Genesis 17:7 ¶
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee,
and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will
give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a
stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be
their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham,
Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their
generations. 10 This is my covenant,
which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man
child among you shall be circumcised. 11
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a
token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man
child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money
of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must
needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting
covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man
child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut
off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
PART TWO In Christ, God
erased the difference between Jew and non-Jew, called Gentiles or Greeks in the
Bible, and made one new person in the church, the body of Christ. Both in this
one new man are reconciled to God by the Cross at Calvary.
Ephesians
2:11 ¶ Wherefore remember, that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 ¶
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us; 15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making
peace; 16 And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; 20 And are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
As the sign of the
Jews, which the Hebrews became to be called, receiving this covenant they
accepted circumcision. In like manner the receiving of God’s promise of
reconciliation for the church is being born
again by the Spirit and having God the Father, the Son of God, and the Holy
Ghost indwelling man by the Spirit of God. It is the proof and the deposit on
our eternal inheritance. If you are not born again you have no part in it no
matter what your philosophy.
Ephesians
1:10 That in the dispensation of the
fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will: 12
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in
Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.
Notice then the
similarity between the God putting Abraham to sleep and making the deal with
Himself and the Cross and the Empty Tomb whereby salvation was delivered with
man playing no part. The proof of the receipt was Abraham accepting
circumcision in the flesh and the Christian receiving the Holy Spirit by being
born again in which a spiritual circumcision is performed by God where the sins
of the flesh do not affect the destiny of the soul.
Colossians
2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins
of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Where the Jews
were concerned their signs were physical. The church bears spiritual, invisible
marks.
Baptism is a
symbol, a type, representing, not circumcision but Christ’s burial and
resurrection, a symbol acting out the gospel.
As there are two
circumcisions; one physical for the Jew and one spiritual for the church, there
are two baptisms; one of national confession of sin and repentance for the Jews
and one for symbolizing Christ’s burial and resurrection for the Christian as
stated in the passage above from Colossians 2.
Baptism
as a public confession and repentance of sin for the Jews is shown here;
Matthew
3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and
all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Notice here in
Acts where the Jews engaged in public baptism for the sin of murdering their
Messiah and then received the Holy Spirit.
Acts
2:36 Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ.37 ¶ Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then, when
Gentiles are embraced the action is reversed and the Holy Ghost is received
before baptism.
Acts
10:47 Can any man forbid water, that
these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
So, two
circumcisions, one Jewish (Hebrew) and one Christian. Two baptisms, one Jewish
and one Christian, both signifying different agreements.
The promise of the
land is an everlasting covenant for
an everlasting possession. The
promise of eternal life is an everlasting inheritance, as well, for the Jewish
and Gentile believer in Christ.
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God has given
Abraham title to a land he does not currently possess, but his descendants will,
in part, and the promise will be fulfilled completely when Christ returns to
take physical control of the kingdoms of the world.
Revelation
11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever
and ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment