Ad Finem Illum
Vol. 2 Issue 11
November 2015
Church
marquee signs are ridiculously difficult to fill. The small space makes
confessing something thoughtful sign nearly impossible. Sound doctrine is not
necessarily fit for sound bites. Many alleviate this burden by filling their
marquee signs with cliché sayings such as “CH__CH. What Is Missing? UR.” What
these clichés really communicate is that the pastor is unoriginal and has
nothing valuable to say. But when a pastor ventures outside of clichés for his
church sign and endeavors to utilize the sign to teach those who pass by, he
often ends up saying more than he ever intended.
For
example, months ago I was driving through a neighboring town. A church’s sign
read:
God will judge us on how we treat the nation of Israel. Genesis 12:3.
This was
one of those times when the pastor meant to say one thing but ended up saying
so much more. What the pastor meant to communicate is that Christians should support
the modern nation of Israel because those people are God’s chosen people. If
Christians treat them poorly, the church will be judged harshly. If Christians
support Israel politically and financially then God will judge them favorably,
since they treated God’s chosen people favorably. This is called Zionism.
It’s not
uncommon to find non-denominational churches that have Zionist tendencies.
There are several flavors of Christian Zionism but generally Zionism has three
main points. First, Zionists believe that the reestablishment of the state of
Israel in 1948 was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Everything the
Scripture foretell about the future of Israel is about the state
of Israel.
Second, this reestablishment is necessary to usher in Christ’s second coming,
bringing about the literal millennium reign of Christ on earth. Third the Jews
will then be saved, not by faith in Christ as the Gentiles are, but because
they are God’s chosen people. According to this view, Christians ought to treat
Israel with support, prayer, and generosity.
This is
what the pastor of that church intended to communicate. But what is inadvertently
communicated is unbelief in the words of Jesus. In Genesis 12:3 the Lord says
to Abram, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses
you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This pastor
sees the Old Testament through the lens of Zionism, not Christ. Zionism views
the goal of the Old Testament, including the covenant with Abram, to be the
nation of Israel. One’s righteousness is based on whether or not one is a
member of that nation or at least blesses that nation. If one does not bless
Israel but does the opposite, which is to curse the nation, then the Lord
curses that person.
Contrast
this view the words of Christ and His Apostle. Both describe the goal of the
Old Testament, not as the nation of Israel, but Christ. Jesus says in Luke 24:44, “All things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
concerning Me.” The Old Testament is primarily about the Messiah and the
salvation He acquires and applies to all who believe the Gospel, both Jew and
Gentile.
Consider also what St. Paul writes in Galatians 6:15-16, “For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new
creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace
and mercy be upon them, and upon the
Israel of God.” Who is “the Israel of God” of which Paul speaks? It isn’t
Israel according to the flesh but the spiritual Israel, the Church. Romans 9:6-8 reads,
For they are not all Israel
who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they
are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
That is, those who are the
children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
Belonging to
Israel according to the flesh did not guarantee salvation even for Israelites
in the Old Testament. Not all Israelites are true Israelites, believers in the
promises of God. The New Testament stands firmly against anyone who teaches
that the Jews will be saved simply because of their bloodline. St. John
castigates such an antichristian belief in John
1:11-13,
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.
The goal of the
Old Testament is Christ, which He Himself teaches. In John 8 the Pharisees
claim the mantle of sons of Abraham because of their biological descent from
Abraham. Jesus teaches them that blood does not matter, nor are they true sons
of Abraham because they do not believe in the one to Abraham looked in faith.
Jesus says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).
For all the promises of descendants, land, and a country that Abraham received,
the promise to which he fervently held was the promise of Christ because Christ was the goal of the Abrahamic
covenant. Abraham
looked forward to Jesus’ day, not the day when he would have a nation from his
loins.
Finally, Genesis
12:3 says that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham. How
is this so? God provided the Messiah, who came from a particular people, Israel
according to the flesh, to atone for the sins of the world. Are all families of
the world blessed through the presence of the modern state of Israel? No.
Instead, faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham according to the promise, brings
Jews and Gentiles alike into the Israel of God, the one, holy, catholic and
apostolic church. Whatever one’s politics are and however one views the modern
state of Israel is irrelevant. They are not God’s people simply because of
descent or the plot of land they occupy. That would make salvation based upon
works and not faith in Christ.
The pastor of that
non-denominational church did not intend to throw Christ under the bus. But
that’s what happened. Zionism, along with its necessary component,
dispensationalism makes Christ and the church a “Plan B” for everyone who is
not of Israel according to the flesh. It also disregards the clear words of
Scripture and the Lord Jesus.
We tend to think of church marquee signs as saying too little. More often
than not they say more than intended. What is often proclaimed is that there
are things more important than Christ for us. Keep an eye on church marquee
signs. Keep an eye on our own sign. The goal of the Old Testament and the New
Testament is Christ. Maybe He should be the goal of church marquee signs too.
Ad Finem Illum!
