to appeal to God’s promises which include the unbreakability of election (Read vs 28-29)

He’s saying that we have 2 vantage points. From our vantage point, we have the gospel being preached on the ground level and on the surface we see a widespread rejection of the gospel. So they are in a sense, enemies of God and the gospel.

But from GOD’s vantage point, one that we don’t have, one of election, they are beloved.

Notice again how he grounds all that he is saying. this statement it provides the ground or support for all He has been saying.

And he says God’s gifts, and calling are irrevocable- Since God is unchanging in his will and purposes, it is impossible for what He gives to some one to be changed or taken away. For the jews this means the gifts that were laid out in Chapter 9- the promises, the law, the worship. Those things were promised and the gospel will restore the Jews now and in the future.

The “calling” here can have a twofold meaning. It can be this calling for Israel to be His people as a whole but it’s also this calling to be united to Christ. This effectual call results in the giving of the gift of faith whereby a person can believe in Christ!

Same for your own salvation. God’s calling toward you whereby He made you alive, overcame your stubborn resistance to Him, gave you a new heart— the gift of salvation he’s bestowed on your cannot be revoked. It’s impossible. God would have to ungod Himself for Him to give up on you. As Paul said elsewhere, NOTHING in all creation can separate you from the love of Christ.

Why doesn’t God give up on us? We deserve that right? We deserve nothing but hell but rather God has chosen to save us and to save us for eternity.

God’s unfailing mercy- 30-32

The other thing purpose for Israel is rooted in is the very character of God (read vs 30-32)

Here’s another statement in Vs 32 grounding all the Paul has just said- God desires to bestow His mercy on all.

Again “all” doesnt mean “all” all the time so he’s not saying every single individual receives mercy, but He’s saying that Jews and Gentiles as a whole are brought to God’s mercy. Notice the reversals here. First the gentiles were far from God, then through Israel’s disobedience and rejection the gentiles receive God’s mercy. Then, now that the gentiles receive mercy, God uses that to bring Israel back in. It comes around full circle.

God determined that he would harden some in his wrath and judgment because like we said, he uses the hardening to bring others back into His favor and kingdom. Paul attributes all of that to the sovereign plan of God! That word consigned there means He “delivered” them to disobedience.

His sovereign plan reveals that God is a merciful God. This plan for Israel and His plan for us is rooted in His very nature. He is abounding in steadfast love. Contrary to popular notions, what God is on the edge of His seat desiring and wanting to do is pour out His mercy to weary sinners who repent.

This leads us to rest. We have every reason to rest in the sufficiency of Christ this morning. He is the Hero we need. Every other hero breaks His promises. Ben Rector’s song I quoted isn’t true about Jesus. We can lay hold of Him as the only hero that will never break His promises to us.

2. God’s Unmatched Wisdom in all His ways- Vs 33-36

We now come to the what I believe is the climactic moment of the book of Romans. The doctrinal part of the book of romans which is 9-11 has been building toward this moment and it sets us up perfectly for the practical portion beginning in chapter 12.

Just as a preface, Vs 33-36 is known as a doxology and it is one of the most beloved portions of scripture. In other words, it’s a moment of worship in light of the deep things of God. Paul is worshiping and he is laying before us deep theology. In all of Paul’s working out of deep theology from chapters 1-11, he ends on a high note of praise. This is always how it should go. If your theology doesn’t lead toward doxology, you are doing studying theology wrong. If you don’t end in praise, then your study of the bible and theology is pointless. Paul serves as a great example for us so let’s see how this text and the first 11 chapters lead us to praise the glory of God...

First, He praises God for His unsearchable ways! (Read vs 33) he draws attention to how infinitely vast our God is. How deep He is.

What He is NOT doing is just giving us an escape hatch or back door for everything he just said (Expound)

He’s essentially saying, all of these things are far too deep and difficult. He talked about God’s election of some to salvation, that’s deep. He talked about the necessity of proclaiming the gospel which produces faith, that’s deep. He talked about God’s plan for Israel. That’s deep! Doesn’t mean we just dismiss it in our minds.

We instead behold His wisdom. He’s saying Oh! In other words, How very deep are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge. And therefore, His ways are unsearchable and are impossible to fully understand.

He is saying that our God is incomprehensible. We can praise Him and trust that He knows better than we do when it comes to His sovereign plan. Why are His ways unsearchable?

Second, He praises God for His immutable character (Read Vs 34-35)

We can know His ways are unsearchable and impossible to fully understand because, again, God’s word says so!

These quotes from Isaiah and Job point out that no one can counsel God. No one is able to add to the knowledge of God. Its as futile as taking a tiny little match and trying to intensify the brightness of the Sun. It won’t work.

His character is immutable. It’s unchanging. If God could learn something, then He would be able to change. And if He can change, He can’t be perfect. and if He’s not perfect, He’s not God.

He also says no one can give him a gift and some how add to the riches of His character. No one can add to Him by giving him some kind of gift. He’s unchanging and perfectly self-sufficient.

His glory and his ways are so deep, to study them Is like, as Augustine said, looking from the surface of the water into the deepest part of the open ocean and saying “I can see the depths, but I can’t see the bottom.”

Maybe if we spent more time meditating on the vastness of God are prayer times wouldnt be us counseling God but rather reverent trust in His wisdom.

Third, He praises God that He is the source and sustainer of all things (Read vs 36).

Check out this statement. This has been called the most comprehensive sentence ever penned because in it we see the entire story of the bible.

“All things” Likely, this refers to the immediate context of this section beginning with Chapter 9 and all of the doctrines he expounded. But I also believe because this ends the doctrinal section, this has reference to all of the letter to the Romans up to this point!

Some have noted this encompasses all of Creation, History, and the Salvation sinners. All of those are intertwined in the plan of God. If someone asked you what the main goal is or the main point of Romans 9-11, here it is. In one verse. Vs 36.

First, From Him

All things find their origin in God. Before the world was created, God mapped out the perfect blueprint for creation, history and salvation. I agree with how christians have thought about this in times past when they say that God has freely and unchangeably decreed all that comes to pass! All things flow from and are according to His will.

Second, Through Him

In other words, Not only did God speak the universe into existence, God sustains and governs all things in time and space by His word. That blue print is actualized in history- This is called God’s providence!

I love the way the great Puritan Thomas Watson put it: “The providence of God is the eye that sees and the hand that turns all the wheels in the universe. God is not like an artificer who builds a house and then leaves it, but like a pilot who steers the ship of the whole creation.” (SLIDE)

Third, To Him

All things that come about, all things in the will of God are to Him. Meaning, all things are for the ultimate glory of His name. Put another way, all things that take place are meant to make Jesus Christ look beautiful, glorious, supreme, wonderful— to be the only being who possesses infinite worth and can satisfy the longing soul.

Therefore, Pauls point in this section is not that everything mystery and our guess is as good as his, but even in light of the mysterious deep things of God, the constant refrain we come back to, the constant note we end on it this note of praise— To Him belongs the glory forever and ever. Amen.

God gets the most glory through the person of Jesus Christ. All of God’s providence and the working of His plan throughout History culminates and reaches its climax in the cross. How do we know God will be eternally faithful? How do we know we won’t fail us? Well, because all History was leading up to the point where God Himself would take on flesh to bleed and die on a cross to absorb the wrath of God for guilty sinner then rise again from the dead. If you’re wondering if God is the true Heroe that cannot let you down, then you need to look to that empty cross and empty tomb. It proves that He’ll forever hold you.

Conclusion

So, we saw today God’s sovereign plan of redemption causes us to worship. Worship by resting in Him, and worship by praising Him.

To gain confidence in God’s faithfulness maybe you need to do as Paul reminded Timothy in 2 Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.” To actively moment by moment remember Jesus Christ and that if He started a good work in you, He will complete it. He will keep you to Himself and He will complete the work. Christ always completes what He’s begun.

“Consider Christ the Servant as He stoops to wash our feet Consider Christ the Triumph who knows not one defeat Consider Christ our Comfort who brings healing in our pain Consider Christ the King who is staged to come again Consider Christ our Shepherd leading on His precious flock Consider Christ our Friend who comes along our side to walk Consider Christ our Wisdom who still counsels us so wise Consider Christ our Vision who predicted He would rise Consider Christ the Lion as He reigns majestically Consider Christ the Lamb as He suffered Calvary Consider Christ our Victor with all His battles won Consider Christ our Sovereign for He completes what He's begun”