Ⅰ
Christ as the Triune God-man (Col. 2:9) is the seed (descendant, or son) of Abraham (Gen. 12:7; Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16); because the believers are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and Christ is in them (Col. 1:27), they are one with Christ and are of Christ as a part of Christ (Eph. 5:30); thus, we who have believed into Christ are also Abraham's seed (Gal. 3:7, 29):
A
In resurrection Christ, as the last Adam in the flesh, became (was transfigured—pneumatized—into) the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of life, to dispense Himself into us (1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:2) for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
B
The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured seed (descendant, or son) of Abraham dispensed into us to make us the sons of Abraham, the corporate seed of Abraham, those who can receive and inherit the consummated Spirit as the blessing of Abraham—Gal. 3:6-7, 14, 16, 29:
１
The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8), which is a type of the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17).
２
Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the blessing of Abraham (Gal. 3:14), the reality of both the seed of Abraham and the good land promised to Abraham; our blessing today is God Himself, who is embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit to be dispensed into us for our enjoyment.
３
In the gospel we have received the greatest blessing, which is the Triune God—the Father, Son, and Spirit—as the processed, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit dwelling in us in a most subjective way for our enjoyment; oh, what a blessing that we can enjoy such an all-inclusive One as our daily portion!
C
As believers in Christ, we are the corporate seed of Abraham, repeating the history of Abraham; as the sons of Abraham, the corporate seed of Abraham, we must “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham”—Rom. 4:12:
１
Abraham became the father of faith (v. 16; Gal. 3:7-9, 29); he also is “the father of us all” (Rom. 4:16):
ａ
Genesis tells us that Abraham had two kinds of descendants, who are likened to the dust of the earth (13:16) and the stars of the heavens (15:5); his earthly, physical descendants are as the dust of the earth, and we, the New Testament believers in Christ as his heavenly, spiritual descendants, are as the stars of the heavens (22:17-18).
ｂ
As the father of all those called by God, Abraham was the first of a new race chosen by God; we were born into the fallen Adamic race, but we have been reborn into the called-out Abrahamic race; whoever is of faith, as Abraham was, is a member of this new race and a son of Abraham—Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7.
２
Abraham's living by faith is presently being repeated among us; the Christian life and the church life today are the harvest of the life and history of Abraham—Heb. 11:8-19.
Morning Nourishment
Gal. 3:7 Know then that they who are of faith, these are sons of Abraham.16 But to Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed… “And to your seed,” who is Christ.
29 And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.
The divine economy and the divine dispensing are… shown in the promise of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 17:8; Gal. 3:16; Matt. 1:1-2a)… One day while Abraham was worshipping idols, the God of glory appeared to him and called him (Acts 7:2-3). God called Abraham out of the place called Shinar, the base of Babylon, and brought him into the good land of Canaan. Once Abraham arrived in the land of Canaan, God appeared to him and made a promise to him concerning a seed (Gen. 12:7).
The seed of Abraham is for the blessing to all the families of the earth (v. 3)… In Genesis 17:7 God told Abraham that He would make a covenant with Abraham and with his seed. This word concerning the seed is explained clearly by Paul in Galatians 3:16.
God’s promise… was His preaching of the gospel to Abraham and… the blessing of Abraham was the Spirit (vv. 8,14). God did not promise Abraham a piece of land. The promise to Abraham was that he would receive the processed God as the all-inclusive consummated Spirit. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” pp. 399-400)
Today’s Reading
The blessing of Abraham refers to the promised Spirit, who is the reality of Christ (Gal. 3:14; John 14:17-20). The one seed of Abraham became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). The Spirit, as the consummation of the Triune God for the dispensing of Himself into the believers of Christ, is the seed of Abraham (v. 45b; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Rom. 8:9). The last Adam [1 Cor. 15:45]… is the seed of Abraham. This seed became not only our Redeemer and Savior but also the life-giving Spirit… The top blessing, the consummate blessing, to us sinners is God Himself as the life-giving Spirit. On the one hand, the life-giving Spirit is a transfigured descendant of Abraham, and on the other hand, He is the very Triune God. This life-giving Spirit is the consummated Spirit who is the consummation of the processed Triune God. This is the real blessing.The Savior we need today is the One who can enter into us. We need the life-giving Spirit who dwells in our spirit and who is one spirit with us (6:17). When we fall into the “water” [of our troubles], He falls in with us… Praise the Lord, we do have a buoyant One within us. The third stanza of Hymns, #505 expresses this thought: “There’s a Man in the glory / Whose Life is for me. /… He’s strong and in vigor, / How buoyant is He!” Where is Christ buoyant? He is buoyant in our spirit… Because of this buoyant One, I can boast that I have been kept from falling. The life-giving Spirit as the seed of Abraham and as the consummation of the processed Triune God is the top blessing. As such a One, He can be in us with both His divinity and His humanity. How wonderful this is! The totality of what He is, is called the Spirit. The good land given to Abraham was a type of this Spirit. The Spirit is the blessing God promised Abraham.
The seed of Abraham is for the believers in Christ, who are Abraham’s seed, to inherit the consummated Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God, as their divine inheritance—their spiritual blessing for eternity (Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14a; Gal. 3:14). Christ is the seed of Abraham, and all His believers are also the seed of Abraham (v. 29). Now as believers, we are no longer merely descendants of Americans, Chinese, or Japanese. We are Abraham’s seed. We are all one family, and our surname is Abraham, because Abraham is our father (Rom. 4:12). (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” pp. 400-401)
Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 1, lsn. 8; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” chs. 8-9