Thursday, November 3, 2011

A Glimpse into God's Master Plan for History...

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Romans which revealed for us the timeless reality that God's sovereignty and man's responsibility is revealed by God's promises to the Jewish people. Yesterday, we saw Paul explain that God's sovereign choice should result in reverence, not arrogance, because we are responsible for our response to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Today, we see Paul gives us a glimpse into God’s master plan for all history, beginning in verse 25:
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
Here we see Paul reveal for the members of the church at Rome, and followers of Jesus throughout history, a timeless truth about God and His Divine Plan that was once hidden, but now has been made known through Christ. Paul revealed this plan because he did not want followers of Jesus to rely on their own wisdom when it came to figuring out how God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility fit into God’s story.

To help us understand this timeless truth we first need to define some terms. When Paul uses the phrase “fullness of the Gentiles has come in”, this phrase literally means “the full number of the Gentiles has come in”. In addition, when Paul states that all Israel will be saved, he is not referring to every single Jewish person. Instead, he is referring to ethnically Jewish people who will respond to God’s transformational activity through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. The Apostle Paul here is revealing for us the reality that at the end of God’s story here on earth, God will turn his attention to, and use the Jewish people as the vehicle to reveal His glory and advance His kingdom.

Currently, we are living in what theologians call the church age. Jesus, life, death, and resurrection ushered in the church. And since the beginnings of the church, God has used the church to advance His kingdom mission across cultures and continents in order to rescue people from all nations and cultures. Near the end of God’s story, the fullness of the Gentiles will come in; the full number of all non-Jewish people that will be rescued as a result of God’s sovereign and gracious choice will be reached.

At that time, God will turn his attention to the Jewish people and all Jewish people that respond to God’s activity by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader will receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for. This does not mean that some Jewish people will not be rescued prior to that time; remember, it is a partial hardening; a partial confirmation and setting into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in the majority of the Jewish nation, while God graciously chooses to rescue some from selfishness and rebellion.

God’s rejection of the Jewish people is not total and God’s rejection of the Jewish people is not final. We see this reality revealed for us in verse 28-32. Paul explains that while the Jewish people were at odds with God and the truth about God in a way that resulted in God’s kingdom mission advancing across the nations, from God’s point of view they are beloved. In other words, the Jewish people still hold a very special place in God’s heart. The reason that the Jewish people hold a very special place in God’s heart is because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. This phrase, in the language this letter was originally written in, literally says “that God’s invitation and privileges that He extends to the Jewish people are without regret and are not taken back”.

And here we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s sovereign choice of the Jewish people is without regret. Just as the nations of the earth were once disobedient, but now have been shown mercy and grace by God’s sovereign choice, the Jewish nation who has been disobedient, will be shown mercy and grace by God’s sovereign choice. For as Paul states in verse 32, all that God has rescued were once selfish and rebellious and God worked with that selfishness and rebellion to show mercy in a way that advances His kingdom and enhances His reputation.

Because the reality is that God is sovereign. God is large and in charge and has the freedom to choose some and reject others. And the reason that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others is because mankind is responsible. Mankind is responsible because all humanity exercises and embraces the choice to selfishly rebel against God and the truth about God to worship something other than God as God and to do things that hurt God and others, which the Bible calls sin.

So, has this series of posts made your head hurt? It has mine. And if it is any consolation, you are not the first person whose head has hurt over reading these words in the Bible. Look at Paul’s response to what he had just written for God, beginning in verse 33:
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
In other words Paul is exclaiming “Oh how difficult is it to access and understand the abundance of God’s wisdom and intellect! God’s decisions and activity in history are unsearchable and incomprehensible. I can totally relate to how Isaiah and Job felt when they encountered the truth about the nature and character of God. Because everything is from God and everything is through God and everything is for God. Everything. I just need to stop and worship God, because I cannot wrap my mind around all that I have just written”.

You see, even Paul had a hard time totally reconciling the two truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. But the lack of total clarity and the tension that Paul felt did not lead to rejection of God and these two truths. Instead the mystery surrounding these two truths led to worship of God and an embracing of the tension that these two truths create. Because God’s sovereign choice and man’s responsibility should result in worship. The fact that there are mysteries about God and the truth about God that are beyond us should result in God’s reputation being enhanced.

Because we are responsible for the choices we make. And in God’s sovereignty, He does not give everyone what we deserve. Instead, by His gracious choice He rescues some. And it is God’s gracious choice that should humble us and provoke within us a response of worship.

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