“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’”
~ Romans 9:17
Hi James and Ellen,
What did you learn today? There is always something new to learn. You probably have already asked your ma and dad ‘why’ questions. It is good to ask a lot of questions. There will be times when your ma or your dad will not have an answer for you. Your grandpaa is not always able to find an answer for something. When your grandpaa is not able to find an answer for something, your grandpaa has to accept that what has taken place or is taking place has been divinely orchestrated and choreographed by God. Your grandpaa is fascinated with why something takes place which totally belies coincidence. You will come to sense as you grow up that there are no coincidences – that everything that happens, happens for a reason or for a purpose. You will sense that the creation around you has to be controlled by something. You may wonder though how big the sky really is. You may wonder though why the sun keeps coming up every single morning in the east. You may wonder though why grass is green. You may wonder though why your ma and dad are your ma and dad. It is never wrong to wonder. The answer to all the questions that you may have as you grow up is that God is Who made everything, that God is Who controls everything and that God reflects Himself through everything. Paul would sometimes address a question or a concern in a letter that he wrote to send to a church or to a guy. Your grandpaa thinks that in the letter that Paul wrote and that had taken to the Rome Church Jesus-followers that Paul is making an apologetic argument for why Jesus Christ did what he did on planet Earth as an incarnate man. You probably have been wondering why your grandpaa is using such big words today. You will as you get older meet a lot of guys, gals and kids who have very little comprehension of what the Bible says. Your grandmaa and grandpaa believe that it is really, really important for guys, gals and kids who are Jesus-followers to have an in-depth understanding of what the Bible says and to know how to clearly explain what the Bible says to other guys, gals and kids. Because Paul knew when he wrote his letters what the Old Testament said, Paul did not write just what he wanted to write; Paul would sometimes use what guys in the Old Testament wrote down when they wrote their books. When Paul did this, Paul was quoting what someone else had written.
Paul in his Roman Epistle – in Romans 9, does a lot of clarifying for the Rome Church Jesus-followers. Paul explains to the Rome Church Jesus-followers what God had done through the Israelite people group. The Israelites are God’s specially chosen people. Paul explains to the Rome Church Jesus-followers that the Israelites have it made having God as their God. The Israelites had been witnesses to God’s divine glory, they had God make covenants or promises with them, they had God give them a law by which to live by and they had God have them build a temple where they could worship Him. Do you know what God’s specially chosen people did with what God gave to them? They turned their backs on their God. Paul explains to the Rome Church Jesus-followers – using what Moses, Hosea and Isaiah wrote in their books, why everything that has taken place has been God unfolding His perfect will. It is God’s will that you wonder how big the sky is, why the sun comes up in the east each morning, why . . . everything and everyone on planet Earth has a place in God’s perfect will and plan. This includes guys, gals and kids who are not God’s chosen people. Verse 17 says “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” God used a very evil Pharaoh as a way to demonstrate His mighty power and His control over everything to everyone who was living on planet Earth. You are being used today by God – as a couple of kids who your grandmaa and grandpaa believe God has especially elected to be His adopted kids, for the same reason. It is God’s desire that His name becomes known in every single place on planet Earth – as it is His will and plan that every guy, gal and kid living on planet Earth know who He is. Not every guy, gal or kid who is living on planet Earth will become or who is already an adopted child of God. The planet that you are living on has been and is full of guys, gals and kids who will never believe in what the Bible says or that Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for their sins to give them the gift of eternal life.
Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they are in God’s will. When a guy, gal or kid knows that he or she is living his or her life in God’s will, the guy, gal or kid will know that he or she is blessed. They know that having peace and hope is not from having money or from having a lot of things. They know that the peace and hope they have is from being willing to serve God however and wherever God wants them to serve Him on planet Earth. Your grandmaa and grandpaa feel sad when they leave their family to go to where God wants them to go. Paul feels sad that the Israelites had rejected what God had given them. Paul was willing to do anything so that the Israelites might live in the same hope and peace that he had and which your grandmaa and grandpaa have. There are guys and gals who are living in Guatemala who worship things and who worship spirits. Your grandmaa and grandpaa had God lead them to live in Guatemala so that they can help teach guys and gals what the Bible says – so that these guys and gals can teach their families and friends what the Bible says. When your grandmaa and grandpaa lived in Bolivia, they helped to start a Bible training center which taught and trained guy and gals to teach other guys and gals what the Bible says. What did Jesus do when He was on planet Earth? Jesus picked twelve guys to teach them what the Bible says and to train them through His life. If you accept what the Bible says, you will live having peace and hope.
Romans 9 (32)