Abraham's Blessing

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Thursday April 10, 2008

Galatians 3:11-13 (NIV)
11. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12. The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."
13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Christ redeemed us from the CURSE OF THE LAW! In other words, God has saved us from the consequences of breaking the law! Those consequences, according to Deuteronomy 28, include sickness, poverty, oppression, and hopelessness. We are REDEEMED from those things!

Galatians 3:14 (NIV)
14. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Christ redeemed us from the curse in order that we may receive the BLESSING given to Abraham! What blessing is that?

Genesis 12:2,3 (NIV)
2. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

In verse 2, the word translated "a blessing" is (Romanized) "brakah". It means "prosperous"! In other words, we "will BE a blessing" because we will be so blessed ourselves! Christians are a BLESSED PEOPLE!

Back to Galatians 3:

Galatians 3:15-18 (NIV)
15. Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to HIS SEED. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

The promises were spoken to Abraham's seed, and that seed is identified as being Christ! Why is that so great? Well, let's cheat and go forward to verses 26-29 for the answer:

Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV)
26. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27. for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. If you belong to Christ, then YOU ARE Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Isn't that EXCITING???? We (believers) are all ONE IN CHRIST! WE BELONG TO CHRIST, SO WE ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED, and heirs of the blessing, according to God's own promise!!

It's sometimes amazing to look at yourself through God's eyes. But the TRUTH is, when God the Father looks at you, He DOES SEE JESUS! The word "seed" is SINGULAR, and Christ is identified as the seed of Abraham. THEN WE ARE ALSO IDENTIFIED AS THE SEED OF ABRAHAM; WE ARE the BODY OF CHRIST!

This blessing we have received CANNOT BE EARNED. It was given as a PROMISE!

Galatians 3:17,18 (NIV)
17. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

We, the seed of Abraham, have been given the PROMISE of Abraham. According to Galatians 3:14, the blessing given to Abraham is OURS through FAITH! You can therefore truthfully make the following statement:

"The LORD has blessed me, and I am a blessing! God blesses those who bless me, and whoever curses me, God curses. All the peoples on earth are blessed through me."

GRAB ONTO IT; because according to the Bible, that blessing belongs to YOU! According to the Bible, YOU are a "joint heir" with Christ! That means YOU have the same right to the blessing of Abraham that Jesus Christ Himself does!! YOU are part of the seed of Abraham, and an heir according to the promise of God!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your life-giving Word. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ to save me by His work at the cross. Thank You for making me a joint heir with Christ, even though I could never do anything to deserve such a thing. Help me remember to respect my brothers and sisters in Christ, since when I talk to them or about them, I am talking to Christ or about Christ.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the Daily Word Archives at:
http://www.jimseekamp.com

To subscribe to the Daily Word, send an email with the subject "SUBSCRIBE" to mailto:dailyword@jimseekamp.com

If you wish to unsubscribe, please send an email with the subject "UNSUBSCRIBE" to mailto:dailyword@jimseekamp.com

To have Jim Seekamp speak at your church or group meeting, email him at: jimseekamp@jimseekamp.com