From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 34 of a series. Read part 33.

Jesus declared that the completeness of the number of His people, the Body of Christ from the Fall to the end of the age, is certain and no one in Heaven or earth can change it.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Earlier in this series we noted that the Hebrew word often translated "peace" (shalom) in various also signifies completeness in number. This is also a characteristic of the peace that Messiah has brought to the world.

Messiah's Body: Complete & Unchangeable

Jesus repeatedly declared that the completeness of the number of His people, the Body of Christ from the Fall to the end of the age, is certain and no one in Heaven or earth can change it:

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:37-40)

"My Sheep Hear My Voice"

Jesus also declared that those who are truly His will hear His voice and follow after Him. Those who are not of that number do not:

Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." (John 10:24-30)

"None of Them Is Lost"

At the end of His earthly ministry, the night before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for His people, once again declaring the completeness and inviolability of their number:

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:9-12)

The Surety of the Promise

Because these things are true, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declared that God is not finished with Israel. There are yet more ethnic Jews who will be part of the final, complete membership of the Body of Christ:

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:25-27)

Some commentators believe that "all Israel will be saved" refers to an entire future generation of ethnic Jews who will be saved before the end of the present age. Others believe that "all Israel" refers to the full number of ethnic Jews, throughout all time, who will be saved as part of Christ's glorious body. Whichever may be the ultimate case in the plan of God, the point is this: The Messiah of Israel, Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace, is indeed the Prince of Completeness. He gives His people eternal life, both Jew and Gentile, all of them, without distinction and without exception. They shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of His hand.

"We Abide in Him"

Dear reader, are you among Messiah's sheep? Have you responded to His voice? Are you resting in the security of this great truth today?

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.... By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness [literally, cheerful confidence] in the day of judgment; because as He [Jesus] is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:10, 13-17)

Next: Messiah's Unique Peace

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