Scripture Reading: Gen. 12:7a; 13:15; 21:12; 22:17; Gal. 3:7, 16, 26-29; Col. 2:9-10a
Ⅰ
"He does not say, And to the seeds, as concerning many, but as concerning one: 'And to your seed,' who is Christ….If you are of Christ, then you are Abraham's seed"—Gal. 3:16b, 29:
A
Christ is the unique seed of Abraham; in God's eyes, Abraham has only one seed, that is, Christ—Gen. 12:7a; 13:15; 21:12; 22:17; Gal. 3:16b.
B
In order to be the seed of Abraham, we must be in Christ and be one with Christ—v. 29:
１
Since Abraham has only one seed—Christ—to be Abraham's seed we must be of Christ, be a part of Christ.
２
Because we are one with Christ, the unique seed, we too are Abraham's seed.
C
On the one hand, the seed is the One who fulfills the promise; on the other hand, the seed is those who enjoy the promise which has been fulfilled—vv. 16, 29:
１
In the matter of fulfilling the promise, we have no part; only Christ, the unique seed, is qualified to fulfill God's promise to Abraham.
２
In the matter of enjoying the fulfilled promise, the seed becomes many, the many sons of Abraham—v. 7:
ａ
In order to enjoy the fulfilled promise, we must be one with Christ— 1 Cor. 6:17.
ｂ
Outside of Christ, we cannot enjoy the fulfillment of the promise given by God to Abraham.
ｃ
For fulfillment, the seed is one; for enjoyment, the seed includes all those who believe in Christ—John 3:15-16.
Ⅱ
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus"—Gal. 3:26:
A
Faith in Christ makes the New Testament believers sons of God, a relationship altogether in life:
１
Faith in Christ brings us into Christ, making us one with Christ, in whom is the sonship—John 3:15-16.
２
We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may be sons of God.
３
When we believed into Christ, the divine life with the divine nature—in fact, the divine Being of the Triune God Himself—entered into us, and we were born of God to become sons of God—vv. 15-16, 6; 1 John 3:1.
B
Our true status is that in Christ and by the organic union we are both sons of God and sons of Abraham—Gal. 3:26, 7:
１
Christ is the sphere in which this takes place—1 Cor. 1:30; John 15:4-5.
２
We and Christ have been joined in a marvelous organic union; because of this union, we are sons of God and sons of Abraham—1 Cor. 6:17.
Ⅲ
"In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you have been made full in Him"—Col. 2:9-10a:
A
We have been placed into Christ, we are one with Him, and we receive all that He is, all that He has, all that He has accomplished, and all that He has obtained and attained—1 Cor. 1:30; 6:17:
１
Those who believe in Christ, the Son of God, have been placed into Christ, who is unsearchably rich—1:30; Eph. 3:8:
ａ
Because we are identified with Christ and are one with Him, we partake of all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained.
ｂ
All that He is and all that He has belongs to us, and all that He has experienced becomes our history—Rom. 6:4-6; Eph. 2:5-6.
２
Because all the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ and because we have been placed in Him, we have been made full in Him—Col. 2:9-10a.
３
We are richer than any earthly billionaire because we are in the Christ whose riches are unsearchable—Eph. 3:8.
B
We need to believe with full assurance that we are one with the rich, all-inclusive Christ—Col. 2:2:
１
In order to partake of all that is ours in Christ, we must exercise faith— Heb. 11:6; 4:2.
２
We should look away unto Jesus and exercise our faith to realize what He is, what He has passed through, what He has obtained and attained, and where He is today—12:2; Rom. 8:34, 10; Col. 3:1; 1:27; 2 Tim. 4:22a.
Ⅳ
"As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus"—Gal. 3:27-28:
A
The believers are one in Christ by His resurrection life and His divine nature to be one new man (Eph. 2:15); this one new man is absolutely in Christ.
B
In Galatians 3:27-28 there are three crucial points:
１
We enter into Christ.
２
We put on Christ and express Christ by living Him.
３
We have the church life, where, in the one new man, the one Body, we are all one in Christ.
C
If we have the three matters in Galatians 3:27-28, God's eternal purpose will be fulfilled, and the desire of God's heart will be satisfied.