When circumstances seem dismal, where does our hope come from? For Abraham, it came from his belief in God’s eternal purpose. He believed what God had promised, that he would become the “father of many nations” even when he was “as good as dead” (Rom. 4:18; Heb. 11:12). He believed what God had promised even when evidence pointed to the contrary. This is hope!

Hope is also woven through what Paul calls the “mystery” of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. God’s people rejected Jesus as Messiah because of temporary spiritual blindness that will one day be removed. Their blindness was “a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). Even so, the certainty of this hope compelled Paul, “the apostle to the Gentiles,” to describe the gospel as “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16).

Salvation through Christ, then, is not just for Jews or only for Gentiles. The gospel makes its promises to both. When the good news about Jesus Christ was extended to the Gentiles, God did not revoke His promises to Abraham (11:29). Instead, God was using Israel’s rejection of their Messiah to open the door of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; 14:27; 22:21; 26:23). The Gentiles, in turn, became God’s instrument of bringing the message of salvation to the descendants of Abraham (11:31). Salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to turn to Christ (11:11). God’s purpose was not to exclude one group or the other but to work out His saving purpose “so that he may have mercy on them all” (v. 32). He provided hope to all through the gift of salvation.

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