The Danger Of Losing The Next Generation: Romans 9:3-5
“3) For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4) who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5) whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 9:3-5
Israel had such an amazing calling from God. They were His chosen people. He appeared to them in glory many times in the Old Testament. He made covenants with them, gave them the Law through Moses and gave them the tabernacle followed by the temple. His glory dwelt among them and He made numerous promises to them of abundant blessings that would come if the obeyed Him and followed His ways. They were descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and the promise of the coming Messiah was going to be through them as a nation.
But they turned their back on God and departed quickly from His ways. Instead of the blessing of Deuteronomy 28:1-14, they brought the curse of Deuteronomy 28:15-68 upon themselves. As a result, God turned away from most of them, even though there was always a remnant who sought God.
Possibly the saddest verses in the Bible are John 1:10-11; “10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11) He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” They held to a form of religion, but they rejected Jesus and Gods plan of salvation laid out over and over again in the Old Testament.
Possibly the most glorious verse in the Bible is John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” This is an enigma that is hard to comprehend. Why did the nation of Israel as a whole reject Jesus? Paul yearned for them to turn to Jesus. He spends the next two chapters trying to explain this mystery.
But the same is happening today. The sons and daughters of many Christians are turning away from God. Instead of having a personal and dynamic relationship with God, they are giving mere lip service to the religion of their parents. I need to stress this as clearly as possible; “Religion doesn’t save anyone, only a personal relationship with Jesus does.”
If you are throwing crumbs of religion at your children, they will be lost. The children of Christians do not get a free ride into heaven. Every generation needs to be reached with the gospel and embrace Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Make sure you are making a priority of evangelizing your own family with the gospel.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
