Romans (42) Romans 11 & Passover Reflections for 2018 (Part 7)

[Rebbe]

PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS (42)
Analytical Commentary on Romans

 Romans 11 and Passover 2018 Reflections (Part Seven)

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2018 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling,
Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)
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The Audio MP3 of this lecture is available via this link: http://www.bripodcasts.com/Romans/Lecture42.MP3


HAS GOD CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE? Romans 11.1a

"Beneath the blood-stained lintel I with my
children stand;
A messenger of evil is passing through
the Land.
There is no other refuge from the
Destroyer's face;
Beneath the blood-stained lintel shall be our
hiding place.

"The Lamb of God has suffered, our sins and
griefs He bore;
By faith the blood is sprinkled above our
dwelling's door.
The foe who seeks to enter doth fear that
sacred sign;
Tonight the blood-stained lintel shall shelter
me and mine"
-- Phil Keaggy

A SINGLE EVENT IN 30 CE
The general Christian public is mostly unaware (if they actually cared!) due somewhat to Hollywood fantasy movie extravaganzas, that the City of Jerusalem was -- in the 1st century CE -- the showplace of the Roman Empire and that the Jewish State was, in fact,  far wealthier than Rome itself. Historians of note have confirmed that this was the case, as also ancient chronicles attested. Jerusalem and Judaea was no backwater.

The Jews themselves invited the Romans in to help them sort out dangerous current conflicts that at the time were tearing the Jewish Commonwealth apart at the seams. The Romans entered Jerusalem in 6 CE and (some would assess) it was unfortunate for the Jews, as these Gentiles never left. Indeed, they promptly incorporated Judaea into the Roman Empire under the rather disturbing Pax Romana (the Roman Peace) thereby internationalising Jerusalem.

The Romans both selected and appointed wealthy Sadduccees to offices of influence and power in the Sanhedrin, and utilised key individuals in the Hellenistic political Herodian Party as secret double-agents to send reports at specific intervals back to Caesar through his Governors of Judaea. Herod's Jewish Commonwealth was a tightly-run and highly-engaged secret State with spies galore virtually on every corner: at the least we can assess it as a form of first-century New World Order. This system reached its peak in the reign of Nero.

While the religious Pharisee Party held the balance of power in the Sanhedrin -- the Sanhedrin largely regulated and so controlled Jewish life -- the aristocratic orientation of the Sadducean religious class little influenced the common man and, indeed, we are reliably informed that "the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich; they have not the [ordinary] people on their side" (Josephus, Antiquities, XIII, 10, 6). The Sadducees ensured that they remained wealthy and powerful because Herod permitted them to solicit monetary funds and favours from Caesar for services rendered.

As Josephus is quick to inform his readership, the ordinary common people resented Roman occupation and 6 CE ushered in a formidable underground Jewish revolutionary movement -- a number of these actually which resulted in a series of mass crucifixions along major roads throughout Judaea (and in particular around Jerusalem proper) for public display: an ongoing relentless daily threat which largely succeeded in Rome keeping errant Jews under a form of subjugated slavery. This remained the status-quo until around 62 CE when a Sadducean conspiracy resulted in the assassination of James (Yaakov) the brother of Our Lord Yeshua. From that time on the various militant insurrectionists united together to stand up against Roman tyranny and to kick out "the mountain of Rome" (Mk 11.23; Mt 21.21) back to Italy.

So, backing up a little, in 30 CE Jewish pilgrims flowing like a continuous river into the city of Jerusalem and its immediate environs for the seasonal celebration of Passover, were witnesses of a recent event in which the Roman fortress Antonia was attacked by revolutionaries concurrent with another outbreak on the Temple itself by a man who claimed to be the Davidic Messiah Pretender (right use of the word: meaning claimant, aspirant) to the Throne of David. He had been consequently arrested, imprisoned, tortured and scourged, and declared to be guilty of treason. His execution was to take place on the Passover as the million gathered pilgrims and residents of the State of Judaea slaughtered their lambs in their performance of the requirements of Mosaic-Sinai stipulations.

And so, as the Gospels faithfully record, Yeshua died. The pilgrims were all well aware of his ordeal. He was not just any other prisoner of Roman power. This man claimed to be the Messiah and the only authentic Davidic King. So, holding him up to a severe ridicule, his horrendous death occurred on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple, at the Miphkad Altar and where the Red Heifer was slaughtered during Yom Kippurim. It is also the region known as Golgoleth or, "head." The region was considered an extension of the Temple proper where numbering or a poll took place, hence Miphkad meaning (roughly) "counting."

"We have no king but Caesar" (Jn 19.15) cried the Chief priests who were, needless to say, Sadducees. They were right in their own self-judgment! They counted themselves as in direct opposition to Israel's GOD as far as the sacred Scriptures were concerned (that is, the Writings and the Prophets). Yeshua was appointed by them to be crucified precisely where Cain was exiled because of his great sin "east of Eden to the land of Nod." The Sadducees were focused only and entirely on the accumulation of today's treasures, storing them up for self-satiation rather than riveting their spiritual attention on spiritual treasures (Mt 6.19-21). Yeshua had castigated them for their woeful ignorance of the Hebrew Scriptures.

ISRAEL TODAY & ISRAEL TOMORROW
And thus it is today. The Jewish people remain largely in ignorance over the Person of Yeshua, their own Jewish Messiah. Jews for Jesus and an assortment of other minor Christian groups are gradually changing that situation, the world over. Nevertheless, the prophetic Spirit has foretold a time some years in advance of our own, when the Jews of Israel will be subjected to a recognition of the identity of Messiah, and it is predicted that Israel of the Diaspora will swarm into a Greater Israel to enjoy the awesome prosperity that will await them there. At the moment Israelis and Jews worldwide remain carnal and lifeless -- spiritually dead. That is true. But not for long.

When the Spirit of Grace and Supplications pours forth from the Temple of God the Jewish nation (and the whole world) will not know what hit them (Zech 12.10-13.6).

THE HOLY SPIRIT (Ruach HaKodesh) IS SOVEREIGN! There will be no mistaking His presence when he once more forcibly engages with the Chosen People.  

And just as Messiah said he would be the cause of division in homes and families, so the nation of Israel will be rent apart in a horrifying and bloody civil war over the Person of Yeshua haMashiach. Surrounding Arab states will be singularly amazed. An immediate result will be the jettisoning by Israelis of idolatrous images and paintings scattered throughout the Land in churches of all divisions. Eretz Yisrael will be cleansed of idols and idol worshipers (Zech 13.1,2). That time will usher in an astonishing favour of Israel in the eyes of the Arab nations and the entire global community. The predicted peace between Arab and Jew and the expansion of the borders of Israel (which is destined to occur just prior to the coming of Our Lord Yeshua to bring His Government to this planet) will set the stage for the entrance of the endtime Antichrist.

But in the meantime the Spirit of God will usher in "times of refreshing from the Presence of the Lord." Shavuot or Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem in 30 CE was only a forerunner of a dramatic endtime prophetic fulfillment. Golgoleth in the plan of God launched God's intention to save the world and to reconcile the entire universe back to himself through the shed blood of His precious Son.

And, oh!, what Blessings we have inherited as God's very own children --  sons and daughters -- as a consequence of that great sacrifice of the Passover Lamb of God that bears away the sin of the world (Jn 2.29 Gk).

We shall peruse some of these spiritual blessings in a moment.

BACK TO 30 CE
As I mentioned earlier, the million or so pilgrims attending this very special seasonal agricultural festival of Passover were well aware of the Man who was being crucified at the Place of the head (or skull). All Jerusalem knew. Word had spread like wildfire. The One who entered Jerusalem only a few days before his arrest prophetically inclined to the great prophecy of Zechariah in his acting out of the coming of the Mashiach on a colt of a donkey, the consequences of which resulted in his being welcomed as the anticipated Messiah by the multitudes, this Man who had so threatened the Temple with a horde of militant Zealots at his beck and call -- at the very same time as other revolutionaries stormed the Roman fortress Antonia which walled the Temple of God -- this Davidic Warrior was being crucified for proclaiming himself in such exhibitions as the new Emperor of the World. In short, a rival to Caesar himself. For, that and precisely that, is what the Messiah was expected to be. Concerning Yeshua, to say that Pilate had his hands full would be an understatement.

Firstly raped, brutalised, and then scourged, Yeshua was led from the Antonia past the Temple on his right, out the eastern gate of the Temple, over the two-tiered arched bridge, up to the summit of the Mount of Olives. But instead of being killed at the Miphkad Altar, he was taken a short distance south (to where criminals could be executed -- in the presence of God -- that is, in the sight of the Temple) and there he was crucified (and stoned to death). And what is interesting, just as the Red Heifer was preceded by all of the top officials of the nation, the apostle John said that it was the chief priests themselves who led Jesus up to the place of crucifixion and it was they who had him put to death (John 19:15,16) (E.L. Martin, Secrets of Golgotha, 1988, 248).

The Romans nailed Yeshua to a tree in that orchard along with two other convicted revolutionaries.

As the body of Yeshua heaved heavily, his lungs gasping for breath as they filled with fluid, one of these crucified men reviled him spitting out filth and snarling "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" (Lk 23.39 Gk). He had obviously at some time heard Yeshua teaching. He may have been among the 5000 in the desert when Yeshua performed a mighty miracle. But he was disinterested in the coming Kingdom of God which Yeshua preached publicly. He wanted the kingdom NOW. He desperately wanted his life back NOW. Neither of the two rebels wanted to die -- at least not this way. But both were involved, as they writhed screaming in pain with Yeshua, in blasphemy. What I want you all to notice is that BOTH revolutionaries reviled Christ (See Mt 27.38-44; Mk 15.32) and not merely one of them.

The other revolutionary, who had also heard Yeshua speak in public had a slightly different attitude toward him and his own plight. Some time after their vile accusations about WHO he was, one of them turned his head around to Yeshua and through parched, swollen and cracked lips whispered, "Lord" (Lk 23.42).

Notice immediately what Luke has recorded for us today. It is a message of God's Salvific Nature -- Pauline-style (after all, Luke was Paul's physician). This man was nailed to the same tree as Yeshua so it was utterly impossible for him to accomplish ANY works to contribute to his salvation. It was impossible for him to do any works of righteousness. He was completely unable to rectify his past. The only work he was capable of at this time was the struggle to breathe and to stay conscious.

As lecturer Alva McClain writes, "There was no time to talk about obeying the law, doing works of goodness, and improving his character. All he could do was move his lips... With his heart he believed that this man would arise from the dead, and he was saved! For Jesus turned to him and said, Verily I say unto you. Today shall you be with me in Paradise! (Luke 23:43)" (Alva McClain, Romans: The Gospel of God's Grace, 1973, 190). A blasphemer one second, a believer the next. THAT is the POWER of the Good News. Small wonder Paul uses the Greek word dunamis as a descriptor of the unleashing of the Gospel in the heart. From this simple Greek word we get the English dynamite.

On the Passover, Yeshua died for our sins. He died taking them upon himself -- God in flesh becoming us. He died after six long hours of frightful suffering when a Roman soldier thrust his short sword or spear up into his side causing an horrendous scream to burst forth from Yeshua's bloodied mouth. He never saw it coming, for his eyes had been lacerated by hurled flint. At any public stoning the flint and rocks were aimed at the genitals and the eyes. With bloodied eyeless sockets he looked up to heaven and uttered his final words, "Into your hands I commend my Spirit" (Lk 23.46).

In response the heavens turned dark and the heavy Temple curtain of the Holy of Holies was rent from top to bottom when the lintel over the entrance collapsed. A tough Roman soldier standing nearby was shocked with the events and was heard to utter: "Truly this was a son of the gods." He was witness to the events below from his high vantage point near the bloodied tree of crucifixion and he could see right into the Temple complex itself.

We should also realise that he was acutely aware of the utterances made by Yeshua as he was nailed on that tree and as he experienced the terrible shocks of flint tearing into his already lacerated body. No doubt he had heard the insults and hate-filled abuse thrown at laughing taunting executioners by other crucified victims of Rome. But this Man was different. He forgave even his enemies, even those who tortured him and who so cruelly and with evil intent disposed of him. Out of all the thousands of antagonistic crucified victims of Roman Imperial power only ONE MAN forgave those who were killing him. This made a startling life-long lasting impression upon this brutal Roman. I am sure he walked away from that scene with PTSD for all the right reasons.

Remember, this was not an ordinary human being, even though he spoke of himself as the son of man. This was God in the flesh. And what in his own death was the Messiah's attitude toward those who so defiled and despised him?

Were his thoughts of eventual payback on his enemies?

Did he desire eternal damnation on them?

Was he looking forward to the eternal torment of the perverse and the wicked?

In a word, No.

All he wanted was for his Father in heaven to forgive those cruel and hardened despotic agents of the Dark Lord.

BENEFITS FOR US
Out of the death and resurrection of Christ spiritual benefits have flowed. Let's take a contemplative overview of some of the spiritual benefits -- and LITERAL benefits -- we have received by Grace. Yes, Grace. Recall that Christ WORKED for our salvation so that we would be saved by GRACE. His entire life, death and resurrection has been imputed to each and every one of us who call Him LORD as well as Saviour.

As a consequence of rising up with Him in NEW resurrection LIFE we have been the recipients of EVERLASTING LIFE... and in that everlasting life we can presently experience everlasting preservation.

[1] Eternal PRESERVATION.
We studied this way back in Romans 8. Salvation is all of Grace, and none of us. All of Grace or not of God. Due to his grasp of an authentic Grace, Paul perceived because it is God who initiates our salvation (as Yeshua made abundantly clear Jn 6.44) it is God who sustains it (1 Cor 1.8) and completes it (Phil 1.6). Mashiach is the only One who can condemn us, and He won't because He is our Saviour (Rom 8.33,34). Messiah's power initiates, sustains and completes the entire salvation process. We are therefore in a continual state of preservation. There is everlasting preservation from God toward any of us who are His children. Because of what Christ accomplished FOR us on OUR behalf, we are preserved.

We are preserved in the Son of God (Rom 8.1-4), preserved in the Spirit of God (Rom 8.5-13), preserved in the Family of God (Rom 8.14-23), preserved in the promises of God (Rom 8.24,25), preserved in the prayer of God (Rom 8.26,27), preserved in the providence of God (Rom 8.28), preserved in the purpose of God (Rom 8.29,30), preserved in the power of God (Rom 8.31-34), and preserved in the love of God (Rom 8.35-39).

[2] WE HAVE GRASPED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
While it's very important for all of us to follow the commands of God (and especially as they are articulated by Christ) it must be understood that no amount of law observance will make any of us righteous in the sight of God the Father. And no amount of doing good and keeping laws, or commandments and rules will keep our relationship with God secure and sound. That is the big mistake so many of us make. We are not maintained (preserved) in the Grace of God by our efforts and good deeds. We are looked upon as Yeshua is looked upon in the eyes of God the Father. What HE accomplished for us declares us righteous for ever in God's Mind. This is of course, dangerous knowledge for it is tempting for our human nature to test God's loving kindness toward us. Don't at-tempt it. We may well be saved by Grace and cannot come into condemnation, but we sure can EXPERIENCE AS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF OUR ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES JUDGMENT. And really, if we are truly converted none of us want to undergo severe negative judgments in our lives.

Again, as I have previously stressed, "God's righteousness is something not only that we BELIEVE, but also something to which we should be SUBMITTED" (Alva McClain op.cit., 188).

McClain explains, "One of the primary reasons why more men do not believe the simple gospel of God is because of human pride and human reason. They are determined not to submit. It is hard for all of us to submit and yield. The central issue is just submitting ourselves. That is all we need to do with this righteousness. Just let God put it on you. In Zechariah 3, the prophet was clothed with filthy garments. God spoke and said, 'Take off those filthy garments and put clean ones on him.' All he did was stand there and permit it to be done" (188).

SEVEN OTHER BLESSINGS
1. There is no condemnation. And why is that? Because Christ died for us.
2. There is no defeat. And why is that? Because the Ruach HaKodesh indwells each of us.
3. There is no fear or terror toward heaven. And why is that? Because God has begotten us as a Father and we have been birthed anew.
4. There is no despair. And why is that? Because we know that our very sufferings reap the glory! How could there be a final despair?
5. There is no calamity. And why is that? Because we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and who are the called according to his purpose.
6. There is no adversary. And why is that? Because God is FOR us! Nobody can be against us!
7. There is no separation. And why is that? Because God, in Christ, has set His love upon us!

Moreover, we have our new life (Rom 8.6), we have our new relation (Rom 8.14-17), we have our new hope (Rom 8.18-25), we have our new help (Rom 8.26,27), we have our new knowledge (Rom 8.28-30), we have our new assurance (Rom 8.31-39), we are a new creation (2 Cor 5.17) by virtue of our new birth (Jn 3.1-21) and all of this is by virtue of the Passion of the Christ. We, in gratitude, therefore walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom 8.4).

HAS GOD CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE?
If we may bask in the sun of Christ's GLORY all paid for by the Lord Yeshua on the bloodied tree of Golgoleth, what then of carnal, national Israel? If God can treat a reviling revolutionary with such pity and love as he came to his senses and called Yeshua "Lord" and if we can live our lives as rotten little twirps until the Spirit of God moved on us and pointed us to THE Messiah, could not national Israel have their eyes opened to SEE their Messiah whom they crucified -- and be converted?

Listen! When Paul asked this question in Romans 11.1 he had national Israel in his mind, despite what Replacement Theologians may argue to the contrary. I am in complete agreement with Alva McClain and a host of other authentic non-sectarian theologians when they recognize the following:

"The reference [in Romans 11.1] is certainly to the nation of Israel and not to the election within Israel. It would be foolish to conclude that this means the election within Israel, for certainly God has not cast away those Jews who believed and composed the election. This fact will be all the more clear if you will look at the last verse of the preceding chapter [Romans 10]. 'A disobedient and gainsaying people' -- the nation of Israel itself. God is speaking of national Israel. Paul has already shown that the Church is here now in view. Even though there may be a few Israelites in whom the promises of God can be fulfilled, they are in the Church."

McClain pursues his argument: "Now the Jew would say, If all Paul has been saying in chapters 9 and 10 is true, then God is through with Israel as a nation. So Paul takes up that question right here and faces it squarely. The whole of this chapter can be summed up in two statements: (1) Paul shows first that the rejection of Israel is not total, but partial; (2) Paul demonstrates that even this partial rejection of Israel is not final, but only temporary.

"The question in the first verse suggests the outline of the chapter. Paul asks, Hath God cast off His people? and in answering, states and develops three facts here: (1) there is a present election, which proves God has not cast them off (vv. 1-10); (2) there will be a future reception (vv. 11-24); (3) there will be a final salvation of Israel (vv. 25-32)....

"Each of these three points has a key verse; and that key verse has a phrase that suggests its contents. In verse 15 What shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? The nation that is cast away will someday be received. Look at verses 25 and 26 All Israel shall be saved finally. This will be the final salvation, or the total salvation" (McClain., ibid, 195,196).

You see brethren, unlike most academics of sectarian organisations that push an agenda in order to satisfy the incredulously inept idea of Replacement Theology, born of rancid Edomite antisemitism, Paul was a rabbi schooled in sacred Scripture and he was well aware of the prophecies of Jeremiah attached to the scroll of Zechariah in which Israel's End of the Age national confession will occur PRIOR to the advent of Messiah. He was also well aware of the national restoration IN Jewish blindness and carnality of the State of Israel at the very conclusion of this present evil age that is laboured over by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the dry bones (Ezek 37). If anyone cares to examine closely this vision they will be confronted by the fact that Israel will be restored to their Land but there is no LIFE in them at all. They are absent of breath. This speaks of a total lack of any spiritual conversion to Messiah.... BUT notice the supernatural ACTS OF GOD that come to play together to orchestrate the spiritual conversion of the physical nation of Israel! Salvation begins and ends in God, not us. Note that it is the hand of Almighty God that brings this about -- indeed the WILL of a SATISFIED LORD who will have His way! It comes about apart from the decidedly antagonistic will of the Jewish individual and/or nation!

"I WILL open your graves and CAUSE YOU to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. THEN you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I WILL put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I WILL place you in your own land. THEN you shall know that I, THE LORD, HAVE SPOKEN IT AND PERFORMED IT, says the Lord" (Ezek 37.12-14).

This and this alone is the DIVINE INTERPRETATION, "What shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?"

When will this national conversion of Israel take place? Recall from previous lectures I have given that Yeshua the Messiah will NOT return to this earth UNTIL Israel as a NATION is converted!

Yeshua himself said, "You [Israel] shall not see me again until you can say B'ruch haba HaShem Adonai (Blessed [spiritually prosperous] is he who comes in the Name of the Lord)" (Mt 23.39).  

This is also why God's emissary Kefa (Peter) was inspired in his Pentecost sermon to announce to the nation:

"Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all his prophets, that the Messiah would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, IN ORDER THAT your sins may be blotted out, IN ORDER THAT that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, IN ORDER THAT he may send Yeshua the Messiah who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3.17-21 Gk. See for confirmation Kenneth Wuest's Expanded Greek NT).

In the latter portion of verse 21 Peter is speaking of the Elijah restoration Work which must occur before Israel's conversion and the coming of Yeshua in the clouds of heaven to rule the earth with a shepherd's rod of iron. But as we can plainly see ourselves, Peter knew fully that unless or until Israel turned as a nation to Christ the Second Advent would never become a reality. This is the depth of love God has for His Chosen People. We know from the prophetic WORD of God (and not some silly woman's fables) that His Word is sure, certain, irrevocable just as His Word was all of these factors when God made His unconditional promises (covenants) to the Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In the meantime "Israel, as concerning the Gospel... are enemies for our sakes." The State of Israel is a grim, implacable and inexorable enemy of the Christian Gospel. But as touching the election what are they? McClain asks this same question! He adds, "The believing remnant is 'beloved.' For our sakes? No! 'For the Father's sakes.' God says, 'I promised Abraham; I promised Isaac; I promised Jacob.'; and God keeps His promises. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God might repent that He had made man, but He will never repent of the promises He made to Abraham."

This is exactly WHY the Rabbi Shaul then stated unequivocally in this summing up of his arguments presented in Romans 11 "God has shut up all unto disobedience" (Rom 11.32). Most unthinking Christians will not have this to be the case at all. They will argue and fight against it and resist it with all their might and intellectual power and even prowess. But it carries within it the keys of God's Grace in an inevitable final universal salvation -- which is itself the OUTCOME of Infinite Grace.

God said through Paul that the Gentiles were disobedient (verses 30,31. Remember how Paul begins his Letter to the Roman Christians... he starts with the Gentiles!) And yet God had mercy on them. We cannot help but ask that if God brought about the repentance of the Gentiles through the Gospel and His saving Grace, could God not perform the exact same miracle in respect of the Jews? Yes, yes, and yes again. The Scripture tells us so. God locks all up in disobedience and unbelief in order that He -- and He alone --  will one day turn the key He alone possesses to unlock that same disobedience and unbelief turning it into a FAITH-OBEDIENCE and AUTHENTIC CONVICTION which is way beyond mere belief in doctrines. Why? "So that He might have mercy upon ALL" (Rom 11.32).

Paul starts out his letter with the Gospel, propounds the Gospel throughout, and concludes this section again with the Gospel. This is the Gospel of God's GRACE. If we reject this emphasis on God's GRACE toward both Gentiles and Jews -- and in the gratifying news concerning the coming conversion of the NATION OF ISRAEL -- then we have not only rejected the Gospel, but we have (perhaps unwittingly) rejected the GRACE of God.

Paul concludes: "Now the righteousness of God without the Torah is manifested." He thus disposes of the very notion of salvation by works. God encompasses ALL things. Even the ancient children of Abraham through Keturah knew that much!

McClain also sums it all up in this way. "The picture [Paul gives us] now expands until it encompasses all things. Out of God all things come -- He is the origin. Through God all things exist -- He is the sustainer of all things. Unto God, back to God -- He is the goal. There is the circle of eternity: out, through, back.

Someone has pointed out that there is a hint here of the Triune God. The Father is the source of all things out of Him come all things. The Son through Him were all things made. He is the One who carries out the purposes that originate in the Father. The Holy Spirit takes the things that exist and so manipulates them and moves them that they move back to God as the goal.

What a story! What a glorious future awaits all who presently know the Lord, and what a Gracious surprise awaits everyone else! The entire universe is delighted to hear of the unconditional love and Grace of its Creator.

To him be the glory forever! Amein!

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE 42