HOW TO TELL CHRIST’S TIME? by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  For the Marvel fans, basically, the Avengers are trying to manipulate time to achieve their goal (prevent Thanos from getting the Infinity Stones). The problem is that none can agree on the rules of time travel. Their question is: How does time really work? And if it feels like you’ve heard this argument before, it’s because almost every movie to involve time travel has this same argument. If time is really just a straight line moving in one direction, then why is it so complicated? Why do we struggle so much to understand how time REALLY works? In today’s message, we are going further in answering the question “What is the role of the Jewish people or ethnic Israel in end-times prophecy?” In order to answer this, we have to understand Paul’s understanding of time. When we are united with Christ, we are also united with Christ’s time.

Romans 9 (page #1743) 6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

Context: Last weekend, we learned that the promise at the end of Romans 8 that nothing“shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” was not only given to assure us of God’s love in the midst of our suffering, but, it was a preamble to what Paul had to say in Romans 9 about his own people. Nothing can separate us from Christ, and also, nothing can separate God’s people Israel from his promises either. After sharing his heart’s burden for his people Israel, he listed 8 privileges that had been given to them in Romans 9:4-5 “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” There is one word to encapsulate all these things – Witness. From Franz Mussner, we learned that the Jewish person is the Continuing Witness to God in the World and as such a “Proof of God. The Jewish person Is the Continuing Witness for the Concreteness of “Salvation History” and on and on. To help the first century church in Rome that was divided between Jewish background and Gentile background believers, as well as us, understand God’s future plan for ethnic Israel, Paul quoted from the Old Testament. This is where we pick up in Romans 9 (page #1743) 6But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” Typically, people don’t get past “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel…”, and they don’t read anything else or take time to understand Paul’s argument. In other words, there were those who were ethnically Israel but not salvifically Israel. Being biologically Israel was not enough. They had to receive Christ as Savior. Paul had already mentioned that earlier in Romans 2      28 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

Application: Are you saved? Have you personally invited Jesus to be your Savior and King, or are you trusting in your family’s faith? Just because grandma was faithful, granddaddy was a preacher, or mom and dad are active in church does not mean that you are saved.

Back to Romans 9:6-7 – Typically, what happens here is that commentators, theologians, and preachers will go one of two ways. Those who believe that the church has replaced Israel/Jewish people will claim that they are the True Israel/True Jewish people and the true seed of Abraham. They will quote Romans 4:16 “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” or Galatians 3:29 “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” These two references are brought here to support a view that Paul was expressly denying. Then, there are those who will maintain that this is about ethnic Israel and focus on the Old Testament, but they also miss a deeper message that Paul is communicating. 

What is the deeper message? Paul is teaching us here how to see the promises of God to Israel from God’s perspective (I’m leaning on the works of Ann Jervis on Paul and Time, but I also disagree with her on some of her conclusions). Israel has been given certain promises by God. What is very important for us to understand is that when Paul mentions promises to Israel in Romans, he does not say anything about their fulfillment:

• Romans 4        13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect…20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
• Romans 9      7 but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
• Romans 15       8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:

When you and I read Romans, we have to remember that he wants us to see these promises from God’s perspective, from Christ’s time. We look at promises as conditional, but God doesn’t. We have promises broken, but God doesn’t. Our time is not the judge of his time. In his time, he will fulfill everything that he has promised. He wants us to step into his time to see what he has been doing, still doing, and will be doing, especially with regards to his people Israel. To help us understand this, we have to understand how Paul saw time. 

People have all kinds of ideas about time. Many think that in this life we have time, but there is a time coming when there will be no more time. Before that happens, God will fulfill his promises. We may have to just wait until then, hoping against hope. He has to because he is faithful. Fair warning: I may mess up a familiar and much-loved song “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”: 

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

We think that once we get to heaven, time will just stop. We think that eternity means timelessness. The Bible does not say that. Some people think that God will keep his promises to Israel, and some think that all those promises have been fulfilled in Christ. They are all in the past tense.

While I’m at it, let me also deal with another idea that has grown in acceptance over the years. This idea claims that when Jesus came, the new age began, a new time has begun. God’s kingdom has invaded our realm. Now, we are simultaneously living in our time and that time. Sometimes, I try to live in my realm, and then I try to live in the new age. In the new age/new time, God will fulfill his promises, but in his own way. Maybe the promises will have to be reinterpreted. Some may be fulfilled but in a new way.

How should we see it? We have to remember that when we are in Christ, we enter into the Christ time. Paul talked a little about this time in Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come.” There are 4 mentions of time here: 1. Death (time ends for us); 2. Life (time is ongoing); 3. Things present (Now); 4. Things to come (Future). Time cannot separate us from the love of God. The promise is certain. I don’t have to be given a date of fulfillment. So also, with the people of Israel, the promises are certain. The ability to see this God time and experience it helps you stand on the promises of God.

Throughout history, God’s people entered into this Christ time – Job, Abraham, Moses (Heb. 11:24   By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.) David (Psalm 22), Ezekiel (Valley of Dry Bones), and the prophets. Even in the New Testament – Simeon and Anna, John the Baptist, Paul. Because Paul extends the Christ time even to Gentile believers, some have taken that to mean that they have now moved into the house and displaced the original inhabitants.

Now, we come to the Communion.

1 Corinthians 11      23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Exodus 12:14 “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.” The memorial was not just for the first generation but for all generations. The Mishnah (Oral Torah) tells us how they understood the word “memorial” – “In each and every generation a person must view himself as though he personally left Egypt. . .” By the way, the name of the Rabbi who said that was Gamaliel, the mentor of Paul.