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The Messiah
Throughout the world the name, Abraham,
is familiar to people of many cultures.
Both Israeli and Arab recognize him as
a Patriarch and trace their ancestry to
his loins.
Christians cannot utter the name, Abraham,
without relating the events of his life to
Jesus and the Everlasting Covenant.
The Gospel was preached to Abraham
before the covenant of cirumcision, before
the Mosaic Law, before the Nation Israel,
before the Tabernacle and before the
Temple.
Gal. 3:11-14 teaches us that no one is
justified by the Law in the sight of God,
"for the just shall live by faith". Christ (Messiah)
has redeemed us from
the curse of the law, having become a curse
for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone
who hangs on a tree"), that the
blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, (Messiah
Jesus) that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith.
The Gospel is good news because the
fulfillment of the Covenant has nothing
to do with flesh and blood. The promise of
the Spirit has to do with resurrection and
the New Creation. "You He made alive,
who were dead in trespasses and sins." The dead
cannot assist in their own
resurrection.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom
of God. The Kingdom is a New-Creation inheritance.
The purpose of God in redemption and fulfillment
of His Covenants and Promises is not predicated on
genealogical, genetic fingerprints.
Mark 3:32 They said to Jesus, "Look, Your
mother and Your brothers are outside
seeking you." But He answered them saying,
"Who is My Mother, or My brothers?" He looked around
in a circle at those who
sat about Him, and said, "Here are my
mother and My brothers! For whoever
does the will of God is My brother and sister
and mother. Jesus was not denying or rejecting His
Mother, Mary or His family. Undeniably,
He was related to each one. Through His mother's
lineage He could be traced by genealogy to Abraham
through the Tribe of Judah. The Scriptures
authenticated and confirmed Him as the
Virgin-born Messiah. The Scriptures cannot
be broken.
Jesus, by Personal illustration, was teaching the
Kingdom of God to those sitting in a circle around
Him; that the Kingdom of the Messiah was not
predicated on the gene-pool. He said, whoever does
the will of God is My Family
(Co-heirs--joint- heirs)!
Jesus said, "Whoever does the will of God is My
Family!" The first order of the will of God is
defined
in simple terminology: "Of His own will He
brought us forth by the Word of Truth, that
we might be a kind of firstfruits of His
creatures." James 1:18
"Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Heb.11:6
The children of faith are the seed of Abraham
and heirs according to the promise. The Israeli people refer to Abraham as the
first Jew. His life characterizes the meaning
of the word, Jew, as defined in the New
Covenant.
Rom.2:28 Was written to former
Gentiles according to the flesh; "For he is
not a Jew which is one outwardly, nor is
that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit,
and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men
but of God." Thus removing all things pertaining to
the
Kingdom of God out of the realm of flesh and blood.
Initially, Abraham's name was, Abram,
meaning father. The Canaanites called him, The
Hebrew,
because of what he did. Hebrew means,
"one who has passed over." He crossed
over the great Euphrates River. What was so unique
about crossing a river
that Abram would be noticed enough to attach
a name or title to him?
Abram drew attention because he
had left Ur of the Chaldee, a prestigious
city, the center of knowledge and affluence,
to become a Nomadic Pilgrim. It would be interesting
to know what name or title they would have given him
had they
known. He left Ur and Haran without
knowing where he was going, his security
and destiny totally dependent on the Word
of the invisible God. Like all children of faith,
he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
Heb.11:8 "And he went out, not knowing
where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
same promise; for he waited for the City which has
Foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Here
we are taught, when he finally arrived at his
destination, the promised land, he regarded it as a
waiting place and continued to sojourn
as in a foreign country.
The vision that motivated him from earthly
citizenship to pilgrim status was not
predicated on the desire to acquire any
particular stretch of real estate. He sought,
The City that has Foundations, whose
Builder and Maker is God.
He knew his heavenly citizenship was
secured because he saw Jesus' Day and
was glad. Jehovah (Jesus), centuries before His
incarnation, revealed things pertaining to Jesus'
(Jehovah's) Day to Abraham. The tent-dwelling
pilgrim rejoiced to see: "Many will come from the
east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven." Matt.8:11
He
no doubt saw the beggar Lazarus in
his bosom, secure in the faith of Jehovah who gives
life to the dead and calls those things which do not
exist as though they did. Romans 4:17
Those who called Abram, The Hebrew,
knew what he left, saw what he did, and
named him; however they did not know
who he was.
Only the Lord, who had foreknown Abram
and predestined his destiny and identity,
knew who he was. His Kingdom identity
was hidden in Jehovah who completed him
by an addition in his birth name. He chose the fifth
letter (hei) of the Hebrew
alphabet to make him, Abraham, the father
of a multitude. It was not done by adding a prefix
or suffix, He placed the fifth letter within his
name.
On the first day of creation the Word light
is written five times; connecting Abraham's
name with the Children of Light. The key phrase
on the fifth day of creation
is: God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful
and multiply," connecting his name with the
fruitfulness of Christ in You the hope of
glory. He that is joined to the Lord is one
flesh. Resident in Abraham's loins was the Temple of
The Messiah, the promised Seed, the Matrix of the
multitude to be born into the Messianic Kingdom. 2 Cor 1:20 "For all the promises of God in
Him are yes, and in Him Amen, to the Glory
of God through us." Jesus, and Jesus alone,
is "The promised Seed" and the object of
the Abrahamic covenant. Only in Him do
we become co-heirs, joint-heirs, the good
seed of the Kingdom.
He is the corn of wheat that fell into the ground and
died that brings forth the Kingdom multitude. A corn
of wheat
replicates itself with the same in kind.
Is Christ in you?? "Both He who sanctifies
and those who are being sanctified are all
of One" (Heb.2:11)
For we are members of His (Messiah's)
Body, of His Flesh and of His Bones;
flesh that never saw corruption and bone
that was never broken.
Volumes have been written about
the product of Abraham's flesh sperm.
The Kingdom of God is not populated with
flesh and blood offspring.
Gal.3:26 For you are all sons of God
through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many
of you as were baptized (not water here)
into Christ (Messiah) have put on Christ.
Rom. 9:6 "For they are not all
Israel who are of Israel, nor are they
all children because they are the
seed of Abraham; but in Isaac your
Seed shall be called. That is, those
who are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God; but the children of promise are
counted for the seed."
The prophetic Word illustrates
the definition of 'Abraham's seed'
through the physical event, the
birth of Isaac. He is the son of the
man with whom the covenant was
made and the promises given.
He is a unique son because his
conception was totally dependent
on Divine intervention. This
confirms him to be the example
of the children of faith.
Abraham and Sarah were living, human beings; but the
reproductive part of their organism
was dead. Humanly speaking, there
is a finality about death. Death,
the absence of life, is the antithesis of
procreation.
Rom.4:19 "Not being weak in faith, he did not
consider his own body, already dead (since he was
about 100 years old) and the deadness
of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of
God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith
giving glory to God."
Although some try, when you are
dead you cannot assist in your own
resurrection. The heirs, the good seed
of the Messianic Kingdom, are totally the result of
an act of God.
You must be born (again) from
above. John 3:7
You can think positive thoughts, make
all kinds of claims, repeat scriptures,
visit shrines, purchase vials of water out
of Jordan, walk the Via Dolorosa, or say mantras
to no avail, You must have a new
identity by Divine intervention. Abram is about
to have his identity changed to Abraham, the father
of a multitude. In
Isaac the Seed shall be called, points to the pungent
truth that the promised Seed, Jesus, would be
declared to be so by resurrection. Likewise, the
co-heirs,
the children of remarkable birth, the inhabitants of
the Kingdom, would be of like kind. The suffering Body of Jesus, the Lamb of God,
on the Cross is linked by genealogy, to Abraham,
David and Adam. Heb 2:14 "In as much then as the
children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise shared in the same, that through death He might
destroy him who had the power of death, that is
the devil."
On the Cross, the Messiah, The Alpha and the Omega,
is finishing His Omega-work, that He might begin
His Alpha work, through resurrection, the New
Creation. Here all covenants and promises
consummate in Him. All types, shadows and symbols
disappear in the Substance. Genealogies sustaining
lineage come to an abrupt end. Jesus of Nazareth
will lift the Seed out of death into Resurrection.
After this no man can know Him after the flesh. He
cries, it is finished, throwing off the
bondage
of animal sacrifice, ritual and an inadequate,
earthly
priesthood. Monuments, altars and temple of stone
fade away. All distinctions vanish, Old things pass
away on Calvary. His Messianic mission accomplished. He will never validate what He has invalidated. The Body of Jesus, in resurrection, emerges,
not from but through the sealed tomb.
He is now of a different Order, the Order of
Melchizedek, without genealogy or earthly roots.
He is the First born from the dead.
"Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according
to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no
longer."
Don Murphy ©1998
The Messiah Recommend this article to a friend.
©1997-2009
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