Seeing God for All He Is!

1. Seeing God for All He Is! Romans 11:32-36

2. Review Chapter 11 Israel vs. Gentiles

3. Romans 11:32 • “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief,” • Gentiles were consigned to disobedience • Israel is consigned to disobedience • That (why) • He might have mercy upon all.

4. Logical Question How is God “just” in consigning collective people groups to disobedience?

5. First (Pre-Answer) Individually, there isn’t anyone seeking God’s mercy through the gospel of Jesus Christ who is turned away.

6. John 6:37 • All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; • and him that cometh to me I will in no wise [never] cast out.

7. Answer #1 Throughout human history different groups have been consigned to roads of disobedience so that the MERCY of God could be demonstrated.

8. Romans 5:8 • But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The significance of this verse is LOST if men aren’t sinners.

9. So here is the fact: God consigns some people groups to disobedience (or other scenarios) to manifest His great Name.

10. Let me show that’s NOT “fair”(turn to) John 9:1-3 Man Born Blind

11. John 9:3 • Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: • but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. Don’t miss the significance of what Jesus is saying in this verse.

12. Similar Scenario The Thorn in the Flesh 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

13. At this point Every human being is tempted to say that is NOT fair—I don’t understand that…Paul has a thorn Peter doesn’t.

14. Romans 11:33 • HERE is Paul’s answer: • O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! • how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! The mind of God is like the Pacific Ocean.

15. Turn to Isaiah 46:9-11 God Sovereignty (mark these verses)

16. Isaiah 46:9-10 • Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, • Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

17. Isaiah 46:11 • Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: • yea, I have spoken it, • I will also bring it to pass; • I have purposed it, • I will also do it. Now this is very Sovereign

18. Yet • You are so much more than a mere pawn on cosmic chessboard. • You are a person made in the image of God who can make decisions.

19. You ARE NOT a mere Pawn(turn to) Acts 27:22-31 Paul’s shipwreck en route to Rome

20. “He brings to pass the actions of personal beings in a way that preserves their freedom and responsibility to the full. Is that inconceivable? We can persuade others, yet their freedom is preserved when they do what we persuaded them to do of their free will. Shall not then god be able to do with certainty what we with our little power do with uncertainty?” J. Gresham Machen 1881-1937

21. Persuading w/ Personal Freedom What about Courtship

22. Biblical Worldview • The Bible doesn’t teach a fatalistic worldview with a belief in “fate.” • Instead Christians are instructed to trust in the will of a Sovereign God who • Loves His people • Is moved prayer • Keeps His promises

23. Romans 11:34 • For who hath known the mind of the Lord?

24. Romans 11:34 • or who hath been his counselor? Where were you when God needed some advice?

25. Romans 11:35 • Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? HARSH TRUTH: God doesn’t owe me any compensation for anything.

26. The Conclusion • Romans 11:36 • For of [from] Him, and • through Him, and • to Him, are all things: • to Whom[HIM] be glory for ever. • Amen.

27. 1 Corinthians 6:19 • What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

28. 1 Corinthians 6:20 • For ye are bought with a price In a deep and unsearchable way, a transaction for the souls of men occurred on a cross and in the holy of holies in an eternal temple which is beyond human comprehension.

29. We are Not Our Own • Bought • Redeemed • Reconciled • Ransomed

30. 1 Peter 1:18-19 • Forasmuch as ye know that ye were notredeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation[empty lifestyle] received by tradition from your fathers; • But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

31. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 • For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. This is precisely why God is JUST in commanding…

32. Acts 17:30 • And the times of this ignorance God winked at [overlooked]; • but nowcommandethall men every where to repent: • Change • Turn to Him

33. Hebrews 9:12 • Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. I don’t pretend to understand this

34. Hebrews 9:13-14 • For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

35. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 • For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

36. The Conclusion • Romans 11:36 • For of [from] Him, and • through Him, and • to Him, are all things: • to Whom [HIM] be glory for ever. • Amen.

37. Application • See the King for ALL that HE is • Trust in the King • Serve the King • Worship the King • Glorify the King