God's Sovereign Choice | The Rt. Rev. Dr. Alphonce Baya

I want us to begin by imagining.

Imagining Imagine that you are expecting a child to come, whether from school, whether from anywhere.

And because he or she has been away for some time, you are busy holding a photograph of that child.

You spend time polishing the frame.

You spend time hanging it prominently to see Whether as you come into the house or you go out, you're able to see that portrait and even protecting it with fierce dedication.

But when the child comes, you take no notice.

You keep on looking at that frame.

You keep on looking at that portrait.

You keep on gazing on that image.

leaving the presence standing right behind you.

This is what is happening in Romans chapter 9, verse 1 to 5.

Paul concludes chapter 8 with a message of victory, with a message of triumph, with a language that we all marvel.

We are modern conquerors.

But in chapter 9, he begins with a cry because the child has come, but you are gazing on the protein.

You are gazing on the photograph.

So he begins chapter 9 by saying he is weeping, he is crying with a lot of sorrow, and he gives a threefold witness that he says, in Christ...

And with my conscience and through Jesus Christ, I'm wailing, I'm mourning, I'm with sorrow because the child has come, but we are on the portrait.

The reality has come, but we are on the shadow.