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SUBJECT: Spiritual Israel
QUESTION: Who is Spiritual Israel?
ANSWER:
Turn in your Bible to Galatians 4 and beginning in verse 4:
Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons.
The “fulness of time" was the time that God in His eternal
wisdom and forethought had appointed as the ideal time for
Christ to come into the world as our Savior. To say it
differently, divine planning and preparation preceded the
Savior's birth. His coming was not a brief thought that
flashed into our heavenly Father's mind and was rashly and
impulsively acted upon; rather, His coming was intricately
blueprinted in the mind of God before the foundations of the
world were laid. When the necessary events took place, when
the world was ripe for this divine intervention, Jesus was
born. Appropriately, Paul called that juncture in history
"the fulness of time."
The entire Old Testament period-the Patriarchal and Mosaical
dispensations of time-formed a prelude for the coming of the
Messiah. In the Patriarchal period, God chose Abraham and
Jacob to be His servants through whom He would create a
nation that He would call His own. He elected to call this
nation "Israel," the name which He had given to Jacob. In
the Mosaical Age, God brought His chosen nation under His
law, which He revealed through Moses at Mount Sinai. He
taught them to worship Him and to live as His holy people.
Yet, all of God's actions during the Old Testament period
were really the groundwork, the prearrangement, for bringing
the Messiah into the world at "the fulness of time." Someone
has said, "The story of the Old Testament is the story of a
nation, and the story of the New Testament is the story of a
Person."
Since the story of the Old Testament is the story of the
nation of Israel, and since the creation of this nation was
God's advance work for the bringing of the Messiah into the
world, we should not be surprised that Paul referred to the
Lord's church as the Israel of God: "And those who will walk
by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the
Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). Nor are we surprised that
Paul figuratively depicted the church with terms taken from
God's covenant relationship with ancient Israel: "For we are
the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh"
(Philippians 3:3). This depiction of the church as "Israel"
should be highly significant to us, for it tells us that
Christians are spiritual Israel today and have been set
apart as God's own possession even as was ancient Israel!
Perhaps the most concise affirmation in the New Testament
that the church is New Testament Israel is 1 Peter 2:9, 10.
As Peter explained what it means to be a Christian in 1
Peter 1:22-2:10, he referred to the Christian's conversion
(1:22-25), conduct (2:2, 3), and calling (2:4-10). He
concluded by asking his readers to rejoice in the truth that
Christians are God's chosen people, His true Israel.
Focus on Peter's reference to Christians as the Israel of
God in 1 Peter 2:9, 10. This comparison confirms our special
relationship with God and our special calling from God; it
gives us reason to rejoice in the spiritual blessings that
are offered to us in Christ. These verses will teach us that
we are spiritual Israel.
A CHOSEN RACE
In describing the church as spiritual Israel, Peter first
said that Christians are "a chosen race" (1 Peter 2:9). They
have been elected, picked out, and set apart. They are God's
divinely selected race of people, called out from all the
peoples of the earth.
God had told Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai, "For you
are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God
has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of
all the peoples who are on the face of the earth"
(Deuteronomy 7:6). Again, He said of Israel, "Now then, if
you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you
shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all
the earth is Mine" (Exodus 19:5).
However, in this last age of human history, Christians, not
fleshly Israelites, are God's chosen race. The old Israel
led to, formed the foundation of, and found fulfillment in
the new Israel, the church. Paul said it was God's
predetermined choice that all who enter Christ would be His
chosen race of people:
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy
and blameless before Him. In love He predestined
us to adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will,... Also we have
obtained an inheritance, having been predestined
according to His purpose who works
all things after the counsel of His will
(Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11).
We have all had the disappointing experience of being left
out, skipped over, or ignored. We have watched as others
have been nominated or selected while we were completely
passed by or left until last. Some of us went through this
frustration as children when teams were chosen for a game;
either others were chosen ahead of us, or we were by-passed
entirely and left to keep score with grace. Some of us have
lived through this type of ordeal as a list was read, with
the honored ones being named first. We listened expectantly,
only to hear our names read last and mispronounced. Episodes
like these depress us and stay with us for a long time as
haunting memories, crushing our self-image and convincing us
that we are "nobody." These unpleasant circumstances treat
us as poorly as the psychiatrist did the unfortunate man who
came to him pleading, "Doc, I have an inferiority complex,
and I don't know what to do about it." After the
psychiatrist spent several sessions analyzing the patient,
he told him, "Man, you don't have an inferiority complex;
you're just inferior!"
That we are God's Israel
today
is a mighty truth-one so
powerful
that it supercharges us
with
hope and assurance....
Situations in which people are passed over usually develop
because too much emphasis is placed on the abilities people
have, how people look, how smart people are, or what people
own. Consequently, when this happens to us, it is
devastating, for it says to us that we are not talented
enough, good looking enough, smart enough, or that we do not
possess enough.
Christians, according to Peter, are God's chosen race. This
is true, he said, not because we are the most talented, the
best looking, or the smartest, or because we have the most,
but because we are loved by God, have responded in faith and
obedience to God's will, and have become His children, His
church. Our status with God has resulted from God's mercy,
not from our money or from human merit. Peter said, ". . .
you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy"
(1 Peter 2:10). Paul told Titus, "He saved us, not on the
basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but
according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and
renewing by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). In our baptism
into Christ, we received the mercy of God and became part of
His chosen race.
That we are God's Israel today is a mighty truth--- one so
powerful that it supercharges us with hope and assurance
which harassing circumstances and an unfriendly world cannot
take from us. For example, it should infuse us with
confidence and boldness in prayer to God. We can approach
His throne with confidence at any time of need or whenever
we wish to praise and thank Him. It should inspire us to
live in God's strength, for being God's chosen people
implies that God's storehouse of spiritual blessings is
never closed to us (Ephesians 2:18).
Let us rejoice that we are His chosen race!
A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
Second, Peter said that the church is "a royal priesthood"
(1 Peter 2:9). Christians are God's priests today. As one
body, they compose a kingdom of priests.
In Old Testament times, God provided His nation with access
to Him through Levitical priests. He chose for the priests
to come from the family of Amram from the tribe of Levi.
They offered the sacrifices of the people to Him, and they
led Israel in worship to Him in all the prescribed ways
listed by the law of Moses.
God told the tribe of Levi, "... I am your portion and your
inheritance. . . ." (Numbers 18:20). The Levites were given
the honor of serving God uniquely in worship, in service,
and in life. They were given access to God and an intimate
relationship with Him.
Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9 that the Levitical priesthood is
no longer in effect, and a new priesthood has been chosen by
the Lord. Through the redemptive work of Christ, He has
appointed His church as His Christian Age priesthood.
Not only has God called His church a priesthood; He has
called it a "royal" priesthood. The church is a kingdom of
priests or kingly priests. John wrote from Patmos to
persecuted Christians, "And He has made us to be a kingdom,
priests to His God and Father;. . (Revelation 1:6). Peter
also said, "You also, as living stones, are being built up
as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ"
(1 Peter 2:5). The Christian can go directly to God through
the assistance of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:27) and through
the intercessory work of Jesus, our Mediator and great High
Priest (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:26, 27). A Christian does
not go to God through any intermediary other than Jesus
Christ. He can stand before God as God's priest and make his
appeal to God through Jesus Christ without the aid of
ordained human priests, departed saints, or angels.
The word "priest" in Latin means "bridge-builder." The idea
of a bridge illustrates the role of a priest during the Old
Testament period. The priest was a kind of spiritual bridge
between God and man. He brought God's will to man, and he
offered man's requests to God. God went to the people
through the priest, and the people went to God through the
priest. How different it is today in the Christian Age! When
one becomes a Christian, he becomes, at the moment of his
entrance into Christ, a priest of God.
Our position as priests of God should compel us to be
consecrated to God's work and to utilize this sacred
position He has given us to live in His fellowship. As the
priesthood of God, we have a place of high privilege before
God.
Let us rejoice that we are "a royal priesthood"!
A HOLY NATION
Third, Peter said that Christ's church is "a holy nation" (1
Peter 2:9). Figuratively speaking, the church is God's
nation of people, a kingdom of people exclusively
consecrated to Him.
Israel, as God's chosen nation, was called to holiness.
Through Moses, God told Israel, "You shall be holy, for I
the Lord your God am holy"(Leviticus l9:2). He further told
them, "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a
holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). With this call of Israel to
holiness in mind, and even quoting perhaps from Leviticus
19:2, Peter told the readers of his letter, "But like the
Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your
behavior, because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I
am holy"' (1 Peter 1:15,16).
Christians, God's nation of people, are to be like God. He
is holy, and we are to be holy, imitating Him as dear
children and reproducing in our personalities and actions
our Father's likeness (Ephesians 5:1, 2).
The word "holy" simply means "set aside for sacred use." As
applied to Christians, this word means that God's people
have been set apart for undivided devotion and service to
Him.
A Christian has citizenship in two nations-one in which he
dwells and in another one to which he is devoted. He lives
in this world as a citizen of the earth, but his governing
citizenship is in the nation of God, a spiritual, heavenly
kingdom. Paul wrote, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from
which also we eagerly await for a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
As a Christian thinks of how he is a citizen of God's holy
nation, he is at once comforted and challenged
-----comforted by His relationship to God and challenged by
the heavenly calling that this relationship implies. Our
conduct on earth, Peter said, should reflect at all times
our citizenship in heaven. Holiness is to extend to every
aspect of the Christian's life. Peter said, " ...be holy
yourselves also in all your behavior" (1 Peter 1:15). What
we do, think, and say should reflect who we are.
One mother would always say to her children as she sent them
to school or to some other activity which would separate
them from her for a while, "Now remember who you are." She
was hopeful that her reminder of who they were would
motivate them to live up to that image, that their behavior
would be in harmony with their belief. If Christians will
remember who they are, God's holy nation, they will be
constrained to live holy lives.
Let us rejoice that we are "a holy nation."
A PECULIAR PEOPLE
Fourth, Peter said that Christians are "a peculiar people"
(1 Peter 2:9, KJV). The NASB has "a people for God's own
possession," which more clearly translates the Greek phrase.
The point is that Christians are God's private property, His
own possession; and, in this sense, they are peculiar God
said to fleshly Israel through Moses, "For you are a holy
people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen
you to be a people for His own possession out of all the
peoples who are on the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6).
He likewise said to them,
And the Lord has today declared you to be His
people, a treasured possession, as He
promised you, and that you should keep all His
commandments; and that He shall set
you high above all nations which He has made, for
praise, fame, and honor; and that you
shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your
God, as He has spoken (Deuteronomy
26:18,19).
This beautiful concept of being a people which belongs to
God is applied by Peter to Christ's church, as he said that
now, in the Christian dispensation, the church is the people
of God's own possession. Paul made a similar application of
this phrase in Titus 2:14, when he said that Christ "gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless
deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession,
zealous for good deeds."
We Christians may not be worth much when taken by ourselves,
but when we are seen as the people of God's own possession,
a people owned and used by God, we really go up in price! It
should do much for our self-worth, our sense of value, to
realize that God has made us, out of all the people of the
earth, His own possession.
Picture a young boy walking with his mother into a toy shop
to buy a toy. As he scans the toys for sale, his eyes focus
upon a broken sailboat which has pasted on it, "To Be Sold
As Is." The sailboat is worth little "as is," but it becomes
his choice. He pays the paltry price for it. As soon as he
gets home, he goes to work on it. After putting a little
glue here, a new piece of wood there, and a new coat of
paint all over it, he can say to his boat, "I have bought
you. I have repaired you. Now you are truly mine!" In a
similar way, Christians belong to God. He has bought us with
His Son's blood, He has remade us in our conversion to Him,
and He is continually changing us as we walk with Him. Now
He can say in redemptive splendor, "These are truly My own
people." Every person who is converted to Christ is elevated
to the high and wonderful status of being a person of God's
own possession.
Let us rejoice that we are "a peculiar people."
CONCLUSION
The church, therefore, is spiritual Israel, the Israel of
God today. We are a chosen people just as Israel of old was
chosen. We have a priesthood today even as Israel did in Old
Testament times. As Israel was God's holy nation, the church
is God's holy nation today. Even as God called Israel to be
a people of His own possession in the days of old, today, in
the Christian dispensation, God regards Christ's church as
His chosen possession.
On the fourth Thursday of each November, Americans celebrate
Thanksgiving Day. While we understand that the New Testament
nowhere commands that one particular day be a day of
thanksgiving, it does picture thanksgiving as a daily
spirit, a continual attitude. Thanksgiving in the New
Testament is not an appointed day; it is a disposition. Paul
characterized Christians as "always giving thanks for all
things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God ' even
the Father" (Ephesians 5:20). When we consider the blessings
that Christians have, we can easily see why the New
Testament says that every day should be a thanksgiving day.
As "a chosen people," "a holy nation," "a royal priesthood,"
and "a people of God's own possession," we are blessed
indeed and should make our way through each day singing,
"Count your many blessings, name them one by one."
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