Christ, the Seed of Abraham

If you have your Bible with you this morning, I invite you to open it up with me to Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

We began looking at this passage a little bit last Sunday.

The churches in the region of Galatia had begun to embrace what Paul referred to as a false gospel, a different gospel.

Some men who were Jewish by birth, he refers to them as the circumcision group, had infiltrated the churches in Galatia.

And they were teaching this false gospel.

They were teaching that in order to be made right with God, to be saved, you need Jesus plus you need to do the works of the law.

You need to be circumcised.

You need to observe the special days and months and years.

We are the true children of Abraham, was the attitude that they had.

And if you want to be cut into the family, you need Jesus, yes, but you need these other things too.

And Paul is writing with all of his passion to correct this false notion and to remind the churches in Galatia that that's not the gift of God that God is offering through the gospel.

We saw this statement in chapter 3, verse 7, last Sunday.

He said, understand then that those who have faith, and of course he's talking about faith in Jesus Christ, those who have faith are children of Abraham.

He goes on from there to talk about the law.

We looked at that last Sunday and how some are trying to say that it's by works of the law that we gain a right standing with God.

And Paul says, no, no, no.

By the works of the law, we are under the curse of God.

We deserve his just and righteous punishment because we've blown it.

We've failed to keep the law.

We haven't lived up to God's good and righteous standard.

And the good news we heard last Sunday was that God sent his son, Jesus, to redeem us from the curse of the law and to take that curse upon himself, that judgment upon himself,

so that we might be set free from the debt that we owe to God in terms of his justice for what we have done.

Paul ended that section, we ended it last Sunday, with this statement of how he has redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles

or to the nations through Christ Jesus.

And so we're going to continue on with what Paul is teaching here because he has more to say.

He has more to say about the law and how this factors in.

He has more to say about the gift of Christ and the gospel.

So we pick it up this morning in verse 15 of chapter 3.

Paul says,

So Paul's getting practical.

He's giving us an illustration that we can all relate to.

It's maybe a little harder for us to relate to it in our culture today because we don't have covenants of the same weight or seriousness as they had.

And even the ones that we do that are most serious, it's very common for us to break them.

You think of marriage, you think of divorce, you think of...

And so I'm trying to think of, you know, what's the best, what's the closest equivalent that, you know, we can really think of.

And this is not a perfect illustration, but perhaps we might think of an agreement with a bank to borrow money, a mortgage.

What is Paul saying here?

When you make a serious, a human covenant, we all know that you can't just set it aside or you can't just add to it later on.

You know, once you have signed on the line for that money, you have obligated yourself to pay it back.

You can't just decide, you know, three weeks later, I don't want to pay it back.

I'll keep it.

I've already spent it, but I'm not going to make the payments.

No, you can't set it aside.

It's binding on you.

Same with making changes to it.

The bank, they can't come to you and say, well, we made this agreement, but we actually want to change that now.

And we want to make it so that you pay additional payments and more.

Give us more.

Or we're going to just change the interest rate.

We're going to jack it up.

This is what the agreement was.

And it's binding.

It's set.

You can't go back and change that.

And Paul's saying, this is how it is with the covenant that God made with Abraham.

It's binding.

He can't just set it aside.

He can't just change it or go back on his word.

Let's keep reading.

He says, so it is in this case.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.

Now we're going to skip down to 17.

We'll come back to what's in between.

What I mean is this.

The law introduced 430 years later does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

So what is he saying?

Yes, the law of Moses came in 430 years later.

But it doesn't set aside the promises that God made to Abraham and his offspring.

It doesn't somehow just nullify that.

It doesn't change the terms of it so that now it's you need to do all this in order to receive what's promised.

No, it doesn't work like that.

That covenant that God made with Abraham, it stands and it's binding.

If you were here that Sunday, God himself passed through the halves of the animal.

And he alone did.

And there were no requirements on Abraham's side.

Things that he had to do in order to receive these promises.

God promised by himself that he would stick to these things.

That he would do these things.

That he would bless Abraham and his offspring and give them the land.

And God will keep his promise, his covenant.

Verse 18.

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise.

But God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Those words depends on the law.

If the inheritance depends on the law.

If it depends on us doing enough of the good works, the righteous deeds, the ceremonial washings, the holiday, the holy day observances in the law.

If it depends on that, getting what was promised, then it doesn't really come by the promise.

It comes by works.

It comes by our obedience.

But notice the word if.

If the inheritance depends on the law.

Inherent in that is the statement.

It doesn't.

It isn't dependent on that.

He says if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise.

But it doesn't depend on the law or the works of the law.

But God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Everything that God promised Abraham.

The land, the blessing of his offspring to bless the nations through him.

It was intended as a gift of grace.

Not as something that he had to somehow earn.

This wasn't a rewards program that God set before Abraham.

It was a gift of grace.

It was a gift of grace.

And it was to come to him simply because God promised it.

Which kind of raises the question in our minds.

Well then, why the law?

Why the law?

Why was that brought in in the first place?

And this is exactly where Paul goes.

I mean, if the whole inheritance comes to Abraham and his offspring just by faith.

Then why did God bring this whole covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the law in 430 years later?

Paul is going to give us some answers to that question.

Starting in verse 19.

Why then was the law given at all?

It was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come.

So here we begin to see the beginning of the answer.

We see two things.

Because of transgressions.

Because of sins.

What do you mean by that, Paul?

He's going to explain it a little bit more as we go on.

The law was given because of sins, because of transgressions.

But the other thing we notice here in verse 19 is that it was added.

The law was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come.

And even there, that little word until.

It was intended to be a temporary relationship.

Not a permanent one.

And Paul's going to say more about that as well.

Let's go down to verse 21 and continue to focus in on this question of why the law.

Why the law?

Verse 21.

Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God?

Absolutely not.

For if a law had been given that could impart life,

then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

Now there's a lot in here.

It's kind of a loaded statement.

But I want to draw your attention to a couple things.

There's another answer to the question of why the law here.

If a law had been given that could impart life,

then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

In other words, we would get a right standing with God on the basis of law

if it was possible for God to give a just and right law that we could keep.

But that wasn't possible.

In fact, implied in this that could impart life

is the truth that the law could never do that.

In fact, that it wasn't even the purpose of the law.

The purpose of the law was not to give us a right standing with God

or to give us life.

Are we hearing this correctly?

Are we seeing this right?

Paul has already said this a few times throughout his letter.

Back in chapter 2, verse 16.

By the works of the law, no one will be justified.

Chapter 2, verse 21.

If righteousness could be gained through the law,

Christ died for nothing.

This has kind of been his point all the way through this.

The law cannot give you a right standing with God.

It doesn't matter how much you try to keep it.

It's not enough.

You've already blown it.

We will blow it.

We're under the curse of the law.

And so we deserve to be punished

because of that good and right standard

that God has given to his people.

So why the law?

Well, the law was not given to be the thing that delivers,

the thing that saves us.

What does Paul say?

He says,

But Scripture has locked up everything,

verse 22,

under the control of sin,

so that what was promised,

being given through faith in Jesus Christ,

might be given to those who believe.

Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin,

or shut up everything under the control of sin.

The purpose of the law was not to save.

The purpose of the law was to clarify the relationship

and help us see where we stand before God,

to help us see that we are locked up under the presence,

because of the presence of sin,

under the penalty of sin,

and under the power of sin.

It was to help us see that the way is shut,

and that there's no way out of this,

so that we might turn to God and cry out for help,

and find that the way to be saved,

the way to be made right with God again,

is not through obedience.

It's not through law-keeping.

It's actually through the gift

that God intended all along to give,

the gift of His Son,

so that what was promised

might be given to those who believe,

but how would it come to them?

Through faith in Jesus Christ,

says Paul in verse 22.

He goes on to kind of give us a bit of an illustration,

to help us see how this works,

and I'll read it first,

and then we'll talk about it.

Verse 23.

He says,

Before the coming of this faith,

we were held in custody under the law,

locked up or shut up

until the faith that was to come would be revealed.

So the law was our guardian until Christ came

that we might be justified by faith.

Now that this faith has come,

we are no longer under a guardian.

So Paul is giving them an example,

an illustration.

There's a lot of discussion over this illustration.

The word guardian is kind of,

it's discussed.

Some translations say tutor,

some say teacher,

some say schoolmaster.

And so what exactly is the metaphor there?

We have a hard time, I think,

relating to schoolmaster.

We don't really have that in the same sense as they did.

And so I really like the way that the NIV has translated it,

as guardian and using the language of custody.

The best kind of example I could think of in my mind was,

perhaps most of you will remember a time when you,

your parents maybe took you over to your grandparents' house

or to a relative's house,

and you stayed there for a time.

And they were kind of in charge of you.

They would watch over you when you were kids.

You know,

they,

in that moment,

your grandparents kind of became your guardian.

They,

they,

they had the care over you.

They had authority over you.

You were under their charge.

But,

in that situation,

it was temporary.

The expectation was that when

your parents come

and pick you up,

you're no longer under their authority.

You're no longer under grandma's house rules.

While you're there,

you're under grandma's house rules.

But when you,

your parents come to pick you up

and you get to go home,

you're no longer under grandma's house rules.

You're under mom and dad's now.

It's not a perfect illustration,

but I think it starts to get us thinking about the way that this,

that this works and what Paul is trying to show us here.

That's how it was with the law.

The law was never meant to be the permanent relationship.

It was given as,

as a guardian.

It was given as something that was to hold sway for a time.

Until,

Paul tells us,

the seed to whom the promise referred

had come.

And so,

why the law?

Let's,

let's just kind of sum this up briefly

and bring it all together.

Why was the law given?

It was given temporarily

to be a guardian,

to have charge

over the people of God

because of transgressions.

it was not given to impart life.

It couldn't.

It was given to help them see

that they needed the gift of God

to have life,

to be made right with God.

And if we zoom back for a moment

and,

and,

and think about this

and what we know of the Old Testament

and the law,

it,

it makes sense.

What,

what do we read in the Old Testament?

We read that

God gave them requirements

about

clean,

cleanliness,

cleanness,

ceremonial cleanness.

You,

you,

you are unclean.

And so,

if you want to come close

and approach

and have a relationship with me,

you have to do these things

to be clean.

There's,

there's something,

there's a problem here

that separates us.

It's,

it's uncleanness.

It's,

it's sin.

If you want to,

to,

to have a relationship,

you're going to need somebody

to,

to stand in the gap

between you and me,

a priest,

a mediator.

You need a sacrifice

to bring.

You got to bring a sacrifice

that's going to cover your sin

and,

and,

and divert the,

the wrath that you deserve

for your sin.

All of these things,

the temple,

the,

the,

the tabernacle,

the way that they're set up

are,

are driving home this point

that,

that even though God has

promised all of these good things,

there's something that stands

in the way of us receiving that.

There's a problem

and it's sin.

We are guilty

before God.

We have broken his law.

And so,

how can God simply

just overlook that

and be just?

This is part of what

the law was intended

to show us all along.

We're in trouble with God.

We're on the hook.

We're unclean.

We have,

we have sin.

We're,

it,

it is in us

and we are under

the,

the penalty of it

as far as justice

is concerned

from God.

And so,

we're kind of

seeing this,

this,

this,

this bigger story here.

God gives this promise,

these promises to Abraham,

wonderful,

to Abraham,

but then he gives the law

to help them see

that

there's,

there's something in the way.

You can't receive

these promises

unless this is taken care of,

sin.

And then the good news

is what Jesus,

what God has done

to deal with that problem of sin,

which the law exposes.

Let's go back up to verse 16

and hear the good news.

The good news of the seed

of Abraham.

We skipped over this,

but let's,

let's hear these words.

The promises were spoken

to Abraham

and to his seed.

Scripture does not say

and to seeds,

meaning many people,

but and to your seed,

meaning one person

who is Christ.

Now there's discussion here

over what Paul means,

especially as it pertains to,

scripture does not say

and to seeds,

meaning many people,

but into your seed.

What does he mean by that?

And you know,

some would say that

God meant all along

in the Old Testament

when he,

times when he gave the promise

to Abraham,

what he meant right from the start

was to you

and your seed,

singular,

referring to Christ.

That's how some read that.

Others read it more

as that Paul is,

by the Spirit,

applying that word

to the ultimate fulfillment,

which is Christ,

a single person.

Either way,

what's crystal clear here

is that the seed,

the ultimate fulfillment

of the promise

points to Christ.

Let me read it again

and hopefully we'll hear that.

The promises were spoken

to Abraham

and to his seed,

who is Christ.

The seed,

the offspring of Abraham,

who is Christ.

All along this series,

we've been hearing

all these promises

that God gave to Abraham

and maybe we've been wondering,

well,

through the centuries,

how has God kept

these promises?

Because in some places,

it doesn't look like

he really has.

but perhaps this is

the key detail

that we're missing.

The promises were spoken

to Abraham

and to his seed,

his offspring,

who is Christ.

Could it be

that God intends

to keep

all of these promises

that he's made

to Abraham

to Christ?

And when we stop

and think about that,

Christ is

a son of Abraham,

descended from Abraham

in the flesh.

He is the ultimate heir

of all of the promises.

He is the son of God,

but he took on

full humanity

when he came down

into our world

and he was born

into the lineage

of Abraham.

where is Paul

going with this?

What's the implication

of this?

Verse 19,

the law was added

because of transgressions

until the seed

to whom the promise

referred

had come.

until the offspring

of Abraham,

Christ,

that the promise

referred

had come.

The promise

referred

to him.

Ultimately,

God intended

to fulfill it

through him.

And so,

we're going to look

at this in a moment

in verse 26 to 29,

but I'm going to try

to describe it for you

and hopefully

if you see it,

then we'll read it

and if you see it there,

then that's good.

But what I'm seeing

here is this.

God intends

to keep

all of the promises

that he made

to Abraham

to the Lord

Jesus Christ himself,

the offspring,

the seed

of Abraham.

And sin

doesn't stand

in the way

of Christ

receiving

all of that.

He keeps

the promises

to Christ

and then he takes

all who have faith

in Jesus Christ.

He puts them

into Christ

so that we too

might receive

all that has been

promised.

All the blessings

that God

has promised

to Abraham.

That's what I'm seeing here.

Now let's read it

in verse 26 to 29

and see if you see that

as well.

So,

in Christ Jesus

you are all

children

or sons

of God

through faith.

for all of you

who were

baptized

into Christ

have clothed

yourselves

with Christ.

There is neither

Jew nor Gentile

neither slave

nor free

nor is there

male and female

for you are all

one

in

Christ Jesus.

And then here's

the final statement.

If you belong

to Christ

then you

are Abraham's

seed

heirs

according to the promise.

Four times

in that section

Paul takes up

this language

of union

with Christ.

He says

in Christ Jesus

you are all

children

of God.

He says

for all of you

who were

baptized

into Christ

think of that

picture of

baptism

going into

the water

baptized

means

to

immerse

or to

plunge

into

for you

are all

baptized

into

Christ

and have

clothed

yourselves

with Christ.

Literally

Christ

you put

on

you are

in

him.

Paul is

trying to

press this

home as

strongly as

he can.

he says

at the end

of verse

28

for you

are all

one

in

Christ

Jesus

and

therefore

if you

belong

to Christ

then you

are

Abraham's

seed

and

heirs

according

to the

promise.

There's

this

statement

in the

midst

of this

that's

got

some

of us

kind

of

wondering

what

is he

talking

about

here

verse

28

he says

there is

neither

Jew

nor

Gentile

some

translations

say

Greek

neither

slave

nor

free

nor

is

there

male

and

female

for

you

are

all

one

in

Christ

Jesus

and

some

of us

are

thinking

Paul

what

are

you

saying

here

I

mean

we've

kind

of

got

this

strange

cultural

context

in

which

we've

got

gender

identity

stuff

being

talked

about

what

do

you

mean

there's

no

male

and

female

why

is

he

throwing

this

that

there

is

no

legitimate

differences

between

people

or

is

he

making

a

different

point

I

think

he's

making

a

different

point

I

think

the

point

he's

trying

to

make

is

that

whether

you're

Jew

or

Greek

whether

you're

slave

or

free

whether

you're

male

or

female

it

doesn't

make

a

difference

as

to

whether

or

not

you

are

a

son

of

Abraham

and

therefore

an

heir

of

the

promises

why

because

you

are

in

Christ

think

about

this

Jesus

himself

was

descended

in

the

flesh

from

Abraham

he

was

circumcised

on

the

eighth

day

he

was

born

under

the

law

Paul

says

in

another

place

he

kept

the

law

perfectly

and

we

don't

think

this

way

in

our

North

American

culture

but

back

in

Old

Testament

times

if

you

wanted

to

receive

the

inheritance

you

had

to

be

a

son

you

had

to

be

male

if

you

were

female

you

were

you

know

you

entered

into

another

family

by

marriage

and

you

would

receive

inheritance

over

there

was

kind

of

the

typical

way

that

it

happened

Jesus

meets

all

the

requirements

to

receive

the

inheritance

that God

promised

to

Abraham

he's

a son

he was

circumcised

he's a

true

descendant

of

Abraham

and so

when it

says in

verse 16

the promises

were spoken

to Abraham

and to

his seed

meaning

one person

who is

Christ

God

will keep

all of the

promises

made to

Abraham

to the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

he will

inherit

them all

and then

God

has put

us

into

him

so

that

the

things

that

would

otherwise

disqualify

us

don't

disqualify

us

anymore

and it's

this

way

that

it

will

be

fulfilled

that

the

blessing

of

God

will

go

through

Abraham

and

his

seed

to

the

nations

through

the

person

of

Christ

male

and

female

it

sounds

strange

until

you read

in

verse

26

so

in

Christ

Jesus

you

are

all

my

Bible

translated

children

of

God

through

faith

but

literally

it's

sons

you

are

all

sons

and

sons

are

the

ones

who

at

least

in

the

context

of

the

scriptures

receive

the

inheritance

and

so

when

he

says

that

there

is

no

male

or

female

I

think

what

he's

pointing

to

is

that

just

because

you're

female

you're

not

disqualified

from

the

inheritance

because

you

are

in

Christ

and

he

is

a

son

who

will

inherit

everything

that's

been

promised

it's

a little

hard to

wrap

our minds

around

this

this

we're

talking

about

the

big

scope

of

the

plan

right

from

Genesis

all

the

way

to

today

and

into

the

future

but

I

think

that

this

statement

sums

it

all

up

so

well

in

verse

29

this

is

the

point

Paul

is

trying

to

get

across

those

people

are

telling

you

we're

the

true

children

of

Abraham

the

true

sons

of

Abraham

you

guys

are

not

and

if

you

want

to

be

you

got

to

do

all

this

stuff

Paul

saying

no

if

you

belong

to

Christ

then

you

are

Abraham's

seed

you

are

his

offspring

and

this

is

what

follows

from

that

you

are

heirs

according

to

the

promise

you

don't

need

to

do

all

this

other

stuff

you

don't

need

to

keep

the

law

you

don't

need

to

be

circumcised

you

don't

need

to

be

Jewish

you

don't

need

to

be

a

male

son

to

inherit

what

has

been

promised

Christ

and

the

gift

of

God

is

that

he's

going

to

put

you

into

Christ

and

unite

you

with

him

through

faith

so

deeply

so

that

you

receive

all

of

it

as

a

gift

of

grace

this

is

the

gospel

this

is

the

gospel

if

you

belong

to

Christ

then

you

are

Abraham's

seed

and

heirs

according

to

the

promise

what's

the

promise

I

mean

Paul's

talked

in

context

he's

talked

about

all

kinds

of

things

we

could

flip

back

to

verse

8

the

promise

is

that

there

will

be

blessing

generally

for

the

nations

verse

6

a

gift

of

a

right

standing

with

God

Paul

has

spoken

of

the

gift

of

the

spirit

in

verses

1

to

5

in

verse

14

that

we

might

receive

the

promise

of

the

spirit

what

about

the

land

we

might

wonder

verse

16

the

promises

plural

were

spoken

to

Abraham

and

to

his

seed

and

where

he

quotes

from

to

say

that

and

to

your

seed

is

the

promise

to

you

and

your

seed

I

will

give

this

land

Christ

will

inherit

all

of

that

and

in

Christ

we

too

are

counted

as

the

seed

as

the

children

of

Abraham

who

will

enter

into

that

and

inherit

it

as

well

some

of

you

may

not

have

been

here

when

we

went

to

Romans

4

but

in

Romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter

4

it

says

that

Abraham

by

faith

became

heir

of

the

world

heir

of

the

world

proclaiming

the

final

expansion

of

the

land

promise

it

wasn't

just

all

along

just

for

this

little

piece

of

land

in

the

Middle

East

it

was

for

the

world

because

how

can

all

the

people

of

the

children

of

Abraham

if

it's

been

widened

to

the

nations

like

this

through

Christ

and

it

has

how

can

all

of

us

fit

into

this

little

parcel

of

land

in

the

final

expansion

of

the

promise

of

the

land

has

been

proclaimed

in

the

New

Testament

it

was

proclaimed

through

Paul

what did

Jesus

say

he

said

blessed

are

the

meek

for

they

shall

inherit

the

earth

as

in

the

whole

thing

what

did

John

see

in

his

vision

a

new

heaven

and

a

new

earth

the

place

where

behold

the

dwelling

of

God

is

now

among

men

or

with

his

people

and

he

will

be

their

God

and

they

will

be

his

people

it

was

always

going

to

this

trajectory

to

the

world

what

does

Paul

say

to

the

church

at

Corinth

he

says

are

not

all

things

yours

and

I

think

the

implied

statement

or

qualification

there

is

in

Christ

are

not

all

things

yours

whether

Paul

or

Apollos

or

Cephas

or

the

world

this

is

the

good

news

when

Jesus

returns

he

will

bring

the

fullness

of

his

kingdom

the

fulfillment

to

all

of

the

promises

that

have

been

made

he

himself

will

inherit

it

and

through

him

we

get

it

too

though

we

don't

deserve

it

though

we

were

outside

the

family

that

was

chosen

and

we

get

it

as

a

gift

of

grace

through

faith

and

so

if

there's

anyone

that

comes

around

to

tell

you

that

you

need

to

do

this

you

need

to

keep

these

regulations

you

need

to

do

these

rituals

you

need

to

know

Jesus

has

done

it

all

through

him

I

receive

it

all

as

a

gift

of

grace

if

you

belong

to

Christ

then

you

are

the

seed

the

offspring

of

Abraham

children

of

Abraham

and

heirs

of all

that's

been

promised

let's

pray

father

in

heaven

we

thank

you

for

these

words

we

give

you

praise

and

glory

for

sending

your

son

into

our

world

to

be

a

true

flesh

and

blood

one

of

us

human

being

what

a

gift

Lord

we

would

be

happy

just

to

have

our

sins

forgiven

we

would

to

have

a

relationship

with

you

for

eternity

in

some

kind

of

way

but

we

thank

you

that

your

plan

has

been

to

give

us

all

of

the

blessings

that

you

have

promised

to

your

people

that

we're

not

cut

out

because

of

our

our

differences

thank