04-10-11 Sovereign God

This morning our study of Romans

will move us into the 9^th chapter of this remarkable letter.

And in order for us to accomplish

what I believe we need to accomplish

we are going to move quickly through this section of Paul’s writing.

You all know how I love to linger on words,

and phrases,

and verses in our studies.

But we can’t do that

with the section we’re going into today

because we need to be able to see the chapter as a whole,

in fact we really need to be able to see

the next 3 chapters as a whole

in order for it to accomplish

what it is designed to accomplish in our thinking.

First of all,

let me once again place this section of the book

into its proper setting.

Some of you will remember

that, when we started our study of the book of Romans,

I told you that Paul wrote the book

to provide his readers with the answers to 4 crucial questions about Christianity.

#1. Why was Christ needed?

Why was it necessary for our Creator God

to take on human flesh,

enter human history as He did,

and allow us, His Creation, to crucify Him?

Paul answers that question

in Romans 1:18-3:20,

and he does so by painting for us

a vivid, and a horrifying picture

of what the human race looks like without Christ.

All the world stands justifiably condemned before a righteous God.

#2. The second question, then, is what is a Christian?

What does it mean for a person to live with God on the basis of faith in Christ?

This is the section we have been in most recently,

a section that begins with the words, “But now apart from the law...” in Romans 3:21,

and ends with the words,

ROM 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

ROM 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

#3. The third question Paul then answers

concerns the nation of Israel.

He answers the question, “What happens to the nation of Israel

now that God has established the Church?”

Does the church replace Israel?

If not, how does Israel fit into God’s plan

in the light of what has happened through Christ?

This is the section we enter

with this 9^th chapter of Romans,

and it then runs through the end of chapter 11.

4. And then, in Romans 12:1 through the end of the letter

Paul answers the 4^th question, “What is the church and how does it operate?’

Now, at first glance,

this 3^rd section of the book,

dealing with the nation of Israel

may seem like the one least relevant

to us and our situation today.

But we are going to find that,

imbedded in Paul’s answer to this question

are some insights into the nature of our God

and His dealings with man

that have profound implications for every one of us.

Now, if you’re ready to run with me,

let’s jump into this and see where Paul goes.

In the first 5 verses of the chapter

Paul pours out his heart,

revealing his deep concern for his fellow Israelites.

ROM 9:1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,

ROM 9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

ROM 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

ROM 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,

ROM 9:5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Paul looks at the rich heritage the nation of Israel brings as a result of God’s past dealings with them,

and then sees them now rejecting

the very Messiah they claimed to have been waiting for,

and it hurts.

But then Paul makes a statement

designed to send a jolt

through the thinking processes of his readers.

He says,

ROM 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants...

And with that statement

Paul begins to introduce to us

the central concept upon which everything else he shares in these next 3 chapters depends.

And more than that,

it is the concept upon which

our entire relationship with God rests.

Now, he starts his introduction of this concept

by saying in effect,

“From the very beginning

we have misunderstood the basis upon which Israel has laid claim

to the blessing of God.”

For generations

the Israelites have believed

that it was their blood heritage from Abraham

that made them Jewish,

that made them a part of the chosen people of God.

But then suddenly

Paul says, “NO! It is not your blood tie to Abraham

that makes you a Jew,

it is something else altogether.”

Now, what Paul does next

may seem a little tricky,

and it may also seem unrelated to anything that’s going on in your life

until we make it through to where he goes with this.

But stay with me here.

In the next 7 verses

Paul takes us back to the beginnings of the nation of Israel

and shows us something

we would never have seen on our own,

yet something upon which

the entire foundation of God’s relationship with man rests.

I’ll read the verses,

and then help us see what’s going on here.

Paul begins with a quotation from God Himself,

out of a conversation between God and Abraham found in Genesis 21:12.

God said,

but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named."

The entire quotation is this,

GEN 21:12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.

He was talking with Abraham

about Ishmael,

telling him that, even though Ishmael is Abraham’s son,

he will not be the one

who will inherit the blessings

promised by God to Abraham.

And then, in verse 8,

Paul makes his remarkable statement.

ROM 9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

He says, it is not the blood tie to Abraham

that makes a person God’s chosen,

it is the sovereign promise of God

that determines who are the chosen ones of God.

Now, Paul knows exactly what we will do with that.

Or at least,

he knows what his fellow Jews will do with that.

They will respond by saying,

“NO! Of course it’s the blood line that makes a person a Jew.

Ishmael was excluded

because he was not Sarah’s son as well.

It is the descendants of Abraham AND Sarah

that form the nation of Israel.

But then Paul turns our eyes

onto a fascinating piece of Jewish history.

ROM 9:10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;

ROM 9:11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,

ROM 9:12 it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger."

ROM 9:13 Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

So what’s going on here?

I can explain it best

by giving just a few word overview

of the early history of the Jews.

It began when God sovereignly stepped into Abraham’s life

and made him a promise.

He promised him that he would make of him a great nation,

a nation through which all the world

would one day be blessed.

Abraham and his wife Sarah

then had one child,

Isaac.

Isaac married his wife, Rebekah.

Isaac and Rebekah had two sons,

Esau and Jacob.

Both were direct blood descendants

of Abraham and Sarah.

Esau was the first born of the two,

and he, by rights, should inherit the birthright from his father, Isaac.

But here, in the third generation of the nation of Israel,

God once again stepped in

and sovereignly declared

that the younger son, Jacob,

would inherit the promises made by God to Abraham,

and Esau would not.

Jacob then went on to have 12 sons,

who then formed the foundation

for the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel.

And here is the great question raised and answered by Paul -

why were Esau and his descendants,

who were direct blood descendants of Abraham and Sarah,

not a part of the Nation of Israel?

And Paul then tells us

that it was for only one reason -

so that from the very beginning

of God’s dealings with the Jews

they would understand the ground-rules.

He knew the day would come

when Israel would stand up before the world

and claim that, because they had Abraham’s blood

running in their veins,

that gave them a right to the blessings of God.

And so, just to make certain

that no human being believed

that they had anything to offer God

that could ever be viewed as giving them a claim to God’s kindness,

so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,

God blessed Jacob

and did not bless Esau.

Let me say it in a single statement.

God’s message to the Jews,

and through them to all of us is this:

“You have been blessed by Me for only one reason -

because I have promised to bless you.

You have known My kindness to you

for only one reason -

because I have chosen to be kind to you.

If you think there is something,

ANYTHING you can offer Me

that justifies My pouring out my blessing upon you,

you are wrong.

The only sure and certain thing in your life is this - My promises to you.

Without my promises

you have nothing,

you have no hope,

you have no future.

With My promises

you have a sure and certain and unshakable foundation for your life.”

From here Paul then goes on to raise the questions

that this truth will bring to our minds.

ROM 9:14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

ROM 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

ROM 9:16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

And it is that 16^th verse

that forms the heart of Paul’s message to us in this chapter.

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

He wants us to understand

that the true source of our security

never has and never will rest on our ability to produce anything

that merits God’s kindness to us.

It rests solely upon the nature of our God.

He goes on, then,

in verses 17 and 18

to use Pharaoh as an example

of His sovereign right to intervene in the affairs of man for His own purposes.

ROM 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth."

ROM 9:18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

And then Paul asks the real question that troubles us.

ROM 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

And he responds to the question with this:

ROM 9:20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

ROM 9:21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

In clear simple statements,

Paul tells us that there is only One Creator God,

only One who brought all things into being by His own will,

and as such He can do whatever He chooses with whatever He has created.

But that is not where Paul stops.

He then goes on to explain to us

why God does some of the things He does.

ROM 9:22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

ROM 9:23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

ROM 9:24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

ROM 9:25 As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' And her who was not beloved, 'beloved.'"

ROM 9:26 "And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'you are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

Why does God allow such evil to continue in our world?

Why does He allow terrorists

to crash commercial jets into the World Trade Center?

Why does he endure with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

Why doesn’t He wipe them all out.

He does what He does so that He can make known

the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy,

even us.

He allows this world to continue,

even with all of the evil it contains,

because it provides the stage upon which He can then call to Himself

all those who will respond to His offer of reconciliation.

Paul then illustrates his statements

with quotations from Isaiah

in verses 27-29,

and then sums up what he has been trying to say in the last 4 verses of the chapter:

ROM 9:30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;

ROM 9:31 but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

ROM 9:32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

ROM 9:33 just as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."

And let my offer you my own summary

of what I see Paul saying to us in this chapter.

1. God is sovereign in His promises.

No human being can earn them or merit them in any way.

2. Those promises are our sure and certain hope.

They are the only truly solid basis we have in this life.

3. In His sovereignty

God has allowed this world to continue

even with all of the evil it contains

so that He can have more opportunity

to pour out His mercy on all those who will respond to Him.

You see, the sovereignty of God -

that is, His right and ability to do whatever He wants

with whatever He has created -

is an inalterable fact of the created world.

It could not be otherwise.

But this truth - God’s sovereignty -

can only be correctly understood

within the context of two far greater

and far more significant truths about our God,

the truth that He loves us with an everlasting love,

and the truth that, having chosen to give us free will,

He has also chosen to honor that free will absolutely.

But that will make more sense as we move into chapter 10 next week.