God's Promise, Purpose and Justice for All (pt. 1)

Paul is going to turn his attention back to Israel. He reminds us that Israel is God’s chosen land and the Israelite's are God’s chosen people. What Paul is starting to lay out in chapter 9:6-29 is the case for Christ once again. Paul states very clearly that you can be of Israel and still not be Israel. Paul combines the Jews and the Gentiles into a single group being God’s children. He references the combined true believers as Israel.

Paul goes back to his Old Testament scripture to substantiate his point in (Genesis 18:14; 21:12 and 25:23). He cites Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau to illustrate his point. The point is that God has promised Abraham that he would be the head of all nations. How does God accomplish this? By bringing Sarah a child named Isaac and God tells both Sarah and Abraham that “In Isaac your seed shall be called”. This is one of many promises that God has given and fulfilled throughout time.

Although Paul is making his point to the Roman citizens, this point carries throughout the generations and is very much applicable in today’s environment. We all too often believe that if we sit in the church for 30 minutes a week while never engaging in God’s work then we are safe from God’s judgment. This only becomes reality if you are a true believer and believe that we are saved through our Lord Jesus Christ willing to live the life and do the work God has assigned to each one of us.

We all too often forget that is it only through Jesus that we are saved and through Jesus our lives will change. The only way to the Kingdom of heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). If someone is telling you different then they are not representing scripture as it is written. This is the challenge that Paul is facing in Rome. That is the disbelief in Jesus as the Son of God. It is no different today than in Paul’s day. If you do not believe in Jesus Christ you will not get into heaven. Paul makes it very clear that if you are children of the flesh, then you are not the children of God. Conversely, the children of God are counted as the promise according to scripture.

With our belief in Jesus comes a life changing transformation. It is called “life changing” because when we put all our faith and hope in God and Jesus our lives change. We no longer want to be associated with the world. What I mean is that the immoral things of the world are no longer more important than developing our personal relationship with Christ. Sin no longer has a stronghold on us because we live for the one who died for our sins. These immoral worldly standards are cloaked with many different disguises and are spoken in many different languages. In reality, they are still immoral world standards that we should no longer cling to or desire to live in.

Today there are so many distractions that surround us. If we allow ourselves to get entrenched in life's distractions it will become an umbrella we will never get out from under. Unfortunately, we are constantly being bombarded by superfluous information, work, families and other what I deem as fun distractions. In short life can become one great big distraction away from our personal relationship with Christ if we let it. The consequence of these distractions will quickly move us out of our relationship with God right into a relationship with the world.

For some these distractions are all they know and for others these distractions are a personal choice. In reality we all have to make a choice in our life. The correct or right choice is to live for God through Jesus Christ. The alternate is to continue to live in the immoral standards of the world. God will not force a choice upon us. He will let us live the way we want with limited freedom. We know that all things pass through God’s hand and He knows our beginning, our middle and our end. More importantly He knows our final destination.

The question is, do you want to have confidence in knowing where your final destination will be? Are you concerned for others who are rejecting God and especially rejecting Jesus Christ? As true believers in Christ we are all obligated to share the word of God to others. We are obligated to share God’s love and the life and Love of Jesus Christ. I heard this statement a long time ago and it rings true through the ages. You and I may be the only bible some people will ever be exposed to. What I mean is that we may be the only ones who share Jesus with others. With that comes great responsibility to ensure our relationship with Christ is on the right path. That we are engaged in God’s word and living the biblical principles put before us to be an example to those who do not know why we love our Lord and Savior.

My prayer is that we will seek and take every opportunity that is put before us to share the Love of Christ with those who are less fortunate. I pray that we will stand strong together as one body in Christ believing that as a community of believers Christ will lead our lives and we will live and show God’s love and be the godly example that God has created in us for others. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray Amen! Amen!