In this message we come to a great turn in Abraham's experience of God. Everything that we have seen of Abraham's experience of God thus far has been outward. Abraham was called by God and he answered God's calling by going to the place where God intended him to be. That was absolutely outward. Following that, Abraham's second experience was living by faith and trusting in God for his living.
The first trial that he faced in living by faith was a grievous famine through which he learned to trust God in the matter of eating. Whether in ancient or in modern times, whether in the Orient or in the West, all people, regardless of their attainment, education, or position, are concerned about the matter of making a living. Making a living is completely dependent on eating, on bread and butter. In the Bible and in human history, many times God exercised His control over the human race through this matter of eating. Do not be proud, for once God removes your food supply, you will bow down and say, "O God, help me!"
We have seen in previous messages that after Abraham came to the place where God wanted him to be, the first lesson he had to learn was to trust God in the matter of eating. He failed this test and went down to Egypt. There, in Egypt, he learned the lesson of trusting in God. After learning that lesson, he returned to the place between Bethel and Ai. Immediately after that, there followed another lesson in the same realm, in the realm of eating, when there was strife between the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham. These herdsmen were fighting for their bread and butter, striving with one another for the sake of a better living. They did not want others to take away their bread and butter. Abraham was victorious in the second trial, having learned in the first trial that God was sovereign in his daily life. Abraham came to know that the God who had called him was the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. He did not need to take care of his own bread and butter, for he had learned that the One who had called him would take care of this for him.
The fighting between the four kings and the five kings was also related to bread and butter. According to history, all of the warfare among the human race is over this matter. All international warfare is for one purpose — bread and butter. Gen. 14:11 indicates that the fighting between the four kings and the five kings was for this purpose.
Abraham was not afraid of those four kings but went out boldly and fought against them, slaughtering them and recovering the food supply. After Abraham had gained the victory over the four kings, Melchisedec came to meet him with bread and wine (Gen. 14:18). This bread was mysterious. There was no need for Abraham to do anything in order to get it and he did not have to fight for it. Abraham just fought the battle and recovered the food supply, and then Melchisedec came to him with bread.
All of Abraham's experiences up to the end of chapter fourteen were outward, being concerned with outward blessing, care, and supply. When Abraham went down to Egypt, God took care of him outwardly, giving him cattle and servants. The victory that he won against the four kings was also outward. Even what Melchisedec brought to Abraham was outward. Everything that Abraham had experienced to that point was outward. Before hearing this, you might have thought that at the end of chapter fourteen Abraham must have been on the peak of his experience of God. Yes, in a sense he was on the peak, but it was the peak of the elementary stage of his experience. All that Abraham had experienced prior to chapter fifteen was elementary. At the beginning of chapter fifteen, God came in to turn him to an advanced stage in experiencing God.
Genesis 15:1 says, "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." When God came in to speak these words, Abraham was still in an elementary stage. After his slaughter of the kings, a strong enmity had been created between him and the people who belonged to those kings. When Abraham was fighting the battle against the enemy, he was bold and brave. But after gaining the victory and going home he might have said to himself, "What have I done? Those people might come back. What should I do then? I only have three hundred and eighteen men, and they have many more than that." Abraham began to be afraid. Many times we are the same as Abraham. When we are in faith, we are bold, saying, "Hallelujah to the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. I have lifted up my hand to Him." After gaining the victory and shouting hallelujahs in the meetings, you go home and begin to consider, saying to yourself, "What have I done? What shall I do if the enemy returns?"
When God appeared to Abraham in 15:1, He said, "Fear not." God's saying this to Abraham indicates that Abraham was fearing his enemies. God seemed to be telling him, "Abraham, you don't need to fear. I am your shield. Be at peace. I am also your exceeding great reward." Abraham, still being in an elementary stage at the time, was concerned about two things: that his enemies might return to fight against him and that he still had no child of his own. Abraham might have said, "Look at me — I am old. Look at my wife — she is nearly out of function. We still don't have a child. Lord, don't You know we are getting old in years? When will You give us a child?" When God appeared to him, Abraham was concerned about these two things.
In the presence of God we cannot hide our intention. If we are given the opportunity, we shall sooner or later utter whatever is in our heart. Therefore, in 15:2 Abraham said, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the son of possession of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?" (Heb.). The next word that Abraham spoke to the Lord was not very polite. He said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, a son of my house is mine heir" (15:3, Heb.). Abraham seemed to be saying, "Lord, I go childless because You have never given me a child. You must bear the blame for this. Why do I go childless? Because You have never given me a child! Now You come to tell me that You are my great reward. What's the use of Your giving me a reward if I have no child?"
Abraham told the Lord that a son of his house, who was Eliezer of Damascus, would be his heir. In Darby's New Translation the footnote says that "a son of my house" means "one of his domestics." This indicates that Eliezer must have come from Damascus. It might have been that when Abraham was passing through Damascus he obtained him there. None of us has ever answered God's call in a clean-cut way; we all dragged our feet through mud and water. Abraham even suffered two deaths, the death of his elder brother, Haran, and his father, Terah. Eventually, Abraham answered God's calling, being unable to avoid it any longer. He left Haran, where he had been called the second time, taking Lot along with him, and passed through Damascus where he picked up Eliezer. When the Lord appeared to Abraham, saying that He was Abraham's shield and great reward, Abraham seemed to say in reply, "Lord God, I go childless because You have not given me a child. The one whom I intend to have as the heir and possessor of my house must be my domestic servant, Eliezer."
The Lord said to Abraham, "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir" (15:4). The Lord seemed to be saying to Abraham, "I didn't care for Lot. Neither do I care for this one. There must be a seed born out of yourself, not one of your domestics." Then the Lord said to him, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be" (15:5). It was at this juncture that Abraham believed in the Lord. Verse 6 says that "he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Abraham's believing was counted to him by the Lord as righteousness, and at that time Abraham was justified. This is justification by faith.
Abraham's having a seed was absolutely not an outward matter but altogether an inward one. Abraham tried to make this an outward matter, for Eliezer was something outside of him, not something out of him. We need to see the difference here. Today, not many Christians care for the inward experience. Most Christians care for the outward experiences. The things that are taught among Christians today mostly go as far as the end of Genesis 14. Some may argue with this, saying, "Don't they have justification by faith, and is this not in chapter fifteen?" Yes, they do have justification by faith, but even this has been made by them an outward thing.
Abraham was not justified by faith in chapter fourteen when he believed that God was the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. God did not count that kind of faith to him as righteousness. What kind of faith was it that was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness? It was the faith that believed that God was able to work something into him to bring forth the seed. Believing that God will supply our daily needs, our daily food, is good, but it is not the kind of faith that is precious in the eyes of God. What kind of faith is precious in God's sight? The faith that believes that He is able to work Himself into us to bring forth Christ. Most Christians today only care for the faith that believes that God can do outward things for them. That kind of faith believes that God is able to give them health, healing, a good job, or a promotion. Many Christians only have that kind of faith. Although that kind of faith is good, it is not the faith that is so dear and precious in the eyes of God. He did not count that kind of faith as righteousness to Abraham. The kind of faith that was counted as righteousness to Abraham was the faith that God was able to work something into him to bring forth a seed. In Genesis 15 Abraham did not believe that God would give him bread and butter, cattle, or more servants. He believed that God was able to work something into him and bring forth a seed.
What kind of faith do you have? Most Christians appreciate the faith that believes that God will provide all they need for their daily living. That is the faith that believes in God as the Most High God, as the Possessor of heaven and earth. Perhaps you are thinking that you would be satisfied to have such a faith as that. After reading the last message, you might have tried to believe in the Most High God, believing that our God is the Possessor of heaven and earth. But that faith is not the faith that is so dear and precious in the eyes of God. We need to have the faith that believes that God is working Himself into us, the faith that believes that a heavenly seed will be brought forth by something that has been wrought into us. May this matter be inscribed into our being!
Prior to chapter fifteen, Abraham had experienced God as the One who protected him and provided many material things (Gen. 12:16). Abraham had given all the choices to Lot and had gained the victory over the four kings. None of these things, however, had anything to do with the fulfillment of God's purpose but were only related to Abraham's existence (Gen. 12:10; 14:24). He experienced all these outwardly in his environment, not inwardly in his life.
Do you know what God's purpose is? God's purpose is to have a people to express Him with His image, represent Him with His dominion, and take the earth for His kingdom. Beginning with Genesis 1:26, we see that God's eternal purpose is to have a people expressing Him in His image, representing Him with His dominion, and taking over the earth for His kingdom. When God came in to call Abraham He promised Abraham that he would have the blessing to express God and become a great nation so that through him God might have His kingdom on earth. This is God's eternal purpose today. But everything that had happened to Abraham prior to Genesis 15 had nothing to do with the fulfillment of God's purpose. It is from chapter fifteen through chapter twenty-four that we have a record showing us how God had worked something into Abraham so that he was able to fulfill God's purpose. It was no longer merely outward experiences in environment but inward experiences in life.
Most Christians today only care for their existence, not for God's eternal purpose. Even many among us still have not been deeply impressed with God's eternal purpose. Many are still hoping that the Lord will give them a better job, a good husband or wife, a good education, or an excellent promotion. While all of these things may enable you to exist, they have nothing to do directly with the fulfillment of God's purpose. Everything prior to chapter fifteen was good, helpful, and profitable for Abraham's existence, enabling him to live as a human being, but none of those things had anything to do directly with the fulfillment of God's purpose. Look into Abraham's situation. Could the cattle that Abraham gained in Egypt express God? Could the maidservants represent God? Although God had given Abraham a great deal, nothing that he had was useful for the fulfillment of God's purpose. To exist is one thing, and to fulfill God's purpose is another. The principle is the same with us today. Our education, jobs, and houses are all good for our existence, but none of them are good for the fulfilling of God's purpose.
Now we need to see the two things that were necessary for the fulfillment of God's purpose in Abraham's day. The first item was the seed (Gen. 15:1-6 see Gen. 13:16; 22:17-18; 12:2). God called Abraham with the intention of fulfilling His purpose. As we have seen, His purpose is to have a people in His image to express Himself and with His dominion to represent Himself. But Abraham did not have a seed. How could Abraham fulfill God's purpose without having a seed? God needs the seed. He needs to have a people through the seed.
Abraham was the same as we are, and we are the same as he was. When Abraham understood that he needed a seed, he counted on Eliezer (Gen. 15:2-4). Abraham seemed to say, "Now I realize that I must have a seed for God to have a people. Since I am old and my wife is nearly out of function, the seed must be what I already have." But God will never use for the fulfillment of His purpose the things that we already have. Whatever we have is altogether no good for this. Do not think that what you have is good for the fulfillment of God's purpose. What you have is just an Eliezer. Nothing that you have is counted. Nothing that we have is useful for the fulfilling of God's purpose. At best, whatever we have is not of God but is something of Damascus.
The seed that was needed for the fulfillment of God's purpose had to be what God promised to work out through Abraham. It had to be something that God worked into him so that he might bring it forth (Gen. 15:4-5). What then is the seed? If you pray and read Genesis 15 and Galatians 3, you will see that the seed is Christ Himself. Nothing that we have could ever bring forth Christ. Our education, attainments, skills, etc. mean nothing. All of these things are just Eliezers, things which are not what the Lord has wrought into us to bring forth Christ, the seed. None of them are subjective but altogether objective in our environment. Your Eliezer might be your college education. Perhaps even in the church life you might still be trusting in this Eliezer, meaning that you still trust in your college education. All of us have passed through some Damascus, picking up at least one Eliezer. That could never be the seed that God wants. The seed must be something that God works into us, not something that we have picked up. Whatever we picked up from our Damascus can never bring forth Christ. Only that which God works into our being can bring forth Christ as the seed.
In order to fulfill God's purpose we must have Christ wrought into us. This is why Paul told us that Christ was revealed into him (Gal. 1:15-16), that Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20), that Christ was formed in him (Gal. 4:19), and that for him to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21). Paul lived Christ. When he was Saul of Tarsus, he passed through a Jewish Damascus, gaining many things. All that he acquired during that time was just an Eliezer. The Lord told Paul that he had to forget all of those things — they were dung, garbage, dog food — and to cast them aside. None of the things that Paul had could bring forth Christ. Only that which God worked into his being could bring forth Christ. The Lord seemed to tell Paul, "The things that you had from your religious background can never bring forth Christ. Only what I am working into you will bring forth Christ. What I am working into you is My grace." Eventually, Paul could say, "By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Cor. 15:10).
At this point, I need to say a word about the difference between grace and blessing. What most Christians consider to be grace is actually blessing. What is blessing? Blessing is prosperity, benefit, and bounty. Many Christians, using the adjective form of the word grace, are fond of saying, "Oh, how gracious God is to us." But this is far short of the meaning of the real grace. The Hebrew word for gracious in Numbers 6:25 means to bend or to stoop oneself in order to be kind to an inferior person. For example, in kindness, a king may stoop to give something to a beggar. That is what it means to be gracious. However, in the Bible, grace is nothing less than God Himself. In the Bible grace is simply God Himself coming into us to be our enjoyment. John 1:17 says, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ." John 1:14 says that "the Word became flesh..full of grace and reality," and John 1:16 tells us that "of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace."
Blessings are for our existence, but grace is for the fulfillment of God's purpose. We do need God's blessing for our existence. If God did not bless us, we would lose our jobs, health, and perhaps even our physical lives. I have no doubt that, for my existence, I am fully under God's blessing.
Merely to exist, however, is vanity of vanities. What are we doing here in this country? Are we just here to make a living for our existence? If this is the case, it is vanity of vanities. All the cars, houses, degrees, and jobs are vanities. Some people may say, "Praise the Lord, we have three sons and two daughters. The sons are medical doctors and the daughters are professors. What a blessing this is!" This is a blessing for you and your family to exist in the vanity of vanities, if your existence is not for the fulfillment of God's purpose. Others may say, "Five years ago I was only making $5,000 a year, but this last year I made $25,000. What a blessing this is!" This also is a blessing for people to exist in the vanity of vanities, if they are not for God's eternal purpose.
Recently, the Lord awoke me early one morning and pointed out to me that not one of the New Testament books ends with the words, "Blessing be with you" or "Blessing be with your spirit." However, nearly all the Epistles end with the words, "Grace be with you" (Gal. 6:18; Eph. 6:24; Phil. 4:23; Col. 4:18). To say, "Blessing be with you," means that you will be prospered with material things. But our Bible never says anything like that. The Gospel of John does not say that the Word became flesh full of blessing, or that blessing came with Christ. No book ends by saying, "Blessing be with you."
In the Old Testament we mainly have blessings, but in the New Testament the physical blessings immediately are replaced by spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, and the last verse of the same book says, "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ." The last verse of the whole Bible also speaks of grace. Revelation 22:21 does not say, "The blessing of the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, be with you all." No, it says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints." Do you remember the blessing that the priests used to give the children of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26? It went like this: "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." Paul's blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14, on the contrary, is in another category: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." I repeat, blessings are for our existence, and grace is for the fulfillment of God's purpose.
After rejecting Abraham's proposal, God promised him that He would do something for him so that he might have seed born of himself, even as many as the stars in heaven (Gen. 15:5). Abraham believed in the Lord according to His word, and the Lord counted his believing to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). It is the kind of faith that believes that God will work in us to bring forth Christ, the seed, that is precious to God and is our righteousness in the eyes of God. This is the faith for receiving God's grace, not for receiving His blessing.
Today, most Christians care for blessing, not much for grace. Although this is the New Testament age, many Christians still live in the Old Testament dispensation, caring only for blessings, not for grace. In the Lord's recovery we do need the blessings. It is a great blessing to meet together all of the time. But, more than this, we need grace. We need God to come in and say, "What you have does not count. What you can do and will do does not count either. I will work something into you, and this will bring forth the seed. Do you believe in this?" If we believe this, this kind of faith is precious to God. This is not the faith that believes that God will give us all that we need for our existence; it is the faith that believes that God is working Himself into us in order to bring forth Christ as the unique seed, the seed that is needed for the fulfillment of God's purpose.
The second thing needed for the fulfillment of God's purpose was the land (Gen. 15:17-21 see Gen. 12:7; 13:14-15, 17; 17:8).
What is the land? Many Christians think that the land is heaven, considering physical death as the Jordan River. This concept is altogether not according to the proper understanding of the Holy Word. During Abraham's time, the land was a place in which he could live. Abraham needed a place to live in and to live on. Hence, the land is a place for God's people to live in and to live on. Furthermore, during Abraham's time, the land was a place in which Abraham could defeat all of his enemies in order that God might have a kingdom on earth. Moreover, the land was the place where God could have a habitation as the expression of Himself. Thus, we see five points concerning the land: that it was a place for God's people to live in, a place for them to live on, a place where God's enemies could be defeated, a place where God could have His kingdom, and a place where God could have a habitation for His expression. Eventually, in the land, the kingdom of God was established, the temple was built for God's habitation, and the glory of God was manifested. All of that was a miniature of the fulfillment of God's purpose. This was altogether a different matter from Abraham's existence. It was one thing for Abraham to exist; it was another thing for him to have the seed and the land for the fulfillment of God's purpose.
What is the land for us today? Undoubtedly, the land is Christ who is living in us and in whom we are living. Today, we must live in Christ and on Christ. But many Christians do not practice this. They care neither for Christ's being wrought into them as the seed nor for their living in Christ as their land for the fulfillment of God's purpose. To them, Christ is not the land for them to live in and to live on; neither is He the land for them to slaughter all their enemies. Where can we slaughter our enemies? In Christ our land. Christ is the very place in which we slaughter our Chedorlaomer and all of the other kings. Christ is also the land for the kingdom of God where God's habitation can be built.
If we see this, then we know how greatly most Christians have missed the mark in seeking only for God's blessings. We do not need to pay that much attention to our existence or to be so concerned about God's blessings, because our Father knows what we need. We should let Him take care of us. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).
In this matter of God's purpose we should not count on what we have or on what we can do. What we have is Eliezer and what we can do is Ishmael. Eliezer was what Abraham had and Ishmael was what Abraham could do, and neither of them counted for the fulfillment of God's purpose. What we have and what we can do does not count. It has to be God Himself. After a certain time, when we truly have become nothing, God will work Himself into us, and that which He has worked into us will bring forth Christ as the seed and will also bring us into Christ as our land. Christ should be the seed within us. Christ should also be the land in which we live. Do we not have Christ in us? Yes, but He must be the seed. Are we not in Christ today? Yes, but we must live in Him as our land.
Today the land is also the church, for the church is the enlargement of Christ. The Body of Christ, the church, is the expansion of Christ. In the church we live in Christ and on Christ; in the church we slaughter the enemies; and in the church we have the kingdom of God with the habitation of God. For this reason, when we came into the church, we immediately had the sensation that we had come home. Now we are no longer wandering but have a place in which and on which to live, a place in which to slaughter all our enemies, a place in which we may have the kingdom of God with the habitation of God. Before we came into the church, we did not have the proper Christian living, but after coming into the church, what a positive change has happened to our living!
Before coming into the church, it was difficult for us to defeat any of our enemies, but after coming into the church, it was so easy. Chedorlaomer is afraid of the church. Where can we slaughter all of our enemies? In Canaan. What is today's Canaan? It is the church, the enlarged Christ. Where is the kingdom of God with God's habitation today? Also in the church. The church, the enlarged Christ, is our good land today.
Both the seed and the land are Christ. The seed is Christ in us and the land is the Christ in whom we live. Christ lives in us as the seed, and we live in Him as the land. He is both the seed and the land for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose.
In this chapter God not only repeated His promise to Abraham concerning the seed but also the promise to him concerning the land. The promise concerning the seed is fully covered in the first six verses. Abraham believed in the Lord for that promise concerning the seed. The promise concerning the land is affirmatively made by God in verse 7, but Abraham lacked faith to believe in God for this promise concerning the land. By this we can see that believing in God for the seed is easier than believing in God for the land. It is easier for us to let Christ live in us as the seed than it is to live in Christ as the land. To take Christ as the seed living in us is easier than to take Christ as the land for us to have the church life for God's kingdom with God's habitation. Because Abraham was like us, lacking faith in God in this respect, God was forced to make a covenant with him to confirm His promise concerning the land. In the next message we shall see the details concerning the covenant that God made with Abraham.
