Israel is not a place, it’s a people (part 2): exclusive inclusivity in Christ Jesus
Last time we asked the question, “what does the word ‘Israel’ really mean in Scripture?” Today, in our modern context, we might think of Israel as a physical place, but for most of human history, it was not a place so much as it was a word representing God’s chosen people. In short, “Israel” is a word representing God’s Word—that is the Lord’s eternal truth actualized or realized in the coming of the Servant. In last week’s article, I concluded that the right way to think about Israel, according to God’s Word, is anyone who is a part of God’s family in Christ Jesus. The New Testament is emphatically clear that the definition of God’s people radically changes after Jesus dies on the cross, dying not just for the sins of the Jews, but for the entire world. The Apostle John puts it this way:
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:9-13).
We cannot overlook the fact that his own people did not receive him—there were many who were part of the original, geographic Israel that rejected Jesus altogether—the Word of God, the light of the world. And yet, the word “all” is used here purposefully to indicate that all people are invited to receive the Son of God, believing in him and thus become children of God. Why does that matter?
It matters because of what we discussed last week—the descendants of Ishmael in contrast to the descendants of Isaac, the two sons of Abraham. For it was by Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant, that Ishmael was born, and it was by Sarah, that the promised heir of Abraham was born. It was through Abraham and Sarah’s unfaithfulness that Ishmael comes into the world; it was by God’s faithfulness that the barren woman would give birth to the child which would make the children of God as numerous as the stars (Genesis 26:4). And yet, even though Hagar and Ishmael seem to be standing on the outside looking in, God provides a way by which they, too, can be a part of God’s extended family—the coming of the Messiah, who calls all nations to Himself.
But you still might be saying, but why does that matter for me in the 21st century nearly four thousand years removed from the time of Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob and Israel? It matters because this whole story points to a greater truth in our lives that we often overlook—we were not saved because of our worthiness or superiority to others; rather we were saved because the Lord, in his amazing, powerful grace reached out to us with an outstretched arm and invited us into his holy presence. That’s a hard thing for humans to understand in a merit-based 21st century culture in which we are rewarded for achievement and demoted for poor performance. Indeed, it’s a radical suggestion to the human heart that the poorest performers, in fact, have equal access to the throne room of God. If Western cultures had their way, the rewards of the Lord would go only to the highest achievers, not the slackers.
You might think of it as “the great leveling.” God levels the playing field, saying, “all of you have fallen short, and it doesn’t matter if some of you think you have climbed higher up the ladder to Heaven than others, you did it out of pride just to beat all the others to feel superior to them, and that’s no better than the devil himself!” You won’t find the last statement in Scripture per se, but this motif is threaded throughout his Word—that the pride and jealousy of mankind was planted in human hearts in the Garden (Genesis 3), encouraging mankind to think of himself as equal to God, or indeed as gods themselves. Here’s how God says it in his Word:
“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain…the grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:4-8).
The point is this that, while Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, came through the line of Isaac, all the Ishmaels are invited in as well to become part of the New Jerusalem—that is the redeemed City of God and nation of Israel.
If you go to Israel, the geographic location today, you will see only the remains of the Holy Temple, in what they call the “Wailing Wall” where the Orthodox Jews still go and pray on a daily basis. In stark contrast then is the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim temple built over the site of the Second Jewish Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. As supposedly the oldest Islamic building from ancient times, the Dome stands as a symbol of religious strife between the Muslims and the Jews that has existed since the time of Isaac and Ishmael. Neither the Dome nor the Temple of the Jews provides living access into the presence of God in the way Jesus Christ does who says with great profundity and exclusivity: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ serves as a symbol of exclusive inclusivity into the presence of the Lord of Creation—he is the new Temple and the new Garden, inviting New Israel into the dwelling place of God’s Spirit. Here is the last exchange between Jesus Christ and his disciples before he ascended into Heaven, according to the Book of Acts:
“Then they gathered around him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’” (Acts 1:6-8).
This is stunning. To paraphrase, Jesus says don’t worry about when the kingdom of Israel will be eschatologically restored; rather, the power of God will now reside in you through the Holy Spirit, and you will go and be Israel from this time forth until the time of my return.
The power of God resides in you, brothers and sisters. Go and be the Kingdom of Israel to all those around you, so that Heaven won’t just be crowded; Heaven will be full, ever filling up with joy, peace and the boundless love given in and through the power of Christ Jesus.
Until next time, with blessings in Christ,
Pastor Kyle
