Romans 9:1-5

Paul was born a Jew; he was reborn a Jewish Christian.  His rebirth as a Christian was a source of great joy and celebration, yet at the same time, it was also the source of his greatest sorrow and continuing anguish.  Experiencing the wonderful joy that came when God restored him to right relationship caused Paul to recognize an awful, horrible and traumatizing truth.  Paul had the revelation that his people, the Jews, were lost, and without Christ, there was no way they could make themselves righteous.

This was a tragedy, because they had everything going for them from the beginning.  God had adopted them from all the tribes upon the earth.  God had given them the promise of adoption to sonship.  God had lived with them and delivered them from Egypt with his divine glory.  He had given them the covenants, the law, temple worship and the promises.  They had the patriarchs and human ancestry of the Messiah Christ, and yet they were lost because they did not acknowledge Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior.

Paul stresses that he is speaking the truth when he says he would give his own life to save his people.  He loves the gentiles, and it is to them that he is a missionary.  It is because of Paul’s ministry that the church grew so quickly and with such great strength among the gentiles.  In spite of that, his people’s rejection of Christ breaks Paul’s heart. 

Many Christian parents have experience the same sorrow that Paul was experiencing.  They did everything they could humanly do to raise their children to know and love Christ.  From childhood, they took their children to church.  Their children have witnessed God’s mercy and grace in action, yet some have still rejected Christ.  It is heartbreaking.  God knows how we feel; He is feeling the same.  God gave his Son so that everyone can choose salvation.  As long as we have breath, we have choice.  As long as there is life, there is hope.