WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.040 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.160 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.320 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.480 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.679 MetaCurch, thanks so much for joining us. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:26.640 My name's Clayton. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.000 I'm the lead pastor here. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:33.759 And if you're new with us, man, you have jumped right into the middle of a series that we're calling Love is Blind. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.640 Last week we talked about experiencing love before first sight. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.280 And today I want us to look at this idea from a different angle. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.479 Today we're really asking the question: how does God love us? 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.759 When we think about God, what does his love look like? 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.119 Who does it affect? 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:54.560 Who is it offered to? 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.640 And in kind of the scope of this series, we're really wanting to know is God's love blind? 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.079 If God's love is blind, it has a lot of implications. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:19.040 It would mean that his love is blind to our social status or our net worth, that he would be class blind, that if you're upper class, middle class, lower class, impoverished, or incredibly wealthy, that doesn't determine whether or not God loves you. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:29.120 It would mean that God is somewhat blind of your history, that your lineage and legacy, your family tree doesn't determine whether or not you get to be in a relationship with God. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:39.280 It would mean that God's love is colorblind, and we're obviously going through a very difficult season right now in our world, and there's incredible racial tension. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.920 So I want to make sure I'm using my words very carefully. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:47.280 We're not saying that God is colorblind because God is the author of creation. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:48.640 He is the creator. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:57.200 He obviously knows that there are differences in color and culture and ethnicities and backgrounds and worldviews all over the world. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:06.560 What it means that his love would be colorblind is that none of those factors would prejudice or prioritize people based on those factors. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:20.800 If God's love is blind, what it means is that any of the categories that we use to segment, separate, and segregate each other, that none of those would be factors in how God loves us. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.479 Now, our love doesn't work that way. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.879 If we are really, really honest, it is not how people operate. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:40.960 Whether it is in relationships with friends or relationships with family or even our romantic or maybe especially our romantic relationships, our love is not blind. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:50.639 The first time that I ever saw Katie, I knew that I now had one mission in life, which was to change her last name to my last name. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:51.439 That was it. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.439 I was gonna live for that for the next couple of years. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.319 Now notice that is the opposite of blind love. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:00.400 I hadn't said a word to her yet. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:02.479 I hadn't heard a sentence come out of her mouth. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:04.560 She could have been dumb as a bag of hammers. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:06.479 She could have kicked puppies in her free time. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.199 She could have not rooted for the spurs. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.319 I didn't know what I was getting into, but I just saw her and I knew. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:19.199 She checked every single box of attraction and thank God that she was also an incredible, powerful, and purposeful individual. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:22.960 Think about the last date you went on that just didn't work out. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.159 Why is that? 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:25.520 Why didn't it work out? 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:30.719 Why are you married to the person you're married to and not the people you dated before? 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:43.360 And you could give me all kinds of reasons and kind of the surface level problems, and you you could describe some of the symptoms, but at the core, at the core, you had expectations and they weren't able to meet them. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.039 Or maybe they had expectations and you were not able to meet them. 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:48.960 That's how we interact. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:50.960 Our love is not blind. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.599 We come in and we have ideas about how these relationships should work. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:03.039 And maybe it's based on their job, or maybe it's their personality, or maybe it's their background, or maybe it's their family. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:10.960 But we all come in, not with a level playing field, but with very real expectations that matter greatly to us. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:12.719 And so here's the danger. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:17.519 The danger is that we can begin to project this idea onto God. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:25.839 That we can go to scripture and take these assumptions that are so ingrained into the way that we operate. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:34.240 Our love is not blind, and we begin to view the truth of God through the lens of our lived experience. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:47.600 And really, what we are called to do is to go into God's word, to find his truth, and then to allow that truth to be the lens through which we see our God. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:54.720 Now, you may think at this point that you really don't need this message, because um, obviously, God loves everyone. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:56.160 Uh it's God, right? 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.319 Like from the time you were little, you knew Jesus loves me. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.879 This I know, for the Bible tells me so. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:03.759 It's just obvious. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:08.160 And not only does he love me, he loves everyone because we have a song for everything in the church. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:10.959 It's like Jesus loves the little children. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:12.319 God loves all of them. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:14.160 It's like, how's the song go? 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:15.680 Red and yellow, black and white. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:17.040 Put them together, watch them fight. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:17.839 Is that how it goes? 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:18.240 No, no. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.439 Red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:22.079 All of them. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:22.639 All of them. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:23.920 God loves everyone. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.040 He is blind, his love is blind. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:37.519 And so maybe you just assume all of Christianity, all these people trying to follow after Jesus, all of them have the same assumption that God loves us all. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.879 He desires relationship with us all. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:46.480 It feels like a safe assumption, but I promise you, it is not. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:56.639 There are many, many sections of Christianity who wholeheartedly believe that our God does not love all. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:10.800 As a matter of fact, this goes back to about the fifth century, the first 300 years of the movement of Jesus, everyone was on the same page, that God's love was for and was available to all people, the whole world. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:16.079 In the fifth century, a church father named Augustine came up with a very novel approach. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:34.240 And we could spend days and days talking about this, but to kind of break it down and summarize it, he believed that the only people who would ever choose to believe in Jesus are people that before the foundation of the world, before you were ever born or did anything, that God would choose you. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:42.240 God has chosen a few pre-selected, pre-chosen, they use biblical words like predestined people who He has elected. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:50.319 And if you are one of those elect, then you, no matter what, it will be irresistible at some point in your life that you will choose Jesus. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:56.399 What this means is that the only reason you chose God is because God chose you first. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.680 And so, what about the rest of humanity? 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.279 The rest of humanity has no chance. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:20.639 And if you were not chosen by God before you were ever, ever born, it doesn't matter what you do, how many prayers you pray, how many church services you attend, how many people share the good news of Jesus with you, you have no chance of spending eternity with God. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:26.480 This is a belief that has existed for uh over a thousand years. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:35.120 In the 1500s, it was pushed forward by the reformers and people who hold to what is called reformed theology, and these are good people. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:42.959 And I want to say this up front because I know for a fact that there are members of this movement at Meta Church who hold to reformed theology. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.759 And I want to ask you for some grace and for some charity as we dig into this. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.160 And if you come to the end and you're convinced that I'm wrong and you're convinced that I'm right, I need you to know that you need to stay here. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:58.720 You're still a part of Meta, you need to still volunteer here, that we don't have to divide over this. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:11.040 However, after thousands of hours of study, I will let you know I am convinced that God loves all people. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:18.399 Today we are going to look at what is largely recognized as one of the most difficult passages in the Christian scriptures. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:23.040 It's found in a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome in Rome. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:25.839 We would call it Romans chapter 9. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:38.080 Now, this is very difficult, and it's made increasingly more difficult if, like we said, we take our ideas of how the world works and use those as the lens to read the scripture with. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:46.240 What we have to do when we approach God's word is we have to dig in and do the work to let it speak for itself. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.559 Part of that is understanding why Paul wrote this letter. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.519 What is the tension that he is addressing? 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:58.399 And this tension goes back thousands of years before Paul wrote this letter. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:13.440 It started with a man named Abraham, and God came to Abraham and said, I will make you and your lineage into a great nation, and through this nation, all the world, all the nations will someday know me. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:30.399 Abraham was called to be the light to the world, that his people would someday bring the hope of God and the ability to be in relationship with God, not just to this chosen nation of Israel, the Jewish people, but to all of the nations. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.000 And God did just that. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:37.440 He started with Abraham and he grew the Jewish people into a great, great nation. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:49.679 But over time, the Jewish people became more in love with being the chosen people of God than doing the purpose of the chosen people of God. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:58.159 Instead of seeing themselves as a light to the rest of the world, they began to see the rest of the world as inferior to them. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.399 We are chosen and they are not. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:02.799 This was very clear to the Jewish people. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:09.039 And anyone who was not a Jew was seen as less than, they were barbarians, they would call them dogs. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.080 And there is a name for a non-Jewish person. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.399 They would call them Gentiles. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:20.480 I'm a Gentile, I figure probably many of you who are not ethnically Jewish are Gentiles as well. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:22.399 It was very clear to them. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:24.879 Gentiles were not special, Jews were special. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.600 Gentiles were not chosen, the Jews were chosen. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:32.080 Gentiles didn't come from the lineage of Abraham, that's the Jewish people. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.080 The Jews did not have to wonder whether or not they were special. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.320 God had told them. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:44.879 And when we walk into Romans, the center of the tension is that now Jesus has come. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:56.480 And when God told Abraham that the Jewish people would one day be the light of the world, it centered around the fact that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would one day come from Israel and that it happened. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:02.960 Jesus Christ had come and he had opened the door now to all nations, but the Jews are not interested. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:10.559 They cannot understand why all of a sudden the Gentiles are coming in to compound matters. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:15.840 The vast majority of the Jews had not believed in Jesus. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.080 It was mind-boggling to them. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:26.720 And what's interesting is the Jewish people in that day are making a very similar mistake to people in Reformed theology today. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:31.759 Because what Paul is writing about in Romans is how God loves us. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.559 This is the question we're trying to answer today is how does God love us? 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.000 Is his love blind? 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.600 Is his love prejudiced? 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:41.039 How is it that God loves? 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:42.720 That means what is his plan? 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:44.080 What is his purpose? 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:50.159 How has he been moving from the beginning of history to bring people into relationship with himself? 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.919 Romans is about how God loves. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:58.000 The problem is Reformed theology changes the view. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.720 The Jewish people had changed the view. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:06.799 They weren't interested in how God loves, they were interested in who God loves. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:15.679 And implied in that in that question is the fact that God loves only some, which means he does not love others. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.399 And to the Jews, it was very obvious. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:20.879 God loves the Jews. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:24.639 That is who God loves, his chosen people. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:31.440 Similarly, in Reform theology, they're very clear on who God loves. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.519 God loves the elect. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.440 God loves the ones that he has already chosen. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:40.879 And so why are we talking about this today? 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.240 We're talking about it today. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:47.279 Because here at MetaCurch, you guys are serious about your spiritual growth and formation. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.759 You are serious about pursuing your purpose. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:56.559 And so for many of you, I know this that what we do here on Sunday, this one sermon, it doesn't feel like enough to you. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.879 And so you are scouring for more information and to be filled up more and more. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:09.120 And so what you're doing is you're going online and you should be doing that, and you should be looking for good content and good Bible studies and good sermons from other pastors. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:16.399 But I promise you, you will find people who say God does not love all. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.279 The same Apostle Paul summarized this idea in a different letter he wrote very well. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:06.080 Galatians 3 28 says, There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, since you are all one, you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:11.279 With that in mind, let's dig in and let's see if God's love truly is blind. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:12.399 Would you pray with me? 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:15.519 Father, we are going to dig deep today. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.879 We might get uncomfortable today, but we want to know the truth. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:23.519 God, we want to know you. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.600 We want to grow closer to you. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:33.600 God, those of us who have already believed in your son Jesus, we want to continue to be molded and shaped into the life you've created us to live. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:37.120 And for those who do not yet know you, this matters greatly. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:40.720 The question of how you love us. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.679 God, it is the starting place for relationship. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:50.559 And so I ask that you would give me clarity in a difficult sermon today. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.639 That you would give us perseverance to hang in during uh all that we're going to dig into. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.120 We love you. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.960 And we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:57.679 Amen. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:59.919 Paul starts in Romans chapter 9, verse 1. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:01.679 He says, I speak the truth in Christ. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:02.720 I am not lying. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:10.720 My conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:12.879 Paul is torn up. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:13.919 And why is that? 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:24.799 He tells us in verse 3, For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.600 Jesus came to the Jews first. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:33.679 The Jewish nation of Israel that had given birth to the Savior, he came to them first. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.480 He said, The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:39.440 Believe in me, and they rejected him. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.960 All but a very, very small segment of the Jewish people turned their backs on Jesus. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:53.519 As a matter of fact, they were the very people who were crying out, crucify him to end his life. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:58.399 And Paul says, I wish that I could take on that curse. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:00.639 If you watch last week, that's where we ended. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:08.799 We ended with a passage that said, We escaped the curse of our sin because Jesus became the curse for us. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:16.159 This is Paul wanting to be like Christ, to bring reconciliation to his own people, the Jewish people. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:24.720 In verse 4, he says, They are the Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service and promises. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:33.360 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:34.480 Amen. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:40.399 This is how Paul opens this passage about how God loves us. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.240 He's addressing reality. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:49.200 That God used Israel to bring forth the Savior that then Israel itself rejected. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:17:06.240 Now I want to look at this just growing, it really is a growing idea that God only loves the elect, that God only chose a certain number of people, and they will absolutely choose him, and the people who were not chosen by God absolutely will not choose him. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:13.200 Because what that means is these Israelites who turn their back on Jesus and cried out, crucify him, they were not chosen. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:18.640 If reformed theology is right, Paul is addressing people who were not chosen. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:26.079 And yet, Paul loves them so greatly that he wishes he could take the curse for them. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:32.240 He wishes that he could be cut off from Christ in order that they would come in. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:40.079 We're five verses in, and we already see how untenable this position is that God only loves some. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.039 And here's why. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:47.599 Because if that is true, Paul loves these Israelites more than God. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:53.680 Paul has more mercy towards these Israelites than Jesus. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:56.960 He wants to die for them when Jesus didn't even die for them. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.240 They weren't elect. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:05.119 And how can a human love more than God? 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.799 Scripture doesn't say that God is loving or that God does love. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:14.720 It says that God is love, he is the fullness of love, he is the definition of love. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:21.440 And what we do in our love as humans is a piece of what God is as the whole of love. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:34.319 That means we cannot outlove God, and yet, if God has not chosen these people, which means God does not love these people, then Paul is out loving God. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.559 And so how do we get to that understanding? 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:43.039 How did the Jewish people of that day get to this understanding that God only loves them? 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.119 How do we have an understanding today that God does not love the world? 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:50.000 He only loves some. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:19:05.359 What I want us to do is I want us to look at a few passages in Romans 9 today to begin to understand, number one, whether or not God's love really is blind, and also to understand how people can come to the conclusion that God, in fact, does not love all. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:11.440 Now, what I really wish is that I could have gone through every single verse in Romans chapter 9. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:20.400 As a matter of fact, my first draft of this message, I did that very thing, and my message was about 7,000 words. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:24.079 Now, I normally write about 2,500 words and preach for about 45 minutes. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.200 And so what I'm trying to say is, you're welcome. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:28.240 Here's what we're gonna do. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:44.000 We're gonna look at some sections, and I think it will give you the perspective to be able to go into these difficult passages and understand that Paul is talking about how God loves, his plan for us and his purpose for us, not picking out who he loves as individuals. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.559 In verse 6, it says, Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.640 This is crucial to understanding this. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.799 What he's saying is the word of God was given to Israel. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:02.640 Jesus, the physical word of God, was born through Israel, and now Israel is standing in opposition to the word. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.519 That seems like a failure. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:12.000 But Paul says it's not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:17.680 Verse 7: neither is it the case that all of Abraham's children are his descendants. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.759 On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:26.799 Now, this demonstrates, number one, why this is such a difficult passage. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:36.720 And how, if you were to read this through your own lenses of how the world works, if you were to read this asking the question, who is it that God loves? 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:42.400 How you could end up in a very different place than what Paul was actually speaking of. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:55.680 The reason it is such a difficult passage is because Paul is writing to a Jewish audience, and because it's a Jewish audience, he is assuming that they will pick up all of the cultural context that he is throwing at them. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:01.279 He doesn't go through the pain of explaining it or giving the context or the setup for it. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.720 He just says things. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:11.039 And in this one chapter, there are over a dozen quotes from the Jewish scriptures that he barely sets up, he just references them. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:16.960 There are over a dozen, over a dozen allusions to Old Testament Jewish scripture events. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.559 He's talking about their history, their culture, and their context. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:26.559 And if we don't do the work to understand it, we will be left with a very confused interpretation. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.480 And we all know what this is like. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:34.400 If you have ever heard an inside joke that you are on the outside of, you know exactly what this feels like. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.720 You want to laugh, you just don't understand it. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:50.240 Maybe the first time that you went to your in-laws' house and you saw your spouse among their siblings and their parents, and they're talking about people you don't know, going to places that you don't know, and involved with things that you don't know, and they're cracking up. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:51.519 Man, they're reminiscing. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:52.559 You have no idea. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:53.759 You didn't grow up there. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.599 You don't know what they're talking about. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.519 If you came to work for Metachurch, stepping into a new work. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.759 Culture, a new work context. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.240 You might hear me look at someone and say, hey, make sure you get that scheduled in planning center. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.400 And while you're at it, put it on the weekends board on Monday. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:08.960 You got that? 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:09.599 Awesome. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:12.799 And you would be like, You want me to do what? 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.200 Where's the planning center? 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.640 Is that I didn't see the planning. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.119 Is the planning center in the Holotus venue? 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.319 You want me, you said you want the weekend on Monday. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.480 The weekend isn't Monday. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:25.440 You wouldn't know. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.880 You wouldn't know that Planning Center is a software where we manage our services. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:31.440 You wouldn't know that Monday.com is an organizational software. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:35.359 You might think I'm wanting you to go to Home Depot and get a board, not to put a new board on the internet. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.960 You're out of context. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:38.640 You can't understand it. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.440 You would have to dig in, or you'd have to make assumptions. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.759 Immediately, Paul is talking about key figures in Jewish history. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.759 He's talking about Abraham, the start of the nation of Israel. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.400 And he says, Not all of Israel are Israel. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.599 And not all of Abraham's children are his descendants. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:59.599 And this is a fact. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.240 God came to Abraham and said, I'll make you a great nation. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.319 You'll be the light to all the other nations. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:08.480 And years went by, and decades went by. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.440 And his wife Sarah could not have a child. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:16.640 And eventually Abraham grew impatient and he lost his faith, and so he slept with their maid. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:20.079 And their maid gave birth to a son named Ishmael. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.079 Abraham's child, not just his child, but the firstborn son. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.519 And the culture was clear. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.079 The firstborn son is the son of promise. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:33.839 The firstborn son is the son that the lineage is always traced through. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:38.400 And God came to Abraham and said, This is not my plan. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:45.279 This is not how I am choosing to love and show my love to the world. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.759 He didn't say this isn't who I love. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.680 He said, This isn't how I am choosing to love. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:58.160 And it was a miracle Sarah got pregnant, and they had Isaac, the secondborn. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:23:59.440 He's the secondborn. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:01.599 The second born doesn't carry the lineage. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.960 But this isn't about what makes sense to humans. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:09.759 This is about God's plan for the redemption of the world. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.480 On the contrary, Paul says your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.640 And in this section, Paul is making a very hard truth abundantly clear. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:29.440 That the family you come from, your lineage, your legacy, your pedigree does not determine whether or not you are in relationship with Jesus. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:38.160 I think this is a bigger deal today than many of us realize because there are many people who are banking on the fact that their parents went to church and their grandparents went to church. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:47.119 I mean, I don't really go to church, I don't really read the Bible, I'm not really sure about the whole God thing, but I mean I'm a Christian because I mean my parents were Christians and I was born and I was sprinkled when I was a kid. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.559 So pretty much I'm good because I came from good stock. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:55.359 That's a very real idea alive in our society today. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:59.359 And it's the very thing that the Jews were struggling with. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:06.000 They assumed that because their greatest, greatest grandparent was Abraham, yo, we got Abraham. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:10.400 We come from Abraham, we're good, son, we're chosen. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.319 And Paul says, not all of Israel are Israel. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:21.519 You think that just because you share some DNA with Abraham, that you are automatically in relationship with God? 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.599 Have you forgot about Ishmael? 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:33.519 The firstborn, Abraham's firstborn, who is not even a part of Israel. 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:38.160 Again, we can't look at every verse, but in the next verses he begins to compound this fact. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:41.119 He goes, Listen, it wasn't Ishmael, it was Isaac. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:42.240 Now let's look at Isaac. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.359 Isaac has twins. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:48.079 One's name is Esau, and one's name is Jacob, and Esau is the firstborn. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:54.319 But before they were even born, before they were ever even born, God knew Jacob will carry the promise. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:56.319 It will be through Jacob's lineage. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:58.079 Jacob will continue in that line. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:05.440 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all of Israel eventually landing at Jesus, opening the door to all the nations of the world. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:12.960 Before they were even born, God had chosen that the older would serve the younger. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:16.079 Man, he's making this abundantly clear. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:21.599 And if we're looking at it the way Paul's looking at it, which is how does God love? 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.440 How is he pushing forward his plan? 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:26.960 How is he getting as many people into relationship with him as possible? 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.319 It makes sense. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:33.839 But if we're asking the question, the wrong question, the question that comes from our own lived experience of who? 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:35.119 Who does God love? 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.079 The answer is clear. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.960 God loves Isaac, he doesn't love Ishmael. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.480 God loves Jacob, he doesn't love Esau. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:44.720 Now I'm not hiding the ball today. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.599 I'm telling you right now, this is a confusing and difficult passage. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:53.680 And nowhere is that clearer to me than in verse 13. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:57.519 Because right after he says Jacob and Esau, before they were born, God had already decided. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:04.000 In verse 13, it says this, as it is written, I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:04.880 What? 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:07.119 God hates babies now? 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.720 Like the twins were born, and he was like, Oh my gosh, Jacob. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:12.000 Oh, he's so cute. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:13.039 He's so cute. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:18.720 Oh, snap! Like Esau was a redhead, which is a little bit hilarious because I come from redheads. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:20.559 Like, can a ginger catch a break? 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:22.000 One time in all of history. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.839 Is there any injustice with God? 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:27.039 No, man, it's like I love Jacob and I hate Esau. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.960 And there's some very important words as it is written. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.440 And we don't have the Jewish context, and we don't have the Jewish culture, and we don't have the Jewish history. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:42.480 And so what we think, because it look, it's verse 12, verse 13, before they were ever born, God chose Jacob. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:46.559 And then right in verse 13, it's like, because Jacob I love and Esau I hate. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:48.480 And it's like, dang, are they right? 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:55.599 God really chose some and and and and didn't choose others, and he loves them and hates them. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:59.279 And here's what the Jews got that we didn't. 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:01.119 As it is written. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:02.160 Where's it written? 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.279 Is it written in Genesis when it's talking about the boys being born? 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.720 Is it actually written when they're in the womb or when they're first delivered? 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.559 The Jews he's writing to know where it's written. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.680 It's not written in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.960 It's written in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:22.000 These are words from the prophet Malachi. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:31.119 Malachi lived and prophesied hundreds and hundreds of years after Jacob and Esau were ever even alive. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:36.480 The book of Malachi is about the Edomites, the lineage of Esau. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:39.279 Not all of Israel is Israel. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.240 Esau had a nation. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.720 Hundreds of years later, they're called the Edomites. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:47.279 Jacob has a nation, they're called Israel. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:56.480 And Edom was evil in the sight of God, and they wanted to bring destruction against God's chosen people, his plan, how he has chosen to love. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:13.920 And in Malachi, he uses Esau and he uses Jacob as the head, the patriarchs of these nations, to say, Esau I've hated, and Jacob have I loved, not the babies in the womb, but the nations that became evil in God's sight. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:22.240 It's reinforcing Paul's point that you can't count on your lineage to automatically be in loving union with God. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:28.480 Even Esau's descendants became so evil that they fell under the wrath of God. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:43.279 It's so crucial that we allow the text to speak for itself, because if not, we will be pulled away from a true view and understanding of who our God is by a misreading of what Paul wrote. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:56.319 Now Paul is going to ask an important question, and he's asking this on behalf of the unbelieving Jews, the Jews who have rejected Jesus, who hardened their hearts and did not accept him, in fact, crucified him. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:58.960 He asks a question on their behalf. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:00.160 What should we say then? 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:02.799 Is there injustice with God? 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:05.200 God's not following the rules, man. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:06.400 Paul, you're kind of right. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:07.839 It should have been Ishmael. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.160 Like it should have been Esau. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:18.160 And it's not Esau, and then Esau grows up and his people harden their hearts and turn their backs on God, and now God is hating them and his wrath is pouring out on them? 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:19.519 Like this doesn't seem right. 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:20.319 I mean, look at us. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:27.279 Like, we're Israel, God's chosen people, but we're the ones who rejected God in human flesh. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:29.920 It just doesn't add up. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.720 Is there injustice with God? 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:35.759 Paul answers, absolutely not. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:42.960 For he tells Moses, I'll show mercy to whom I'll show mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.839 I'm telling you, Paul's just jumping around through Jewish history. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:47.680 Now he's got Moses in the wilderness. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.920 This is hundreds and hundreds of years earlier. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:56.559 And you remember they came out of Egypt where they were enslaved and they built a golden calf, and instead of worshiping God, they were worshiping an idol. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:57.680 And what did God want to do? 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.160 He told Moses, I'm gonna wipe them out. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:01.759 I'll start over. 00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:02.559 I've done it once. 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:03.599 I did it with Noah. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:05.200 I started again with Abraham. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:06.319 I'll start with you, Moses. 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:19.839 And Moses, in this Christ-like moment, intercedes on behalf of the people, just like Paul is doing in verses one through five, interceding on behalf of the people, just like Jesus did on behalf of our sins, interceding on behalf of the people. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.240 And God relents and he says, I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:27.519 I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:33.599 In verse 16, it says it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:41.200 And if we're reading this, trying to figure out who God loves, the wrong question, who God loves, we say it's not about human will or effort. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:45.119 Of course it's not, because God has already chosen some, and if you've been chosen, you have no choice. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:46.480 You will absolutely choose God. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:48.720 That's the way it works, it's irresistible. 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:52.799