WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.959 Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:21.199 Primarily, the ministry that I get to serve in is the Gateway Center for Israel, in which most people hear that and they say, Oh, because that's really all you can say to that nowadays. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.239 And that's okay. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:36.719 And the reason I'm here this weekend is because as we're continuing our Let's Go series, where we're talking about sharing the love of Jesus, whether that's across the street or across the ocean, there is a biblical principle called to the Jew first. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:45.920 And it's not just a biblical principle, it's a principle that's been at the foundation of gateway since the beginning, this idea of to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:54.399 It comes right out of Scripture, like I said, Romans 1.16, where Paul says, I am not ashamed of this good news about Christ. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:01.679 It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes, the Jew first and also the Gentile. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:06.480 So tonight we're gonna talk, or today, sorry, I'm a youth pastor, every time I speak, it's like it's night, right? 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:07.200 It's Wednesday night. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:08.480 No, it's daytime. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:18.239 Today we're gonna talk about the principle of to the Jew first, but I want to not just talk about the principle, but the heart behind the principle. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:23.920 So if you're taking notes, the title of my message is To the Jew First, Understanding the Father's Heart. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:30.079 It's great to understand the principle, but it's really important to understand the father's heart behind the principle. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:39.280 Now I know that when we talk about something like Israel and the Jewish people, that can be a politically charged and sometimes a theologically divisive issue. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:40.879 And you might have other questions. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.680 You might have questions about, well, what's going on in Gaza right now? 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.200 What about the Palestinians? 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.359 Well, I thought Judaism was a different religion. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:48.640 I thought they rejected Jesus. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.560 I thought the church was the new spiritual Israel, and they're all great questions. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.920 Unfortunately, we don't have time to answer every one of them today. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:57.760 So I wanted to give you a resource. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:10.319 You can text Israel to 71010, and you will get our website, centerforisrael.com, our YouTube, and we have so many resources where myself and my team break down questions like that. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:17.039 And a specific place to start that I think is a great place to start is called what uh what we called our Israel masterclass. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:28.879 This is a nine-part series, it's completely free, it's 20 minutes apiece, and we talk about things like Zionism, anti-Semitism, replacement theology, the Palestinians, the Israel-Palestinian conflict through a biblical lens. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:33.919 So it's a great place to start to kind of get our head around it from a biblical perspective. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:34.879 Amen. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.719 Are you ready to dive in? 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:38.560 All right, let's pray. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.759 God, we don't want to hear my words. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.560 We want to hear your words through scripture today. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:53.199 And I pray that you would speak to all of us corporately and individually in Jesus' name and everybody said, Amen. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:54.080 Amen. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:03.360 Well, if we're gonna talk about to the Jew first this principle in Scripture, I thought it was a good place to start by understanding the Bible on its own terms. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:09.360 Because if we're gonna go to the Scripture, we shouldn't bring our own ideas, but instead let the scripture communicate to us. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:17.599 And if you just take the Bible at on its terms, there are two major distinctions from a biblical perspective. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:26.000 No matter who you are, no matter where you were born, what language you speak, what color your skin, you will fit into these two distinctions. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:32.080 The very first one in Scripture is male and female. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:32.960 Amen. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:34.159 Amen. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.520 Didn't get a big amen ten years ago, but nowadays people are like, amen. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:39.520 We need this. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.599 We're all aware of the two genders, right? 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:45.759 From a biblical perspective. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:58.800 The other major distinction in scripture that everyone fits into, no matter where you're from, where you were born, what color your skin, what language you speak, and that distinction is Jew and Gentile. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:00.240 Look at you reading your Bibles. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:00.879 Come on. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.159 This is also referred to as Israel and the nations. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:10.560 The word nations is Goyim, and the word Gentile is Goy. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.759 This is the same distinction, but just to put it different way. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.480 Here's the thing we need to know about these distinctions. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.720 These are God-given distinctions. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.360 These are not man-made, they're God-given. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:24.160 And you will see them all throughout Scripture. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.639 From Genesis 1 to Revelation, you will see male and female. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:35.360 From Genesis 12 to Revelation, you will see Jew and Gentile, Israel and the nations. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:41.680 But some people say, well, with this one, that really didn't Jesus kind of fulfill all that and do away with all that? 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.360 It's an interesting question. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:44.959 He's Jewish. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:49.040 And notice I didn't say he was Jewish. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:53.519 Many people in the church are comfortable with the fact that he was Jewish, especially now because we watch the chosen. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.680 We're like, that guy's so Jewish. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.600 Great context. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:05.120 But people still struggle with the fact that he is Jewish right now, sitting at the right hand of the Father. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:06.480 How do we know that? 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:08.879 Well, he comes back in Revelation, right? 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:09.920 He's going to come back. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.680 What does he come back as? 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.480 A Jewish male. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.199 Because these two distinctions continue. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:22.560 He's called the Lion of the tribe of Judah because he's a Jew. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.120 Duh, did we forget? 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.079 Did he change? 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.360 No, no, these distinctions remain. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:34.560 But see, most Christians, unfortunately, are taught replacement theology. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:43.519 And replacement theology, we could do a whole message on it, but really it's this idea that God chose Israel in the Old Testament, but now he chose the church. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.199 And the Jewish people were his people, but now it's the Christians. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:58.079 And the reason it's so wrong is because, first off, it defames the character of God because it paints God as a person that's going to break his covenant when something better comes along. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.879 Does that sound like a covenantally faithful God? 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:16.480 And the problem with this principle of to the Jew first is from a replacement theological perspective, they changed to the Jew first and the Gentile to to the Jew first until the Gentile. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:24.160 Meaning, this was what God did to the Jew first until the Gentile came, and we blessed everyone with our presence. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:31.040 Because we like to find ourselves in the scripture, and we like to unfortunately oftentimes make the scripture about us. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:33.920 But the scripture's not about us, it's about God. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:38.560 And God has a principle to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:54.959 The first time we see this principle is in Genesis 12, when God tells Abraham, I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make you famous, and I will be a and you will be a blessing to others, and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.040 All the families of the earth will be blessed through you. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:07.839 So right here we have this principle established that God's going to use Israel to bless the nations, to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.240 That's God's redemption plan. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:21.279 And even when Jesus comes, you know, we all love John 3.16, for God so loved the world, but Jesus himself says, I came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:30.079 And we're like, someone tell Jesus his calling is to the world, but his calling is to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:31.439 This is a godly principle. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:32.959 We see it in Genesis 12. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:41.759 He reaffirms this covenant in Genesis 26 with Isaac, and again, the same thing, and through your descendants, all nations of the earth will be blessed. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:49.600 He says it again with Jacob, Genesis 28, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:57.519 The issue with replacement theology being to the Jew first until the Gentile, it really makes us the new Israel. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:10.639 The church is the new Israel, the Christian is the new chosen people, and the reason it's wrong is because Scripture tells us over and over again the Gentiles weren't brought into the family instead of the Jewish people. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:12.720 We were brought alongside them. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:18.959 Because God is not in the business of dividing his family, he's in the business of expanding his family. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:30.480 Here it says in Ephesians 2 19, so now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners, you are citizens along with all of God's holy people. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:32.320 We see this all throughout scripture. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.799 Romans 8 says, you're adopted into the family. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:43.360 Romans 11 says the Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree, which is Israel, adopted into the family, grafted into the tree. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:47.200 He's saying the same thing with different analogies, hoping we really get it. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:52.960 You're not doing this instead of Israel and the Jewish people, but alongside Israel and the Jewish people. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:53.840 Amen. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:58.879 But many people will say, but Galatians 3.28. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:04.159 Galatians 3.28 says, there is no longer Jew or Gentile. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:05.919 It's a great verse. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:11.759 And many people quote it to convince that Israel's not important anymore. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.519 It's not about Jew and Gentile anymore. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:14.799 God did away with all that. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.480 But let's read Galatians 3.27 and 28 together. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:27.200 It starts with saying, and all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:31.679 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.600 God did away with all this. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.840 Anyone who believes now is a Christian. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:42.639 Anyone who believes now is has put on Christ, and we are now the seed of Abraham instead of the Jewish people. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.480 The problem with this is we often don't read the rest of the verse. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:57.600 And I've I literally heard just a week or two ago a really great pastor trying to tell people this is not important anymore, and they quoted this verse and they left out the last distinction. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:58.639 But let's read it together. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:00.000 Galatians 3 28. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:07.200 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:08.559 Darn it. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:10.480 We were doing so well. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:20.559 But isn't it interesting that no one in the church is advocating, hey, if you believe in Jesus, you have put on Christ, you are no longer male or female. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.799 Stop identifying like that. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:29.919 No, we all realize, no, when I put on Christ, I still remain a male and a female. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.840 I just follow Yeshua. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.120 I follow Jesus. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:39.440 In the same way, if a Jewish person puts their faith in Jesus, they remain Jewish. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.600 And as a Gentile, when I put my faith in Jesus, I remain Gentile. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.480 Here's what's interesting about these distinctions. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:53.759 We all are really comfortable with male and female, and the Bible talks about a covenant that takes place with male and female. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.360 God says, I'm gonna make a covenant between male and female. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.080 This covenant is going to be under God. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:02.320 What do we call this covenant? 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:04.000 Marriage, right? 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:08.159 Now the Bible says, male and female in this covenant, they become something. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:09.279 What do they become? 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:10.480 One. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:12.720 Wow, we're finishing each other's sentences. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:14.000 This is great. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:16.720 He made the two into one. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.080 This is Genesis 2. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:26.320 It says this explains why man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:27.840 Here's the interesting thing. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.360 There's another covenant that the Bible talks about, and this covenant is with Jew and Gentile. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:39.840 And he's taken Jew and Gentile, and this covenant is under Jesus and the sacrifice of his blood. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:48.559 And it says in Ephesians 2, for Christ himself has brought peace to us, he united Jews and Gentiles into one people. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.399 It's covenantal language. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.440 But here's the interesting thing. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:05.039 Most Christians look at male and female in a new covenant under God and they become one, and no one says, oh, like a third gender, like a new classification. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.919 No, we all know they stay male and female, but they're unified. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.039 Right? 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.279 They remain distinct but unified. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:22.240 And yet most of the church throughout church history has said, but with Jew and Gentile, when they become one under Jesus, they cease to be Jew and Gentile. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:23.600 They're just Christian now. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.080 But that's not biblical. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:29.759 Because God made these distinctions. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.279 The church is male, female, Jew, and Gentile. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.120 People say, but aren't they just Christians now? 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.600 Christian means follower of Jesus, right? 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.200 There are male and female, followers of Jesus. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:44.480 There are Jew and Gentile followers of Jesus. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:50.639 And part of the issue that we have in the church is we Gentiles don't want to identify as Gentiles. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.759 When's the last time someone was like, hey, I'm David, Gentile? 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:56.159 You don't even hear it anymore. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:57.360 And I've had people fight me. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:58.720 I'm not a Gentile. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:00.960 And I'm like, it's okay, he made a lot of us. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:02.480 I think he likes us. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:11.120 But we have an issue with priority because we think somehow priority negates equality, but it doesn't. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.559 Priority does not mean that we're no longer equal. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.639 That was Peter's revelation in Acts 10. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:22.159 When the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles, he said, Wow, I now know God shows no favoritism. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.360 We are equal, but we remain distinct. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:32.240 But here's the issue in the church if I don't see myself as a Gentile, I'll never make space in the church for someone's Jewish identity. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:39.440 So we've told Jewish people for centuries, if you're gonna come into the church, you're a Christian now, no longer a Jew. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.159 It's unbiblical, dare I say it's demonic. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.480 In the same way, if I told you if you receive Jesus now, you have to change genders. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:47.679 That's what the Bible says. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.639 You would say, you need to read your Bible more. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:52.320 You're confused. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.799 And yet, in male and female, we have some confusion in the earth. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.759 Luckily, the church has stood strong, yet the church is very confused about Jew and Gentile. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:10.399 And isn't it funny that every time there's a distinction in Scripture where God takes two distinctions and makes them one, his image is upon that covenant. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:15.600 That's why the enemy attacks marriage, because it displays the image of God on the earth. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:16.799 What's the other one? 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:18.159 Jew and Gentile. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:25.600 God took Jew and Gentile, made them one, and we, as the church of Jew and Gentile, display the image of God on the earth. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:31.600 So is it really peculiar that the enemy wants to attack that and confuse that? 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.080 He's doing the same thing in the world with male and female. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.320 He's doing the same thing in the church with Jew and Gentile. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.679 But if you don't know who you are, you won't know what to do. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:45.440 We have purposes as wives and as husbands, as Jews and as Gentiles. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.519 So you might be asking, okay, I get it. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.080 The church is Jew and Gentile, but why does this matter? 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.080 Like, what does this really change? 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:54.080 I'm so glad you asked. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:05.600 I have three points, and these are the three things that we gain clarity on when we understand Jew and Gentile in the biblical distinction, unified but distinct. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:10.240 Number one is we gain clarity in our partnership. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.720 Let me tell you a scripture I always misunderstood. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:24.720 Romans 8, 15, Paul's talking to the Church of Rome, and he says, The spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:29.679 Rather, the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.279 Here's that adoption term again. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.000 And by him we cry, Abba Father. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:38.240 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:45.919 Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:47.919 Here's what I always thought that meant. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:49.440 I'm a co-heir with Christ. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.360 So it's like me and Jesus. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:53.360 Me and Jesus are co-heirs. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.679 And when God looks at me, he sees Jesus. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.799 And I have authority like Jesus because I'm a co-heir. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.799 But if that's what Paul was trying to communicate, he doesn't need the word co. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:05.840 Because he just said, I'm an heir with God. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.799 So I would be an heir with God and an heir with Christ. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.960 So who am I a co-heir with? 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:23.600 Well, if you understand the context for why Paul wrote this letter to the Roman church, he wrote it to two distinctions: Jews and Gentiles. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:29.919 And he says, You are heirs with God, and you guys are co-heirs with Christ. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:34.480 Now you might say, You're reaching, it didn't say that. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:36.639 Which I respect that. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.320 But I'm glad that Paul wrote another letter. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.240 This one to the Ephesians. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.840 And in Ephesians 3, starting in verse 1, he lets us know he's talking to the Gentiles. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:59.279 So he says, For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, so he's talking to the Gentiles, and he explains what he calls the mystery of Christ. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:04.160 Literally, it's the mystery of Messiah, because Messiah just means Christ. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:09.119 Have you ever read something in scripture and you're convinced no one's ever made this connection before? 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:10.559 Like this is huge. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:11.599 What did you want to do? 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:12.960 You wanted to tell someone, right? 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:15.039 Did you ever read this before? 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.799 Paul's kind of having that excitement, talking about the mystery of Christ. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:26.960 And he goes on and on in the first five verses, talking about this mystery that even the prophets of old didn't have that have been revealed right now by the Holy Spirit. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:28.240 Are you ready for the mystery? 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.240 Here's the mystery that was blowing Paul's mind: the mystery of the New Testament. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:41.759 He says in verse 6, this mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:45.119 Jews and Gentiles. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:50.480 Israel and the nations are co-heirs under the new covenant. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:53.839 That was the revelation of the New Testament. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:55.519 Why is this important? 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.000 Because we forgot our partner. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:02.400 We forgot about our covenanted partner, our co-heir. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:09.119 But here's what's interesting: there's another uh book in the Bible that talks about heirs with the other distinction. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:20.720 1 Peter 3:7, husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:26.000 So male and female in this covenant where they become one are called heirs. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.920 Jew and Gentile in this covenant where they become one are heirs. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.599 Heirs under Christ, heirs with Christ. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.799 Why is this important for us today? 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:44.720 Well, imagine that you're married, and many of you are, and you're in this covenant of marriage. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:55.440 But let's say you never related to your spouse, you never thought about your spouse, you never prayed for your spouse, how healthy would your marriage be? 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:08.799 Now that doesn't mean that you're a terrible person, and it doesn't mean that God's not doing incredible things in your life, but as far as the covenant is concerned, we would say that that covenant of marriage is probably not a healthy one, right? 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:19.599 Yet as the church, many Gentile believers never think about Israel, never pray for Israel and the Jewish people, never relate to the Jewish people. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.039 And so here's my question: how healthy of a church is that? 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.319 And again, it doesn't mean that it's the worst church in the world. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.359 It doesn't mean that God's not using the church in amazing ways. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:34.480 But as far as the covenant is concerned, is that a healthy depiction of that covenant? 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:41.599 We've lost the partnership of our joint heirs, our co-heirs. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:49.599 And that is why we have to stand alongside our co-heirs, because there is a rising tide of anti-Jewish theology. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:59.359 There's a rising tide of anti-Semitism in the world, and we stand against the attacks on our Jewish brothers and sisters because they are our fellow heirs with Christ. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.799 They are our brothers and sisters in Messiah. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:08.079 That is why we stand against anti-Semitism wherever it rears its head. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:22.240 And by the way, standing against anti-Semitic attacks towards our Jewish brothers and sisters does not mean that you have to support every decision that the nation of Israel makes. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:23.759 Because let's think about it. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.640 Before Israel was a nation, he was a person. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.720 What was Israel's name? 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:30.079 Jacob. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:39.200 And as an informed reader of scripture, I have to hold in tension the fact that God chose Jacob. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.359 He made a covenant with Jacob. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:48.960 And Genesis 17 says, an everlasting covenant, which I looked up in the Greek, it means lasts forever. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:51.839 Mind blowing. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.920 He made an everlasting covenant with Jacob. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.680 He says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.480 He refers to himself as the God of Israel. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:08.559 I have to hold that intention with the fact that Jacob is not the poster boy for integrity. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.960 And I don't have to get behind every moral decision he made. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.279 He lied to his blind father. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.119 I'm not giving a thumbs up to that. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.759 I don't have to act like that was morally righteous. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:25.599 But I have to hold that intention with the fact that God still chose him in spite of his flaws. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:43.519 The church has gotten very comfortable at pointing the finger at Israel and the Jewish people, and we need to realize that we also constantly fall. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:44.880 Amen. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:48.640 So we need to understand our partnership. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:56.640 The second thing that we bring clarity to when we understand the Jew and Gentile distinction is we bring clarity to our purpose. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.440 Did you know you have a purpose as a Gentile? 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:02.000 Most people don't think about it. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:09.039 But again, with the distinction we're comfortable with, we all realize that there is a purpose as a husband. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.200 What does the scripture say is our purpose or calling as the husband? 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:14.319 Ephesians 5. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:19.680 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for her. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:27.200 And then he tells the wives, wives, honor your husbands and submit to them as the church submits to Christ. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.799 Do you notice something about their calling and their purpose? 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:32.640 It's not about themselves. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.480 He doesn't say, husbands, be the best husbands you can be. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:42.720 He says, husbands, your purpose is a hundred percent about your wife. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:47.200 And then he tells the wives, hey, wives, your purpose is a hundred percent about your husband. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:51.039 That's the way God designed these biblical covenants. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:57.119 Was because if two people are serving, both their needs are met and no one's selfish. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.279 Well, what's our Gentile calling? 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.839 Because if you go to Israel right now and talk to pretty much any religious Jew and you say, What is the purpose of the Jews? 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.599 What is the calling of the Jews? 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.279 They'll pretty much give you the same answer. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:16.480 They'll tell you Genesis 12, Genesis 28, God chose us to bless the nations. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:20.799 God chose told Abraham and said, Through you, I'm gonna bless all the nations. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:27.279 I have friends who are Orthodox and they're trying to figure out ways to uh allow the nations to come to Israel to learn the Torah. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:29.119 Where'd they get this idea? 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:32.079 Because they understood their purpose was for the nations. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:34.960 But what's our purpose? 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:39.759 I submit to you that we've forgotten our purpose as the Gentiles. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.720 But our purpose is Romans 11:11. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.880 And Paul starts by asking a question that many have asked today. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.160 Did God's people stumble and fall beyond recovery? 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:52.960 Like the Jewish people, they rejected Jesus, right? 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:54.640 So they're like, they're rejected now. 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:56.160 Now it's about the church, right? 00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.000 And here's what Paul says of course not. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:02.559 Of course not. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.519 They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles, praise God. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:18.960 But, and this word, but in the Greek could be translated because, and many times is, because he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:28.079 So in Genesis 12 and all throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God tells Israel, your purpose is for the nations. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:41.839 And there are many theologians who will say, see, nation, uh Israel, they just kind of messed up their calling because they thought it was about them, but really the only reason God chose Israel was to bless the nations, and now Jesus has come for the world, so it doesn't matter anymore. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:50.720 But they forgot our side of the calling, which is Romans 11, which is, hey, Gentiles, the only reason you're here is because I want the Jewish people to come back. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.000 And many Gentiles struggle with this. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:25:01.759 I had a Gentile that I was explaining this to, and he said, Are you telling me the only reason that God brought me into the family is so that he can bring the Jewish people back? 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.000 I said, I didn't say that. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:06.000 Paul said that. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:08.880 You get mad at him. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:17.680 But the reason that we struggle with it is because God wired the gospel in such a way to make it really hard to make it about you. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:19.200 It's about the other. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:21.359 Husbands love your wives. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:22.960 Wives love your husbands. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.160 Jews bless the Gentiles, Gentiles bless the Jews. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:30.319 It's only when we make the Bible about ourselves that we get into trouble. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.240 But God wired it to make it about the other. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:47.119 And when we understand that our purpose as Gentiles is to provoke Israel to jealousy so they claim it for themselves, what that means is we should worship God in such a way. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:50.880 And by the way, the God that we worship is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:26:06.000 Through Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus, we've been grafted into Israel, adopted into that family, and now we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we should do so in such a way that the Jewish people see our relationship with God and say, I want that. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.000 I want that kind of intimacy. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:09.200 This has literally happened. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:17.759 I have a Gentile friend who married into a Jewish family, and her father-in-law had a conversation with her where he noticed the intimacy she had with God. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.680 She talked about reading her scripture every morning. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:24.240 She talked about how God speaks to her and guides her, and he said, I'm envious of that. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:26.480 What does envy mean? 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:27.680 I'm jealous. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:29.440 And jealous isn't bad. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:40.160 By the way, God calls his name jealous in the book of Exodus because jealousy is the feeling that you get when someone's uh wanting something that belongs to you. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:44.160 When someone tries to flirt with my wife, and many have tried. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:50.319 I get jealous because Scripture says, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:51.279 She's my wife. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.119 I get jealous because they're coming after something that belongs to me. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:27:02.480 We should worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in such a way that the Jewish people say, Wait, I'm a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:03.680 That's that's my God. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:06.880 And we respond with, Yes, your God reigns. 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:16.319 But instead, for most of church history, the church has said, Yeah, and you guys killed Jesus, so you need to convert to Christianity and stop being Jewish. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:30.880 It's the most horrible gospel presentation that we've ever given, and we've given it to God's chosen people because we didn't understand his distinction of Jew and Gentile, male and female. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:36.640 So lastly, the thing that we get clarity on is our priority. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:44.720 And uh our priority is found throughout scripture, our priority of to the Jew first. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:52.559 If you look in the book of Acts, Paul went to the synagogue nine times when he went to a new sea, uh a new city. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:58.880 When his let's go moment, his series, let's go, share the love of Jesus, he went to the synagogue first. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:27:59.200 Why? 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:02.079 Because this is the principle, to the Jew first. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:08.079 I want to read you a list of things that God calls Israel and the Jewish people. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:15.200 All throughout scripture, both the Hebrew scriptures, what we often call the Old Testament and the New Testament, here's what God says about Israel. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:28.480 He says they're his firstborn, they're the apple of his eye, his special treasure, my wife, my glory, my beloved, and my nation. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:37.920 Now, what's interesting is the Bible talks about the Jewish people a lot. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:44.400 But many times we don't see it because we read the scriptures as a book of believers and non-believers. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:54.240 And we read the New Testament and we forget that unless the New Testament specifically dictates that they're not Jewish, they're Jewish. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:29:00.640 You have the Syrophenician woman, the Canaanite woman, the Samaritan woman, the Roman centurion. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.319 But if it doesn't give you that description, they're Jewish. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:07.920 And so we've often thought, but didn't the Jews reject Jesus? 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:09.119 Let's think about that. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:11.039 All of the disciples. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:13.279 A hundred percent of them. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:21.119 It's almost like we need another little uh abbreviation of the Jewish disciples because we're forgetting. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.880 Jesus healed the ten lepers. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:35.119 Yeah, the ten Jewish lepers that had to go to the priests to be verified that it was they were cleansed in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit falls and 3,000 people get saved. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:37.519 They were Jews. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:42.000 So a lot of people will say, Yeah, I get all this, but didn't the Jews reject Jesus? 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:43.359 Let's nuance that a little bit. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:50.960 Many Jews rejected Jesus, but not all of them, because clearly all of the disciples and all of his early followers were Jewish. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:55.759 But even some of the Jews that did reject Jesus. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:03.440 And there are Jews all over the world today, and some believe in Jesus and they're still Jewish. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:17.920 I have many Jewish friends that they're not anti-Jesus, they're not anti-Christian, they want to partner with us, they understand that we we we have the same scriptures in the Old Testament, but there are certain Jewish people that are anti-Jesus. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.519 There are certain Jewish people that are anti-the gospel. 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:24.000 What does the Bible say about them? 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.200 Because many people will say, Yeah, you know, messianic Jews, I understand that. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.319 But what about the Jews that are anti-Jesus? 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:34.640 Well, the Bible says what God thinks about them. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:35.759 Are you ready to hear it? 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:37.519 Romans 11, 28. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:46.240 Many of the people of Israel, not all, many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the good news, the gospel, the message of Yeshua. 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:51.759 And this benefits you Gentiles, because we came in because of the disobedience, what Romans 11 told us. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:55.839 Yet they are still the people he loves. 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:59.839 Because he chose their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:05.440 For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:11.039 You may have heard this as the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, irrevocable. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:13.119 He loves them. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:15.920 Notice the present tense of this. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.480 Didn't say, oh, the ones that are against the gospel, they were his beloved. 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:25.680