Rom. 11:22 ... "Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."
The focal point of all existence and all reality is God. God is self-existent, but man owes his existence to God's decision in the beginning to create him. The psalmist declared, "Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves." Our continued being is in God's hands every moment, and we enjoy the progress of life from day to day because He is so gracious as to give us everything we need. From this understanding it is obvious that our first interest should be God, and our greatest goal should be to do whatever He has created us to do. We can be sure that God always watches us to observe how we conform to His will for us. The true meaning of life can be discovered only in this context of God's scheme for us and our response to it.
Rom. 11:22 deals with this basic theme as it pertained to Israel on the one hand and the Gentile nations on the other. God chose Israel to be unto the Gentiles a light of truth, of faith in Him, and of righteousness in keeping His covenant. Sadly, however, she failed in this uniquely favored role as over the centuries the people looked elsewhere for truth, turned to the service of idols, and defied the divine covenant. In Paul's word they "fell." Having been exalted above all other nations, Israel fell by way of infidelity, rebellion and sin. Consequently, just as He had promised when He instituted the covenant (Dt. 28), God judged Israel severely in many ways to recompense her for her waywardness. More is required of those who have greater advantages than of those who have less. Then God turned to the Gentile nations with a new covenant, one of grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He displayed amazing goodness in granting them the favors and privileges which Israel had spurned. Through Christ He offered them salvation from sin, citizenship in His universal kingdom, and eternal life in His glorious home in heaven.
Now the burden of responsibility lies upon Gentiles, namely, all of us who are not of Jewish heritage. As we enjoy God's blessings and the special favor of His benevolent outreach to fellowship with us as our Father and us as His beloved children, we must recognize that grave conditions are attached to the relationship. What happened to Israel can happen to us, if we carelessly and foolishly repeat her mistake of taking God lightly, disregarding His plan for us, and myopically focusing our attention upon this present earthly life with its transitory pleasures and interests. Thus the inspired apostle warns us to "continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."
It has been said that "those who ignore the tragedies of history will eventually also fall victim to them." This is true of secular history, but it is even more true in the spiritual dimension of life. So often the Holy Scriptures urge us to consider carefully the errors of those before us, lest we wander into the pathway of destruction as they did. We read in I Cor. 10:11, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." These lessons teach us to covet God's grace upon us, appreciate it supremely, and respond to it with true faith and unwavering obedience to His will. We find this enlightening statement by God to us in Isa. 66:2, "To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."
(Someone having read the above article may conclude that Jewish people are now excluded from God's covenant of grace and salvation. That is by no means the case! Paul, who wrote Rom. 11:22, also wrote in the same chapter, v.1, "My heart's desire and my prayer to God for them (Jews) is for their salvation." If Jews put their faith in Christ, as well as in God, and submit to the gospel, they will be accepted into His eternal kingdom equally with Gentiles. Historically, the gospel was first offered to Jewish people, and the church during its earliest period was composed entirely of Jews. In fact, in the kingdom of God the Jewish-Gentile dichotomy no longer exists. We are assured in Gal. 3:28 that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for all are one in Christ Jesus." The factors that divide us as physical beings no longer operate in the spiritual context of the eternal kingdom of God. It is a beautiful and wonderful thing that the issues of earth life that so grievously polarize us are excluded forever from heaven life. Therefore, heaven is a place of peace, prevailing good will, and mutual acceptance without reservation,)
