Cross Creek Community Church, Pastor Dave Martin – August 23, 2015

“Israel Pastand God’s Sovereignty”

Romans 9:1-29 & Selected

Introduction

Let me say that today’s message can be a difficult and controversial topic... It concerns the nation of Israel, Gentiles, salvation and the Sovereignty of God...Exploring why things happen the way they do and the deep truths concerning the Jewish people in light of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility…

“Sovereignty” – God’s absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Dan 4:25, 35; Rom 9:15-23; 1Ti 6:15; Rev 4:11).

  • One of many verses that clearly speaks of God’s Sovereignty is found inDaniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"
  • Another is Revelation 4:11 11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

If God is Sovereign, why did His chosen people, the Jews refuse the Gospel? This begins a very powerful section of scripture that explains the Gospel message presented to the world (Jew & Gentile) and yet for the most part the Jewshave rejected Jesus as their Messiah… Essential key to help us see God’s BIG picture

Rom 9, Israel past… Rom 10, Israel present… Rom 11, Israel future

1. Israel’s Special Privilege, 9:1-5

Romans 9:1-5 1 I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-- 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off [anathema] from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

  • Paul was deeply affected because of Jewish blindness & rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
  • Cursed & cut off, excommunicated from being a believer going to heaven to a sinner going to hell
  • You can see Paul’s Jewish credentials in Phil 3:1-14… God’s sovereign choice the people of Israel…

Deuteronomy 7:6 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The Privileged People of Israel…vs4-5

  1. God adoptedthem as a nation
  2. God revealed to them His shekinah glory
  3. Covenants were given (Noah, Abraham, Moses, David…)
  4. Mosaic Law delivered (Govern political, social & religious life)
  5. Sacred service in tabernacle/temple worship (Blood sacrifice)
  6. God made thousands of promises to His covenant people (Estimated 3,573)
  7. Historical patriarch fathers (Abraham, Isaac & Jacob… God changed his name to Israel)

V5 “… from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Through whom Jesus the Messiah came!

  • Strong affirmation of Christ’s deity… Who is Creator, Sovereign, Eternal, Almighty God… Praise Him!
  • The Jews gloried in the fact they were God’s Chosen People… Then and now the Christian church is growing while Judaism is waning… Israel has a rich heritage with God, a special honor to her alone

2. God’s Divine Prerogatives, 9:6-24… He is Sovereign

  • Not chosen by natural descent or human effort, vs6-13
  • God sovereignly extends His mercy and grace, vs14-18

Examples:Abraham & Sarah, God choose Isaac (son of promise) over Ishmael… Isaac & Rebecca, God choose Jacob over Esau… Jacob & Esau, one loved/Israel and other hated/Edom (Deals with national election. Not one elected to heaven while the other is elected to hell… God loves sinners, Jn 3:16)…

V15Moses & Pharaoh, Vernon McGee says, “Moses was a Jew, Pharaoh was a Gentile; yet both were sinners. In fact, both were murderers! Both saw God's wonders. Yet Moses was saved and Pharaoh was lost. God raised up Pharaoh that He might reveal His glory and power; and He had mercy on Moses that He might use him to deliver the people of Israel. Pharaoh was a ruler, and Moses was a slave; yet it was Moses who experienced the mercy and compassion of God—because God willed it that way. God is sovereign in His work and acts according to His own will and purposes. So it was not a matter of righteousness but of the sovereign will of God.”

Vs 19-21Potter & Clay… You & Me…God is holy and must punish sin; but God is loving and desires to save sinners. If everybody is saved, it would deny His holiness; but if everybody is lost, it would deny His love. The solution to the problem is God's sovereign election. His divine prerogatives… Sovereignty of God

Romans 9:20-21, 2420 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?... 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

God is the Potter and we are the clay. God is wiser than we are and we are foolish to question His will or to resist it, Isa. 45:9. Clay has no life and is passive in the potter's hand. Yet we have feelings, intellect, and willpower, and we can resist Him if we choose, Jer. 18. But it is God who determines whether a man will be a Moses or a Pharaoh. Neither Moses, nor Pharaoh, nor anyone else, could choose his parents, his genetic structure, or his time and place of birth. We have to believe that these matters are in the hands of God alone… BUT, this does not excuse us from human responsibility.

So is God fair in the way He's working out His plan in the world?Is it fair to see Gentiles believing in Christ and being saved whereas the Jews reject Christ in unbelief? If God is simply having mercy on some and hardening others, who is responsible or who should be blamed? If all is predetermined by God, then how can a person be held morally accountable?

  • Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility are both true!

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, [divine election] and whoever comes to me [human response] I will never drive away.”

Acts 13:39, 48 “Through him everyone who believes is [human response] justified” and 48 “…and all who were appointed [divine election] for eternal life believed.”

3. Blended Together Perfectly, 9:25-29

Romans 9:25-28 25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," 26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'" 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."

  • V25, calling of the Gentiles was NOT an unforeseen event that just happened but foretold in O.T.
  • God NOT saying O.T. Israel is now the church or NOTsaying the Church is now spiritual Israel…
  • V28 Human history will draw to its final conclusion when Israel once again takes center stage…
  • Divine Sovereignty/election and human responsibility/choices blends perfectly together
  • A paradox is when two opposite things that seems impossible but are actually true… I’ve given illustrations of a train track. Two separate rails runs parallel, but way out and they blend as one… Or before you came to Christ over the door it said “whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”, Rom 10:13. You walk through the door and look back and over the door you just entered it says “chosenbefore the foundations of the world”, Eph 1:4… Called an antinomy…

“Antinomy” – Comes from two words… Anti- “against” and nomos- “law” which simple means “against the law of human reasoning”…

  • What is perfectly comprehensible to an infinite God is difficult to comprehend for man
  • How do you describe things in the Bible about God that goes “against” human thought or reason?
  • What seems ridiculous to a dog is quite comprehensible to a human being…
  • Because things appear to be contradictory… It gives rise to error/heresy with people tending to move to one side or the other, this is one reason for 4200+ religions in the world today.
  • Stay balanced - Many things about God which are mysterious, incomprehensible and super-rational
  • Humanly speaking beyond our comprehension and understanding, impossible for man to understand and reconcile -FAITH… Yet to God they blend perfectly together to accomplish His plan
  • You are NOT God, stop thinking like you are and humble yourself before your Creator

Isaiah 55:9 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Where do I stand before God?

God offers forgiveness through His Son

God gives opportunities to repent and believe

We consciously decide to receive Christ and eternal life

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Tired of running… Would you come to Jesus? Come drink the free gift of the water of life…

Let’s Pray…

Do you desire to have your sins forgiven and go to heaven when you die?

Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I now invite you into my life as my Lord and Savior. Take control of my life, forgive my sins and make me your child. Amen

The Bible Exposition Commentary -BE series, Dr J. Vernon McGee

New Testament Commentary - Romans, John MacArthur

Bible knowledge Commentary, WalvoordZuck

John Ryrie Study Bible