Living Theology | Amos 9:11–15

Living Theology is a blog series that draws out the theological principles of each week's sermon text and thinks through how we can apply them to our personal lives. In other words, this series asks how we can live out the theology of Scripture each day.

Sermon Text: Amos 9:11–15

You can watch Pastor Brian's sermon on this passage here:

Amos 9:11–15 offers the promise of hope to those who are facing the judgment God will bring against his people for their disobedience and injustice. Though the judgment will be total (Amos 9:1), nevertheless, God will provide a way for a remnant to survive (Amos 9:8). From this remnant, God will "raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches" (Amos 9:11, ESV). This remnant will possess what's left of their enemy, Edom, and they will possess "all the nations who are called by my name" (Amos 9:12, ESV).

Pastor Brian described the 3 characteristics of this rebuilt people that we see in Amos 9:11–15.

Characteristic 1: God's people will be international in their composition.

We see the beginning of this fulfillment in Acts 15, where James refers to this passage in support of accepting Gentile believers into the church. And we see the consummation of this promise in Revelation 7:9–17, where John sees "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

We must remember that the people of God are international and multi-ethnic. Christians in Uganda are every bit as much our brothers and sisters as Christians in Nebraska. It is easy for our own nationality to dominate how we view Christians in other parts of the world. Being American, we sometimes view America's rivals as our rivals, America's enemies as our enemies. But we cannot forget that the identity we have in Christ is deeper than our own nationality. At the same time, we don't surrender our nationality. It is part of who we are. Revelation 7 doesn't describe a great multitude from no nation but from every nation. But we have to realize that there is a difference between governments and the people they govern. There is a difference between the Russian government and the Russian people. There is a difference between the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people. There is a difference between the governments of China, Afghanistan, Syria, or any other political rival of the United States and the people that these governments represent.

Following Jesus doesn't mean giving up your ethnicity, but it does mean subordinating it to Christ. What are some specific ways that we can appreciate ethnic diversity within the church? What are some ways that we have allowed ethnic diversity to threaten our unity in Christ?

Characteristic 2: God's people will be supernatural in their fruitfulness.

Amos 9:13–15 describes the supernatural fruitfulness of God's people in their restoration, when "the mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it" (ESV). This supernatural fruitfulness is both a blessing and a responsibility. God's people are meant to fully enjoy the blessings he gives, but we are also meant to use these blessings for the benefit of others. Most of Amos's oracles confront the gluttony of Israel as they wallow in God's blessings but ignore those in need. Biblical justice requires us to share God's blessings. We are not meant to neglect them, nor are we meant to hoard them. We are meant to share them.

What are two or three of the greatest blessings that God has put in your life? How do you enjoy and appreciate these blessings? What are some specific ways you can share these blessings with others?

Characteristic 3: God's people will be eternally secure.

The book of Amos ends with these words: "'I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,' says the LORD your God." When God restores his people, they will be secure forever. This is only possible because of what Jesus has done for us. When Jesus died on the cross, he suffered the judgment of God against sin. He carried our sin on his back, and God poured out his judgment on that sin. For those of us who are in Christ, we have already faced the judgment of God in Christ. And through Jesus's resurrection, we survive that judgment and come out safe on the other side. There is no judgment left for us. Or as the apostle Paul says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1, ESV). The righteous requirement of the law, namely, judgment for sin, is fulfilled in us who walk according to the spirit that God has put within us. Again, Paul asks, "If God is for us, who can be against us? ... Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?" (Romans 8:31–34, ESV).

God's people no longer face judgment as long as we are in Christ. We have already faced judgment in Christ's death. Moreover, the spirit that God has put within us teaches us to walk not according to the injustice, selfishness, and gluttony of the flesh but according to justice and righteousness. We should be vigilant against the flesh and the sinful desires it awakens within us. But as long as we are in Christ, we are safe. We are planted. And we will never be uprooted.