Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. We were in the flesh, no different than anybody else. But God, because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Messiah. By grace, you've been saved.

Beloved, we've been in some very heavy material. In Ephesians chapter one, Paul tells us in the first few verses there, at verse number four, that we were chosen by God, those of us that know Him, before the foundation of the world. And then he continues on by saying we were predestinated to adoption as sons.

You need to hear, beloved, that these are very biblical themes. You can't just dismiss this and say you don't believe it, because to simply say you don't believe it, beloved, is to reject the words of Jesus and to reject the words of the Scriptures. Paul said in many different places in the Bible, including Romans chapter nine, Romans chapter 11, on and on and on, Paul said many times that he's ministering to those that had been chosen by the Lord.

In fact, in Acts chapter number 13:48, Paul went into a city and preached the Gospel, and in Acts 13:48, Paul said, "And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." This is what Jesus was talking about in John six, John 10, and John 17, where He spoke about He was here to save the sheep that the Father gave Him. John chapter six, "All the Father gives Me will come to Me." "No one can come to Me unless it's been granted from the Father."

Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you." In John chapter 10, Jesus said, "You believe not because you're not My sheep. I know My sheep. My Father has given them to Me." In John chapter 17, Jesus said, "Father, I manifested Your name to those that You gave Me out of the world. I ask on their behalf, not on behalf of the world."

Paul tells us so too at the present time. In Romans chapter 11, there's a remnant, not everybody. Just like Israel was a remnant, right? The Amorites weren't chosen, the Jebusites weren't chosen, the Amalekites weren't chosen, just to name a few. Only Israel was chosen. So the Lord said to Israel in Deuteronomy chapter seven, verse six and seven, "I've chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be Mine."

And then God actually had Israel drive out the other nations. He didn't treat them all the same, did He? Did God treat Israel the same way He treated the Jebusites? No. Did God treat Israel the same way He treated the Hittites? No. Israel was God's people. God actually told Israel to drive these other nations out. God drove these other nations out.

And God said to Israel, "I didn't choose you because you were great, but I chose you because I loved you." And Paul says so too at the same time, there's a remnant chosen by God's grace. And if it's by grace, Paul said in Ephesians, it's no longer on the basis of works, lest grace would no longer be grace.

Paul told us in Romans chapter nine, consider Rebecca. She had twins in her womb, and Paul said before the twins were born, neither having done anything either good or bad, God chose one and not the other. "Jacob I loved, and Esau I hated," that it would not depend on what either of them did, but rather on God's choice.

Paul says, "I know you're not going to think that's fair. You're going to say to me, 'Is there injustice with God?' You're going to say to me, 'How can God find fault if He acts like this?'" But Paul said, "Who are we that answers back to God?" The potter has the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for honor and another for common use or for dishonor.

So beloved, the point of all this is that when you know you've been chosen by God to be a son, to be a daughter, and to be a priest, that you weren't the one that chose Him, but that He chose you, your identity will be one that has been chosen by God, one that belongs to God, and you'll also know what your destiny is.

That's why Paul prays in the book of Ephesians, "I pray that your eyes of your heart will be enlightened to understand the hope of your calling." When you know that God chose you, beloved, it's going to radically change your life. You're going to be a bold witness for Jesus. Jesus said, "If you're of the world, the world would love you, but because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Now, some might ask, "Well, if God chooses people and predestinates people, then why witness?" Well, beloved, the way that God reaches His chosen people is through the witness of the Church. That's why Paul said in Acts 13:48, he went into the city, he preached the Gospel, and everyone that had been appointed to eternal life believed.

That's why the writer of Scripture said he endured all things for the sake of the chosen. That's what Jesus was doing, beloved. He was enduring going to the cross, beloved, knowing that the sheep that God had given Him would be saved through His death and resurrection, even though His death, beloved, was sufficient to save the entire world.

So I hope that you can be blessed by this, beloved. It's a doctrine that's difficult for people to accept because they think it's not fair, but it's the clear teaching of Scripture. Remember, Paul got done saying in Romans chapter nine that neither of the twins had been born. They were still in the womb.

And yet, while they were still in the womb, neither having done anything either good or bad, God chose one and not the other, that it would not be on the basis of works, Paul said, but on the basis of Him who calls. And so when the Scripture says, "Whom He foreknew, He also did predestinate," it doesn't mean He foreknew your works, beloved. It means He foreknew you. He loved you in advance.

This is what Paul is saying in Ephesians chapter one: "Blessed be the God and Father of Yeshua HaMashiach who chose us in Him before the foundation of the world and predestinated us to adoption as sons," okay? I hope this can be a blessing for you. It's meant so much to me to know that Jesus appeared to me, beloved, in the middle of the night back in 1978.

Listen, He didn't appear to all the other Jewish people that I knew growing up in the same way that He appeared to me. When people ask me, "Did you believe when He appeared to me, beloved, in 1978?" it wasn't even a question as to whether I believed or didn't believe. I knew. I mean, God gave me that type of faith.

That was the same thing with the Apostle Paul. Remember, the Apostle Paul was on his way to arrest any Jew that believed in Jesus, and as he's on the road to Damascus, a bright light appears from heaven, knocks him off his horse. He's laying on the ground, he can't see, and he says, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And Jesus says, "I'm Jesus of Nazareth whom thou art persecuting. Now get up and it will be told what you must do for Me."

See, Paul was saved sovereignly by the grace of God. He was known, beloved, before the foundation of the world, just like all of us are, beloved, that have truly been born again through the power of the Holy Spirit activated in our life through the choosing of God the Father.

I'm trying to encourage you. If you can accept the fact, beloved, that the reason you believe and the reason so many others don't believe is because God chose you. And when you know that, beloved, you'll understand your destiny and your calling. You'll understand what your identity is, that it's not your boss that defines who you are, beloved. It's not somebody else that you've encountered in life that mistreated you that defines who you are.

Your definition, beloved, that which defines you is the God, beloved, that chose you before the foundation of the world to be His. That's your identity. And when you know that, you'll also know what your calling is. And one of the features of your calling, beloved, is to be a witness for Him on this earth.

That's why Jesus said in the Gospel of John, "I appointed you that you would go and bear fruit." And so we have a destiny now and a calling to know the Lord. We've been called by Him, beloved, and chosen by Him to know Him and to love Him, to stand before Him holy and blameless before Him in love.

Our purpose in life, beloved, those of us that have been chosen by Him is to seek Jesus, to find Jesus, to fall in love with Jesus. It's all going to culminate in the book of Revelation with the marriage supper of the Lamb. God chose you, beloved, listen now, for Himself, just like we read in the book of Deuteronomy chapter seven, that He chose Israel for Himself.

So that defines who you are. You've been chosen by God, beloved, for Him. And what's your calling on this earth, beloved? To seek Him, to grow in grace, to love Him, to lay a hold of Him, even as He laid a hold of you. Listen now, and to be a witness for Him, beloved, on the earth, even when that means being rejected by people.

Because Jesus said a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they'll persecute you. But that's our calling, beloved, to suffer reproach with Him outside the city gates. In other words, if they rejected Jesus, Jesus said, "Don't think that you're going to go through this world and no one's going to reject you, because if you're faithful to Me," Jesus said, "you're going to suffer some of the same kinds of persecution that I suffered."

Listen, if you're never being rejected, it's because you're a lukewarm person in the Lord. We should be lifting up the name of Jesus, beloved, wherever we're going. We should seek to lift up the name of Jesus because this is what we were chosen for, beloved, to love Him, to know Him, and to be His witnesses.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and Rabbi Schneider will be right back in just a moment. First, though, I want to invite you to explore our Messianic content on our website. You can dive deep into topics like the Feasts of the Lord, the prophetic significance of Israel, and how Yeshua fulfills prophecy. Visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click on our Ministry and Messianic Contents tabs, helping you understand the roots of your faith today.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: You see, Jesus tells us in the book of Revelation, chapter one, that He bought us with His own blood, listen now, to be a priest. God said to Israel in Exodus 19:6 that He chose them out of the world to be a kingdom of priests. God chose you, Revelation chapter one, beloved, before the foundation of the world to be a priest.

What does a priest do? A priest has been chosen, listen now, to draw close to God. There's your first purpose in life, to draw close to God, to seek God, to seek. Everyone that seeks finds. He that knocks, the door will be opened, beloved. Everyone that asks receives. Our first purpose in life as a priest, beloved, is to draw near to Him.

The second purpose of our life as a chosen priest, beloved, is to offer up our lives to Him, to do in our life whatever He wants to do. See, the priesthood, what did they do every day? They offered up the sacrifices. Our sacrifice is our own life, beloved, Romans chapter 12, verse one.

And the third function of the priest, beloved, is to minister to the world on behalf of God. Oh, when you know that you're chosen, when you know that God loved you, you didn't choose Him, He chose you, and when you know that, beloved, I'm telling you, you'll fall deeper in love with Jesus. You'll become more secure in your walk with Him. You'll fall deeper in love with Jesus, beloved. I want this to be a blessing to you.

So with all that said, we're going to press on now to some other material. Why did He do this for us? The Apostle Paul tells us in verse number five that He did it according to the kind intention of His will. He just desired to show kindness to us. That's why Paul quotes the Lord in Romans chapter nine by saying He shows kindness, or He has compassion, Paul says, on whomever He'll have compassion on. In other words, He just wanted to bless us.

He did it according to the kind intention of His will and verse number six, He did it, listen now, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In other words, for the rest of our lives, those of us that are His, we're going to be praising Him. He did it, beloved, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

We've been chosen, beloved, to praise Him forever and ever and ever. For ever and ever, we're going to praise the Lamb. You know, we read in the book of Revelation that the redeemed forever are praising the Lamb. "Worthy art the Lamb that was slain to receive honor and glory and dominion and power, for He purchased men for God with His own blood." Forever we're going to be like those angels in heaven, blessing the Lord, holy, holy, holy, thanking Him, loving Him, adoring Him, beloved, for saving us and for giving us the privilege of being His sons and daughters and being with Him in His eternal heaven.

So He did this, beloved, to the praise of the glory of His grace because all things are from Him and through Him and to Him. So why did He do this for us? The Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter one, verse number six, "To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." It's a free gift, beloved. Awesome, we bless the name of the Lord.

We continue on now in the seventh verse. In Him, in Messiah Yeshua, in Jesus, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, once again according to the riches of His grace. God forgave you and me, beloved, because He loves us according to the kind intention of His will. We have redemption and forgiveness, the forgiveness of our trespasses and sins through His blood, beloved.

You can look in the mirror because of what Jesus did for you, because the knowledge that God loved you before the foundation of the world. He chose you in Him. You're saved. The Bible says, "We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. We were in the flesh, no different than anybody else," Paul said. "But God, because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Messiah. By grace you've been saved." Hallelujah and glory to the Lamb.

And so we continue on here. He made known to us in verse number nine the mystery of His will. In other words, He revealed Jesus to us. So listen to what it says here in the ninth verse of Ephesians one. He made known to us, He revealed to us. Jesus says no one knows the Father but the Son and no one knows the Son but the Father and no one's going to know the Son or the Father, Jesus said, unless I reveal Myself to him.

So it's been with us. God has come and He's revealed Himself to us by His indwelling Holy Spirit. So He said He made known to us in verse number nine, He revealed Himself to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Messiah. Notice again, it's all kindness towards us. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Yeshua the Messiah," Paul starts out saying.

He saved us according to the kind intention of His will. And in verse number 10, with a view to the administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is in the summing up of all things in Messiah, things in heaven and things upon the earth in Him. In other words, the end of this thing, beloved, is that everything is going to find its conclusion in Messiah Yeshua.

All creation, beloved, will end up praising Messiah Jesus. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, hallelujah, that Yeshua HaMashiach is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It's all going to be summed up, beloved, with the name of Jesus being exalted. Hallelujah, Jesus. We bless the name of Yeshua today. We bless You, Lord Jesus, today. We worship You today, and we honor You. We exalt You, the living Jesus, the one that reigns, the one that purchased us with His own blood. We bless You today, Yeshua. Hallelujah and amen.

And we continue on here in verse number 11. We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His own will. So again I say to people that have a problem with the concept of predestination, your problem, beloved, needs to be resolved by looking at the word of God because the word of God clearly speaks about predestination.

We continue on in verse number 12. To the end, the end of this is that we who were the first to hope in Messiah should be to the praise of the glory of God. He's just talking about once again that we that believe in Him and those that come in later, it's all going to result, beloved, in worshipping and praising God.

And then he says, "And you too." We were the first he was speaking, those first believers. And now we're seeing others come into the faith and he's writing to them and he says in verse 13, "And you too, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit."

And it's true, beloved, we do have to believe. But you know what Paul said in Ephesians chapter two? That the faith that we have was given to us as a gift from God. Listen to this in verse number eight of Ephesians chapter two. "For by grace you've been saved," listen to this now, "through faith, through believing. For by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

So Paul was saying, "And you also having heard of the message believed and you were saved when you believed. You received the Holy Spirit because faith is the channel that God works through." But Paul says here that the belief that you have and the faith that you have, it didn't come for yourself, it was given to you as a gift from God. And not all men have faith.

So Paul says once again, verse number eight of Ephesians two, "For by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourself, it's the gift of God, not as a result of works, lest any man should boast." You see, Paul says in Ephesians chapter two, verse one, this: "You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air that is now working in the sons of disobedience."

In other words, we were by nature, Paul says, children of wrath. Among them, verse number three of Ephesians two, "We too all formerly lived," listen now, "in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." But get verse four: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Messiah. By grace you've been saved."

Isn't that an awesome thing? And you were raised up with Him, beloved, through faith in the Spirit. Well, Father, we just want to bless You today and give You glory. Father, we recognize Jesus alone is the one that saved us. And Father, we recognize that we stand, Father, by Your grace.

And we also recognize, Father, that but by the grace of God, there go we. We were also Your word says, Father, by nature children of wrath, but You saved us because of Your kind intention which You purposed in Messiah for us before the foundation of the world. Now Father, we want to commit our lives to You. We want to serve You. We want to walk worthy of our calling.

We want to love You, Father God. So we ask You to strengthen, Father, our inner man by Your Spirit that we would rise up in Your Spirit, Father God, that we would be radical lovers of You, Father God, that we would be radically obedient to You, Father God. We want to love You, Lord Jesus, even as You love us. So Father, even as You loved us before the foundation of the world and loved us with such affection that You sent Your Son to die for us, Father, our desire is to love You back with that same love.

I hope you're being blessed. I always make it a priority, beloved ones, to teach the truth of the word of God. And I know that on the earth today sometimes it's hard to find teaching that you feel is authentic and that feeds you. I want to simply say this: it costs me a lot of money to broadcast. You see, Christian programmers like myself, we have to pay for our own air time. And the only way that I can broadcast is when those that are receiving from this ministry respond by financially sowing into it.

So I want to simply say, beloved one, if you believe in me, if this ministry is feeding you, would you make a special offering to the Lord through Discovering the Jewish Jesus? The Bible teaches that we should financially support those that are feeding us. Paul said, "Such men are worthy of support." If you're being blessed by this ministry, if you believe in what we're doing, if you want other people to be blessed by it, simply, beloved, respond to the Holy Spirit and make an offering to the Lord today through Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I want to thank you in advance for your support. God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: Thank you, Rabbi. And friends, if God is calling you to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus with a gift of any amount, would you go online right now and give? You'll find us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. You can also give by calling us. Our number is 800-777-7835.

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And for anyone who becomes a brand new monthly partner, we want to send you an additional gift: an authentic handcrafted shofar that's made right in Israel. To give or become a monthly partner today, visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And also, if you'd like us to pray for you, I want to encourage you, reach out to us. We love praying for people. And you know what? Every single prayer request we receive, we pray over individually. Send your prayer request at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Just click on the Ministry tab and then click Prayer Request. Now here's Rabbi Schneider to speak God's sacred blessing over your life right now today.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: The words from the Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter six, verses 22 through 27, helps us to realize how good God is to you and I personally. So receive His blessing into your life and then, beloved one, go bless somebody else in Jesus' name today.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance and the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. And now in Hebrew.

Yevarekhekha Yahweh veyishmerekha. Ya'er Yahweh panav eleykha vikhunekkha. Yissa Yahweh panav eleykha veyasem lekha shalom. God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider explains what it means to be chosen by the Father. That's Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.