Paul presents God’s Purpose in Israel’s Rejection of
Christ Part 1
Romans
9:6-9 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are
not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children
because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the
children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of
promise: “At this time I will come
and Sarah shall have a son.” NKJV
Paul begins his presentation of God’s Eternal purpose
in Israel’s rejection of Christ by first affirming that God’s Holy Word has not
failed and will not ever fail or become powerless or inefficient. Paul has
already documented for us that God’s Eternal Plan included the election of all
of His children before He ever founded the world and all the elements, animal
life, plant life, all the minerals, and all other natural resources. Therefore,
it is not an alternative plan that God the Father developed when Christ own
brethren (Jews) in the flesh rejected Him and beat Him and hung Him up on a
Cross and killed Him. This was The Plan in the Mind of God before He ever said,
“Let there be light” and Israel’s rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ was part
and parcel of God the Father’s entire redemptive plan to reconcile sinful man
back to Himself. The reality from the beginning of Abraham’s sojourn as he
walked with God was that all who came from his seed physically would not bear
his likeness as our Lord Jesus said, John
8:37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but
you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have
seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They
answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of
Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I
heard from God. Abraham did not do this.” NKJV
Paul is affirming the words of our Lord Jesus Christ
by testifying here that all of those born Jews in the flesh are not all Jews of
the Abrahamic Covenant. Remember Paul had already said the same thing earlier
in this epistle with these words, Romans
2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is
circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew
who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in
the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from
God. NKJV What our Lord Jesus said and what the Apostle Paul is likewise
affirming in this epistle is that Abraham believed God and trusted Him and in
so doing shared an intimacy with YAHWEH that gave Him the ability to see the
Messiah Jesus Christ our Lord’s purposeful coming into the world and dying for
man’s sin on that Cross. Therefore, every Jew who was one with Abraham would likewise
be of the same spirit as Abraham and see Christ as the Jewish Messiah and
embrace Him and not reject Him. We find this truth again confirmed by the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ when he said, John
1:47-49 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathanael
said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree,
I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son
of God! You are the King of Israel!” NKJV
Our Lord shows here with what He said to Nathanael
in John 1:47 that He knew what Israelites
were real or genuine and who were fake and false, just as He knows all who
truly belong to Him by way of regeneration and new birth (2 Timothy 2:19). If we go back a few verses in John 1 and pick up the dialogue in verse 43 we can see that there
was a people (a remnant of Jews) who by the Power of the Holy Spirit were able
to discern correctly the things written of the Messiah by Moses and the other
Old Testament Prophets and in so doing were able to recognize our Lord Jesus
Christ when He appeared to them and willingly followed Him and worshiped Him as
the God-Man that He was and is, listen to this dialogue, John 1:43-45 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He
found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now
Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael
and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the
prophets, wrote --- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” NKJV All of the
children of the promise whether they be Jew or Gentile will see our Lord Jesus
Christ when He appears to them and will follow Him as He said, John 10:14 “I am the good
shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” NKJV or
when He said, John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me.” NKJV
Now let us contrast the words of our Lord Jesus from
this same chapter 10 of John’s gospel when He also said this to the
non-believing Jews (who Paul is saying here are not all Israel), John 10:24-26 Then the Jews surrounded Him
and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell
us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you
do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of
Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.”
NKJV When God the Father went to Abraham and promised him that he would
have a son and from that son would come descendants as numerous as the grains
of sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens, Abraham did not know or
understand at that time that God meant to perform a miracle between he and
Sarah his wife (who was passed the age of child-bearing). Abraham and Sarah did
come together in sexual intercourse and from their marital union God performed
a miracle and from that miracle came Isaac the son of the promise (Romans 4:16-22).
Just as Abraham’s body was considered dead (being he
was 100 years old) and Sarah’s womb dead, this is a picture of every true child
of God (either Jew or Gentile) who was dead in their trespasses and sins, but
through the miracle of grace producing new birth they now become the children
of the promise and seed of Abraham. The Jews like Nathanael were the true
children of the promise and God’s Elect and also every Gentile who is regenerated
and born again also is God’s Elect. It was Abraham and Sarah who believed God
and had the sexual intercourse, but it was God’s Power that opened up Sarah’s
dead womb and enabled Abraham to provide seed for Isaac bringing forth a new
creation picturing the new creation God makes out of every sinner as election
and human responsibility work simultaneously to produce the new creation in
Christ just as it did to produce Isaac.
Genesis
18:14 “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return
to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” NKJV
Mark
10:27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but
not with God; for with God all things are possible.” NKJV
“When Jesus came to earth, demons recognized him,
the sick flocked to him, and sinners doused his feet and head with perfume.
Meanwhile he offended pious Jews with their strict preconceptions of what God
should be like. Their rejection makes
me wonder, could religious types be doing just the reverse now? Could we be
perpetuating an image of Jesus that fits our pious expectations but does not
match the person portrayed so vividly in the Gospels?” Phillip Yancey
“Many that descended from the loins of Abraham and
Jacob, and were of that people who were surnamed by the name of Israel, yet
were very far from being Israelites indeed, interested in the saving benefits
of the new covenant. They are not all really Israel that are so in name and
profession. It does not follow that, because they are the seed of Abraham,
therefore they must needs be the children of God, though they themselves
fancied so, boasted much of, and built much upon, their relation to Abraham, Matthew 3:9; John 8:38, John 8:39. But
it does not follow. Grace does not run in the blood; nor are saving benefits
inseparably annexed to external church privileges, though it is common for
people thus to stretch the meaning of God’s promise, to bolster themselves up
in a vain hope.” Matthew Henry
“If you boast more about your Church or Denomination
than you do Jesus Christ, there is something backwards at work, because when
you have seen the wonder and majesty that is inherent in Christ Jesus our Lord,
as Paul said so will you say, Philippians
3:8-11 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead. NKJV” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely
in Christ,
Author
of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and
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Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners,
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