God to Abraham: "... and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ..."
God to Jacob: "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed."
Messianic prophecy through Isaiah: "And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
He says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."
Jesus: "I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
"The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. ... But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
'Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands - remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.'
"When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."
' And they [the elders and living creatures around God's throne] sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” '
' "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.'
(Genesis 22:18; Genesis 28:14; Isaiah 49:5-6; Luke 2:25-32; Matthew 8:11; Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:11-13; Ephesians 3:4-6; Revelation 5:9-10, Psalm 107:1-3 ESV)
I'm so thankful to have been grafted into the olive tree of those who are Abraham's descendants by faith ...
This is great how you compiled. It also reminded me of the lineage of Christ such as Rahab whom he also included as blessed to a descendant of our Lord. To those who honor His people, he surely blesses as she assisted His people. The remnant of Israel will not be forgotten or excluded from their inheritance. And we are also honored to be included in the family of God and to share that blessed Hope. Thank you for sharing. Shalom B'Yeshua.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the 2nd Helvetic Confession on this:
ReplyDeleteAnd since there is always but one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, Jesus the Messiah, and one Shepherd of the whole flock, one Head of this body, and, to conclude, one Spirit, one salvation, one faith, one Testament or covenant, it necessarily follows that there is only one Church.
Is this where you are going?
Kent, I believe there has always only been one covenant people of God comprised of those who are elect for salvation. I believe that this "remnant" was contained within physical Israel until salvation was proclaimed to the Gentiles and Gentile believers were grafted into the true olive tree of spiritual Israel. I also think that the most likely interpretation of Romans 9-11 is that near the time of the end many physical descendants of Abraham will be restored to the single true olive tree.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, I believe there's only been one true assembly of the saints. And I'm thankful that I, a Gentile by physical birth, was grafted in to the tree.
I guess I should add just a touch more clarification that after salvation was proclaimed to the whole world that the "remnant" comprised all those who believe in Jesus, whether they are physically descended from Abraham or not. I don't believe that any nation was "replaced". I just believe that there has always been only one covenant people of God and that even in the time of the dispensation of the Law that salvation was of grace, mediated through animal sacrifices that looked forward to the sacrifice of Jesus. The difference in the time of the Gentiles is that believing Gentiles have now been grafted in to the one true olive tree.
ReplyDelete