Romans 11:33-36 PROFOUND THEOLOGY LEADS TO PROFOUND WORSHIP

 

Romans 1-11 concludes Paul’s doctrinal section. 

Doctrine is not a dirty word. 

It is not a divisive word.  

Doctrine brings clarity. 

Doctrine is to the soul and to  the mind  what the skeleton is to the body.

We are  now  ready to move on to consider Romans 12-15, which consists of practical application- the “how- shall- we- then-live” section of Paul’s letter to the Romans. 

Sound doctrine must produce sound living.

Sound living must be based on sound principles.

In this regard we need to know something fundamental about ourselves.  

This is what Romans 1-11 explains.

Here we learn concerning the fundamental human condition: Sin!

Here we learn about how people are made right with God: Justification

Here we learn how that righteousness changes our daily life: Sanctification

Here we learn how God’s plan includes both Jews and Gentiles : Election

 

After reflecting on God’s wonderful plan of salvation for Jews and Gentiles in Romans 9-11, he bursts out in praise at the end in 11:33-36.

This is the result of profound theology. 

It leads to profound worship. 

Great theology leads to doxology. 

When we begin to understand something of the unsearchable wisdom, the mercy and the sovereign grace of God, our pride dissolves and gives way to total adoration.

This is truth on fire!

This leads to true worship.

This is where God wants us to be when we have considered  Romans 1–11.

And this is the response that will make us able to live out the practical moral demands of Romans 12–15.  “Morality in the Christian life is not simply the willpower to do right things, because God has the authority to command them. Christian morality is the overflow of worshipping the sovereign, merciful God. That will become plain as soon as we turn to chapter 12”. (Piper).

 

I am looking forward to doing the practical application of Paul’s letter to the Romans with you. But I want to be careful how I deal with it. We must not fall into the trap of becoming mere legalists, people that are merely duty bound. Legalism produces joyless Christianity.  Legalism lacks the supreme sense of worship. It obeys but it does not  adore (Geerhardus Vos) 

We are asking the Lord to do for us what He is doing here with Paul.  

Our prayer is that God would put a delight into our hearts.

Our prayer is that God would be pleased to help us to live from the center of our great theology with great gladness and joy, for the glory of His Name. 

You who are parents will understand the difference. When you ask your children to do something, then your hope is that they will not do it grudgingly. 

Your desire is that they will do it willingly, because they love you and because they love you and want to please you.  

When you are a Christian, God is your Father – your parent. And true Christians will show their love for Him by their obedience to His commandments. That is the spirit of true worship. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn.14:15) 

As Christians we must see all of life as worship. Sundays are days of worship, but so are Mondays and the rest of the week. In that sense we must take note of the opening words  of Romans 12 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

GREAT THEOLOGY PRODUCES PROFOUND WORSHIP

In 11:33-36 Paul is gripped by the greatness of God. And it has far reaching consequences.                                                                  

1:33a “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”. After pouring out his heart in profound theology under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit in the first 11 chapters, Paul is lost in wonder, love and praise [1]. 

He marvels at how God directs His plan of salvation. 

God’s ways and methods often leave us astonished e.g. here using Israel's hardening to reach the Gentiles, and then (wonder above wonders) to reincorporate the Jews back into His plan after the fullness of gentiles has been brought in!   Amazing mercy! It is good to be lost in the greatness of the mercy of God! We need to think and meditate much on these things.  We need to remind ourselves and know that we are always in the hands of a God whose character and nature is so large and inexhaustible that it cannot be fathomed (a nautical term). 

We need to be reminded that the riches of His Being cannot be exhausted. We need to be reminded that His wisdom makes us look foolish. His knowledge blows AI (which is the sum-total of human intelligence) out of the water.  

He is the God who has the whole world in His hands. We ultimately own nothing. 

He owns everything.   God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge are very deep. We cannot give Him anything he doesn’t have. We cannot tell Him anything which He doesn’t know.  

He is never confused, and always perfectly in control (Psalm 2). 

Experiencing something of the Majesty of God is an unknown cure for the troubles of our soul. When sickness or trouble or death stares you in the face you know that Someone greater is here! Someone who knows what He is doing is here!

1:33b “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways”: 

This is a very challenging statement. We know that God is unfathomable, and wise. We know that He knows everything – the beginning from the end. He knows what He is doing in us and with us. 

What we find harder to cope with are some of His judgments – 

• why He does not heal us, or 
• why He does not deliver us from certain evils (e.g. Paul’s thorn in the flesh); 
• why He takes away a father in his prime; 
• why He allows us to live in a broken body for so long; 
• why He does not save a loved one even after many repeated prayers.

We wonder what good can possibly come from some of His divine judgments.  Here  are some of these unsearchable judgements. 

• What God did to Job was unsearchable. 
• What God allowed to be done to John the Baptist (Matthew 14; Mark 6) is unsearchable
• and to Stephen (Acts 7) 
• and  to  James,  the brother of John (Acts 12:2) ... 

The current deaths of many Christians at the hands of the Islamists is beyond our comprehension. And yet it is undeniable that God works in and through these circumstances.  The phrase, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" originates from the second-century Christian church father, Tertullian. And so, it was and so it is. From the  early Roman arenas where Christians were viciously  put to death, through medieval persecutions (see Foxes Book of martyrs)  through to modern persecutions, it is undeniable that Christian suffering has always served as a fertile witness rather than a silencer of the gospel.

11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?  

This is a quote from Isaiah 40:13. Like Isaiah, Paul points out that no finite creature (and we are finite creatures) has ever grasped the mind of the Lord.  Likewise, it is also apparent that we cannot offer Him advice or instruction in His governance of the universe (Are we not often guilty of this in our prayers?). God does not hold committee meetings or ask human beings for strategic advice on how to run the universe. God in His very nature needs no counsel.  

Let that sink in. 

11:35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”  

Here is another thing to think about. Paul quotes Job 41:11, implying that God is never put in a position where He becomes a debtor. We can never put God in our debt. Any "good" thing we offer Him, belongs to Him anyway.  

Let that sink in.

11:36a “For from him and through him and to him are all things”. 

This answers three basic questions about our existence:

• Where did our life come from? It came from God. God is the source (from Him).
• How did we come into existance? He is the means (through Him). We came into being through the power and the creative workmanship of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:10).
• Why did God create us?  We were made for God. He is the goal (to Him) of all things. We were made to worship!  We were made to bring God glory. All things exist ultimately for His pleasure, direction, and final purpose.   

11:36b “To him be glory forever. Amen”.  

Because God is self-sufficient and sovereign over history (including Israel's stumbling and Gentile inclusion, and Israel’s re-inclusion), the only proper human response is  to give Him the glory! 

The final word is, Amen (Affirmation: "So be it."). Like Job and his “comforters” we must learn (often the hard way) to submit to God. Let us learn to say Amen frequently when we hear the Word of God read or expounded.

CONCLUSION

This is where God wants us to be,  following a consideration of  Romans 1–11.  

We need to be amazed at His mercy, His free grace to us through Jesus Christ.  The fact that God will have anything to do with ungrateful, thankless, sinful human creatures is amazing!  

But the last word in 11:32 is MERCY!   

Thank God for His mercy.  

Because of mercy we will not perish in our sin. 

Our Saviour has paid the price for our sin.  

We are overwhelmed by His mercy. This is the response that will make us able to live out the practical moral demands of Romans 12–15. And we will be more than dutiful servants. We will feel ourselves to be grateful and thankful debtors.

That will be our entrance ticket into  Romans 12 

Let profound  theology drive you to worship deeper! Amen.

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[1] (Charles Wesley 1747- Love Divine all Love’s excelling)

Finish, then, thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be; Let us see thy great salvation; Perfectly restored in thee; Changed from glory into glory, Till in Heav'n we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise!