In the book of Genesis, nearly all the divine truths are sown as seeds. In this message we come to a great and basic truth in the holy Word that is sown as a seed in Gen. 17 — circumcision.
In order to understand circumcision, we need to see two main points of the divine revelation unfolded in the Bible. The first is that God's eternal purpose is to have Himself expressed and represented by man on earth. This matter is revealed throughout the whole Bible, from the first chapter of Genesis through the last chapter of Revelation. The second point concerns God's way of accomplishing His purpose. God's way to fulfill His purpose is to work Himself into man as man's life and everything so that man may become His expression and representation. The accomplishment of God's purpose does not depend upon what we can do but upon God's working Himself into us. If we see these two points, then we can understand the basic truths in the Bible.
For the fulfillment of His divine purpose, God called Abraham out of Chaldea, a land of demons and idolatry. As we have seen, Abraham did not give a clear-cut answer to God's call but dragged his feet through mud and water. His father brought him to Haran, the half-way place. By God's mercy, Abraham answered God's call nearly in a full way at Haran, crossed the great river, and came to the very place where God wanted him to be. That place was close to the sinful city of Sodom. It was not easy for Abraham to remain in the place where God wanted him to be and not long afterward he drifted down to Egypt. But by God's sovereignty, Abraham, who had left demonic Chaldea, had forsaken halfway Haran, and had overcome sinful Sodom, was delivered out of worldly Egypt and was brought back to the place of God's choosing.
We need to recall the names of three very important persons related to Abraham — Lot, Eliezer, and Hagar. Abraham took Lot with him when he left Haran, and he probably acquired Eliezer at Damascus and Hagar in Egypt. None of these three was a help to Abraham; each one was a problem. God rejected all three of these persons. Abraham used his natural strength to coordinate with Hagar to produce his masterpiece — Ishmael. But Ishmael was absolutely rejected by God.
With this as the background, we come now to the matter of circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14). At the time of Genesis 17, Abraham had been robbed of all the places where he had been and of all the important persons he had acquired. Chaldea and Haran were past, and he had nothing to do with Egypt. Although he was in the land that God had promised to give him, it had not yet been given to him. Thus, Abraham did not have Chaldea, Haran, Egypt, Sodom, or a portion of the promised land. Furthermore, Lot had separated from him, and both Eliezer and Ishmael had been rejected by God. Abraham was left alone with Sarah. They were two old people who had gained nothing and who were able to do nothing. Perhaps Abraham looked at Sarah and said, "What shall we do? We don't have anything and we can't do anything." At that juncture God came in, revealing Himself to Abraham as El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient Mighty One. It was then that God told Abraham that his name had to be changed from Abram to Abraham and that his wife's name had to be changed from Sarai to Sarah. After that, God told Abraham that he had to be circumcised. Abraham had been robbed of every place and every person. The only thing that still remained with him was himself. God came in to deal with Abraham's self, with his flesh, natural strength, and natural ability. This self, the flesh and natural strength, had to be cut off, circumcised. If we had been Abraham, we probably would have said, "God, don't You know that You have robbed me of so much? There is no one like me on the whole earth. Everyone else has a place of his own, but I have nothing. What will You do now — get rid of me?" God might have answered, "Abraham, you are right. I have robbed you of Chaldea, Haran, Egypt, Lot, Eliezer, Hagar, and Ishmael. I will not rob you anymore, but I will cut you. What you have acquired has been taken from you, and what you are must now be cut." This is circumcision.
Why is there the need of circumcision? On the one hand, God needs man for the fulfillment of His purpose. On the other hand, God does not want anything of man. However, none of the called ones would say, "God, I want to be for You, but I don't want anything of me to be for You. I am willing for You to take all that I have and terminate all that I am." On the contrary, everyone says, "Praise the Lord that He has called me. From now on, whatever I have and whatever I am will be for Him." Consider the example of Peter. For three and a half years the Lord told His disciples that they had to love Him and follow Him. But none of the disciples understood that the Lord did not want anything of them. When the Lord told the disciples that they all would be offended because of Him, Peter said, "If all shall be stumbled in You, I will never be stumbled," and "Even if I must die with You, I will by no means deny You" (Matt. 26:33, 35). But the Lord told Peter, "Truly I say to you, that this night, before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times" (Matt. 26:34). The Lord seemed to be saying to Peter, "Peter, don't boast. You have nothing to boast in. Tonight you will deny Me three times." Peter did deny the Lord three times, and those denials were his actual and practical circumcision. The proud, self-confident Peter was cut into pieces by the circumcising knife of his denial of the Lord.
We all must see that although God does need us for His recovery, He does not want anything of us. It is difficult for us to realize this. We either stay away from the Lord or we come to Him with everything that we have. A Japanese brother may say, "We Japanese are the most patient people on earth. I shall serve the Lord with my Japanese patience." But the Lord does not need this kind of patience. Some sisters may say, "The Lord certainly needs us sisters, and we are willing to be for Him. As sisters, we are not rough like the brothers; we are quite fine. In the church life, our fineness will be for the Lord." Sisters, it is absolutely right for you to be for the Lord, but it is absolutely wrong that anything of yourselves be for Him. Since God does not want anything of us, we all need to be circumcised.
The seed of circumcision was not sown in Genesis 12 or 15 but in Genesis 17, after Abraham had been robbed of so much. Then God appeared to Abraham again, unveiled Himself as the all-sufficient Mighty One with an udder, and told Abraham to change his name. Abraham had to have a radical change. God seemed to say, "Abraham, you must now be circumcised. If you are not circumcised, there is no way for Me to fulfill My purpose through you. In order to have a people for My purpose, there must be the seed. Out of that seed will come the people who will possess the land wherein I shall have dominion, build My temple for My expression, and find rest. This is My purpose. But for the fulfillment of My purpose, I don't need anything of you. I will do everything for you and be everything to you. This is why I have taken every place and everyone away from you. Now I am asking you to agree with Me and cooperate with Me to get rid of yourself. I want your flesh to be cut off, but I don't want to do it directly. I want you to do it for Me. I want you to cut off your flesh. Are you willing to cooperate with Me?" We must not take this as a doctrinal teaching or as an exposition of the stories in the Bible. We all must realize that our need today is to have ourselves circumcised.
How grateful I am to the Lord that so many among us have left Chaldea and Haran and do not care for Sodom or Egypt, but remain in the very place where the Lord's recovery is. But how can the Lord have the seed? How can He take possession of the land so that He may have the proper church life for His dwelling place, dominion, satisfaction, and rest? It is not by our doing anything for Him. It is only by the way of His robbing us of so many things. Our intelligence, wisdom, natural ability, natural strength, and all that we are in our natural being must be taken away by the Lord. Do you agree with this? If you do, then you must pick up the circumcising knife and cut your flesh, your natural being. This is not a matter of overcoming sin or the world; it is a matter of terminating yourself so that the all-sufficient One may have a way to come in to be your life, your everything, and even your very self. This is circumcision. May the Spirit speak this word into us all.
The greatest frustration to the Lord's move in His recovery of the church life is our natural ability. What frustrates the Lord's move is not what we cannot do; it is what we can do. Abraham's exercise of his natural strength kept God away from him for thirteen years. What a frustration that was! Although Abraham had been robbed of so much, he still had his flesh, natural ability, and natural strength. It was by and with his flesh that he produced Ishmael with Hagar. By the time of Genesis 17 the time was ripe for God to touch the frustrating element of Abraham's flesh. God seemed to say, "Abraham, I have taken so much away from you. Only one thing is left to frustrate My gracious work in you — your flesh. I want to take this away from you, but since it is such a subjective matter in your being, I will not force you. I want you to cooperate with Me to cut yourself, to circumcise yourself for Me. Abraham, nothing that you can do by yourself will ever please Me. It can only offend and insult Me. As long as your natural strength remains, I have no way to come into you and bring forth Isaac. Abraham, your natural strength, your flesh, must be cut off." This matter of circumcision in Genesis 17 is most crucial.
What is the meaning of circumcision? It is to get rid of yourself. God has a purpose and He has the called ones, but there is a frustration to His coming in to bring forth the seed — our flesh. Many among us have come to the crucial point of dealing with the flesh. Throughout the years, we have been robbed of so many things, but our flesh, our natural strength, our natural ability may still remain. If we keep using our flesh, Isaac cannot be brought forth from us or even be conceived in us. Our need, then, is to be circumcised and to terminate the self, the flesh. This is what the Bible calls circumcision.
What is the significance of circumcision? Firstly, it is to put off our flesh (Col. 2:11, 13a; Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4a; Acts 7:51). Many Christians today talk about the overcoming of sin, but that is not the basic dealing. The basic dealing is to put off the flesh. The flesh does include the sinful flesh. However, in the Bible, the flesh includes much more than this, for it also includes our natural strength, ability, power, and talents. Moreover, the flesh includes our natural man, the ego, the "I." Hence, to put off the flesh means to put off the very "I"; it means to terminate the self.
Many years ago I was seeking for the overcoming of sin, but I was only partially successful until I saw that my need was not to overcome sin but to terminate myself. I began to see that once I was terminated everything would be all right. This is why Paul said that he who has died is free from sin (Rom. 6:7). The more we try to overcome sin, the more we are involved with and troubled by it. The best way to overcome sin is to be dead and buried. Then sin will have nothing to do with us. Thus, the basic dealing in the Bible is not to overcome sin but to terminate ourselves.
Although the book of Genesis contains nearly all the seeds of the biblical truths, it does not contain the seed of the overcoming of sin. The real dealing with sin is not to overcome it but to get rid of ourselves, to circumcise ourselves. Once we have been circumcised and have ourselves terminated, we shall have no problem with sin. If you are still trying to overcome sin, it means that you are still living. If you terminate yourself, you will be through with sin. Therefore, it is not a matter of dealing with sin or of trying to overcome it; it is a matter of terminating ourselves. This is the negative significance of circumcision.
The positive significance of circumcision is to bring us into resurrection (Col. 2:12). Circumcision was always performed on the eighth day (17:12). In figure, the number eight signifies resurrection. This means that we cannot have circumcision without resurrection. Circumcision must be in resurrection, and it will always usher us into resurrection, just as death ushers people into resurrection. On the one hand, we have been crucified with Christ and have been buried with Him. On the other hand, this crucifixion and burial will usher us into His resurrection. When we have been terminated and ushered into resurrection, we become a new person. We are still we, but we are now another person because we have another life, nature, and constitution. We are people in resurrection. Only by being in resurrection are we able to fulfill God's eternal purpose. In our natural strength, we can do nothing to please God or to fulfill His purpose. Our self and our natural strength must be cut off in circumcision. Then in resurrection we shall become another person.
Circumcision in the Old Testament is the equivalent of baptism in the New Testament (Col. 2:11-12). Both baptism and circumcision have the same purpose — to terminate our natural being and bring us into resurrection. Why are we baptized after believing in the Lord Jesus? Because we realize that our old man has been crucified with Him and that we must be buried so that we may be one with Him in His resurrection. Hence, Abraham's circumcision has the same significance as our baptism. In both circumcision and baptism the principle is the same. Although Abraham was justified in Genesis 15, he was circumcised in Genesis 17. As circumcision was the sign of Abraham's being justified, so baptism is the mark of our being saved. How can we prove that we have been saved? By living a life of baptism, a life of one who has been crucified, buried, and resurrected. If we live such a life, everyone will be able to see upon us the mark of our salvation.
Circumcision corresponds to the changing of human names (Gen. 17:5-6, 15-16). As we have seen, to change the name is to change the person. When Abraham's name was changed, his person was changed also. This was especially true of Jacob. When Jacob's name was changed to Israel, his person was changed (Gen. 32:27-28). This change of name can only be accomplished through circumcision, through having ourselves terminated and ushered into resurrection. Then we are no longer a natural person but a resurrected person. Being terminated and ushered into resurrection is the real changing of a person. Hence, circumcision corresponds to the changing of names. Now we can understand why the changing of names and circumcision are both revealed in the same chapter. These two things are actually one. The changing of names and circumcision both mean to terminate our old being and to bring us into resurrection so that we may be another person.
Rom. 2:28-29 says that circumcision is not "outward in the flesh," but "of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter." Circumcision is not an outward matter; it is an inward one (Phil. 3:3). The same is true of baptism. Baptism should not just be a form; it must be an inward reality. Let me tell you a story that I heard more than forty years ago. In Central America, the Catholic Church accepted and baptized as members many people who were not saved. One day, a certain priest sprinkled a few drops of water on a boy's head and changed his name to John. At that time, the Catholic Church insisted that on Fridays its people eat only fish, not meat. One Friday, this John had only meat to eat. Since the priest had sprinkled water on his head and had changed his name to John, he thought that he could do the same to the meat. Therefore, he sprinkled water on it and called the meat fish. He then proceeded to cook the meat by boiling it. As he was boiling the meat, the priest came by. Smelling the aroma of boiling meat, he was angry with John and asked him what he was doing. John replied, "I am doing nothing wrong. This is not meat; it is fish. Don't you remember sprinkling water on me and changing my name to John? I followed your way and sprinkled water on the meat and called it fish." This is not real baptism nor the genuine changing of names. Baptism must be an inward reality in the spirit, not an outward form of sprinkling a few drops of water on a person's head.
Col. 2:11 speaks of "the circumcision of Christ." Real circumcision is in Christ. The circumcision of Christ, like baptism, means to terminate our old being and to make us a new creation, a new person. Galatians 6:15 says, "For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." The book of Colossians reveals that Christ is our eternal portion (Col. 1:12), our life (Col. 3:4), and our hope of glory (Col. 1:27), and that we must live by Him as the seed and walk in Him as the land (Col. 2:6). If we are to walk in Christ, we must not be distracted by other things. The way to live by Christ and walk in Christ is to be buried with Him. We who have been buried with Christ have been brought into His resurrection, not by our effort but by the operation of God, which is carried out by the Spirit of God. When we realize that we have been terminated with Christ, buried with Him, and ushered into His resurrection, the indwelling Spirit will honor our realization with an operation, minister the riches of Christ into us, and make us a person in resurrection. This is not a matter of mere teaching; it is the operation of God, the exercise of the living Spirit within us. This is the circumcision of Christ.
Col. 3:9-10 tells us that we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. This is the real changing of names, the true significance of circumcision, and the genuine experience of baptism. To circumcise the flesh is to put off the old man and to put on the new man. Then as the new man, we shall have the seed for the fulfillment of God's purpose. Moreover, when we are in the new man, we are in the land, the church. This is altogether a matter of the experience of Christ. When we see that we have already been terminated with Christ and ushered into His resurrection, the indwelling Spirit will honor this by operating within us so that we can put off the old man and put on the new man. In this way, God has the seed and the land for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.
Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." The real changing of names is the change from I to Christ. This is the significance of circumcision and the meaning of baptism. The circumcision of Christ works out one thing — the change from I to Christ. Then it is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me.
Eventually, the "not I, but Christ" becomes "not I, but the grace of God" (1 Cor. 15:10). The Apostle Paul said that he labored more than the other apostles; yet it was not he, but the grace of God. What is grace? As we have seen, grace is God coming to us to be everything for us.
In Genesis 18:10 and 14 we find a very strange saying: "At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." What does this mean? There was no need for God to come in order for Sarah to have a son. If we had been Abraham, we probably would have said, "Lord, You don't need to do that much. You can simply stay in heaven and say a word, and Sarah will have a son." But the Lord said that the birth of Isaac would be His coming, His arrival. It seems that the coming of God was very nearly the birth of Isaac. God seemed to be saying, "The delivery of Isaac will be My arrival. Isaac will not be out of you, but out of My coming. When I return to you, Sarah will have a son. My coming will be the birth of Isaac." I am not saying that Isaac is God or that God is Isaac, but I do say that it appears that the return of God nearly was the birth of Isaac. Isaac was an unusual person. Although he was a human being, his birth was the result of a divine visitation. What was that divine visitation? It was grace. Hence, both Abraham and Sarah could say, "It is not I, but the grace of God."
God called the time of Isaac's birth the appointed time. The appointment was made in 17:21, when God said, "My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." God called that appointed time the time of life, saying that according to the time of life He would return and Sarah would have a son. This is very meaningful. Everything we do must be according to the time of life and by God's visitation. The seed that we bring forth must be the coming of the Lord in His visitation of grace. This visitation of grace is the birth of Isaac. This proves that only the very Christ whom God has wrought into our being can be the seed to possess the land for the fulfillment of God's purpose. This is absolutely a matter of grace. It is not I, but Christ. It is not I, but the grace of God. Praise the Lord that we do have Christ and the grace of God worked into us so that we can have the seed and possess the land. We have Christ as our seed and the church life as our land. This is altogether the result of circumcision.
