Seed Part 4

Now for the exciting conclusion....

Let’s review what we know about the seed.  First, the seed is born of a woman and will crush the head of Satan.  Second, the seed will be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the rest of the nations will be blessed because of him.  Finally, the seed will be a descendant of David, but not Solomon and will sit on the throne over a kingdom forever. 

This seems like a tall order for anyone or anything to fill.  Let’s see what the Bible has to say Galatians 3:14, 16, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith…Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to man, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.”  

Who is the seed?

Let’s list the prophecy of the seed he fulfilled.  Came from a women and not a man?  Matthew 1:20; Check.  Was bruised on the heal, but crushed the head of Satan?  Luke 24:39; 46-47, Check.  Born of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, but not Solomon?  Luke 3: 31, 34; Check.  Reign on a throne over a kingdom forever?  Hebrews 10: 12-13, Revelation 22:3-5; Check. 

Who can’t love this book?  It is a seamless story of from the very beginning of time on earth God had you and I in mind.  Even though we cannot “name and claim” the covenants of promise, we still are the beneficiaries of God’s redemptive plan.  This is the mystery, that God would use promises fulfilled to Israel for the salvation of this Gentile.  I marvel at my salvation which was planned since Adam, that I can live by faith through grace in God’s Son Jesus Christ who became sin so that I could become righteous.  Amazing, Romans 3:21-22, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.” 

Seed part 3

Let’s look at another covenant from the Old Testament (do you feel yourself getting smarter?  You didn’t even know what a covenant was a few days ago!).  Look at 2 Samuel 7: 12,16, “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom…And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”  Now, God was of course referring to Solomon, in the immediate prophecy.  However, God likes to provide a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and a future fulfillment. 

If this seed is referring just to Solomon then why would God repeat this promise to Solomon I Kings 9:4-7, “And as for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity …then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David…But if you or your sons shall indeed turn away from following Me…then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated…”  If you check out your Bible here, God does not use the word seed with Solomon, God uses the more immediate term of sons. 

Solomon of course did not walk before God as David did I Kings 11: 11, “So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you , and will give it to your servant…”  Solomon did not keep the conditions of this covenant and because of that would not enjoy the promises of God.    

God promised David a seed, who would sit on the throne of his kingdom forever.  This seed would come from David’s house, but not Solomon’s.  If you are like me, it seems that God is setting himself up for a promise that is impossible to complete. 

So what do you know now about the seed?

We will finish studying the seed next time, thanks for sticking with it. 

Seed Part 2

The next offering of the seed that I want to talk about is a few chapters ahead in Genesis.  This is where God is making a promise (covenant with Abraham).  Before I go into this too much further I feel like I need to give you a little background about the word covenant in the Old Testament.  We are not that familiar with this term because God makes his covenants with his “chosen people,” Israel. This is not to say that others can’t make covenants, but when God makes them, he makes them with Israel and they usually involve several distinct elements. 

First, a covenant made with God involved a promise by God to do something.  In this case in Genesis 15: 4-5, “Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”  And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”  And He said to him, “So shall your seed (descendants) be.”  God has promised Abraham a seed and descendants, God also promised a specific piece of land and in Genesis 12:3, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

Second, sometimes a covenant would require an action by the receiving party.  For instance God may say, “If you do this…then I will do this…”  Or God may just say this is what I am going to do.  With the Israelites and Moses, God said, “If you keep my commands, then I will bless you, if you don’t keep my commands, you will experience curses,” (Deuteronomy 28:13-15).  So Israel agreed with this condition from God Exodus 24: 7, “Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient!”  If you are wondering how that went check out Exodus 32. 

Other parts of a covenant is blood or some sacrifice (Genesis 15:9-17 and Exodus 24:8), a sign like circumcision (Genesis 17:9-11), and a meal (Exodus 24:11).  So when you are studying the Old Testament and you see God making a promise look to see who it is with, whether it is conditional or not and if any other of these elements are involved. 

OK, back to the word seed.  I hope you noticed it in Genesis 15 above.  God was going to establish a nation and Abraham would be its founder.  This nation would have a land, it would have people (descendants), and it would have a seed.  God repeated this promise with Isaac (Genesis 26:4) and with Jacob (Genesis 28: 13-14). 

So to review, we know that this seed which God first spoke of in Genesis 3 is the product of a woman, and is from the lineage of Abraham, and that all the nations on the earth will be blessed by it.  Let’s see what more we can discover about the seed next time.

The Seed

Most of the prophecy in the Bible has to do with this one simple word, Seed.  Seed comes up over and over and over again in the Old Testament and was even part of the first prophecy.  So in an effort to understand where we have come from and what we are going to I thought it would be appropriate to look at this word seed.  The first time this word seed comes up is in the garden, just after God finds out that Adam and Eve have sinned, he is talking about the consequences for the serpent and the woman.  Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall crush you on the head, and you (Satan) shall bruise him on the heel.”    

Seed is not plural and in the Hebrew most agree that the word seed here refers to offspring or progeny.  As we look back over tens of thousands of years we can see what Adam and Eve may not have been able to see at the time.  This seed or this offspring was a product of whom? 

Look back at the verse, this seed would be an offspring of the woman.  God does not say “And between your seed and their seed.”  No, He says “And between your seed and her seed.”  I know the basics of Biology 101 and I know enough to know that it takes more than just a woman to make an offspring……except for one unique case….can anyone think of it? 

Yes, Jesus.  Jesus was the offspring of Mary and the Holy Spirit; just this one time in history could SHE have an offspring without a HE.  This verse is not only pointing to Jesus and the Virgin birth, but it is also pointing to the crucifixion.  What will Satan do to “the woman’s offspring?”

What will her offspring do to Satan?

The idea of a crucifixion was not even thought of until the Romans came on the scene, yet God is predicting that the solution for man’s sin will be a seed, which will come from a woman, who will be bruised on the heel.  The good news of course is that this will crush Satan.  Now, just as the seed did not enter the scene for many years, Satan has not been completely crushed yet.  Yes, the cross was a blow to Satan, but he is still our active enemy, it will not be until Christ returns again that Satan will finally be crushed.         

Aspects of Salvation Part 2

We are continuing to look at a list of what is offered to us through our salvation.  So many people think our only benefit is heaven (which is a great benefit, don’t get me wrong).  However, it is just one on a very long list.  Maybe if people knew all they were missing out on rather than focusing on all they are giving up there wouldn’t be so many people that would put their decision about salvation off until they are on their death bed. 

7.  We are reconciled.  First, the word reconciled means to be put in a right relationship, it also implies that a wrong was done and forgiven.  Read 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”  Wow, these are powerful verses on many levels and one day I may expound on them, but first God reconciled us to himself through Christ by healing our sin problem by no longer counting our sins against us.  God does not want to hold your sin against you, His solution is Christ.  We can be ambassadors of this message of reconciliation to the world.  Most people think God is some sort of evil judge who is just waiting for you to step out of line so he can whack you over the head, and then laugh heartily when you fall.  This could not be further from the truth, God does not want to count your sin against you and even more, he wants you to tell others that as well.  

8.  We are glorified.  Romans 8:18-19, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”  There will come a time when we will meet our full potential and shed this body of flesh that holds us back.  I can’t wait for this future hope.

9.  We are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ.  Baptized here means identified, the Holy Spirit is our identification, help, and promise for our salvation.  1 Corinthians 12:13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”  Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”  God does not leave us to stumble and bumble and wonder about who we are in Christ, He gives us the Holy Spirit which identifies us as part of the Body of Christ. 

10.  We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  There is much power when we understand how the Holy Spirit can transform our life.  As modern Christians I believe we have failed in understanding this aspect of our salvation.  When you understand the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, you begin to live a life that is so far above your earthly potential.  Read Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory.” 

11.  We have eternal life with Him.  Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  This is the very basic of all the aspects of our salvation and the part that is usually emphasized during a message on salvation so I don’t feel the need to expound on this one, except to say that we must not forget that we deserved death, but God gave us eternal life when we trusted in Jesus. 

12.  We are new creatures.  Look at all the aspects of salvation I have shared, trust me there are more.  If this list does not convince you that we are new creatures, then maybe this verse will.  2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  You don’t need to be a victim to your sin nature, you have the tools to live, act and think differently.  I love the story Laurie shared; she and her sister were canoeing down a river when the canoe tipped over her sister was thrashing around afraid she might drown.  Laurie yelled, put your feet down and stood up so her sister could see the water was only up to her knees.  If you are thrashing around, helpless to your own sin I am here to tell you, put your feet down, sin has no power over you.  Romans 6: 11-14, “So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments  to be used for unrighteousness,  but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments  to be used for righteousness.  For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.”  Let’s stop fooling ourselves, when you sin it is your choice, you have all the power and the tools to make another choice.  Find out what that means, meditate on each on the previous points until you can live in the victory that is yours in Christ.

So what should our response be to these great gifts?  First, you should know them, believe them and then use them.  However, another important response would be to share them, read 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making this appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf:  Be reconciled to God.”  Go and be Christ’s ambassador, be His hands, His feet, His mouth.  Not in your own strength, but in the power that you have through your salvation. 

Aspects of your Salvation part 1

The reason I chose this topic is first of all many dear Christ followers have trusted in Jesus for their eternal life, but don’t know all the gifts that have been given to them.  Your salvation comes with so much more than eternal life, wouldn’t it be great to actually know what it is.  This makes me think of a gentleman who was given an iphone for his birthday by his grandson.  He was very appreciative, and the grandson was sure he had given his grandpa a great gift.  Later, with his checkers' pal, his buddy asked if he knew the time.  And the grandpa reached into his pocket and took out the iphone and said, “Yeah my grandson just gave me this new pocket watch, it is 3:15.”  Many of us see our salvation as an insurance policy for heaven and not very useful now.  Well, I am going to tell you how to make the most of this gift.   

My friend Laurie taught this lesson to start our Bible study this year and I asked her permission to use it in this blog.  I am going to list 12 aspects of our salvation, there are many more.  I challenge you to dig into Paul’s writings and come up with some of your favorites.  Please let me know what I have missed. 

1.  We have imputed righteousness, now this is basically a banking term.  Think of your life as a large ledger with the good (deposits) listed in the ‘plus’ column and the bad (withdrawals) listed in the ‘minus’ column.  First, we know we all have made at least one withdrawal (Romans 3:23) and because of this none are good enough to go to heaven (Romans 3:10 and 6:23).  Well, Christ’s ledger was all deposit’s, no withdrawals (Romans 5:19) and on the cross he basically traded.  He gave us his perfect deposit sheet and we gave him our withdrawals, so that now when God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Christ, pure perfection.  Romans 3:22, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

2.  We have justification, if you don’t know what that is please look at my previous blog, Justification vs. Sanctification.  Basically, this is another part of righteousness, God sees us as if we never sinned.  Romans 3:24, “[We] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

3.  We are transferred.  We were in the kingdom of darkness, dominated by sin, but we are taken from this place, and transferred to the kingdom of light.  Colossians 1:13, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”

4.  We are redeemed.  Redeemed is another banking term meaning purchased or bought.  Christ’s blood bought our souls back from the kingdom of darkness and our former master, the prince of the power of the air (Satan) (Ephesians 2:1-2).  Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” 

5.  We are forgiven.  The record of our sin does not stand against us, it is forgotten through Jesus’ blood.  Colossians 2:13-14, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”  Isn’t it is crazy, holy God is able to forgive and even forget, but we won’t allow ourselves to live in that freedom.  We are constantly punishing ourselves for all our wrong rather than living knowing it has all been forgiven.    

6.  We are crucified and raised from the dead.  This is an important truth that gives us the power to resist sin.  If you are trapped in a sinful situation and feel hopeless to rise above, I would encourage you to read and reread the truths that are stored in Romans 6, if you understand these truths you will understand all the power you have through Christ to overcome.  Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”  Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  Galatians 2:20 is also a great verse to look at.

I will cover the last 6 next time.  Meditate on these and think of how they should change the way you will live this life.  Are you like the gentleman who got an iphone and used it as a pocket watch or are you going to understand what your salvation really offers you and use it as it was intended?