Month: October 2018

65. Called Children of God

 Romans 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

The promise of a Messiah has been fulfilled and that changes everything: those who are not God’s people are now called the children of the living God. Not only are they now the people of God, but also, even more significantly, they are the children of the living God. This promise is for us who believe that Jesus is the promised Christ.

God is responsible for His people as a shepherd is responsible for dumb sheep. God is responsible for His children as a parent is responsible for vulnerable children. No human bond is as strong or as intimate as that between parent and child; and it must be so, as designed by God, in order that dependent children will be properly taken care of and the children will grow up to be responsible and contributing members of society.

Every parent is familiar with the privilege and responsibility to care for, nurture, provide for, pray for, protect and defend their children. Therefore, we have a good feeling and sense about how Father God feels about us.Our Father who is in heaven cares even more deeply than we can imagine about our wellbeing, and He will surely listen to our prayers. We can implicitly trust Him to carry out His good and gracious will for our good. Like children, who don’t always or even usually know what is good for them, we can trust the Father to know best. Children don’t always like the decisions of their parents; but in stable families, at the end of the day, they submit to their wisdom. It should be easy for children of the living God to submit to His perfect will and infinite wisdom, for we know He loves us. When we believe the Gospel simply and profoundly it becomes easier: our Father is good.

64. Called Beloved

 Romans 9:25b [I will call…] her beloved, which was not beloved.

 Jesus Christ has made the difference between my being “not beloved” and “beloved.” Once I was not beloved, but now because of Christ I am beloved. Indeed: “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.” [Song of Songs 2:16]. “I am my Beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” [Song of Songs 7:10]. I am the “her” who is called the beloved of the Lord. The terminology implies a loving and caring marriage relationship. We are (and I am) the Bride of Christ. The relationship metaphor of marriage implies intimate love. I am not just a sheep of the Shepherd or a child of God; I am a Bride. I am a person who is cherished and loved.

Honestly it must be admitted that I was born “not beloved” because I was born in sin, original sin that separates me from God and makes me His enemy. But though I was not beloved by Him God still loved me; He found a way, the only way, to reconcile me to Himself and love me truly. He calls me His beloved, and so I am. It is hard to fathom how far we have come: from not beloved to beloved. Jesus Christ radically reversed our relationship to God. We have gone from depths to heights, from outside to included, from enemies to friends, from estranged to intimate, and indeed from death to life.

There may be no other feeling in life that is as strong or as important as being loved. The need and the desire to be loved and cherished runs deep in the heart of every human being. The need for love is a powerful motivation for much of our human behavior and relational interactions, and especially is this true for the most vulnerable. I am weak and vulnerable and I need this promise to know that my deepest need has been fully satisfied; and even more, His love overflows. This is the message of the Gospel: God loves you and calls you beloved.

63. Called My People

Romans 9:25a As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people.

 The prophet Hosea had a son he was told to name “Not My People,” but when God loved and redeemed them he called them, “My People.” This is the promise: we, who were not God’s people, will be called My People. All sinners have separated themselves from God and are not considered His People; we are alone and on our own because we have declared Him “Not my God.” In other words, sinners have no relationship with God and are alienated from Him (and so from everyone else).

But God had mercy on me, one of the “not My people.” He came to earth, died for us, paid the ransom and bought us back from the Baal gods (Sin, Death, Devil) who kidnapped and enslaved us. Now I am one of His people again. He loves me, takes responsibility for me, cares for me, provides for me, and protects me because I am His and He is mine. The Bible uses the metaphor of Shepherd and Sheep to show us a picture of what it looks like when we are His people and He is our God. “We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” [Psalm 100:3}. Like a good shepherd, the Lord is always near, nurturing and caring, preserving and protecting, providing comfort and contentment.

Another metaphor that helps us understand what it means to be His people is the contented picture of a baby or young child in the presence of Mother and Father. When a child is alone or feels abandoned he is terrified; when wrapped in a loving family circle he feels secure. This is what it feels like when God calls us His people. Everything that we are able to idealize about tended sheep and cared for children is really true for the people of God. The ideal is real.

62. God shows Mercy and Compassion

 Romans 9:15-16, 18 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy….Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

 God promises that He will have mercy and He will have compassion. The promise means that it is up to God when, and how, and on whom He will have mercy and compassion. It is clearly not up to our own will and effort; it has nothing to do with us; it is not our decision. Thankfully, God decides; He deliberates and weighs one option against the other and then makes a choice according to His will; and His will is that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Perfect love makes a perfect choice. Mercy is compelled by love, the defining character of God. Mercy is not automatic and it cannot be forced or assumed or taken for granted. God simply has mercy and shows compassion because He does.

Mercy forgives, releases and sets free. Mercy can also harden when it is extended but resisted or disbelieved. Unbelief of mercy hardens the heart. God wills that He will not override the human or force His will on anyone. The result is a hardening: God hardens those who harden themselves to the unmerited mercy of God, as He did in the example of Pharaoh. Or, as it says three times in Romans 1, “God gave them up.”

But how do I know God wills to have mercy on me? I know for certain because I believe Jesus died for me and for my salvation; because of Christ God has mercy. I believe the Gospel; therefore I believe the promise: God has mercy and shows compassion on me.

61. Counted for the Seed

 Romans 9:8 They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

 Faith in Christ separates the children of the promise from the children of the flesh. The promise for children of the promise is that they are counted for the seed. The true seed of Abraham are believers in Jesus. The “seed children” receive the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12. These children are a blessing to the nations: “In you (the children of the seed) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This blessing came to all the earth through the Son of Abraham, the Son of God, who died and rose for the salvation of the world’s people. Those who believe in this Promised Seed are counted for the seed; through Christ and His believers the world is blessed.

Believers are the salt of the earth, and as such, they preserve the social order of the people of the world; those who believe the Gospel of the Kingdom salt all social interactions. Life on earth with and between sinners is preserved and blessed by those who are counted for the seed. Spoilage, rottenness and corruption would run rampant without the salt of blessing.

The New Testament fulfills the Old Testament and answers the question, “Who is the seed of Abraham?” OT Israel, the people of God, is subsumed into the NT Church, the people of God. The people of God are the point and goal of the God of History. We are privileged to be counted as the seed. The Seed has a permeating and leavening influence on the world. I believe in Jesus = I am a child of the promise = I am counted for the seed.

60. Nothing Can Separate from Love of God

 Romans 8:38, 39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Nothing in heaven or on earth, nothing in the physical or spiritual world, nothing in the present or the future, will be able to separate me from the love of God. The emphasis of these ten things that cannot separate seems to be on the invisible world, the spiritual realm, where angels and demons fight and play. The spiritual world is the realm where the enemies are mightily at work to separate us from God and from faith in His Love. The physical world is the realm where the effects of these invisible spiritual battles are seen and felt, but the real work is unseen. And for those of us who are spiritually aware we know where the real danger lies.

The love of God is Life; separation from His love is Death. The spiritual war is a war to the death; it is a matter of life or death, eternal life or eternal death. We have been promised eternal life and a connection to the love of God forever. This promise is needed because doubts and fears arise during life. It is natural to fear the unknown, but the word and promise of God makes the unknown known and the unseen seen. Why are we so sure? We are sure because certainty is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Repent and believe the Gospel.

We are assured that we shall be in the Presence of God in life after death; and we are assured that we are presently in the Presence and Love of God in this life before death. We know that if these ten things cannot separate us from God, then we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And if we have the love of God securely in sight, then nothing can bring us down, nothing can discourage us, nothing can make us anxious, nothing can make us angry, nothing can take away our peace, and nothing can diminish our joy. We are not ideally able to live this way all the time because faith is required and we want sight. We already have the faith; we don’t need more faith; we need more Gospel, more “Law and Gospel” applied to our minds and hearts on a continual basis.

59. More than Conquerors

 Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

 Jesus loves us and promises us that we shall overcome, and we are even more than overcomers. Overcoming is one thing; more than overcomers is another. Through Jesus Christ we overcome Sin, Death and the Devil; we conquer; we win. But more than winning the war we subdue and rule over these enemies. With Jesus in charge we are the rulers and lords; With Christ’s authority we can tell Sin to stop, Death to go away, and the Devil to flee. We have the victory even though we do not enjoy it as often as we could. We have the authority even though we do not exercise it as often as we could. We are more than overcomers even though we do not normally feel like it.

What do we overcome? We overcome tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. These are the weapons that the Enemy uses against us in spiritual warfare to bring us down and separate us from God. But nothing can separate us from God’s Love. If we overcome these seven things, then we know we can certainly overcome all the lesser troubles that afflict us in body and soul. All the problems we encounter are extremely small in the face of the Big God who is for us. Thus we can tell our problems we have a big God, a God with great power and personal love. Faith in Christ, the Overcomer, wins every daily struggle. Thus we go from victory unto victory.

This “more than conquerors” promise is overwhelmingly awesome. Nothing can keep us away from God, His love, or His power: when we have God we have it all. The trick is remembering and believing this promise when we need it.

58. Christ makes Intercession

 Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

 Jesus Christ makes intercession for us. In the first place, this phrase means that Jesus successfully intermediated between God and us; He brought us together. Intercede  = come between. Jesus made peace between two warring parties. We don’t like to think of ourselves as being at war with God, but we are truly enemies, separated by sin. But now we have access; we are at peace; we are united. Jesus Christ did this by dying, rising again and sitting at God’s right hand.

The present tense of the verb “make” means that the action of interceding is continuous and it goes on every day. Christ interceded once for all, but the action and its effects continue daily; we need daily intercession because we sin daily. Jesus is constantly keeping us in touch with a Holy and Almighty God. Even though every sin separates me from God Jesus is continually pleading His blood before the Father on my behalf; therefore, I am constantly connected to God; He is always accepting, loving and forgiving me; constant comfort is the promise. I can see Jesus sitting at the right hand of God reminding the Almighty that He has earned grace and forgiveness for me. Every time I sin Jesus is there with God, turning away the justified wrath and clearing the way for justifying mercy.

Prayer is another aspect of this promise. Not only can I and may I pray to the Father in Jesus’ name any time and all the time, but, even more, Jesus Himself is praying for me and interceding with my prayers and needs on my behalf before God. Just a few verses earlier we read the promise that the Holy Spirit is making intercession for us even through our groans and sighs. Whether it is the Son or the Spirit who is praying for us matters not, it is God Himself who prays, intercedes and cares for us. Jesus turns our prayers, wishes, needs, hopes and dreams into concrete intercessions before the Lord. The Lord God returns forgiveness to us every day. And He promises to pray without ceasing when we fail.

57. Give all things

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

 God gave us His Son; therefore, we can confidently expect that He will give us all things. We need to believe this promise fully. To doubt the words, “give us all things,” is like charging God with holding something back from us, just like the temptation of Eve by Satan, “God is holding good things back from you; you can’t trust Him.” Adam and Eve believed the Lie instead of the Promise of God.

God will give us all things. How do we know? We know for sure because He gave us His own Son; He delivered Him up for us all. Because He gave us the one thing most precious to Him, we can be sure He will give everything else that is good. We can know that He is holding nothing back. We don’t deserve Jesus and everything He has earned for us, but He gives it all to us for free out of mercy.

God will give us all things. The word “all” needs some explanation and understanding for it really stretches our belief. Does He give us the earth, the sun, moon, and stars? Does He give us the animals and plants? Yes, He gives us dominion over all these things. We inherit the earth and rule the universe: at least we did before the Sin of Adam ceded authority over to Satan. Jesus came to win it all back and so with Him God freely gives us all things. We, with Christ, are back in control. But does He also give us bad things, pain and suffering, trial and tribulation, disease and death? No, and Yes, in a way. No, because God is not the author, originator or giver of evil in any sense. Yes, because He allows bad things to happen within the limits He sets, and because he uses the evil things and turns them into good things, for “all things work together for good.”

Therefore, we confidently assert that the “all things” refers to everything that is good. We can say that all good things come from God and we can look to God and trust Him to give us all good things. We will argue with God about what is good for me, but we will not win the argument. Like Job, I lay my hand on my mouth; I shut up and trust in God’s good and gracious will. Jesus died for me: therefore with Him God will give me everything good that I need for a good life. Period.

56. Called, Justified, Glorified

 Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

 God did four things for us in this promise. Each verb is in the past tense, but actually each of these denotes an action that is completed and its effect is in the present.

• Predestinated: although it sounds past, even long, long past, it is really a present reality. We are in a state of predestination. It has been, and still is, predetermined who and what we are. The word is simply meant to reveal that God initiated the whole process of salvation, a glorious state in which we find ourselves now. Those who are baptized and believe in Jesus today are in such a state because God set His mind, will and purpose upon each one of them in eternity and worked it all out in historical time. From the foundation of the world God planned my eternal salvation, my destiny and my times.
• Called: sometime, even several times, during my lifetime God called me by the Gospel; that Gospel itself induces me to respond in faith to believe in Christ and be saved. After He has effectively called me, I call upon the name of the Lord and will be saved. The Call of the Gospel is powerful but not forced. It is like the call of Abraham, the call of Moses, the call of Isaiah, the call of Jeremiah, the call of Peter and the call of Paul. The love of God is so wonderful and compelling that one is made willing to follow even unto death.
• Justified: we have been justified by grace through faith on account of Christ. This is complete and finished and the effects of justification are presently enjoyed. We have been justified, we still are today, and we will always be forever.
• Glorified: it is expected that this word would be in the future tense: we will be glorified in the resurrection to eternal life. But No! We are glorified in the past (when Jesus died and rose) and we are glorified in the present. This is the surprise. We don’t look glorified and we don’t act glorified, but we are, because God says so; He promises. If we could see inside into our spirits we would see what God sees; and what God sees is glory. When we see with faith we say, “I am glorified! Thank you, Jesus!”

These four promises are not chronological, as one step following another, but they are simultaneous. We are predestined, called, justified and glorified in this space and time; this is true now and all the time forever.