“Jesus Came To Fulfill the Promise”

Galatians 3:7-14

7) Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

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.

9)  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

10) For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

11) But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

12) And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

13) Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Preface

I

n order to benefit from all that God has done, we must accept it. Man has a fundamental problem with acceptance, primarily because of being used to operating by his human mind. As long as his focus is on who he is, he will be unable to be sensitive to the Spirit.

Main Thought

It has been explained that all promises made by God are spiritual. Why, exactly, is this word used? It is because much that God does is intangible. Because we rarely have anything to "look at," we must accept what is said by Him "by (our) faith."

Since few people really know what it means to operate "in faith," the concept remains largely "mystical," with many definitions of its meaning following it. In actuality, "to have faith" means that "I take God at His Word," period!

When we do not benefit from what God has done, it is because we fail to accept it. Generally, we fail to accept it because we are trying to understand it. Since "understanding" comes from the human mind, we are already defeated.

Too many come into salvation and spend years in the Church but remain "unenlightened" by salvation because of coming into "the faith" with knowledge of their own. If one is unable to cede this knowledge to the Lord, he will forever be seeking, but will fail ever to come to the knowledge of that for which he seeks. You see, the Lord can never allow us to "mix" that which is natural with that which is spiritual. If He did so, we would forever have a right to the glory that can belong only to Him.

In that we are human beings and deceived into believing that that "state" carries some importance, we want "education" and "breeding" to mean something to the Lord. They do not and they never will, for if He "counted" these things, some would end up with an "advantage" because of situation. Jesus came to us precisely so that the "playing field" would be "leveled" and to point out" that all men start with the same "disadvantage"—that of being born human. However, under Him, all are given the same opportunity to triumph through obedience.

We all know of Paul and his "impeccable pedigree." He came from the best and was educated with the best. Yet, even he realized that the knowledge he acquired from the Lord was superior to all else that he had gained. Paul came to accept that his greatest achievement was to become a "man of faith" and that one (whether male or female) who would simply "take God at His word" would inherit—"riches" no money or status could ever buy.

Coming to accept the significance of life the Spirit is essential to the survival of the saint of God. For so long, we have declared our "salvation" yet conducted ourselves no differently from the unredeemed around us. As the "called out ones," even our minds must be identifiable as belonging to God. We cannot exercise the same thought processes as we did before salvation. You see, the; World teaches Man to ridicule that which is different from him, be "that" a person or idea. However, the "called out" of God are to be above this, exercising, rather, blessing upon that which blesses God. After all, how could one ever err in blessing God? This is why we have the scripture in which God declares that He will, indeed, bless those who bless His people and in turn, curse those who curse them. And don't think that the "cursers" are only those who have never spoken in tongues!

We, the Church today, are the fulfillment of the type in the Old Testament. We already know", that His promise was to protect (care for, nurture, supply for) those who belonged to Him. In exchange, they were to worship, serve and be available to Him. What they were never to do was to attempt to fight their own battles. How much more then, would be expected of those who actually fulfill the promise!

The Lord has gone to the "trouble" of providing all that He has that we might be free to attend to "His" business. The biggest problem facing the Church and its members, today, is that we spend way too much time trying to "get things done" rather than accepting what He has already done.

Spending so much time on ourselves and what concerns us personally simply "fools" us into believing that we have a value that we do not possess. You see, it is God Who has already done the work! There is absolutely nothing that He has not already worked out! Because of this, we can take absolutely no credit for anything "right" that happens for us.

The "name of this game" is glory. Not ours, but the Lord's. After such a sacrifice as His, He has every right to demand that He get all that belongs to Him. Not only did He "promise," but He "made good" on that promise. No human being ever could have done that and no "human being" ever will. So, now we know exactly what it takes to please the Lord.