unto us a Son is given: and the gov ernment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name! shall be called Wonder ful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,” Here again the two aspects of our Lord Jesus are brought forth, His human nature and His divine nature: “unto us a child is bom.” In contrast with that we have, “unto us a Son is given.” Romans 1 :3-4 makes this same contrast as does the Old Testament, “Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, ac cording to the Spirit of holiness, by the ressurection from the dead.” Notice the benediction Paul gives us in Romans 9:5, “God blessed for ever, Amen.” This is not so much that God is doing the blessing, but rather is another title of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul recognizes Him to be God, raising His glorious name now and forever. Truly we can rejoice that our Saviour is none other than Israel’s Messiah. Children Of Promise •_____ ,-• '; :. Ill O NE OF THE CENTRAL THRUSTS of the letter of Paul to the Romans is to point out to them that while the Gospel has come to the Gentiles, it does not mean that God has forgotten His ancient people Israel. The Scrip ture gives us a very careful definition as to who Israel really is. These were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had received God’s ir revocable promises. The Glory of God, a visible sign of His actual presence, appeared in their midst. They were given the law and the covenants, as well as the exceeding great and pre cious promises. In the plan of God a place was made in Israel for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the world. To come to earth, there had to be a family line established, which was Israel. Out of the multitudes of people God chose a nation that was nothing (Deut. 7 :6 -8 ). When Christ
came, He brought together the human and the divine side of God’s ancient promises. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the gov ernment shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonder ful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” With Paul, we might ask the ques tion as to just how many Jews are in the world today. The information re veals to us a startling effect on the an swer Paul gives. Last year two of our great national magazines carried ar ticles defining the Jew. These were written by outstanding Hebrew schol ars who raised a number of questions such as, “Are they a culture, a race, a religion, or just what are they?” No one, even these great scholars, can seem to agree on the answer. No one would question the truth that the Jews today are far different from the Jews of the Old Testament. For example no one goes to the tem ple or the tabernacle. Nationally, much less individually, they do not ob serve the various burnt and meal of ferings. Israel today doesn’t have the priesthood of which the Old Testa ment speaks. Paul is asking the question, however, for another rea son. Many had not accepted the Messiah while He was here upon earth. ( “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”) Does this mean that God’s word has no effect? Romans 9 :6 amply answers that argu ment. You see, Paul was not only jealous for his own people, but also he was jealous for the Word of God. Now with these two questions Paul Biola students in the School of Missionary Medicine receive specialized training in the tropical disease laboratory. From left to right they are Mario Armenia, Dale Gregory, Gloria Smith, Gordon Fraser, and Ralph Malloy.
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