Connecting the Bible to Today Part 6: The Story is Not Over

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Well, hey there. Welcome to the final part of our Connecting the Bible to Today series.

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You know, for many Christians there is a disconnect between the Bible and today, especially between

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the Old Testament and today. Well, for some Christians there is even a disconnect between

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the Old Testament and the New Testament. So I want to connect the dots for you because

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the story that began in Genesis is still going on today.

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Welcome to the Israel Answers series, Connecting Israel, the Bible, and You. Join Susan Michael

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as she explores timely issues and current events from a scriptural perspective to equip

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the Christian world with a balanced and biblical response. Be sure to subscribe for future

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episodes which will ignite your faith in bringing the Bible to life in your everyday world.

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Now, let's join Susan with your Israel Answers.

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We often have this idea in the Christian Church that God finished with the Jews in the Old

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Testament and sort of gave up on them. In the New Testament we have a new plan with

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the New People, the Church. But the plan or story that began in Genesis is not over.

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It's still being written today. And Paul said in Romans 11, when speaking of the Jewish

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people specifically, that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. So what is this story

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that began in Genesis? Well, I don't have time to tell you the whole story today, but

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I'm going to link in our show notes to a previous episode where I do just that. But what I want

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to do in our short time today is to connect that story to today. That story is the story

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of God's love for the world, His plan to redeem the world. And it's also a story of

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the battle against God's plan. And central to this story is the calling and the role

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of the Jewish people. Now, the calling of Israel is not because God loves them more

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than any other people. God did not line up all the peoples of the earth and say, okay,

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I like this people better than all the rest, so I choose them. No, God did not choose them

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above the other peoples. He created them to be His people and to fulfill the purpose

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of bringing His plan of redemption to the world. So the story that we read in Genesis

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actually began before the creation of the world. And I want you to understand this.

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In Ephesians 1, verses 4 and 5, it says this, Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation

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of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined

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us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of

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His will. So the story that we begin reading about in Genesis, the creation of the world,

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is actually not the beginning of the story. It's from eternity. It's from before the

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creation of the world. And then I have to say in Revelation 13, 8, it even refers to

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the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. So what does this mean? It means

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that Jesus was always destined to die on our behalf on the cross. So there was no Old

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Testament plan and New Testament plan. There was not a plan A and a plan B. Jesus was always

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plan A. We were predestined to be adopted into the family through Christ Jesus. Well, how

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does that happen? But through His death. So God was not surprised by Israel's rejection

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of Jesus. In fact, He used it to carry out the plan. And the apostle Paul says it's

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because of their rejection that the gospel went to the Gentiles. So the point is this,

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God is so much greater than our failures. His promises are true and He will fulfill

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His word, His will, His promises. So the story of the Bible is really the story of the people

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of Israel. From that story, we learn so much about God, about His requirements, about how

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He engages His people. In the New Testament, we add to that story a new people, believers

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in Jesus, a one new man made up of both Jews and Gentiles. When the New Testament comes

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to an end, both the Jewish people and the Christians are scattered throughout the Roman

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Empire. The two groups developed into two very separate and different faiths. I've

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already talked about that in part one and two of this series. Great animosity even developed

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between the two groups. And anti-Semitism has pursued the Jewish people and even used

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the Christian Church in this pursuit. I talked about that in part three. But God, the creator

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of the universe, the sovereign God over all of history and above all principalities and

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powers has brought the Jewish people back to their homeland after 2,000 years of exile.

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I talked about this in part four and five of this series. He has begun to fulfill everything

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that He promised to the Israelites back in Sinai, all what the Hebrew prophets have predicted.

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So the point I want to make today is this, that the story that we read in Genesis to

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the Revelation began before Genesis and it is continuing after the book of Revelation

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was written. And the New Testament was closed. The story is not over. God did not take a

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break after John wrote the book of Revelation. He has been busy at work preparing the world

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for the ultimate fulfillment of the promises. The covenants are about to see their ultimate

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fulfillment. The Abrahamic covenant, God's promises to Abraham of a land, a people and

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a mission to bless the world. The Mosaic covenant in which He promised the Jewish people certain

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blessings in return for their relationship with Him. The Davidic covenant in which He

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promised to David an everlasting throne and a descendant of David to sit on that throne.

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And the New Testament that Jesus cut for us with His own blood, all of these wait the

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ultimate fulfillment and the prophecies of Isaiah and Zechariah are all going to be

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fulfilled. So what a privilege it is to live in this generation. God is bringing His people

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back to the land. He is setting the stage for the fulfillment of all of His promises,

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all of His covenants, and it is the final and great act of history. Now when you get

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this in your gut, in your spirit, that is the day that the Bible becomes the most exciting

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book on the planet. It stands up and it comes alive. It goes 3D. If this has not yet happened

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for you, I urge you to listen to my 3D Bible series and then take the year-long walk through

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the Bible series. I promise you will never be the same. Now in today's show notes, I

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am going to link to you these resources. I want you to listen to the whole connecting

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the Bible to today's series. I want you to listen to the 3D Bible episode about the story

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of the Bible. I want you to make a commitment of that year-long walk through the Bible.

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Let's see the Bible come alive to you. Let's see it impact your life today because it is

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so true and it is so exciting. So thank you for joining me with this series. Please subscribe

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to this channel, sign up for our weekly email. I want to stay in touch with you and I will

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see you back here next week as we continue Israel Answers.

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Well hey, give me one more minute. I have two very special offers for you. First is all

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you ladies out there. We have scheduled a women's tour to Israel this November, November

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2nd through the 12th. I invite you to go with me to the land of the Bible. Let's walk the

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land, let's talk the Bible, let's have our faith restored and ignited and strengthened

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for the days in which we live. To sign up, I want you to go down below into today's show

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notes and sign up for our tour interest list. We will send you all the information or if

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it's easier, just call our tour's department line at 866-393-5890. That's 866-393-5890.

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I want to travel Israel with you. Now my second offer is a free download that we have developed

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just for you called 10 Reasons for Christians to Support Israel. Over the coming weeks,

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I'm going to be talking about a lot of these reasons, but I want you to have this download

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so that you can be preparing yourself, that you can share it with your friends and colleagues

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and invite them to listen in each week as I will be going over some of these reasons

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and going a little bit farther into depth. So in today's show notes, we link directly

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to this downloadable 10 reasons why Christians should support Israel. Or you can go to the

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out-of-zion-show.com landing page, click on Resources and we should have a link there

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for you as well. So take advantage of this free download and I will see you back here

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next week, fully informed, ready to learn some more. Until then, God bless.