Scripture Reading: Gal. 3:2b, Gal. 3:3b, Gal. 3:6, 9-11, 13-14, 17, 21-25
The New Testament reveals that, in eternity past, God made a purpose, a plan. This purpose was to have a people chosen by Him to receive the sonship and thereby to become sons of God, with the Son of God as the Firstborn, and then to be formed into a corporate man to express God for eternity. This is a brief statement of God’s eternal purpose. After conceiving this purpose, God accomplished the work of creation. The focal point of God’s creation is man, because God’s purpose is to have a people for His expression. We know from Genesis 1 that man was made in God’s image and according to God’s likeness. In other words, man was created with the potential to express God. At the time of creation, man had neither the divine life nor the divine nature. However, he was created with the capacity to receive God and to become one with Him.
We know that after creation, man fell. On the one hand, the fall of Adam brought in sin and sins; on the other hand, Adam’s fall brought in the curse. Hence, the man created by God in His own image and according to His likeness became involved with sin and came under the curse. The fact that mankind followed a downward course after Genesis 3 indicates that man is under a curse. We see this curse with Cain, the second generation of mankind. Because Cain’s descendants were all under the curse, they fell lower and lower. Eventually, man fell to such a degree that, at Babel, he became divided and confused. There can be no doubt that fallen man is both involved with sin and under the curse.
In the midst of such a fallen situation, the God of glory appeared to Abraham (Acts 7:2). It is significant that the Bible does not say that the God of love appeared to Abraham, but says that the God of glory appeared to him. With Adam we have sin and the curse, but with Abraham we have God’s promise. According to Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham that in him all the nations would be blessed. The background of this promise was the curse upon mankind. Because mankind was under a curse, man’s direction was downward. But God came in, called Abraham, and promised that in him the nations, mankind in a state of division and confusion, would be blessed. Certainly this was good news. It is no wonder, then, that Paul considered it the gospel.
However, the matter we are emphasizing here is the promise. In calling Abraham, God gave him a promise. In Galatians 3:17 Paul speaks of both a promise and a covenant. In this chapter he also tells us, in verse 8, that God’s word to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 was the preaching of the gospel to Abraham. The speaking of that promise was the preaching of the gospel. Furthermore, the covenant ratified in Genesis 15 was the confirmation of the gospel.
In Genesis 12:3 the promise was only a promise, for it was still in need of fulfillment. In this chapter we are not told when, how, or where the promise would be fulfilled. Then in Genesis 15 the promise became a ratified covenant, and in Genesis 17 this covenant was confirmed by the sign of circumcision. However, even though the promise had been ratified as a covenant and confirmed, it still had not been fulfilled.
At the time God was ratifying the promise in Genesis 15, making it a covenant, a great darkness came upon Abraham (v. 12). This darkness was an indication that before the promise would be fulfilled, God’s people would undergo a time of darkness and suffer intensely. The Bible records that Abraham’s descendants went into Egypt and spent at least four hundred years under Egyptian tyranny. These years were a long period of darkness. Then, after those four hundred years, God brought them out of the darkness of Egyptian tyranny. God did not deal with them according to the law, which had not yet been given, but He dealt with them according to the promise He made to Abraham, their forefather.
It is difficult to find a verse in the book of Exodus telling us that God’s intention in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt was to give them the law. However, it is clearly stated that God intended for them to hold a feast unto Him. Moses said to Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness” (Exo. 5:1). No doubt, God also planned to reveal to them the pattern of His dwelling place.
Before Exodus 19, there seems to be no indication that God had any intention to give them the law. At the beginning of this chapter, God spoke very pleasant words to the people: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exo. 19:4). The Lord went on to tell them that if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant, they would be a special treasure unto Him and become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (vv. 5-6). God’s word was very gracious. When the people heard what God had spoken, they answered, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (v. 8). After this response of the people, the atmosphere around Mount Sinai changed. The cherishing atmosphere was replaced by a terrifying one. Frightened by this atmosphere, the children of Israel told Moses to be their representative to meet with God. In the midst of such a situation, the Ten Commandments were given. Therefore, with Adam we have the fall; with Abraham, the promise; and with Moses, the law. Chapters twenty through twenty-three of Exodus are all related to the law.
But immediately following these chapters with their decrees and ordinances, we come to chapter twenty-four, where the situation around Mount Sinai is changed again. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain. In the words of Exodus 24:10, “they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” What a beautiful scene this was! It was in such a setting that God revealed to Moses the pattern of the tabernacle.
After the law with its ordinances was given to the people, God dealt with the children of Israel according to the law through the tabernacle. The people did not contact God through the law, but they contacted Him through the tabernacle with the priesthood and the offerings. All these were the fulfillment, in type, of God’s promise to Abraham. God dealt with the people according to the law through the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings. Suppose an Israelite committed a sin. According to the Ten Commandments, he was to be cut off. But, instead of having him cut off, God fulfilled His promise to Abraham to bless all nations by blessing such a sinner through the altar. The one who committed the sin had to bring a sacrifice as a trespass offering. When this sacrifice was offered on the altar, the one who had sinned could be forgiven.
God used the law as a mirror to expose His people. But after the people were exposed, they could turn to the tabernacle, the priesthood, the altar, and the offerings. In type this was the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham. The book of Exodus is not actually a book of law; it is a book of the fulfillment of God’s promise, a book of Christ, the cross, and the church. Yes, certain chapters are devoted to the law and its ordinances. But other chapters give the pattern of the tabernacle and describe the setting up of the tabernacle. As we have pointed out, it was in the midst of a clear atmosphere that the pattern of the tabernacle was revealed to Moses. After this pattern was given, the tabernacle was constructed and set up. Then by means of the priesthood and the offerings those who were condemned under the law were able to have fellowship with God. This fellowship was through the tabernacle, through Christ. This was a fulfillment in type, although not in reality, of God’s promise to Abraham.
We have considered three important persons: Adam, Abraham, and Moses. Now we come to a fourth person, the most important of all — Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham. Christ fulfilled this promise according to the righteous requirements of the law given through Moses. In this way, He brought God’s chosen people out from under the curse. Therefore, the promise became not only a covenant, but also a testament, a will, for everything that had been promised was accomplished. The requirements of the law were met, the curse was removed, and the promise was fulfilled. Now in this unique seed of Abraham all the divided and cursed nations are blessed. Today Christ, our good land, is the all-inclusive Spirit for our enjoyment. With Adam there was the curse, with Abraham there was the promise, with Moses there was the law, and with Christ there is the fulfillment of the promise. Now we, the believers, those of the household of faith, enjoy the new testament. Those of the household of faith are the church people. We are not those who work — we are those who hear. As members of the household of faith, we have the hearing of faith and thereby inherit, partake of, and experience the Triune God as our blessing. By the hearing of faith we have become people of faith, the household of faith. The more we hear, the more our faith is strengthened, and the more our capacity to enjoy the blessing is enlarged.
In the Bible there are six outstanding names or titles: Adam, Abraham, Moses, Christ, the church, and the New Jerusalem. God’s intention in eternity past was not related to the law. His thought was focused not on the law, but on Adam, Abraham, Christ, the church, and the New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of God’s work with man. Today we are in the church; in eternity we shall be in the New Jerusalem. God uses the law temporarily to expose His people, who do not have the proper knowledge of themselves and their condition. He also uses the law as a custodian to guard and keep the people and as an escort, a child conductor, to bring them to Christ. But once the law has fulfilled its function of bringing us to Christ, the law should not be allowed to stand in the way. Moses was not only the one through whom the law was given; he was also the one to receive the pattern of the tabernacle and under whose leadership it was set up.
It is significant that from Adam to Abraham is approximately two thousand years and that from Abraham to Christ is approximately another two thousand years. Furthermore, it has been almost two thousand years since the Lord appeared on earth as a man. I find it very difficult to believe that the church age will continue another thousand years. After the church age, there will be the kingdom age, which will last a thousand years. After that, we shall be in eternity. I dare not say that the seven days in Genesis 1 typify the seven thousand years which may cover the time from Adam to the end of the millennium. However, it is very meaningful that from the fall to the giving of the promise was about two thousand years, that from the giving of the promise to the coming of Christ for the fulfillment of the promise was another two thousand years, and that the age of fulfillment has lasted for approximately yet another two thousand years. Although we look forward to the kingdom age, we will not be satisfied just with the kingdom. The thousand year period of the millennium will be in the eyes of God as one day. Thus, our aspiration is to enter into the New Jerusalem for eternity.
In the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, the law has only a temporary place. It was given four hundred thirty years after God’s promise was made to Abraham. With the coming of Christ the law was fulfilled and terminated.
Faith is not related to the law, but related to grace. Our faith is the reflection of the grace of Christ. Faith functions like a camera, which is used to photograph a particular scene. The grace of Christ is the scenery, and our faith is the camera which takes the picture. Thus, our faith becomes the reflection of the grace of Christ. In other words, our faith is the reflection of God’s promise in its fulfillment.
Faith has nothing to do with the law. The Galatians were mistaken in giving place to the law once again and allowing it to be brought into the way. The law must no longer be in the scene. Instead, our camera of faith should be focused fully on grace. Instead of trying to keep the law, we should use our faith to photograph the scenery of grace. Now in faith we are enjoying grace, which is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit for our enjoyment. How wonderful! The curse has been taken away, and the law has been set aside. Now we have the unique fulfillment of God’s promise, which has become the blessing to all believers. We are believing Abrahams enjoying God’s promise in a full way. If we see this and understand it, we shall realize that the promise is versus the law. No longer is there any ground, position, or place for the law. The law has been taken out of the way. Praise the Lord that our camera of faith is photographing the scenery of grace!
