The People of God | The Awe and the Mystery

Are you carrying questions that never seem to find an answer? Have you ever wondered why God allows things you cannot understand? Do you long for a faith that can stand when life feels uncertain? Jesus meets us in our deepest questions with the good news of the gospel. Through His death and resurrection, we receive mercy we could never earn and a foundation that holds steady even when His ways are beyond our understanding.
 
 Romans 11 reminds us that God's wisdom is far greater than our own, yet His faithfulness never fails. As Paul reflects on God's unfolding plan of salvation, he moves from wrestling with difficult questions into joyful worship. If you are searching for hope, wondering if God can be trusted, or learning how to trust God in difficult seasons, this message invites you to rest in the mercy of Jesus. When we cannot see the whole story, we can still worship the One who holds every part of it and whose glory and grace never change.
 
 Scripture: Romans 11:25 to 36
 
 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33
 
 “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:36
 
 Belong at First Pres by taking the first step: join us for worship on Sundays in person. https://firstprescos.org/belong

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the first Pred of the Sermon podcast, where each week we dive into scripture, wrestle with truth, and discover how faith intersects our lives. God's word meets us where we are, challenging, shaping, and calling us into something greater. No matter where you are on your journey, you belong here. And we're praying that this sermon might help you take a next step in faith towards Jesus. Hey, let's dive into today's message together.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Thank you, praise team. And thank you for that prayer, Chris. Um well, before we hop into this word together, um, let me also just join everybody. Uh we were celebrating it earlier, but I just want to say how great it was to have VBS this past week and so many kids in this place. This place was buzzing this last week. It was so fun and um lots of joy, lots of activity. And I myself actually played a pretty um key role, you know, last week. Let me show you what I did. Um I was, yeah, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna let you take that in for a minute. Some of the some of the kids are looking at that and they're going, wait a minute. Mission engagement man is the care pastor? What? But I was, it was such a blast. And what was so fun was to be right outside these walls after you know, we had this crazy, wonderful time in here, and kids are on their way back out the door, and I'm like giving them high fives and all this stuff. But so many different questions came at me during that time, you know. Some were easy. They were like, Why is your hair blue? I was like, Well, God made me that way. And then some other questions that were coming were a little more difficult to answer. Like one sweet little girl said, 'Why are your pants so tight?' And I was like, I don't have an explanation, right? Right off the bat for that one. So I let that one go. But isn't it true? Kids ask these questions of why all the time, you know? Some of you parents right now are in a time of life with your little ones where you're going, that's all they're asking. You know, grandparents can probably relate to this too, which is why you'll probably relate to this story right here. There was this grandpa on a hike with his grandson. And grandson pipes up and is like, grandpa, why is the sky blue? And grand grand, man, grandfather was ready for it. He had a he had an answer. He goes, Well, buddy, it has to do with the way light travels through the atmosphere. The blue light waves scatter in weigh in a way that makes the sky appear blue. And the little boy's like, Why? So grandpa thought again, he thought, I'll try try again. Uh, because, buddy, the light is made up of different colors, see, and each color behaves a little differently. And boy goes, Why? They kept walking. Boy pipes up again. Grandpa, why do birds fly? Grandpa's like, well, buddy, grandpa, why do fish swim? And grandpa's like, buddy, because God made them to live in the water. Why? Why, buddy? He's like, buddy, look, um, there are some questions in life that are just bigger than we can understand. And the boy goes, Why? Yeah, exactly. And we laugh, you know, because we've been there before, either as the little munchkin asking the questions, or because we were a parent of a little one or a grandparent or what have you. And I just gotta say, the curiosity of kids is such a gift to us adults. We have to have that curiosity. In fact, if we don't, Jesus says, unless you come to me with faith like a child, you won't see the kingdom of God. It's like we're not gonna see it. And yet it's true that all of us discover something that children haven't yet discovered, and it is that there are some questions that are just beyond our understanding, right? They're beyond our ability to answer them. And you know what? The questions when we're adults, they don't end, they don't look like that, you know, like what the kids are are asking all the time. But our questions tend to be a little heavier. Some of our questions might be why did God allow this to happen? Why? Why did the diagnosis come back that way? Why? Why did the relationship fall apart? Why hasn't my child returned to the Lord? Why did God answer that prayer, but not that one? You know? And many of us walk into worship here this morning carrying those kinds of questions with us. But here's the wonderful thing about God. Here's the wonderful thing about Scripture. God's not afraid of them. Scripture's chalk full of questions. If you read the Psalms, a lot of what you're gonna find is how long, O Lord, or why do evil men keep prospering and those kinds of things? It's in the Psalms. If you actually look at Job's life, Job asks those kinds of questions all the time. If you look at the prophets, they are just wrestling, you know. And today, in today's passage, the apostle Paul, for the last three chapters, has actually been wrestling with a question. It boils down to one question that is unimaginable. And the question is not simply why have the Jews, God's people, rejected Jesus? It's a good question. Makes you wonder. But it's this if the Jews, God's chosen people, have largely rejected Jesus, can we really trust God's promises? Is he still faithful? I mean, if God made a promise to Abraham long ago and he established this covenant with Israel, and if God promised to even bless his people on the road ahead, then why are so many of them rejecting the Messiah? Has something gone wrong with God's plan? Can he really be trusted after all? That's the question that Paul is waiting in swampy waters for. And at the tail end of Romans 11, what Paul discovers is not that every mystery can be explained. What he does discover is this God is worthy of worship even when his ways are beyond our understanding. And what I'd love to do is just take this today and have you open your hand, no matter what is mysterious to you today. And it's going to feel like the pastor is forcing you to say something. That's not my intent, but this could be a posture for us at the end of the day. And can we say this together, no matter what's in your mind? Let's say this together. God is worthy of worship even when his ways are beyond our understanding. That's where Paul's taking us today. So, Paul, you heard it, but again, read it earlier, that he ends up on this summit of praise, right? Man, he is just worshiping God, but he didn't start there in Romans 9. In Romans 9, he's actually grieving that his people don't know Jesus. Look at this. I have great sorrow, he says, and unceasing anguish in my heart. He can't escape it. Why? I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people. This is not some brainiac like, you know, cooped up in a library somewhere trying to solve a puzzle. This is a man who longs for his people to know what he knows now: the mercy of God. He's grieving, he's longing for them to know the Lord. But even in that sorrow, Paul's refusing to believe that God has failed or that God's promises are broken. In Romans 9, we're reminded that salvation, it's never been about works, it's always been about his mercy coming to us first. And his purposes have never depended actually upon what we do. Our human achievement, it's always about his grace. Always. And then in Romans 10, though, we do, we are reminded that human responsibility is real. Right? We have a choice in the matter. Israel heard the message, Israel knew the promises. Israel even encountered the Messiah on the ground. And yet many of them rejected Jesus. And then we arrive at Romans 11, where Paul reveals what is called a mystery. A mystery. Now that word, when you and I hear that word, um we sometimes think that it's this mystical thing, you know, that that um that ends up really frustrating us because we can't know anything about it. A mystery. She's a mystery to me, you know. Heck if I know. It's like that's kind of where mystery goes. Um, but in the New Testament, a mystery is actually something that God has revealed, but it's something that we could never have discovered on our own. That's what Paul's talking about here. And in verse 25, he says, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be what? Conceited. Ignorant of this mystery. What mystery? Here it is. Israel, God's people, has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. What's the mystery? It's a it's a hardening, see. It's something God has brought. It's a hardness of heart that God has brought upon his people. What? Well, did you notice the words he used there though? He he what what he didn't say is that Israel has experienced a hardening in full, did he? He said Israel's experienced a total mystery. No, what did he say? He said a partial mystery. What does that mean? It means God hasn't abandoned his people. This hardness of heart has come to the people, but it's not forever. See, there has always been a faithful remnant. Think of it. The apostles, they were Jewish, the first followers of Jesus, Jewish. Paul himself, a Jew who has seen the Messiah. Always been a faithful remnant. So it's partial hardening here. But but did you see also it's a temporary hardening? Did you see that? He says, it's come until where'd I go? Until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. It's actually what Pastor Greg talked about last week. If you were here last week, we realized that God is not finished writing the story. It's temporary hardness of heart that has come now to his people. There's a great purpose behind what's happening. Through Israel's rejection, the gospel has gone to the nations. You see that? Through Israel's disobedience, God has extended mercy to the Gentiles. That's us, friends. And we can, this morning, we can gather together and say, thank you, Lord, for your mercy, right? But what is Paul warning about here? I mean, it's so unexpected, it's so irrational, it's beyond our understanding. It's good news for the Gentiles, and here's the warning. Paul says, I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery so that you do not become conceited, proud. Right? As grafted in Gentiles who's saying, Thank you. Sorry about the hardness of heart to all you Jews. We're gonna go ahead and get grafted into the main line here now, and we're good to go. Paul sees this coming up now, and he says, I don't want that to happen. So watch what he does in verse 30 to 31. I'm gonna read it slow for you, okay? We're we're gonna learn a little bit. You guys ready? It's gonna feel like an English lesson for a second, but just bear with me on this. Paul says, now he's looking for humility, okay? He says, just as you, Gentiles, he's talking to, who were at one time disobedient to God, have now received mercy as a result of their the Jews' disobedience, so they, the Jews, too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result, watch this, of God's mercy for you. It's like a magic trick. You see, we could take another sermon just on that one verse, and I don't have time to explain it to you. That's the whole point. Paul gets to this. In fact, he wraps it up with a final sentence here in verse 32 where he says, For God has bound everyone over to disobedience, so that he may have mercy on them all. You see that? Gentiles and Jews, both disobedient, both receivers of God's mercy. And you know, if if somebody would have given me a pen and said, Man, I want you to go ahead and just write out the plan of the history of salvation to humans, I don't think I would have written it down like this, you know? But that's that's Paul's point. It is beyond his understanding, and it's gonna be beyond ours as well. The Jews coming back into the fold, seeing the one that they had pierced one day and coming before the Lamb, how that happens, we know it's gonna happen, but how it happens, it's a mystery. And you know what? Sometimes isn't it true that what feels like delay is actually preparation. Sometimes what looks like silence is actually God working in ways we just can't see yet. God's not finished writing the story, right, Greg? Sometimes the very thing we cannot understand, that very thing that you came into this room with as a mystery to you, that becomes the place where you learn to trust. You trust before a holy God. Paul, after climbing through all these truths, after three chapters of wrestling, I mean, it's been thick. Paul gets to the end of all of this thinking about God's sovereignty and how the disobedience of the Jews gives way to the mercy receiving of the Gentiles, and now how the that very mercy is gonna be causing the receiving of mercy for the Jews over here someday. Paul finally gets to the end of it and goes, verse 33. Oh, the depths of the riches, of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He breaks forth in worship. He starts singing, guys. He looks back on himself and he goes on. He says, How unsearchable are his judgments. Those paths beyond tracing out. All this searching about God's sovereignty and the disobedience and the mercy that comes into both parties, it's immeasurable. And instead of concluding with this airtight argument, stick in the landing at Romans 7, he just starts worshiping God. Friends, oh, everybody just say, oh, that's not somebody who has figured something out, right? That's somebody who has come before something amazing, right? Oh, and isn't that what happens when we truly encounter God? I mean, when we truly encounter God, the more we know Him, the more we realize there's more to know. You know? I tell you what, I experienced this personally when I went through seminary, and I was always the worship leader that said, Don't send me to seminary. I don't want to go, you know, people die in there. Um and but this church, out of the goodness of their heart, sent me into seminary, and I'm so grateful because now I get to be a pastor here and all that great stuff. But seminary, just for those of y'all that don't know, some of you young people are like, it sounds like he's saying cemetery. Is that what he's saying? No, similar but different. Seminary, where you go and you learn about God, you learn about theology, big word meanings, the stuff of God. And after you're done, after three years, they give you this nice little piece of paper. It's framed in my office with a frame around it, and right in the middle of it, you know what it says? Master of divinity. Oh yeah, oh yeah, Pat, you know what that's about. Master of divinity. Master of God. How freaking ridiculous is that? Right? Nobody masters God. Especially me. And I'm telling you, this is actually probably the takeaway for somebody in here. The goal of theology is not to shrink God down into your brain, right? The goal of this whole thing is to be able to get to the end of your brain, the end of your thinking, and have no other option but to hit your knees in worship of the Almighty God. That's that's where it ends. Evelyn Underhill actually said this, which I think is helpful. If God were small enough to be understood, he would not be big enough to be worshipped. And A.W. Tozer, when I was a worship leader, I read a lot of him. It'd do me good to read more. Tozer says, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. You're gonna think about God, whatever that is, shapes your trust in him and your faith in him. A small view about God, it's gonna produce a small faith. You know, a manageable view of God is gonna leave you in an awless space. A perspective about God, about how mean he is, and he's just watching you to screw up, that is gonna do nothing for you but cause an allergic reaction and cause you to run away. But if we can somehow posture ourselves before the God who is rich in majesty, who's mysterious, we're not gonna actually be able to figure him out. But whose mercy extends throughout all generation, throughout all of time, past, present, future, that God is gonna cause you to say, I worship you. Paul goes on and reaches back into the Old Testament. He goes on here, which by the way, I love that Paul does this. We've seen this throughout Romans, where he's like, Okay, now what do I say? Oh, I'm gonna go back into the word of God and reach that and pull it forward. And he does it right here with Isaiah. And he says, Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Have you ever been talking to God and you're like, I got one for you. I got a good idea, Lord. That only, watch out, that only happens for a second. Then you realize who you're talking to and you're going, I think our roles are reversed. Right? No, he is the wonderful counselor. Paul goes further back and echoes the book of Job. And he says, Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? Now just leave that up for a little bit. That's for somebody here. What do we know about Job? What do we remember? Job suffered, didn't he? Oh my gosh, did Job suffer? Job lost his children, all of his possessions. Job lost his health. He even lost his very understanding of life. So disoriented for 41 chapters. And Job asked many of the questions that actually we would ask in that same spot. Why?

unknown 22:10

Why?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

And you know what though? God answers Job, but he does not give Job every explanation. You know what he does? He shows up and stands in the room. And Job, what he doesn't do is, thank you. I now have all my answers. No. He says, Oh, I spoke of things I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me to know. Who has ever given to you that you would repay them? You don't owe me anything. I'm just going to stand here in your presence, take a breath, and know that that was a gift that you gave. Friends, that's Romans 11. Paul gets to the end of it, not with an explanation, but in total worship of God. And maybe that's where some of us need to arrive today, because if we're going to be honest, sometimes we just want the answer, right? God, why this? How that? Just give me the answer. When all along, what we need most is his presence. We need his presence. Think of it. The greatest mystery in the world, the cross, was not something that was explained. Actually, you can go get your master's of divinity and do a pretty good job maybe explaining it, but actually, at the end of the day, it's a mystery. It's something that's revealed. God revealed himself in human form. How mysterious is that? The salvation of the world through God as a man dying. How does that happen? It's beyond our understanding. And if resurrection can come from that mystery, maybe the Lord can show up in your mystery as well. Paul reaches for the final summit at verse 36, and I'd love for us to read this together. Let's read it. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Everything begins with God, everything. Life itself. Everything is sustained by God. He breathed out into Adam, and everything's been sustained by that breath of the Holy Spirit ever since, and it always will be. And then everything returns to God. From him, through him, and to him are all things. It all belongs to him. Even you. Even you. Friends, God is worthy of our worship even when his ways are beyond our understanding. Some of your questions today, you know, I hope they receive answers out of someone's mouth. But it might not. The deepest questions of our lives aren't answered that way. It's answered in worship. It's answered in coming before a holy, omnipotent, omnipresent God who has no business hanging out with us. He's too good. He's too far too majestic and marvelous. Has poured out his mercy and majesty on our lives and has given us access to him. All we can do is worship him. That's actually how I want to end the sermon today. And before I just hop on the piano and freak all of you out wondering why is that pastor going over the piano? Um I actually wrote a song week months back on Romans 11 before I even knew that I was going to be preaching this text. Yeah. God's in the details, right, Monet? It didn't go anywhere. It just kind of landed in my head. And, you know, it and I was like, maybe this is what God's bringing together, you know? This is not about me. This is about a man bringing forward a worshipful response in the presence of a God who has poured out his mercy on him. And my hope for you, no matter what mystery you are wrestling with today, is that you can come to the end of that and stop looking for explanation and seek him first, knowing that all those things they'll be added if you seek him first. And may you say, to you, from you, through you, to you are all things. So, Lord, would you be glorified the remainder of this worship time together and just pour out your Holy Spirit and presence on us, God? We don't want to think so hard anymore. We want to receive from your goodness, from your grace, from your glory, Lord.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Hearing God's word is just the beginning. What connected with you? What challenged you today? Maybe it's surrendering something, stepping into community, or simply trusting Him more deeply. Whatever it is, don't leave it for later. Act on it today. We're praying that this message moves you closer to Jesus. And we'd love to walk with you in that journey and answer any questions you've got. Connect with us by visiting firstprestos.org. Hey, if today's message encouraged you, take a moment and subscribe so you never miss an episode. And share it with someone who needs to hear it. Check in next week and we'll continue to grow in our faith together. See you next time.