MAPPING HISTORY by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: We’re back in our series on the end-times. As you know, we are starting in Romans instead of Revelation or some other book or passage on end-time prophecy, because it helps us understand several key things before we can jump into prophecy:
- God’s purpose for ethnic Israel
- God’s plan of salvation
In today’s message, we have 2 goals:
- Lay down the foundation of how to study Romans.
- Understand how God sees history.
#1 Just like in building any structure, the foundation must be right, so also in studying Romans, we must lay down a good foundation if our interpretation is to survive. If we don’t get our methodology right, then we will misinterpret the true meaning or force our meaning on the Word of God.
#2. Today’s message titled “MAPPING HISTORY” will be on Romans 1 on how God’s plan of salvation has moved through the history of our world. We will see how humanity has responded to God and how God has responded to humanity.
Romans 1 (page #1732) 18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
Context: When a person first gets saved, we tell them to read the Gospel of John. When a person first begins to grow as a Christian, they should read the Book of Romans. It is Paul’s magnum opus. Yes, there are other books in the Bible that cover lots of other important things that are not found in the Book of Romans, but the Book of Romans lays out the history and meaning of salvation like no other book in the Bible. To fail to understand this book correctly is not only to fail to understand Christianity but also fail to understand and God’s plan for this world – what God did in time past; what God has been doing in time present; and what God will do in the end of time.
To properly understand the Book of Romans, we need to ask – “Who did Paul write to?” or “Why did Paul write the Book of Romans?” In theological and scholarly circles, this is known as the Romans Debate. Tons of ink has been spilled on this question. Based on how you answer this question is how you will approach the Book of Romans. To explain further, the Book of Romans is divided into two halves: Romans 1-11 and Romans 12-16. The first half is doctrine, and the second half is application. If you think that the Book of Romans was written to address a specific situation in the church in Rome, which is found in Romans 12-16, then you’ll understand the Book of Romans a certain way. What do we read in Romans 12-16? Listen to Romans 14 (page #1749) 1 “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables…21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.” Romans 15:1 “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” It is assumed by some that Paul wrote Romans 1-11 to handle this strong vs weak conflict in the church in Rome.
While I believe that Paul was addressing this situation in the church in Rome, he had a much bigger purpose in mind. Yes, Romans 12-16 does matter, but the letter was not limited to what we find in it. Listen to how Paul opens his letter – Romans 1 (page #1732) 1“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…” “Faith among all nations” is a very important clue that Paul’s goal in writing Romans was not limited to just the Christians in Rome. Romans 15 (page #1752) 24 “whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” Paul had several groups of Christians in mind:
- Jewish background believers in Jerusalem.
- Jewish and Gentile background believers in Rome.
- majority Gentile background believers in Spain.
Personal Example: As you know, I write in the local newspaper. Although local situations and happenings can be an important source of inspiration and promptings for me to write in the paper, my articles are also on my blog. Some of them have become chapters in my books. So, when I write, I try to keep the big picture in mind.
Unlike my blog, Paul was not writing just to put his letters on some personal blog or in some book. He was aware that he was writing the Word of God for all people for all times. Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1 (page #1861) 20 “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Later, in the same letter, he says in 2 Peter 3 (page #1864) 15 “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” Both times the word for Scripture(s) is “graphe,” which is a special word for the Word of God, the Bible, the Old and the New Testament. In other words, what Paul is teaching here is soteriological and not just ecclesiological. This means that what he is saying is not just for some Christians at some point in history. It is for all Christians in all points in history.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote the Book of Romans to teach the growing worldwide church how to see themselves in God’s plan of salvation. The initial believers were Jewish background people, but when the doors were flung open to the Gentiles, it very quickly became dominated by Gentile background people. Keep in mind that the Gentiles were always included in God’s plan. Abraham was to be a blessing to “all the families of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 “I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” What changed after Jesus came and the church was born was that all who came to him were to be a light to the world! On one hand, there was no longer any distinction between Jewish background believers and Gentile background believers. On the other hand, God still had a special covenant with ethnic Israel, the Jewish people. So salvation was one and the same, as it always has been, but promises and covenants were different.
In our first message, week before last, we learned from the Book of Romans what the plan of Salvation was all about:
- Critical Plan – it is about forgiveness of sins. It is Juridical.
- Bigger Plan – it is about deliverance from the power of Sin and Death. It is Apocalyptic.
- Deeper Plan – it is about our union with Christ. It is Transformational.
If I were to divide up the Book of Romans according to the plans, it will be like this:
- Romans 1-4 is about Forgiveness.
- Romans 5-8 is about Deliverance.
- Romans 6:1-14 is about Union with Christ.
All these benefits are part of the gospel and available to all. Listen to how Paul opens the book – Romans 1 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” These 2 verses are known as the key verses of the Book of Romans. They are a quotation of Habakkuk 2:4 and also found in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. They have changed Western civilization forever:
- In 1510 (almost 500 years ago), Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk and Professor of Bible in the University of Wittenberg, Germany, was one day in the heated room (his study) of the tower of the Black Cloister in Wittenberg when the light broke upon him. He understood that God gives us His righteousness when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. What is faith? It is the confidence that God has forgiven our sins. The Protestant Reformation was born that changed the face of Europe and the West forever.
- On the evening of 24 May 1738 an unwilling and unconverted Anglican clergyman went to a meeting of Moravian refugees at Aldersgate Street, London. He was a graduate of Oxford University; he had even tried being a missionary to the Indians of North America. There was still emptiness in his heart. Someone was reading Martin Luther’s Preface to his commentary on Romans. This young man later wrote, “About a quarter before nine, while [the reader] was describing the change wherein God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given that he had taken my sins, even mine; and saved me from the law of sin and death.” That young man’s name was John Wesley.
- In the 1730’s and 1740’s, the nation of England was in a bad state. They were going through something called the Gin Craze. Because importing liquor was banned, the people were making their own cheap gin. Someone said that drinking this home grown gin made the English people cruel and inhuman. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer. There were street children everywhere. They were being mistreated and the insane were being mistreated. The London Mafia was raking all the money. Gambling was everywhere, and stage productions were obscene even by today’s standards. At a time like this God raised a young man by the name of George Whitfield. His own father was a saloon keeper who died when he was two. In 1742, George Whitfield (just 27 years old) was invited to come and preach at the fair west of London. A Quaker coal merchant made a platform for him to stand on to preach. George came and the sun had gone done and all the characters were out. Gin was flowing freely, the bare-knuckle fights were going on, and gambling was going on. George got up on the platform and started preaching. Before long the people left the booths and the brothels and started coming to hear the message. This made the bad guys mad and they headed for him. Fear came over him. Just then his wife, Elizabeth, tugged on his coat and said – “Be a man for God.” The Holy Spirit brought to him the verse Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes . . .” Just then his platform started wobbling and those prize fighters tried to push him off but a group of men formed a circle around him and Whitfield kept preaching. Someone threw a rock at him; someone threw an egg at him; someone threw manure at him. He kept on preaching. Tears began to flow, and God touched many lives that evening. Someone even swung a sword at him, but a friend blocked it with a cane. As you know, the First Great Awakening began.
Since the benefits are available to everyone (Jewish people and Gentiles), the question comes up – “Have the Jewish people lost their special status?” “In other words, are they still God’s elect?” To answer the question about the Jewish people, we have Romans 9-11.
Next week, were going to get into part 2 of mapping history and see how the world got into the predicament that it is in.
Invitation: Have you placed your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you saved? What are you trusting in for your righteousness?