Weekly Pursuit – Week 3 of Feb.
Verses:
Gen. 15:4-5 “But then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who will come out from your own body shall be your heir. And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be.”
Ministry Reading:
The seed needed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose could not be anything Abraham already possessed (Eliezer—Gen. 15:2) or could produce out of himself (Ishmael—16:15). Only that which God worked into Abraham could bring forth from Abraham the required seed. Likewise, only what God works into us through His grace can bring forth Christ as the seed to fulfill God’s purpose. (Gen. 15:4, footnote 1)
The seed that was needed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose had to be what God promised to work out through Abraham. It had to be something that God worked into him so that he might bring it forth (Gen. 15:4-5)….If you pray and read Genesis 15 and Galatians 3, you will see that the seed is Christ Himself.
In order to fulfill God’s purpose we must have Christ wrought into us. This is why Paul told us that Christ was revealed into him (Gal. 1:15-16), that Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20), that Christ was formed in him (Gal. 4:19), and that for him to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21). Paul lived Christ. When he was Saul of Tarsus, he passed through a Jewish Damascus, gaining many things. All that he acquired during that time was just an Eliezer. The Lord told Paul that he had to forget all of those things—they were dung, garbage, dog food—and to cast them aside. None of the things that Paul had could bring forth Christ. Only that which God worked into his being could bring forth Christ. The Lord seemed to tell Paul, “The things that you had from your religious background can never bring forth Christ. Only what I am working into you will bring forth Christ. What I am working into you is My grace.” Eventually, Paul could say, “By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me” (1Cor. 15:10). (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 44)