We see in today's verses Paul’s explanation of why the law cannot be considered a path of deliverance from sin or our way to an intimate relationship with God. The promise from God to bless all nations of the world was given to Abraham 430 years before the law was given to the Israelites. Through Abraham’s loins, all the world would be blessed. From his Seed, all people who trusted in him would receive redemption from the nature of sin and the corruption of sin. Man’s inability to control his behavior, his willingness to exploit others for his own purposes, brought corruption to all mankind. This self-willed behavior is called sin and was first evident in Eve’s desire to do her own thing above God’s purpose for her life. This sin became so pronounced in mankind that God destroyed all people except for Noah and his family by a worldwide flood. Now we see Abraham called out of a society of idol worshippers to carry the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, through his loins. A special people, called the Chosen, would carry this Seed until Christ would be materialized in Mary’s womb, conceptualized through Mary’s fleshly womb and the Holy Spirit’s interaction with her. The Promise given to Abraham was now realized through the person Jesus Christ, the Lord. The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring (SEED) all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:15-18) This blessing from God to all people came to Abraham because he was willing to give up Isaac upon an altar of sacrifice. Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22:1-2) Abraham’s act of obediences foreshadows what God is going to do for the redemption of humans whom He made in his image. Abraham willingly offers Isaac up to show his love for the God who is intimately involved with him. He believed God who made all things before anything had been made could take care of him and fulfill his promises to him that he would become a great nation and inherit the land of Canaan, all of which seems impossible with Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice. But Abraham believed God, trusted his words; therefore, he placed his faith in God’s works and not his own. Isaac was his and Sarah’s work through copulation, but Abraham knew God could do something supernatural without human involvement, and this would have to be accomplished after Isaac’s death. But Isaac did not die: he was not sacrificed because God gave Abraham a ram to sacrifice to him as a replacement for Abraham’s act of love. Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:11-12) Abraham’s faith in God’s word rather than what he understood in the flesh was counted to him by God as righteousness, or his dependence more on God’s words than on his own conceptions of reality. Abraham placed his trust in God completely, now more hidden in God’s truthfulness than in his own understanding. All of that counted as righteousness to him, or a position of being pleasing to God, in right standing with a perfect, sinless God. In Christ, the Son of God, we too who have placed our faith in the living WORD, manifested to us from God, are considered totally righteous before an eternal God. Abraham believed God more than his own understanding. We who believe in Jesus Christ's work of righteousness more than our own work have received the perfection of Jesus Christ as our inheritance, all based on the same faith Abraham placed in God.
If righteousness could come from the promise then why the Law? The law was added because of the transgressions of humans. The law was to insure that the Seed would survive until the time God wanted to reveal him to the world. The law was given in the wilderness to enlighten the Israelites on how to serve God and also to establish norms of how people should function in harmony and unity. The nations in Canaan were very wicked. They served other gods and even sacrificed their own children to these gods. They were steeped in sin, unruly, and violent. God was giving this land of Canaan to the Israelites, a land where people of great wickedness dwelled. But He was giving this land to the Israelites not because of their goodness, but out of his grace and mercy to Abraham, for He promised Abraham this land before he owned one foot of it. Now the fulfillment of this promise to Abraham would be completed by the invasion of the Jews. These wilderness Jews would inherit the land of promise. Since the law already had been given to them in the wilderness, they were to possess the land under God’s authority and rule, a hierarchy, governed by judges. Supposedly, the law would separate them from the evil behavior of the people who occupied the land previously. However, the Jews still carried the idols of the Egyptian gods with them, and they were innately rebellious to God’s authority, manifested by the many times they wanted to kill Moses for leading them into the wilderness. God knew the nature of his chosen, and He knew they would not maintain allegiance to him even though they had the righteous law written on tablets. But his promises to Abraham were to be fulfilled by this people, and the Seed was to be preserved, and the law would be a means of preserving the Seed in the land of Israel. Therefore, Canaan was given to this rebellious people, depicting the nature of all humans. The Lord your God will drive them out to make room for you. When he does, don’t say to yourself, “The Lord has done it because I am godly. That’s why he brought me here to take over this land.” That isn’t true. The Lord is going to drive out those nations to make room for you because they are very evil. (Deuteronomy 9:4) Christians do not inherit eternal life because of our goodness, but because of God’s grace--his love endures forever. His promises to us through his Seed endure forever, and we will inherit the Promised Land because of his goodness and not ours. We will be separated from the wicked of the world and be made into his likeness through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus are no longer under God’s judgment. Because of what Christ Jesus has done, you are free. You are now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit who gives you life. The law of the Spirit frees you from the law of sin that brings death. The written law was made weak by the power of sin. But God did what the written law could not do. He made his Son to be like those who live under the power of sin. God sent him to be an offering for sin. Jesus suffered God’s judgment against our sin. Jesus does for us everything the holy law requires. The power of sin should no longer control the way we live. The Holy Spirit should control the way we live. (Romans 8:1-4). God’s holy word makes his plan clear to us. God allowed even creation itself to be under the power of sin. Creation groans under this power and will not be released until the sons and daughters are revealed in full glory on the last day. The land of Canaan without God’s blessing was not a land of peace and love; neither is creation without God’s complete deliverance. The world is not a land of peace and tranquility. Instead it is violent and sinful, a product of the Prince and Power of the Air, the devil. The law was given to ameliorate this condition, not to eradicate it, for the law could only reveal sin, not do away with it, due to man’s basic nature of rebellion to God’s authority. The law could not change The Chosen's basic nature, so the land was taken away from them and given to others. Sadly, no matter how many times the Israelites promised to obey the law by saying, “We will do it,” they failed to keep their word. Sin was so prevalent in their land of Canaan that God complained that they were worse than the former inhabitants of Canaan. Foreign idols and shrines were everywhere in Israel. The twelve tribes warred with each other, splitting Israel into two nations: Israel and Judah. Finally God expelled most of the Jews into the surrounding nations as captives to foreign people. But even under these circumstances of judgment from God, a remnant was saved of the Israelites to carry the Seed to the time when He would be manifested to the world. The promise to Abraham would be fulfilled, for God is steadfast: that which is said by him, is said, and it will stand forever. The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. His promise to bless all people through his Seed, Jesus Christ, has come to pass. And the faith of Abraham who believed God can do all things, even make something out of nothing, will deliver the people of God to the Promised Land forever. Amen! We have the great joy of the fulfillment of God’s promise when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and enjoy the freedom that He brings into our lives.
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