Redefining Family
Opening Prayer
Sovereign God, as I come before You today, help me to remember that You are my loving, proud, protective Father.
Read Romans 9:1-18
[1] I speak the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit- [2] I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3] 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, [4] 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. [5] Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. [6] It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. [7] Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” [8] In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. [9] For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” [10] Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. [11] Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: [12] not by works but by him who calls-she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [13] Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” [14] What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! [15] For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” [16] It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. [17] For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” [18] Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How does Paul describe the place and role of the Israelites?Most Jewish people at the time Paul wrote this letter would have believed that the Jewish people as a whole were saved. Paul, while acknowledging that the Israelites have indeed had a privileged role in history (4,5), argues that their ethnicity was never enough to shield them from God’s judgment. Otherwise, how could he have hated Esau but loved Jacob (13)? On one level, this sounds arbitrary, even cruel. Why should some people have no choice but to play the “bad guy” in a pre-scripted drama (11,17)? Paul knows this is where the logic leads and he addresses it head on: “Is God unjust?” (14). The answer: No! God is not unjust or, rather, not in the way we think. True justice would see all of us bound for destruction, falling foul of our side of the covenant, born into the wrong family, condemning ourselves with our every thought and action. Instead, God chooses to have mercy. And he makes salvation a matter of relationship, not heritage.
Apply
Paul cares passionately about people. Do you? Make a list of those you care about and pray for them this week.
Closing prayer
Thank You, Jesus, that Your love and acceptance don’t depend on my desire or effort. Let my concern for others bring forth new growth.
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