Oh! that's His eternal purpose. Yes, God made a valid offer to
the Nation of Israel. He wasn't playing games with them, those were
valid offers that He made the nation. Even when they could have gone
into the promised land of milk and honey at Kadesh Barnea. God told them
to go in and take the land and I'll drive the Canaanites out with
hornets. The land is laying there ready it was in production, all you
have to do is take it over. I'll drive them out slow so that the weeds
won't take over before you get there. Israel didn't do it. But was it a
valid offer? Absolutely they could have, but what did God know? That
they wouldn't.So it was after Jesus' crucifixion God knew before hand
that Israel would in effect turn its back towards Him again.
So
the whole divine purpose of the 40 years of wilderness wondering was
all in the divine plan. But it wasn't because God didn't give them a
valid offer. And that's what we use as our argument, that when Christ
came and presented Himself as the King of Israel it was a valid offer.
He came to His own for what purposes? To be their Redeemer, kinsmen, and
King! But as a valid offer the Nation of Israel rejected it, and that
fulfilled the eternal purposes, and that was, "Salvation to the
whole human race, without Israel, without the Law, without the Temple,
without proselytizing, it was salvation by faith and faith alone."
Glorious? Man we think it's something that we should be more excited
about. People get more worked up over a music idol or football or
basketball game than they do the things of God and their eternal Life.
You
know we're sort of in the middle. We don't go along with wild
emotionalism, but we also don't go along with this staid religionism
either. If anybody has a reason to be happy and joyful we think it's the
believer. But on the other hand we have to do that which is in order.
Now back to Galatians chapter 3, and let's look at verse 14 again. We
hope that we're making a difference. Now remember Christ became a curse,
hung on a stake, as it were, like Deuteronomy's wayward rebel son. All
of that for this.
Galatians 3:14
"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; (and for what purpose?) that we (as Gentiles) might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." So
all the purposes of God are coming to fruition in this glorious Age of
Grace. In this age God is giving of His Spirit to all who come to
conversion through repentance as promised in Isaiah. Not only do we not
have to keep the Mosaic Law, but as a result of our salvation
experience, God gives us something 10,000 times better than the Ten
Commandments and what is it? The Holy Spirit, God's greatest Gift! The
Holy Spirit becomes our guideline, not the Ten Commandments. So when we
say we're not under the Law, that doesn't mean that you chuck the fact
that it's wrong to kill and steal, because the Holy Spirit is going to
show us that, and that's the whole difference ballgame. In fact come
back for a moment to Romans chapter 7, and this says it so beautifully.
Romans chapter 7:6
"But now (Paul lays it out how it has been, and then he uses the flip side, but now) we are delivered from the law, (as Grace Age receivers) that being dead (spiritually separated from God) wherein we were held (now
this is a two edged sword because one was under the yoke of religion in
the force of the Law and the other was also religion under Satan's
rule); that we should serve in newness of spirit,
(What's the newness of the spirit? The Holy Spirit that guides and
directs us, and remember the Holy Spirit never instructs someone to do
something that is contrary to God's Law or His divine Will. The Holy
Spirit will never tell someone to go commit adultery, or steal, or kill,
or covet, or do anything wrong) and not in the oldness of the letter." The
oldness of the letter is the Law. We're no longer under the Law, but
rather Grace, and the Holy Spirit takes the place of the Law. With His
aid we become partakers of all the requirements of God's divine and Holy
Law. Now back to our text in Galatians.
Galatians 3:14a
"That the blessing of Abraham..." Has
there ever been a man more blessed than Abraham? We doubt it, unless it
would be the Apostle Paul, but you see the Apostle Paul didn't get
through it as easy as Abraham did. Paul suffered so much just like the
scriptures says he would. He suffered so, for the sake of the Gospel to
get it out to the ends of the Roman Empire. What a lesson, when we see
all the immoral remains of that Roman Empire, and to think that that man
was in the midst of it constantly, and yet never letting it turn his
mind aside, he just preached the Gospel of the crucified and resurrected
Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. We're also required to suffer as
this is the Way of Christ. This is quite a revelation believe it. Now
finishing verse 14.
Galatians 3:14
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit (how?) through faith." Without
any works of the Law, that's a Gift of God that was all part and parcel
of that whole plan of redemption. That yes, we have eternal salvation,
but we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit and the sufferings required.
For what purpose? For the development of our Obedience.
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