Week 3 Discussion

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School

Colorado Christian University *

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507

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Religion

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by ProfRaccoonMaster911

When God called Abram out from his native land in Genesis 12 and promised Abram that He would bless him and make him a father of nations, God already knew that Israel would be His chosen people, beginning with Abram, later renamed Abraham, before he had a child. God knew Israel would only be faithful for a season and then return to sin, but He still chose them. There are several scriptures in the OT where God names them His chosen people, set apart from other nations: In Exodus 19:5, “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.” In Deuteronomy 7: 6, “For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.” Even David stated in 2 Samuel 7:23, “What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way.” In Psalm 135:4, “For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure.” There are several more scriptures in the OT where God states they are chosen, holy, peculiar, and set apart. If God sets them apart, does His love and covenant with Israel end when He sends Jesus to die on the cross for our sins? Absolutely not; it continues in the NT, beginning with the birth of His Son. Jesus came to earth as a Jew, from the line of king David to a Jewish family. Israel is still God’s chosen people; even through disobedience, He sent the Messiah to Israel as one of them and for them. God, before choosing Abram, before Moses, before choosing David as king, before giving the OT prophets the visions and prophecies to write down about the coming of Christ, had already chosen the family that Christ would be born into. Christ came to the Jews first as a reminder that they were God’s chosen people and of God’s love for them, even though they had strayed so far from Him. Now He was offering His only Son and, through that Son, salvation. So Christ's mission was to teach his disciples, send them out first to their own backyard, and then once He knew they were ready, they would receive the commission to preach unto all the nations. By going out into the nation of Israel and spreading the gospel, the disciples were sharing God’s salvation and love with them; they were displaying God’s power through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Romans 1: 16, Paul speaks about the salvation from Christ given to “the Jew first and also the Gentile.” God wanted Israel to have the first choice in choosing His Son. Christ did help individuals who were not Jewish, but fully spreading the gospel to the Gentiles did not come until after the crucifixion. Gentiles are considered any non-Jewish people. We are not an afterthought; God already had plans to include us. God revealed that part of His plan after Christ arose, giving his disciples the great commission. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus states, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Christ taught his disciples to be missionaries when He sent them out into Israel; now, His disciples would go into all the nations and make more disciples, teaching those new disciples the commands and lessons Christ taught them. Every person on this earth is a sinner, no matter Jew or Gentile; all of us fall short of the standard of holiness of God (Romans 3:21-24). And thus, any who accept Christ as their personal Savior are by faith the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:6-9). In Galatians 3:7, Paul states, “The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.”

God started with His chosen people of Israel in the OT and then grafted the Gentiles into those who would be His children—slowly revealing His plan from Creation to preparation for what is to come in Revelation (grafted – Romans 11:13-25). What a blessing to choose Christ as our personal Savior and become a child of the Most High God! Works Cited Tyndale House. 2015. Holy Bible . New Living Translation. Works Consulted Waxx, Trevin. "Why Did Jesus Say He Came Only for Israel?" The Gospel Coalition (blog) January 2013. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/why-did-jesus-say-he-came-only-for-israel/ Piper, John. "To the Jew First and also to the Greek." July 1998. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/to-the- jew-first-and-also-to-the-greek

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