Rom 15:11-13 “And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
For centuries, the Jews and their ancestors had been looked upon as the chosen people of God. Indeed, under the law covenant they were just that. Jesus came and satisfied the law so completely that the scripture tells us He is “the end of the law for righteousness.” With the end of the law, Jesus ushered in a new covenant established upon better promises (Heb 8:6).
As we can see by the scriptures in Psalms and Isaiah the Paul is quoting here, this new covenant was always in God’s plan. Even under the years of the law covenant, the scripture pointed to a day when the Gentiles would be included in God’s kingdom here. This inclusion certainly had nothing to do with the wishes of the Jews. Neither did this inclusion have anything to do with the goodness of the Gentiles.
Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, because it is by His grace alone that we have access to God’s kingdom. Applaud Him all ye people for it is this grace that calls us together to serve and love Him. By His grace, the everlasting gospel is preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people (Rev 14:6). His grace and love have washed away our sins by His blood, and it is that same grace and love that gives us a kingdom here in our hearts where we can praise God together.
It should be marvelous to us that our Lord is risen to reign over us. He does not rule as a tyrant, but rather as a true King that has the welfare of His people always before Him. We have experienced this in our walk of faith. He has given us mercy that we might prove Him and know that we can safely trust in Him.
There is nothing quite like being filled with peace and joy. We may occasionally find something in this life that will give us that for a season, but it soon passes away. Having grace to believe on our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father through the Holy Spirit is a joy and peace that remains when all else fails. It should always be our prayer for one another that the God of hope would fill us with these things.
How glorious it is to know that we serve the God of hope. Our God is the God of expectation and confidence (the definition of hope). He does not fill us with wishes, but with truth that can be trusted forever. It is wonderful to excel in hope. We live our lives in the confident expectation of all that God has promised.
None of this is possible within ourselves. We do not get it because we are Jew or Gentile. It is ours because it has pleased God for it to be so. We receive it though the power of the Holy Ghost.
May we live our lives in the confident expectation of giving God glory for His daily presence in our lives!
