In our last issue we covered the history of the covenant, and in doing so, we touched on the Abrahamic covenant. We discussed that it was drawn up between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. After this covenant was established between these two immutable, unchangeable personalities, God allowed Abram to get in on it. According to Genesis 15:18a, "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, ..."
The seed mentioned in this verse represented the seed that was now in Abram. Although he had seed within himself, we know that at that particular time Abram could not have children. However, God supernaturally gave him a child at a later time.
Notice too that the word "seed" is singular. If you will remember, in
Genesis 15:5, the Lord told Abram that his seed would be as numerous as the
stars. In other words, out of his loins this singular seed was going to produce a
race of people, which would cover the earth. That faith seed was going to include
every kindred, tribe, nationality, and tongue.
The questions is, how does this Old Testament covenant apply to us? In previous lessons we covered the fact that we have a "better" covenant established upon "better" promises. But, how could any covenant be better than one drawn up between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?
The answer lies in what the covenant does for us. Our better covenant was also drawn up between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; however, Galatians 3:6, tells us that, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. " (Cross referenced Genesis 15:6.) While Abraham was merely accounted righteous, "... that we might be (have been) made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21b). Isn't it much better to actually be righteous than to be merely accounted righteous? Under the new covenant we can look back to the work on the cross and we truly become the righteousness of God in Christ!
Nonetheless, this righteousness was deposited into Abraham's account. God saved people in the same manner as He saved Abraham, on credit, for four thousand years. Every time somebody believed in Him, God looked at the devils and said, "Put it on my tab." Abraham believed in God, so God looked at the devil and said, "Put Abraham on my tab." And aren't you glad that one day Jesus went to the cross and picked up the tab for the past, present and future? Furthermore, He paid it off in full!
Galatians 3:7 tells, us, "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham."
The Greek word "huios" which is translated here as children, is more exactly translated as sons. On the other hand, another Greek word, "teknon" is sometimes translated as "sons," but a more accurate translation is "children." The point is, Abraham had two children, Isaac and Ishmael, who are types of Abraham's "huios," or faith children, sons (Isaac) and his "teknon," or physical offspring the Jews (Ishmael).
The physical Jews believed that since they were the offspring of Abraham, they were the ones to whom the promises were made. However, Romans 9:6 and 7 tell us differently, "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
In other words, all of Abraham's children are not sons and they are not all Israel. Therefore, a physical Jew is not necessarily one of God's chosen people. Thus, the issue here is not natural birth, genes or nationality. Rather, it is spiritual birth, whether or not one has accepted Jesus Christ as his saviour.
Even in the church not all are truly of the church. There are many people who profess to be Christians, but in fact, are not Christians. They may look like Christians and they make act like Christians by doing good deeds and by going to church, yet they are nothing but "whitewashed tombstones." These are the ones to whom Jesus will say, . . . depart from me, ye that work iniquity, " (Matthew 7: 23b).
We mentioned that Ishmael was a type of this person rejected by God. Let us examine why Ishmael was rejected and Abraham's other offspring, Isaac, was accepted.
Most people think that the reason Ishmael was rejected is because he was born to a handmaiden out of wedlock. However, God did not reject Ishmael because of his physical birth or accept Isaac because he was born of Abraham's wife. Isaac was the one "born of the promise," but it was not as a result of his physical birth.
In order to understand the reasons for God's choice we need to look at other similar instances. Isaac had twin sons, Jacob and Esau, born of his wife Rebecca. Both were legitimate sons, yet one was accepted and one was rejected. Jacob had two wives and two handmaidens. Through them he had twelve sons and all twelve sons were accepted regardless of their birth. In fact, they became the twelve tribes of Israel. From these examples, we learn that God does not look at natural birth; instead, the deciding factor is faith.
The reason Isaac was accepted and Ishmael was rejected is because Isaac accepted the covenant of God and walked in faith. In the case of Jacob and Esau, God in His foreknowledge that He had before the foundation of the world, spoke to Rebecca before those children were born. He said, "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated." In the natural, Esau was the better of the two boys, but Jacob was the one who walked by faith. Furthermore, God changed his name from Jacob, which was, "a chiseler" to Israel, "a prince with God." So we see that not all Israel is Israel, some are "huios" and others are "teknon" because of faith.
Another point to consider is that before Abraham was a Jew, he was a Gentile. What made him a Jew? Did he suddenly change one day? No! God didn't change anything physical about Abraham at all. The Jewish race began supernaturally by faith. It was not spawned by a seed of a man producing another man. It was born supernaturally from a Gentile race that already existed. God called Abraham out of worshipping the moon god. God called him out of astrology and witchcraft and confronted him in Ur of the Chaldees with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the manifested member of the Godhead is alway Christ. Whenever God appeared to Abram back there in the Old Testament, it was Christ that appeared to him and told him all the provisions of the covenant.
The moment Abraham believed, God entered into a covenant with his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, drew up an immutable covenant that cannot change, and then Abraham got to walk in all the benefits of the covenant. Twenty-four years later Abraham was circumcised (Genesis 17). Circumcision was only an outward evidence of the faith that existed in his heart. Circumcision didn't make him a Jew, nor did it make him righteous. Circumcision was simply an outward sign of the seal of the covenant.
Why did God pick that member of the body for circumcision? It represented his seed to come. And it was always as a remembrance of the covenant that the Jews circumcised their children on the eighth day. Then whenever a child said "Father, why am I different? Why have I been circumcised and no other nationality has?" The father could answer, "Son, it's because God drew up a covenant with us one day." "Well, Dad, does this circumcision mean that I am righteous?" "No, son, it's only a sign of the covenant. Son, you must believe in your heart just as I did and just as Abraham did one day. He believed in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
But, what happened is the physical Jew began to make the whole thing revolve around circumcision. "You're spiritual because you're circumcised." We have parallels today. "You're spiritual because you're baptized. You're spiritual because you sign our roll, join our church, buy a pew, walk our aisle, do it our way." However, all those things are merely outward evidence of the faith that already exists in your heart. The day that you entered into the covenant that was drawn up between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, you entered it by faith.
Remember, according to Galatians 3:7 "if you believe in God, you are a son of Abraham" But I'm not a Jew! Neither was Abraham! He put faith in God. It was accounted to him for righteousness, even though he was a Gentile at the time. But, by faith he walked into the privilege of God and that is the way we do it today. Let's not forget that two offspring came out of Abraham. One was a natural seed, and one was a supernatural seed. One was a physical race, and one was a supernatural race. The supernatural race encompassed all nationalities.
The Jews overlooked the promise that was given to Abraham in Galatians 3:8, "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. "All nationalities and all generations will be saved because of faith! That is the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.
Another fact to note in verse eight is that Abraham actually had the gospel preached to him. The gospel has never changed, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
Keeping in mind that Abraham had two seeds, one which spawned a natural race, his "teknon" (children) and one which spawned a spiritual race, his "huios" (sons), let's look at the exchange between Jesus and the Jews found in John chapter 8. In this chapter, the Jews had been telling Jesus that they were blessed because they were the natural offspring, the seed of Abraham. Jesus' reply, loosely paraphrased, was, "you are confused. If that's the kind of seed God wanted, He could raise these rocks into that kind of seed. I could turn rocks into natural Jews. That's not difficult for Me. But that's not what I'm looking for." He tried to explain to them that Abraham had faith. That's what made him a Jew. That's what made him enter into that spiritual, supernatural race. He told them that this is available to all nationalities. "In thee shall all nations be blessed."
In John 8:51-58 this exchange continues: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makes thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou are not yet fifty years old, and has thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. "Jesus Christ appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees. Notice the word order in verse 57. Abraham rejoiced to see, then he saw. The rejoicing of faith comes before the seeing of the eye. Abraham rejoiced to see my day, then he saw it.
If you have been thinking, "I'll shout when the manifestation comes," shout now; then, it will come.
In verse 57, the Jews were looking at the fact that Jesus was a man. But, He was saying, "I'm more than a man. I am 'the seed' of Abraham. I am the one that was there with Abraham on that day. I sat down with Abraham. I drew up a covenant with my Father God of whom I speak, I know Him. We drew up an immutable covenant that no man can break. Then I came and gave that covenant to Abraham himself. I appeared to him and talked to him."
When the Jews said, "You're not even fifty years old, " Jesus replied, "That's right, you've missed the whole point. I am. I existed long before I took this body some thirty years ago. I am God. Everlasting God, from everlasting to everlasting. I am the almighty God. I appeared to Abraham back then."
Verse 59 goes on to say that they tried to stone Him. Why? He used that unspeakable name. Remember the name we took up a few weeks ago that no one could utter? It was too holy to utter. Jesus walked in and used that name and said, "I am." And that name was blasphemous for any man to utter on this earth. Therefore, the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but He knew who He was.
Finally, let us look briefly at the covenant God drew up with Abraham's other seed, the earthly seed. The covenant for the faith seed was the covenant of Abraham which you enter into by faith. But the covenant that God drew up for the natural seed is the Law. The Law was never designed for believers; rather, it was designed to expose their problem and turn them on to faith with the Abrahamic covenant. The law was a temporary covenant. The law was added until the seed should come to whom the promise was made. That seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, so, the law was added only until Jesus came. Once Jesus came and ratified the covenant for all mankind the law was done away with once and for all. In other words, once a man entered into the Abrahamic covenant, he was free from the law.
This was true even in the Old Testament. An example of this is David. He walked in faith after God's own heart. In fact, at times, he desecrated the law. At the shewbread, he opened up the curtains and said, "Everybody come in and look at the ark!" "We can't do that!" "Sure you can!" This can be done because we have transcended one law and gone to another higher law. The Mosaic law was a temporary covenant, but the Abrahamic covenant was an eternal covenant. The temporary covenant can never override the eternal covenant, but the eternal covenant can override the temporary one. Furthermore, once you used the temporary covenant and found out that you were a sinner, then the temporary covenant pointed you to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Law was our schoolmaster to instruct us to Christ. Then once we came to Christ, we were no longer under the schoolmaster.
Copyright 2003 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
Reproduction of this material in whole or part in any format without written permission is prohibited.
All Rights Reserved.