Friday, September 01, 2006
God's People (part vi)
And what more can be said than in Isaiah?
“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.’ … For this is what the LORD says … ‘foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ The Sovereign LORD declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” (Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8 NIV)
Or what can we add to the words of Peter?
“Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:7-9 NIV)
The Jews are God’s earthly people; Israel is an earthly country; and Jerusalem is an earthly city. But the ultimate promise is the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1, 2)
“These [Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Sarah] all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)
The unification of the assembly at the end of days is not pictured any better than in Ezekiel. The following passage connects all the Old Testament prophesies about the promise of land, the Holy Land.
“’So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And in the tribes with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,’ declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 47:21-23 NASB)
Who are God’s People? Those saved by grace through faith alone are God’s People!
In conclusion, we see that the assembly is pictured as a bride or as a body. The assembly is more than just the local church. The assembly, ekklesia, is God’s People, the people of the promise, the family of God, the called-out ones, the priesthood of believers. It was through God’s people, the Israelites, that God would establish his People. With Christ, David’s tent is rebuilt. Through Abraham, all nations have been blessed. Not necessarily blessed by the nation of Israel, or the assembly, but the nations have been blessed because God sent his only Son to die for the sins of the world. And only this faith in God’s Son is what truly matters!
“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.’ … For this is what the LORD says … ‘foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ The Sovereign LORD declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” (Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8 NIV)
Or what can we add to the words of Peter?
“Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:7-9 NIV)
The Jews are God’s earthly people; Israel is an earthly country; and Jerusalem is an earthly city. But the ultimate promise is the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1, 2)
“These [Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Sarah] all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)
The unification of the assembly at the end of days is not pictured any better than in Ezekiel. The following passage connects all the Old Testament prophesies about the promise of land, the Holy Land.
“’So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And in the tribes with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,’ declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 47:21-23 NASB)
Who are God’s People? Those saved by grace through faith alone are God’s People!
In conclusion, we see that the assembly is pictured as a bride or as a body. The assembly is more than just the local church. The assembly, ekklesia, is God’s People, the people of the promise, the family of God, the called-out ones, the priesthood of believers. It was through God’s people, the Israelites, that God would establish his People. With Christ, David’s tent is rebuilt. Through Abraham, all nations have been blessed. Not necessarily blessed by the nation of Israel, or the assembly, but the nations have been blessed because God sent his only Son to die for the sins of the world. And only this faith in God’s Son is what truly matters!
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 12:56 AM 
