Let's Get Physical
And I will put enmity between youand
the woman, and between your seedand her
Seed; He shall bruise yourhead, and you
shall bruise His heel..."The
Prophet Moses
The world was in chaos with mankind alienated
from God. Satan was loose in the earth.
His seed was planted in the thoughts of
man to carry out his unfruitful . works
of darkness. The curse affected man's identity
with God; spiritually, mentally, emotionally,
physically and socially. Mass confusion
and helplessness ruled man's heart. The
thoughts of Satan were free to bring emotional
disorder into the lives of everyone. Man
fell victim to the works of the flesh: envy,
murder, greed, idolatry and sexual immorality,
because of their own fearful, unbelieving
heart. Man had lost his crown. Instead of
ruling the earth in glory and honor, he
ruled from fear and lack. He lost his sense
of identity and the ability to reign in
righteousness. The garden life of love,
peace and joy was nowhere to be found. A
sense of wholeness was now missing!
Early civilization suffered from being
enslaved to physical cravings, which drove
lives deeper into sin. Their conscience
could no longer hear the voice of God because
of the fall. They were defiled imaginations
of their own heart. Society spiraled downward
as "... the LORD observed the extent
of the people's wickedness, and he saw that
all their thoughts were consistently and
totally evil" (Genesis 6:5 NLT).
God determined to destroy the earth with
the flood, and mankind's only hope was to
start over with a new identity. God preserved
Noah's family, totalling eight people, and
a remnant of all living things to repopulate
the earth. God established a new covenant
with Noah and all mankind (Genesis 9:13-17).
After the flood, Noah's sons and daughters
became heirs of righteousness, but soon
mankind again sought a righteousness separate
from God. They said, "Come let us build
ourselves a city, and a tower whose top
is in the heavens; let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over
the face of the whole earth" (Genesis
11:4). The Lord scattered them, not allowing
their construction of an independent lifestyle.
Do you have a sense of need that cannot
be filled by independent means?
THE CALL
In the garden, man's body was created to
be God's spiritual and physical temple.
Our fingerprints and DNA are individually
unique. We are made up of spirit, soul and
body. Our cells are divided into three parts
too: nucleous, cytoplasm and cell membrane.
Our temple is made up of trillions of cells,
which are the basic units of structure and
function of all living things [See Diagram
#3]. The Psalmist says we are "...
fearfully and wonderfully made" (139:14).
As His temple, we praise Him, saying, "How
precious also are Your thoughts of me, 0
God! How great is the sum of them! ... Search
me, O God, and know my heart ... And see
if there is any wicked way in me"
(Psalm 139:17,23,24). In our physical bodies,
cells remove waste from the body and deliver
life giving nutrients, causing a natural
healing process. Spiritually, God has called
us to be holy, where faith in Jesus removes
sin, guilt and condemnation, and brings
righteousness, peace and joy, causing a
spiritual healing process.
Immediately after the fall, God promised
to restore His seed in the earth in order
to overcome the seed of the serpent (Genesis
3:15). The seed of the woman would restore
man's identity. This idea: "seed of
the woman", is only used in this verse
and is believed to indicate a virgin birth.
It is the promise of a Messiah who would
save mankind. Centuries later, after the
flood, the Lord looked for someone whose
identity He could change. He revealed Himself
to Abraham, who He knew had a faithful heart
to receive (Romans 4:16). The Lord said,
"Get out of your country, from
your family and from your father's house,
to a land that I will show you. I will make
you a great nation; I will bless you and
make your name great; and you shall be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and I will curse him who curses you; and
in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed" (Genesis 12:1,2).
This word from God was a seed planted into
Abraham's heart. It would not return void,
but would accomplish what God had promised
(Isaiah 55:11). Abraham's family would become
a great nation. His name would become great.
Those nations who have blessed Israel have
been blessed, but those who have cursed
Israel have been cursed. The seed of Abraham
is meant to be a blessing of righteousness
to the world!
Restoration would come by Abraham leaving
his past and walking by faith. The Lord
was taking him from all that was familiar.
"He went without knowing where
he was going. And even when he reached the
land God promised him, he lived there by
faith--for he was like a foreigner"
(Hebrews 11:8b, 9a NLT). God was now holding
out his hand to form a new relationship
with Abraham. He was extending his grace
and desiring peace. He had never given up
on mankind, but had continued to love His
creation. He longed for the intimacy He
once had with Adam and Eve, walking in the
garden, supplying their every need. He longed
to carry out His divine plan for His children,
but He knew it would take more than changing
locations. Abraham's heart would have to
change! Perhaps you need to leave the familiar,
in search for a new identity through a changed
heart?
Abraham was God's man to bring righteousness
and holiness back into the world. In Genesis
15, Abraham had a vision from God where
He said, "Look now toward heaven,
and count the stars if you are able to number
them ... So shall your descendants [seed]
be.' And he believed in the LORD, and He
accounted it to him for righteousness"
(vs. 5, 6). It is faith in God that saves
the sinner from sin (John 12:11). Abraham
was not saved by his good deeds, but by
faith. He was not saved because of righteous
living, but by believing in God he was declared
righteous. Abraham did ask the Lord, "...how
shall I know that I will inherit It?"
(Genesis 15:8). The Lord then entered into
a blood covenant with Abraham as a sign
of His promise of righteousness (Romans
4:11,12).
The promise of God was about to change
Abraham's identity. His reality would change
not only physically, but spiritually. The
promise of an invisible God would become
visible through-His seed. But Abraham would
have to view himself as God saw him, focusing
on and trusting in the promise of God, regardless
of circumstances. He was being called to
leave behind the bondage of idolatry and
the ritualism of his forefathers. He would
have to walk solely by faith in God, believing
in his heart and not by his own physical
limitations. "Abraham did this
because he was confidently looking forward
to a city with eternal foundations, a city
designed and built of God" (Hebrews
11:10 NLT). He was looking for the Holy
City of God.
Like a Christian's life, Abraham's was
a journey that led to life at its best.
Abraham's success depended upon his identity
in God, who he was by faith and what he
had by promise, in order for him to realize
what he could do through his God given potential.
To face the obstacles ahead, he needed to
know who he was in relationship to God.
So the Lord introduced Himself personally
to Abraham, saying, "I am
God Almighty [El Shaddai, the all Sufficient
One], serve me faithfully and live a
blameless life. I will make a covenant with
you by which I will guarantee to make you
into a mighty nation" (Genesis
17:1,2 NLT). Abraham needed not only to
believe in who he was, but to believe in
who God was: The One who could fulfill His
promise. This faith was passed on to the
seed of Abraham. the Israelites, the offspring
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [Israel], who
had this faith "...were looking
for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
That is why God is not ashamed to be called
their God, for he has prepared a heavenly
city for them" (Hebrews 11:16
NLT). El Shaddai [God Almighty] was there
for them to produce a holy nation. Do you
realize that God is there for you too?
THE PURPOSE
God's purpose was to change the identity
of Abraham, and in so doing, He would change
the identity of his seed. Gad gave him a
new name that confirmed the covenant promise.
Gad wanted Abraham to fully realize His
plan and future whereby all the nations
of the world would be blessed. He changed
Abram's name, meaning "exalted father,"
to Abraham, meaning "exalted father
of many." Abraham and his family took
an a new identity as His chosen people,
set apart far a relationship with Gad. El
Shaddai said, "...I will establish
my covenant between Me and you and your
descendants [seed] after you in
their generations, for an everlasting covenant,
to be God to you and your descendants [seed]
after you" (Genesis 17:7). God's
plan was to bring man to righteousness through
the promised seed. "Now to Abraham
and his Seed were the promises made. He
does not say, 'and to seeds,' as of many,
but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is
Christ" (Galatians 3:16 NKJV).
The seed of the woman, Mary, would came
as promised and crush the serpent's head.
Luke records: "God sent the angel
Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
to a virgin named Mary... and said 'Greetings,
favored woman! The Lord is with you! ...
God has decided to bless you! You will become
pregnant and have a son, and you are to
name him Jesus [Yeshua; meaning: our
Lard Who Saves] ... The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you ... he will
be called the Son of God'" (1:26-35
NLT). Mary responded in faith, saying, "Nothing
is impossible with God" (1:37
NLT). She was the daughter of Heli of the
genealogy of Abraham (Luke 3:23-38). She
was the physical seed of both Adam and Abraham,
and gave birth to the promised Messiah,
directly from heaven.
We cannot know the biological process that
brought about the conception of Jesus. We
do know that the chromosomes supplied by
the father are those that produce certain
characteristics of a person's identity.
The seed of a father determine the sex of
the baby, far example. It also is responsible
far the production of blood in the new life.
Blood types of a child are determined by
its father.
Jesus was the son of man through Mary.
He was a descendant of Adam and a direct
descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He was also a direct descendant of David.
He was completely human. Jesus was also
the San of Gad. The righteous Seed of God
would restore the identity Adam had last
in the garden. The blood of Gad the Father
would provide the seed of righteousness
that no other blood could provide. The blood
of Jesus would pay the price to restore
mankind back into right standing with Gad
far eternity. The Apostle John records,
"But as many as receive Him, to,
them He gave the right to become children
of God, to those who believe in His name:
Who were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God" (John 1:12,13).
Mary believed in God's greater purpose
far her life. She replied to Gad saying,
"Behold the maidservant of the Lord!
Let it be to me according to your word"
(Luke 1:38). In contrast, Abraham and his
wife laughed when promised the seed in their
old age, but Mary immediately received God's
Ward. _ John records, "And the
Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled]
among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace [ability] and truth"
(John 1:14). Have you received the promised
Seed by faith, so you will be "...able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power
of God that works in us" (Ephesians
3:20)?
There are no limits on what Gad can do.
We can expect Gad to do what He has promised
to do. Paul reminds us, "If we
are faithful, he remains faithful, for he
cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy
2:13 NLT), and "...it is impossible
for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18
NLT). We may question Gad at times, just
as Abraham did, but we can trust that all
things are possible with Gad. El Shaddai
asked Abraham, "is anything too
hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14
NLT). We can trust Gad to bring us through
the challenges that lay before us in life.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge is always to either walk
in the ability of the flesh, relying in
the external things, or to walk by faith,
relying on the internal Spirit of God's
ability. Abraham and Sarah were continually
being challenged in their conscience to
believe in the voice of God or in their
own fleshy voice. They waited ten years
for the promised seed, and they thought
that was too long. They became impatient,
so Sarah told Abraham, "Go and
sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have
children through her" (Genesis
16:2). As a result, her servant Hagar gave
birth to Ishmael, who became the father
of a fleshy nation, that has been a thorn
in Israel's side to this day.
The flesh will always challenge us. Sarah's
thoughts produced a worldly seed that brought
forth the works of the flesh. She failed
to believe the promise that made it possible
for her to bring forth the promised seed.
Sarah was promised a child, but El Shaddai
would have to change her identity too. Her
name was changed from Sarai to Sarah. "Sarai'
comes from the Hebrew verb, "sarah",
meaning "to persist", "to
exert oneself", or "to persevere."
It could also be translated "to contend."
As "Sarai" changes from one who
was a contender for the place of prominence
in the family, to the one who receives God's
promise -- her name is changed to Sarah;
meaning "princess" [from the Hebrew
word "sarar" meaning "to
rule" ]. God said to Abraham, "...
I will 1 bless her and give you a son from
her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she
will become the mother of many nations.
Kings will become among her descendants!"
(Genesis 17:16 NLT). Sarah gave birth to
Isaac, who by faith blessed his son Jacob,
the father of the twelve tribes. Jesus was
the descendant [righteous seed] of the tribe
of Judah, who is one of the twelve sons
of Jacob [Israel] (Genesis 49:8-12).
The Lord challenged Abraham to take his
only son Isaac to the vicinity of Mt. Moriah
to be sacrificed on a mountain there, as
a test of faith. "Abraham assumed
that if Isaac died. God was able to bring
him back to life again" (Hebrews
11:19a). He was showing Abraham that it
was more than an external sacrifice, that
provision comes by faith in Him. Abraham
had his knife raised in the air when the
Lord stopped him. The Lord then provided
a ram to take Isaac's place for the sacrifice
(Genesis 22). The Lord became their Provider,
"Jehovah-Jireh." In like manner,
Jesus became our Provider by taking our
place as the sacrifice for sin. Provision
comes forth as we plant a seed of faith,
not by our good works. A seed of faith is
planted when we come to know who God is,
and who we are as a result of faith in Him.
Our destiny comes forth as we realize our
identity of righteousness in the cross of
Christ.
Scriptures record that in the early church
years some of the Jews were challenging
the Gentile converts. These Jews taught
that faith in Jesus Christ was not enough
for salvation, but that one needed to add
to it fleshly works. They taught it was
necessary to follow the Law of Moses and
to be circumcised. Their cry seemed to be
"Let's get physical!" In Acts
15, an argument arose when Peter asked,
"...why do you test God by putting
a yoke on the neck of the disciples which
neither our fathers nor we were able to
bear?" (15:10). In Paul's letter
to the Philippians, he warned: "Watch
out for those dogs, those wicked men and
their evil deeds, those mutilators who say
you must be circumcised to be saved"
(3:2 NLT). Paul went on to say, "I
no longer count on my own goodness or my
ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ
to save me, for God's way of making us right
with himself depends on faith"
(Philippians 3:9 NLT). This false doctrine
is still prevalent in the church today.
Circumcism is not required in churches
today, but still the cry is "Let's
get physical!" The message of faith
righteousness is missing and instead salvation
through works is preached. There are denominations
that insist on being baptized or taking
the Lord's Supper in a certain way to gain
God's approval. These ordinances can be
good when put in the right perspective,
but they do not produce salvation. People
are made to feel incomplete unless they
trust in certain good works. "Salvation
is not a reward for the good things we have
done, so none of us can boast about it"
(Ephesians 2:9 NLT). It should be noted
that baptism and celebrating the Lord's
Supper is an outward expression of an inward
belief and do testify of our faith in Christ.
These times of celebration can result in
a marvelous anointing because of the physical
aspects of fellowship with God.
Religion is man's attempt to please God
outside of Christ. It places a person in
slavery to different laws or rules of conduct
to gain salvation. We see Muslims, Hindus,
Buddists and Catholics on pilgrimages practicing
asceticism to gain God's acceptance. Some
religions practice self denial by beating
themselves with whips until their backs
are raw. Others crawl on their knees for
miles to gain God's acceptance through physical
penance for their sins. We see extreme Pentecostals
handling snakes and drinking poison. These
external actions do not make a man accepted
by God. Feelings of guilt and condemnation
can only be truly dealt with through the
righteousness of God that comes only through
Christ. He is the way, the truth and the
life (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit does not
dwell in those who have forsaken the tree
of life. Religious works may cause the conscience
to feel good, but do nothing to add to our
righteousness. What do you believe qualifies
you to go to heaven?
As Christians, our belief in the finished
work of the cross of Jesus Christ brings
forth Christ's righteousness. We are free
from the slavery of religion. Christianity
works from the inside out, where the seed
of righteousness is free to manifest the
fruit of the Holy Spirit. God chose us to
manifest His Son, "For God knew
his people in advance, and he chose them
to become like his Son, so that his Son
would be the firstborn, with many brothers
and sisters" (Romans 8:29 NLT).
It is God's call and purpose for each of
us to become like His Son. We have the Seed
of God, a treasure in our temples to change
us from the inside out by grace through
faith. We are promised to do greater works
as the body of Christ, but these works will
only be done as He is manifest in our mortal
bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10,11). Won't you
place your faith in God's promised Seed,
to bring forth blessings to your life and
to the lives of others?
WHO ARE WE?
The Lord dwells in a temple made without
hands. The heavens are full of His glory.
He came to earth to dwell with Adam, Abraham
and his children, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua,
David- and Jesus. He dwells now in us who
believe. We are the temples of God. "Don't
you realize that all of you together are
the temple of God and that the Spirit of
God lives in you? ...For God's temple is
holy, and you Christians are that temple"
(1 Corinthians 3:16,17 NLT).
The Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, came
to destroy the works of the devil (1 John
3:8). He did this through His blood on the
cross. We are bought with a price. "...You
do not belong to yourself, for God bought
you with a high price. So you must honor
God with our body" (1 Corinthians
6:19,20 NLT).
God's view of things tells us that we are
individuals with a new identity and a new
name. We are to see things as He sees things
from His heavenly perspective. Jesus says,
"...I will give him a white stone,
and on the stone a new name written which
no one knows except him who receives it"
(Revelation 2:17c).
The Lord has called us out of a familiar
land, to His promised land. We are called
to be holy: "...who [God]
has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which
was given to us in Christ Jesus before time
began" (2 Timothy 1:9).
As Christians, God came to us and offered
the gift of His righteousness. We have received
Christ, but those who practice religion
are still trying to reach God by their own
good works. Their ticket to heaven has been
paid for, but they still insist on trying
to pay the price themselves. We are Christians
"...not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His
Mercy He saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit"
(Titus 3:5). It is an act of humility to
admit you cannot gain through your works,
what God has given through His own works
(Ephesians 2:10).
Like Abraham, God may be calling you to
leave a familiar religious place and go
to the land of His promise. He may be telling
you to leave the bondage of idolatry and
ritualism, which you are comfortable with,
and to move to an abundant life of faith.
God has provided the way, you need to have
faith in that way [Jesus Christ] (John 14:5,6).
The Lord has called us to a purpose driven
life. His purpose is for us "...
to be conformed to the image of His Son"
(Romans 8:29). The Apostle Paul shared that
there is another underlying purpose of our
new life in Christ. He writes, "God's
purpose was to show his wisdom in all its
rich variety to all the [demonic] rulers
and authorities in the heavenly realm...
this is his plan from all eternity, and
it has now been carried out through Christ
Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11,12
NLT). The Lord did it all to bring Satan
to his knees.
Indeed, we are the Seed of Abraham, blessed
with the righteous Seed of God: "...And
if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise"
(Galatians 3:29). We are members of the
supernatural family of God.
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