From the beginning, God did not choose a nation but made a nation out of who he called for himself. Genesis 12: 1-3 says, the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Upon obedience, God said to Abram (later called Abraham) in Genesis 12: 7, “To your offspring I will give this land.” God promised Abram in Genesis 17: 8, the whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God.” Israel was thus founded on (1) obedience and (2) a covenant with God as Israel’s God, and Israel as his people. Although God has been faithful to his word to date, sometimes Israel fails.
God promised to dwell among his people
God rewarded Abram and his offspring with his permanent presence through Christ Jesus, who Israel did not know but called him as Lord. Jesus asked in Matthew 22: 43-45, “How is it that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him (Jesus) ‘Lord’? For he says, “The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put my enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” Jesus’ nature as God, long prophesied by Isaiah and others, became known upon his birth. John 1: 3 says, through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Contrary to God’s said covenant, Abraham’s descendants the Israelites drifted away in sin. God came down through Jesus to reconcile his nation made of Abraham’s offspring, believers of the covenant, Jews and Gentiles. Colossians 1: 19-20 say, God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him (Jesus) reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Hence, at Jesus’ birth, the angels said in Luke 2: 14, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those on earth whom his favour rests.” God’s purpose was thus:
Israel would remain as God’s nation
Paul quotes God in 2Corinthians 6: 16, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Israelites therefore had spiritual citizenship as offspring of Abraham and to obey God’s laws. Hebrews 8: 10 says, I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. God desires to rule Israel as a nation of Abraham’s offspring, and to govern all believers in the world as adopted spiritual citizens through the blood of Christ Jesus.
Abraham’s offspring would be God’s family
Through Christ Jesus, Paul said in Romans 8: 15, the Spirit you (none Jews) received brought about your adoption to sonship. He said further in Ephesians 1: 5, he (God) predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. God’s adoption is (1) on his own free will, (2) will treat all mankind equally as though by natural birth, and (3) by adoption, believers all over the world would be his spiritual family through the blood of Christ Jesus. No authority can reverse this.
God’s spiritual nation must know God
God said in Jeremiah 24: 7, I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. To know God, Ezekiel 11: 20 says, they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. God said in Ezekiel 37: 23, they will no longer defile themselves with idols and vile images or with any of their offenses… sinful backsliding. Jesus said the same in John 1: 9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. In order to know God, Jesus said in Mark 1: 15, “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” He also said in Luke 13: 3, 5, unless you repent, you will all perish. His relationship is therefore subject to keeping righteousness.
God’s law must reign as supreme
God’s law for all his people as one nation, natural and adopted must remain supreme. Jesus showed this on the cross when he prayed in Luke 22: 42, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus had a wish yet subjected it to God’s pleasure. He also said in Matthew 6: 33, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus said in John 4: 34, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. God’s will, is his word and his word is Jesus as John 1: 1 says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Is the word of God supreme in our lives as a people and nation of God?
Reflection
Paul said in 2Corinthians 1: 22, Christ Jesus has set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. He wrote in Ephesians 1: 13, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. We are accountable for God’s everlasting covenant with us. We must change our hearts as his people called by his name to save the world. Psalm 122: 6 says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. Do we pray for God’s people and his nation?
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, may the covenant which you established with Abraham and his descendants as a nation, and which you extended by your Holy Spirit through your blood to all mankind forever, lead us in victory over sin. Let your peace establish us in your will always against the evil that confronts us. We pray in your holy name, Amen!!
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