People love to solve mysteries. Whether it’s figuring out a John Grisham novel or solving a complicated riddle, people love to try to figure out mysteries. Lots of people enjoy the TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" hosted by Robert Stack. "Unsolved Mysteries" was one of the first internet interactive TV shows. The TV show’s web site boasts that over 270 cases have been solved by viewers of "Unsolved Mysteries."
People love to look for mysteries in every area of life, and that includes the spiritual life as well. A second century spin off from Christianity called the gnosticism became obsessed with solving mysteries. The gnostics claimed that there were secret truths that Jesus revealed to just an elite few. If you were initiated into the elite, you too could gain access to these mysteries that the rest of the Church was ignorant of. Fortunately gnosticism died out in the late second century, and the Christian faith prevailed. However, as I see so many people try to find secrets and mysteries in the Christian faith through Bible codes and esoteric interpretations of the Bible, I’m reminded of just how similar this is to second century gnosticism.
People love mysteries. You see, the reality is that the reason we like mysteries is so we can try to solve them. We don’t really like mysteries that we can’t solve. How popular with the TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" be if it boasted zero cases solved? We simply can’t put up with things we don’t understand, and the spiritual life is no exception. Years ago I had a Jehovah’s Witness come to my door, and we started meeting regularly to talk about the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. We looked at Bible verses about the trinity, we talked about Jesus being fully God, the Father being fully God, the Holy Spirit being fully God, yet the Bible teaching that there was only one true God. Finally my friend simply shook his head and said, "I can’t understand that. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not reasonable or logical that God could be both three and one." I smiled, and said, "Now you’re finally starting to get it. If we could comprehend God’s nature, we’d be equal with God. It comforts me to think that there are things about God that are mysterious and beyond my puny ability to comprehend." But my friend simply could not imagine worshipping a God who had mystery, a God who he couldn’t put in his own mental box. In the end, that’s why he rejected the doctrine of the trinity.
If you want to know and experience the creator of the universe, then you’d better be ready for a little mystery. Today we’re going to talk about "The Mysteries of God." We’ve been in a series since September called "Good News for Our Times," going through the New Testament book of Romans. For the last eight weeks we’ve been in Romans chapters 9 to 11, and I’ve titled this section of Romans "The Good News About God’s Faithfulness. Throughout these three chapters the apostle Paul who wrote Romans has been struggling with the relationship between the Jewish nation of Israel and the Christina Church, which is mostly non-Jewish.
Last Sunday Pastor Bruce led us through Romans 11:11-24, and we saw that Paul used the word picture of an olive tree to describe God’s purposes in relationship to Israel and the Church. We’ve seen that in the Old Testament God promised to use a guy named Abraham and his descendants to overturn the effects of sin on the human race. God promised Abraham in Genesis, "Through your offspring I will bless all the families of the earth" (Gen 12:3). From this root promise to Abraham flows God’s purpose in the world, which is to offer a reconciled relationship with God to all people of the world. To use the picture of the olive tree, you might think of God’s promise to Abraham as the root, and the purpose of God in the world as the stem. In the Old Testament God used the Jewish nation of Israel to serve this purpose, and Israel was the light of the world. So Israel was the branch, God’s purpose was the stem, and God’s promise to Abraham was the root.
But when Jesus came to the world to ultimately fulfill God’s promises and make reconciliation with God possible, the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Although a few Jewish people did believe and follow Jesus--like Paul who wrote Romans--as a whole Israel rejected Jesus. Because of this rejection, Israel as a branch was broken off from God’s purposes, and a new branch called the Christian Church was grafted in to the stem of God’s purposes. So now, Israel as a branch is broken off and the unnatural branch called the Church is serving God’s purposes, thereby fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham in our generation.
But Paul looks forward to a future day when Israel as a branch is grafted back into the stem of God’s purpose, and both Israel and the Church together serve God’s purposes, thereby fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham.
This word picture really sums up what Paul’s said about Israel and the Church in these three chapters of Romans. Now as we finish Romans 11 today, we’re going to look at the mysteries of God. We’re not going to solve the mysteries of God (as if we really could) but we’re going to explore six mysteries of God together. The first three mysteries relate to God’s ways in the world, and the last three mysteries relate to God’s character.
1. God’s Mysterious Ways (Romans 11:25-32)
Let’s begin by looking at God’s mysterious ways in vv. 25-32. In v. 25 we find our key word "mystery." Now in the Bible, a mystery is not a riddle or problem that you can solve if you try hard enough. In the Bible, the word "mystery" describes something that could never be known unless God had revealed it (Cranfield 2:573). A mystery is something that was once hidden from human knowledge, but that has now been made known by God.
We find three mysteries mentioned here. The first mystery is the mystery of ISRAEL’S UNBELIEF. In v. 25, Paul describes this first mystery as "a hardening in part" that’s occurred to Israel. Paul’s used this word before, and it describes a callousness, a state of spiritual insensitivity and closed mindedness that currently characterizes Israel in its attitude toward Jesus and the good news about Jesus. This hardening is not total, because a few Jewish people do believe in Jesus as their Messiah, and it’s also not permanent, as we’ll see in a minute.
Now no one could’ve predicted that when God finally sent his Son to fulfill all of his promises to Israel that Israel would reject Jesus. It’s like of like a boy and girl who are high school sweethearts. They date all through high school; all through college, they’re inseparable. No one’s surprised when they get engaged, the invitations are sent in the mail, the church is rented, the premarital counseling is completed. But on the wedding day, the bride changes her mind and doesn’t show up. That’s similar to what happened with Israel when God finally sent the fulfillment of all his promises in his son Jesus Christ. The mystery of course is that this is all part of God’s plan, God’s incredible, mysterious way to bring his love to all people of the world. Israel’s unbelief didn’t take God by surprise and send him scrambling for a Plan B, but Israel’s unbelief was part of God’s Plan A all along.
The second mystery we find here is the mystery of THE CHURCH. The mystery of the Church is described in v. 25 as an ingathering of "the full number of Gentiles." The Church is composed of mostly non-Jewish people who have come to embrace Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. As a result of Israel’s failure, the Church has received mercy from God. Now the people of Israel expected that an ingathering of non-Jewish people would eventually occur, but Jews thought it would occur through Israel. In other words, Jewish people expected that eventually all the nations of the world would join Israel in worshipping the God of Israel. Israel figured they were the doorkeeper to God, and that people had to go through Judaism to get to God.
No one could’ve predicted that God would set Israel aside for a time, and create an entirely new community called the Church. No one could’ve known that Israel would be broken off from the stem of God’s purposes, and a new community called the Church would be grafted in that wasn’t Jewish at all. This new community isn’t centered around the law of Moses, but they live by the law of Christ. This new community of the Church celebrates communion instead of the Passover, they worship on any day instead of the Sabbath day, they treat circumcision as indifferent and instead welcome people into their community through baptism. This new community instead of Israel would embody and live out Jesus’ great commission to share the good news of Jesus Christ will all people everywhere. No one could’ve guessed that this would happen.
The third mystery is the mystery of ISRAEL’S FUTURE. Because Israel is hardened toward Jesus, we’re tempted to think that the Church has replaced Israel and God has washed his hands of Israel forever. But that’s simply not the case. Although Israel is hostile to the message about Jesus Christ, according to v. 28 they are still loved by God and still God’s elect, chosen people. God has given them gifts and a calling that he will not renege on. In fact, the Greek word translated "irrevocable" in v. 29 is a technical legal term for a contract that legally can’t be broken (Schreiner 626). Back in chapter 9 Paul described the gifts God had given Israel, and they include Israel’s adoption as God’s son, God’s divine glory in Israel, Israel’s covenants, the receiving of the en commandments, the temple worship, and the promises of God (9:4). These gifts still belong to the nation of Israel, even though they’ve rejected Jesus and been cut out of God’s purposes for now. God’s calling for them to be his chosen instrument of blessing in the world remains, even though they are set aside for a time.
Because of all this, Paul affirms in v. 26 that eventually "all Israel will be saved." Now the phrase "all Israel" obviously refers to the Jewish people, not to the Church (Schreiner 615). But I don’t think this verse is promising that every single Jewish person who has ever lived without exception will be saved. I think Paul is saying that as a whole, the nation of Israel will one day turn to Jesus Christ and embrace him as their Messiah (Schreiner 615). For instance, people could accurately say, "America elected George W. Bush," even though not all Americans voted for President Bush. That’s how the phrase "all Israel" is being used here. So this is talking about the nation of Israel as a whole, but not necessarily every single Jewish person (Cranfield 2:576).
Looking at the nation of Israel today, it’s hard to even imagine this ever happening. Currently there are only about 7,000 messianic Jews in the nation of Israel. According to the Israeli supreme court, when a Jewish person believes in Jesus, that person ceases to be Jewish and therefore can’t be an Israeli citizen. So it’s hard to even imagine Israel as a nation coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah, yet this is exactly what the Bible says will happen. According to the Bible this will only occur after the full number of non-Jewish people have come to faith in Jesus, and only then will Israel turn to Christ. The Bible predicts that this will occur right before the second coming of Jesus at the end of the age. Until then, we live with the tension that Israel is partially hardened until the work of the Christian Church is completed.
Now these three mysteries of Israel’s unbelief, the Church, and Israel’s future all relate to God’s mysterious ways. The bottom line of these three mysteries is this: God is working out his plan in a way that maximizes his mercy on the most possible people.
God’s mercy is like a waterfall, and he wants the most possible people to experience the flow of that mercy. God knows that in a world where people have freedom that not all people will embrace his mercy. But God has arranged things to maximize his mercy the most possible people, to bring the most possible to experience his mercy. This is why although we don’t know everything we’d like to know about Israel’s unbelief, the Church, and Israel’s future, we can know that the final word is mercy. No one can stop the flood of God’s mercy as God uses the Church to bring God’s mercy to the non-Jewish nations of the world, and ultimately the flood of God’s mercy will to the nation of Israel when the work of the Church is completed.
2. God’s Mysterious Character (Romans 11:33-36)
Now Paul has grappled with some highly complex and difficult ideas in these three chapters of Romans. Thousands of theology books have been written on the mysterious ways Paul has spoken of in Romans 11. Under the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, Paul has stretched his mind as far as it can go to understand and to explain the mysteries of God’s ways. Many people study these three chapters of Romans and then right a theology book or preach a sermon. But for Paul, when he reaches the end of his God given ability to understand and explain, he does something unexpected.
Look at what Paul does in vv. 33-36. Our minds--even led by God’s Spirit--can only take us so far when we think about the mysteries of God, and then we end up confronted with God’s mysterious character. Bible teachers call these verses a doxology, which comes from the Greek word doxa, which means glory. A doxology is an expression of praise and glory to God. A doxology is an expression of worship and adoration.
In this doxology that sums up Romans 9-11, we find three mysteries about God’s character. The first mystery is the mystery of GOD’S KNOWLEDGE. The phrase "the depth of the riches" is simply a poetic way of saying that God’s wisdom and knowledge are infinite, that they are immeasurable (Schreiner 632). There is no limitation on God’s knowledge.
God’s "knowledge" here refers to the fact that God knows everything that can be known. God knows every detail about the past, he knows everything happening in the present, and he knows everything that will happen in the future. There’s nothing that can be know that isn’t known by God, including not only what will happen but also what could happen under other circumstances. That’s God’s incredible, infinite knowledge. Theologians call this God’s omniscience, which means God knows everything.
God’s wisdom is the application of God’s knowledge. God not only knows everything, but God knows what to do with the knowledge he has. According to Christian philosopher William Lane Craig, God’s wisdom is evidenced in the fact that God created the kind of world where humans have genuine freedom of choice, yet the outcome of this world and our choices fulfills God’s predetermined plan (Craig, The Only Wise God, 154). We can’t imagine how that could be true, and that’s because we don’t have infinite knowledge and wisdom. Only an infinitely wise and intelligent God could do this.
Because God’s knowledge is infinitely greater than ours, God’s decisions are impossible to figure out from a human perspective and God’s ways are impossible to predict. God’s "judgments" in v. 33 are his decisions about the outworking of God’s plan (Schreiner 634). These "judgments" include God’s decision to call Abraham, his choice of Abraham’s son Isaac, his choice of Isaac’s son Jacob, and his choice of the nation of Israel. His "judgments" also include God’s decision to allow Israel to be partially hardened for a while, and his decision to use the Church. These decisions are impossible to figure out from a purely human perspective. Only by reading the Bible do we see how they work together.
God’s "ways" here are the outworking of God’s decisions in the world. It’s impossible to look at events and figure out what God is doing behind those events unless God reveals what he’s up to because God’s knowledge is infinitely superior to our knowledge. God knows more than we can see and understand in every event in the world.
Now this can scare you or it can comfort you, depending on how much you trust God. If you’re not sure God is loving and good, then the fact that God knows infinitely more than you know can be frightening. You fear being a pawn on a divine chess board or a puppet with God pulling the strings. But if you’re convinced that God is good and loving, merciful and just, then realizing that you don’t know everything and God does is a comforting thought. Children do this all the time with their parents, and so long as a child trusts his mom and dad, that child is able to put up with the fact that he doesn’t always understand the parent’s decisions. The more you reflect on God’s incredible, infinite knowledge, the more of a mystery it is.
The second mystery we find here is the mystery of GOD’S FREEDOM. In v. 35 Paul quotes a verse from the Old Testament book of Job This quote from the Jewish Bible reminds us that God doesn’t need us, so no one can put God in his or her debt. God’s decisions about the outworking of his plan are free decisions, not manipulated or controlled by our human decisions. As we learned in chapter 9 of Romans, God is the potter and we are the clay. He is our creator, our maker, the one who shapes and molds us. He’s a loving and merciful creator, but he’s still the creator. No one twisted God’s arm to send his son Jesus to the world. It’s not because he looked at us and was impressed with what great Christians we’d be. It’s not that God had to persuade his Son to come to the earth, but Christ freely chose to come. The only limitation to God’s freedom is his own character, that he can’t act contrary to his character.
Yet this God who’s entirely free and not in anyone’s debt has chosen to enter into a relationship with us. The moment God made a promise to Adam and Eve to somehow save them from their fatal rebellion, God limited his choices. Every time God makes a promise, he binds himself to keep that promise and limits his options. Because God is good and loving, he has severely limited himself by entering into a relationship with us, by making promises and keeping those promises, by saving us from the power of sin. This is an incredible mystery, that the free potter would choose to have a relationship with the clay.
The final mystery we find in this doxology is the mystery of GOD’S GLORY. We learn in v. 36 that God himself is the source of all things, the power behind all things, and the goal of all things. Now we don’t use the word "glory" very often. The word glory refers to God’s greatness, his reputation as God. We glorify God when we enhance God’s reputation with our words and our actions. We fail to glorify God when we slander God’s reputation. Christian pastor A. W. Tozer once wrote, "God is looking for people with whom his glory is safe." Is God’s glory safe with you? Is it safe with us as a church? God’s passion is to see his greatness magnified in everything he created.
Now these three mysteries of God’s knowledge, freedom and glory relate to God’s character. The bottom line of these three mysteries is this: In light of these mysteries, our hearts are overwhelmed with wonder that leads us to worship.
The more we experience wonder and amazement at God’s absolute awesomeness, the more that leads us into a genuine experience of worship. When we focus our energy on trying to solve these mysteries, we find ourselves trying to stretch our knowledge beyond where it can go. There’s nothing wrong with good, thoughtful theology, and the church needs good theologians. But theology, no matter how biblically based it is, can only take us so far. There comes a time when we reach the limits of our ability to think and reflect on certain subjects, when we realize that we’ve treated on holy ground and the appropriate response is wonder and worship. Good theology should lead us to doxology, to worship.
It’s important for us to remember this, because we have a tendency to be content with knowing truth about God. But the heart of the Christian message is to introduce us into a relationship with God, not simply to introduce us to facts about God. Certainly we must know certain facts about God to know God, but we can’t stop with facts and truth or we’ll stop short.
Conclusion
So here at the conclusion of Romans 11 we find six mysterious. Three mysteries about God’s ways: Israel’s unbelief, the existence of the Church, and Israel’s future. Three mysteries about God’s character: his knowledge, his freedom and his glory. These are mysteries we’ll never be able to solve. These are mysteries we wouldn’t even know about if God had not revealed them to us in the Bible.
It’s time for us to give up our quest to be sure about every topic, to have every question answered, and to realize that whenever humans encounter God, we’re going to encounter mystery. We will never demystify God, we will never rise to the level of fully understanding God, we will never become God’s peer. There comes a time when the only appropriate response is doxology, worship.
