15-07-2018
Genesis 12:2-3 New King James Version (NKJV)
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God chose Abraham purposefully to bless the families of the earth.
God chose His only begotten Son Jesus to be His example to every human being, past, present and future, on earth. He is the way, the truth and the life. If any human being wants to know what is God's example for me as a human, we have one example that was chosen sovereignly by God and it is the example of Jesus. If you see it by revelation and you grasp it, then salvation is yours.
Jesus is the chosen example for every person.
But God has a chosen example for every nation as well.
In order to appreciate Israel, you also need revelation.
God has to open your eyes and your heart to embrace His choice and begin to love His choice of Israel, the way you opened your eyes to Jesus, the Son of God.
When you are embracing the choices of God, you are aligning yourself with God's purpose.
You embrace His choice of Jesus, you are aligning yourself to God's purpose for your life.
You embrace His choice of Israel, you begin to align people to God's choice for your people, for your tribe and for your nation.
Israel is that important.
The name Israel is mentioned more than any other name in the Bible except the name of God. Israel is mentioned more than 2,300 times in the Bible.
Israel is important to God. There is a secret in it. If we can get into that secret, then so many of the mysteries of God's kingdom open up to us.
How does God work a multi-ethnic kingdom? How does God get the different families, different tribes and different ethnic groups to agree?
The key is in Israel.
God chose them and set them apart. God told Israel, "You are a holy nation. I am separating you from all the nations of the world."
But then later, He broke down that barrier and He moved to include all nations, tribes and tongues. This was the great explosion of the New Testament.
Through the ministry of Jesus and through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, the doors were blown off their hinges and every nation, every tribe, every tongue is now invited in to become an integral part of God's kingdom.
Israel gave us the Bible. They were they ones who wrote it, preserved it and handed it down to us. From them, we get all our fathers and our heroes. They gave us Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They gave us Moses and the Law from Sinai, the judges, the kings, the prophets in the Old Testament. They gave us Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. Everything came from one people group.
Through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, God broke down the barrier between them and us so that He could have a kingdom that is every nation, tribe and tongue.
Ephesians 2:14-16 New King James Version (NKJV)
Christ Our Peace
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has
broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to
create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He
might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting
to death the enmity.
Jesus Himself is our shalom. He makes both groups into one, abolishing in His flesh the hatred, which is the law of commandments. He didn't abolish the lawfulness of God. What He abolished was the hatred that arose from the fact that in God's law He separated the people of Israel from the other nations, by sending His own Son that He might reconcile them both in one body and one kingdom to God through the cross. He took the hatred between ethnic groups--the prejudices, racism, resentment, pride, hurt, persecutions and bloodsheds. He took all of that on Himself and put it to death through the cross. This is such a powerful truth. We need revelation from God to get a hold of this.
The answer is found in the one new man. He breaks all of that hatred down and enables us to love our neighbours and our enemies. Do good to those who despitefully use you. How can we do this? Because He broke down the enmity and took it upon Himself at the cross. He soaked up all the hatred, bloodshed, persecution, prejudice and discrimination and took it out of the way.
The enmity is now gone and we can love across racial, cultural and ethnic barriers. We can even love across legal barriers because there is no law against love.
The love of God has a transforming characteristic that can change hearts. That's what's required in your nation.
You've had the breakthrough. Now you've got to go through the breakthrough. Break down the barrier so that you can go through.
What do you do to go through?
Go show love now. Renew your love. Ask God for supernatural love. Ask God not just for grace but amazing grace to forgive, to show kindness, to do good works that change hearts.
Now, go back to Israel as an example of bringing Jews and non-Jews together.
In the Bible, God didn't deal with every racial divide. He didn't deal with every ethnic tension.
He didn't mention a lot of nations. In fact, the majority of nations that we know today are not in the Bible.
God chose one nation for all. Embrace God's choice and the kingdom of God begins to open up for you and for your people too because God has a plan for your people. And it is a good plan--a plan for good and not for disaster, a plan to give you and your people a future and hope.
The key is embracing His choice of Israel and learning from Israel.
Let's take a look. For many centuries, the church actually taught that the people of Israel were cursed--that the Jews rejected Jesus and so God rejected them.
In the European church, they became known as the killers of Christ. Because this was taught by the church, to a certain extant, it prepared a way, culturally, for other people to come along and develop an anti-Sematic culture. You never want a church to go down that road.
It left so many scars and really impeded the advancement of God's kingdom.
But the Jews were wandering and they didn't have a nation. They became a scorn to minority groups and were held in contempt where ever they went. It was common to be punished. They were chosen but they rejected the Lord so God rejected them.
What does the New Testament say about that issue?
For some people, Romans is their favourite book in the Bible.
Romans 1 through 6, which they call the Roman road, is so systematic and clear. It is Paul's magnificent gospel.
And he shares with us his personal struggles in Romans 7 and most of us identify with his struggles.
Because we identify with the struggles of Paul in Romans 7, for many people Romans 8 is their favourite chapter of the Bible because it begins with: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..." If you identify with Paul's struggles, you'll say, "Thank God He is not going to condemn me for struggling for a little bit." Romans 8 is a picture of the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil the requirements of God. If we allow ourselves to be filled and saturated with the Holy Spirit, then all of God's requirements gets fulfilled in us and the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus begins to fulfil and protect us and sets us free from the law of sin and death that was ruling our flesh. Towards the end of Romans 8, we learn that the Holy Spirit is in us and interceding and praying for us. As a result of the Holy Spirit praying for us, all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.
Most of us get to Romans 8 and we blink our eyes just momentarily, it seems, and when we open them up, there it is we're at Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Why do we skip Romans 9, 10 and 11? The church has skip these chapters for centuries, until today. Because those chapters are about Israel and the people that God chose as a nation.
When we get to Romans 11, Paul speaks to us directly about how do Jews and Gentiles work together in the New Testament church.
Romans 11:1-2a New King James Version (NKJV)
Israel’s Rejection Not Total
11 I say then, has God cast away
His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.
We thought the Jews rejected Jesus so we reject them.
The premier apostle to the nations said exactly the opposite. Nobody knows this better than Paul. Before he was saved, he was a persecutor of the early believers. And after he became a disciple of Jesus, his former Jewish friends tried to assassinate him, not once but several times. No one knows better than Paul that his own people, his own nation has turned away from Jesus and rejected Jesus as Messiah and king.
If God didn't reject Israel for their sins, what happened?
Romans 11:11-12 New King James Version (NKJV)
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly
not! But through their [a]fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come
to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their [b]fall is riches for the world, and their
failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
As part of our calling, we the Christians from other nations are to provoke the Jews to jealousy. By the joy and love that's in us and the forgiveness and mercy of God and by the amazing grace that's been poured down upon us, we should make the Jews jealous.
When it comes to New Testament prophecy, it is like a laser beam. What God gave to the Apostle Paul 2,000 years ago cuts through 2,000 years of history like it didn't exist.
Yes, the Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah and king. In Romans 11:12, Paul is suggesting that there will come a time when they will turn around.
God is wise enough that when His chosen people rejected His Son, Jesus, He was able to turn that rejection into a way that blesses the rest of us.
You didn't have to wait for a Jewish apostle to preach to you. The Gentiles did! And that's how the movement has spread Christianity for 2,000 years, from Gentile nation to Gentile nation.
And the Jews were set aside for 2,000 years.
If the Jews' rejection of Jesus was a blessing, how much more their fullness!
Paul is saying that the day will come when God will turn back to the Jewish people. When you see the Jewish people coming into the kingdom of God and saying that "Jesus is Lord and Jesus is our Jewish Messiah and Jesus the King of our people," there is going to be an even greater blessing.
The things that happened in the Book of Acts were glorious times but that's what happened when Israel rejected the Son of God. It burst into the nations. If you think that's glorious, Paul is saying, "Wait till they come back!" When they start to come back, there is going to be a fullness that goes beyond what happened at the time of their rejection.
Just in the last 25 years, as a non-Jewish pastor of a local congregation in Israel reaching out to Jews and Arabs, we have seen more Jews come to the Lord than in any time in history since the Book of Acts.
This is news for the Christian world.
Once you get this revelation, you are going to realise that "Wow! God did this for us." It's not just for Israel. He did this for us, knowing that we would be Christians that face the challenges that we face in the 21st Century and have to finish the work and have to win our nation here, we need this.
That means God is going to pour out more grace upon us.
Romans 11:15 New King James Version (NKJV)
15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world,
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Paul is referring to the spiritual life of God Himself.
When you see the Jews come back, that is your prophetic signal that it is time for the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit that the world has ever seen!
Do you think you need that now? Do you think you need that here in this nation?
You need a double portion in this nation if you are going to bridge the gaps that you face today.
But this is the will of God. He wants every nation, tribe and tongue and every ethnic group together. He's broken the wall and barrier and He wants to bring us together in one new man. This is the plan for this nation.
And you are going to need massive power from God, amazing grace and supernatural love. This is the fullness that He is talking about. This is the life from the dead.
How does this actually work? How do we understand the role of Israel as non-Jewish Christians today? How do we understand the calling of Israel and how do we benefit from that? How does this grace get applied to us?
Paul uses the image of two olive trees.
One olive tree is a cultivated olive tree. That's the tree of Israel. By Paul's day, the Jews had had the Bible for 1,000 years. God had been working with them for 1,000 years before Jesus. Going all the way back to Abraham, God had been working with them generation after generation. So Israel became the cultivated olive tree.
And then there is the wild olive tree. The other olive tree is the olive tree of the nations. Whatever nation, tribe or tongue we come from, our people grew up and developed our cultures and our way of life, just finding a way to survive. Along the way and over the centuries, our people discovered many beautiful and powerful things. Look at the cultures today. There are so many wonderful and redemptive things in every culture. This is God's design. So our trees grew up in a wild way. We're not less important. It's just that we did not have that history with God that Israel did.
Paul uses this symbol to teach something really important as Christians.
Romans 11:17-18 New King James Version (NKJV)
17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a
wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of
the root and [a]fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the
branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but
the root supports you.
This means that when you and I accept Jesus as our Saviour, Lord and King, we became grafted in to the Abrahamic tree of covenant.
By covenant, we were joined to the God of Israel.
By faith, we became the children of Abraham.
Romans 11:19-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be
grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you
stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
Why didn't he say, "Don't be haughty but be thankful"? Why didn't he say, "Don't be arrogant but be joyful"?
Why did he say, "Don't be arrogant but fear" or some versions say, "but tremble"?
Paul is writing this to us from 2,000 years ago. He's prophesying what's going to take place in the future.
Today we know what happened to the broken arm of Jewish branches after Paul wrote this letter. We know they lost their land and their nation. We know their families were torn apart and they were scattered among the nations and began to wander. We know as they wandered, they weren't received as honoured apostles of the truth. They wandered as a scorned minority group that was basically held in contempt where ever they went. They were marginalised in societies. They couldn't own land. They couldn't hold government positions. If they protested, they would be in prison or be thrown out of their land. If they resisted, they would simply be killed. These happened over and over and over again.
Today, in this world, there are two other civilisations that are as old as the Jewish people: China and India. Both China and India are well over a billion in population.
Jews are less than 20 million. What happened to all the rest? They were assimilated, taken into captivity, killed as victims of mass murder. Only a remnant remains.
Paul is saying, "Don't be arrogant when you see the chosen people of God in their unbelief, but fear."
Romans 11:21-22 New King James Version (NKJV)
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare
you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those
who fell, severity; but toward you, [b]goodness, if you continue in His
goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Do we think that we are better than the Jews?
We have a covenant with the same God.
In God's family of His nations, there are many children in the nations and He loves us all with an everlasting, eternal love. He loves every nation, tribe, tongue, people and family.
But in God's family of His nations, there is only one firstborn. It is the nation He chose to be the example. If you know the story of the Jews, they received a stricter upbringing.
That's what Paul is saying. Consider them. Look at how severe God has been with them. So have this healthy fear of God. Hold on to your faith. Don't allow your faith to be distorted, derailed or sidetracked. Focus on your King. Stay obedient to your King. He'll give you your nation. He'll give you your people. Don't become distracted. As you know, there are so many distractions in the Christian world today.
Are you scared enough now?
The good news is in the next verse.
Romans 11:23-24 New King James Version (NKJV)
23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be
grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out
of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature
into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree?
Paul is prophesying from 2,000 years ago to the Messianic Jews of today.
Don't you think that God can turn back to the Jews and graft them into their own tree?
Make your way into a Messianic house of worship and see for yourself. Stand with a Messianic Jew on your left and an Arab Christian on your right and worship the King of kings in His own land, in His own language, amongst His own people.
And you go, "Wow, Paul! Amazing! You really do deserve the title of the Apostle to the nations."
There is going to be a movement. The Jews are coming back. When this happens, He is going to bring the nations together.
There is going to be an outpouring--life from the dead.
That's what you need right here and now in Malaysia.
You need supernatural anointing.
You need wellsprings of love.
And if you receive that from the Lord, you are going to break the barrier because He already broke it. He took away the hatred in His own flesh on the cross so that He can bring His body together as one new man. This is the will of God.
Romans 11:25-36 New King James Version (NKJV)
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of
this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own [a]opinion, that blindness in
part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26
And so all Israel will be [b]saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has [c]committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
35 “Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
It is all about Israel. Don't think that God is done with them. They may be in unbelief and in disobedience but they are still beloved and God's purpose in choosing them has not changed to this day.
God is moving to complete His work on this planet. That means, it's time for your nation.
God has given you a breakthrough.
The purpose of the breakthrough is what you do when you break through. You show supernatural love. You bring forgiveness. You bring the goodness of God because the enmity has been taken away by Jesus Himself. In His own suffering on the cross, He soaked up all the hatred, the persecution, the bloodshed and all the rivalry and resentment so He can make all of us one new man.
Related:
No comments:
Post a Comment