LOVE FOR AN EXTENDED FAMILY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

Romans 9:3-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After our Savior Jesus, the man who dominates much of the New Testament is the Apostle Paul. Of course, Jesus brought the Gospel from Heaven to earth in Himself and shared the good news found in Him with everyone He met. The Messiah the prophets had foretold had come to bring salvation to all, both Jews and Gentiles.

We know this ministry went on for thirty-three years before Jesus’ earthly life was taken from Him on Calvary’s cross, or at least the Jews thought they had taken it from Him. Thankfully, God had other plans.

And so Jesus was raised from death to life and brought back to Heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father where He was placed in authority over all things in Heaven and on earth but before He departed, He gave a great commission for all Christian believers to follow as they carried on His work. Jesus called all His followers to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in His name as well as in God and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey all He had commanded. It was a call to action, a proactive mission to help others find their salvation. It was a mission that Paul dedicated His life to.

Of course, Paul wasn’t always a big fan of Jesus. We know he was a fervent Jew who found great delight in persecuting and even killing Christians before that fateful day when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Known then as the man named Saul, Paul would never be the same again after Jesus allowed him to see again, to see the new eternal life he had in his Savior and the new worldly life he was commissioned to carry out.

And carry out he did as Paul completed four missionary journeys, taking the Gospel to places of the world that had been untouched before. Paul ensured all Jews and Gentiles knew about Jesus and that everlasting life was theirs if they would just believe in Him as their Savior. Across all nations he visited, Paul boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus, even if it would bring great opposition and persecution and we know that happened.

Yes, Paul was always on the go it seems but then again, like Jesus, Paul didn’t have anything to anchor him down anywhere. In fact, the Bible doesn’t mention anywhere that Paul was married or even had any kind of special relationship with a member of the opposite sex. He has some family mentioned in the scriptures but they definitely don’t dominate the scene with the exception of maybe his sister and nephew who we find taking center stage in Acts 23. Outside of that, Paul’s acquaintances were found in all the places where he visited and labored for the cause of Christ.

Perhaps this is why we find Paul sharing such raw emotion as he writes the letters to the fledgling churches he planted (and even some he didn’t like the church in Colosse). He saw his brother and sister Christians and even his fellow Jews (remember Paul was a Jew) as an extended family, one he loved deeply.

With this context established, we turn to our scripture verses for today as we continue to look at the opening of Romans 9. Again, Paul is writing to the people of Rome here and we see he doesn’t try to suppress his feelings.

“For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:3-5

Note here that Paul is in a state of anguish.

Why?

Because he knew that although his fellow Jews were the people of Israel, a people who were entrusted with the covenants, law, and temple worship, a people who were the patriarchs from which the Messiah derived His human ancestry, despite all this, Paul knew they had no hope for salvation separate from Jesus, the Jesus the Jews rejected. Indeed, the stone (Jesus) that the builders (the Jews) rejected had become the cornerstone.

This hurt Paul to the core, so much so that he wished that he could take the place of His Jewish peers and be cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of his people. But he knew that wasn’t possible. There was one Savior who died for the sins of all mankind and that was Jesus. After His redeeming work of salvation on the cross, no one else could die in the place of another to bring them eternal life. Only Jesus could bring someone to God the Father (John 14:6).

As we continue to study across chapters 9 and 10, we’re going to find Paul investing a lot of time in his letter focused on the Roman Jews and he did so out of love for his extended family with the hope that they might come to Christ and be saved.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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